Reviews by Hyde00
PREFACE
Hello, this is my first review on Head-Fi actually, exciting!!! Much thanks to @ericpalonen for giving me this chance to try the Momentum 4 North American Tour (Canadian Portion)!!!
Momtum 4 Tour
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new-tour-momentum-4-wireless.964460/
Discussion Thread
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/introducing-momentum-4-wireless.964459/
I'll be honest I'm normally a wired headphone guy, but I've wanted to give wireless try for a while now. My past headphones are mostly composed of Denon/Fostex variants (D2000, D5200, TH-X00, E-Mu Teak, TH900....etc). And if any of you guys have used Denon/Fostex variants and you'll know they come with this big and long 3m cables, it's kind of tedious from time to time. Which prompt me to maybeeeeeeeeee time time to explore wireless?????
Which happens to be good timing this tour just popped so I signed up and here I am.
Apologize if I'm very newb when it comes to wireless. Also everything written in this review is my own opinion and not influenced by Sennheiser in any ways (since they don't know how terrible I am at wireless gear shhhhhhhhhhh LOLLLLL).
INITIAL IMPRESSION
Here's some pictures of the package, it comes with a handy case that includes all the accessories. For my own preference (not Sennheiser's fault or anything) I think I would've preferred the white version, but black version looks very nice too haha.
Unboxing!!!
I opt to not peel away the sticker since this is a review copy and I have to send it back LOL. So ignore the sticker for now, but it basically give you instruction on how the touch gesture do.
And it folds flat in either direction.
USABILITY
It comes with a Sennheiser app where you can control things between Noise Cancelling mode or Transparency mode. Noise Cancelling mode as the name suggests........ let you cancel noise, and Transparency mode plays the outside noise into your headset as if you're not wearing headset.
It also has EQ options where you can tune the sound to your preference, but to be honest I think the tuning is superb and fits my preference so even no EQ on sounds good. More on that in the sound section.
And I'll be honest........ there's other extra feature but I didn't look too much into it since it doesn't fit my use case.
If anything I wish it has a OFF function in the noise cancelling, as is now you can only slide it in the middle between Noise Cancelling mode and Transparency mode but I don't think it counts as OFF. As I find normally with noise cancelling headphone when it's not playing sound, it always give off this weird pressure feeling and it's a little bit uncomfortable.
Another wish list is I wish it has an desktop app, right now there's only phone app available. But I did try to connect to my PC and it worked without issue (just can't access any extra features).
COMFORT
If we're talking about comfort, we have to bring out my comfort reference headphone which is the Bose SoundTrue Around Ear!!! Bose SoundTrue Around Ear is by far the most comfortable headphone I ever owned, 2nd most comfortable headphone I own is Sony MDR-1AM2. Size wire they're pretty similar as you can see. Both fit my head at max headband extension, but my head is on the large side so this is normal.
So I'll say Momentum 4 is quite comfortable however it being wireless, I'm assuming they don't want it to fall off your head, so the clamp force is a bit higher. Which makes it not as comfortable as the other 2 headphones I've mentioned but still quite comfortable. I'd imagine for most people with normal head size this would not be an issue.
Ear cup size is a tiny tiny bit bigger on the Momentum 4.
SOUND
Okay so I'm assuming this is the most important thing, since we're reviewing headphone LOL.
Off the bat I'll say....... it sounds good! In fact very good tonal balance similar to the Bose I have. Something weird about audiophile headphone is that a lot of the time they have somewhat recessed vocal. I think because somehow audiophile always want to avoid "shouty vocal" and want to be "smooth. But I listen to headphone to listen to the vocal! Luckily both Sennheiser and Bose have what we call more "mainstream" tuning which is easy to like and have forward vocal which is good for pop. Another headphone that I like with forward vocal is Grado (yes I know it's love and hate here).
This might sound generic but..... I'll say it sounds energetic and fun, treble is sparkly, vocal is forward, and bass has nice kick. Overall very balanced and fun signature.
Timber is also quite good, things sound natural and realistic. Not too thin not too thick.
If I were to find a flaw I'd say........ resolution is decent. I think for regular listening it's fine but for critical listening you'll be reminded that it's a wireless headphone also the price point. I mean it makes sense since for the price point you have to also factor in cost that goes to noise cancelling and cost that goes into wireless vs 100% of the cost goes into sound (wired headphone).
Though if you have to ask for absolute sound quality, I'd say TH-X00 ($400) sounds better, but Momentum 4 at $350 on sound quality alone probably is competitive to $200-$300 wired headphone, then you factor in the Noise Cancelling and Bluetooth then it makes sense.
Again as I mentioned if you don't do any critical listening then this is totally fine and enjoyable. I didn't really need to use the EQ since the default tuning already sound quite good to me.
VS WIRED HEADPHONES
So I did try to run wired mode on the Momentum 4 to see what the difference are, and.......... it didn't sound too good to me LOL. So I THINK, this is similar to the Grado GW100 wireless headphone where they use digital tuning to "correct" the sound digitally. So the wireless mode actually sounds better than wired mode. Since the "tuned" sound is what they want you to hear. So here on I'll compare the sound quality to my wired headphone using Momentum's wireless mode.
As I previously mentioned I have a lot of Denon/Fostex headphones, and my current daily driver is Lawton Modded TH900 MK2 with Lyr 3 / Violectric V200 hooked up to SDAC.
Off the bat I'll say yeahhhhhh Momentum 4 can't live up to the resolution and depth and soundstage of my desktop setup BUT, I do think the tuning / tonal balance IS better on the Momentum 4. As I mentioned I struggle to find a vocal forward headphone that also has the tonal balance I like on treble and bass. TH900 is no exception, it's still not perfect but it's "close enough". But the Momentum 4 do win out on tonal balance but lose on resolution.
Again if I don't sit down and do some critical listening then the Momentum 4 is really enjoyable. Also we're comparing products that costs like........3-4 times the price of Momentum 4 so it's not really fair. But if you factor out the wireless aspect I do think on sound quality alone Momentum 4 do compare more directly to my Bose SoundTrue Around Ear and Sony MDR-1AM2. Though tuning wise the Momentum 4 and Bose SoudnTrue are better.
CONCLUSION
So as I mentioned I'm normally a wired guy and want to see if there's potential in wireless at this day and age. I definitely think it's getting close. It's not quite there yet but I have faith we'll get there. Again not at the fault of Sennheiser I think they made an excellent product, but for my use case (specific to me) I think I would prefer something more desktop friendly. Something with a desktop app and probably doesn't need noise cancelling? I know I'm in the niche market but one can dream LOL.
Maybeeeeee just maybe I could give Focal Bathys a try next time, again not really same price point so not a fair comparison. But I'm thinking something to bridge that wired desktop quality while having wireless functionality.
Otherwise I definitely had a fun on this tour and I'd like to thank Sennheiser for giving me this opportunity to try and write my first review on Head-Fi!
Please let me know if you have any questions, cheers!!!
Hyde00
Hello, this is my first review on Head-Fi actually, exciting!!! Much thanks to @ericpalonen for giving me this chance to try the Momentum 4 North American Tour (Canadian Portion)!!!
Momtum 4 Tour
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new-tour-momentum-4-wireless.964460/
Discussion Thread
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/introducing-momentum-4-wireless.964459/
I'll be honest I'm normally a wired headphone guy, but I've wanted to give wireless try for a while now. My past headphones are mostly composed of Denon/Fostex variants (D2000, D5200, TH-X00, E-Mu Teak, TH900....etc). And if any of you guys have used Denon/Fostex variants and you'll know they come with this big and long 3m cables, it's kind of tedious from time to time. Which prompt me to maybeeeeeeeeee time time to explore wireless?????
Which happens to be good timing this tour just popped so I signed up and here I am.
Apologize if I'm very newb when it comes to wireless. Also everything written in this review is my own opinion and not influenced by Sennheiser in any ways (since they don't know how terrible I am at wireless gear shhhhhhhhhhh LOLLLLL).
INITIAL IMPRESSION
Here's some pictures of the package, it comes with a handy case that includes all the accessories. For my own preference (not Sennheiser's fault or anything) I think I would've preferred the white version, but black version looks very nice too haha.
Unboxing!!!
I opt to not peel away the sticker since this is a review copy and I have to send it back LOL. So ignore the sticker for now, but it basically give you instruction on how the touch gesture do.
And it folds flat in either direction.
USABILITY
It comes with a Sennheiser app where you can control things between Noise Cancelling mode or Transparency mode. Noise Cancelling mode as the name suggests........ let you cancel noise, and Transparency mode plays the outside noise into your headset as if you're not wearing headset.
It also has EQ options where you can tune the sound to your preference, but to be honest I think the tuning is superb and fits my preference so even no EQ on sounds good. More on that in the sound section.
And I'll be honest........ there's other extra feature but I didn't look too much into it since it doesn't fit my use case.
If anything I wish it has a OFF function in the noise cancelling, as is now you can only slide it in the middle between Noise Cancelling mode and Transparency mode but I don't think it counts as OFF. As I find normally with noise cancelling headphone when it's not playing sound, it always give off this weird pressure feeling and it's a little bit uncomfortable.
Another wish list is I wish it has an desktop app, right now there's only phone app available. But I did try to connect to my PC and it worked without issue (just can't access any extra features).
COMFORT
If we're talking about comfort, we have to bring out my comfort reference headphone which is the Bose SoundTrue Around Ear!!! Bose SoundTrue Around Ear is by far the most comfortable headphone I ever owned, 2nd most comfortable headphone I own is Sony MDR-1AM2. Size wire they're pretty similar as you can see. Both fit my head at max headband extension, but my head is on the large side so this is normal.
So I'll say Momentum 4 is quite comfortable however it being wireless, I'm assuming they don't want it to fall off your head, so the clamp force is a bit higher. Which makes it not as comfortable as the other 2 headphones I've mentioned but still quite comfortable. I'd imagine for most people with normal head size this would not be an issue.
Ear cup size is a tiny tiny bit bigger on the Momentum 4.
SOUND
Okay so I'm assuming this is the most important thing, since we're reviewing headphone LOL.
Off the bat I'll say....... it sounds good! In fact very good tonal balance similar to the Bose I have. Something weird about audiophile headphone is that a lot of the time they have somewhat recessed vocal. I think because somehow audiophile always want to avoid "shouty vocal" and want to be "smooth. But I listen to headphone to listen to the vocal! Luckily both Sennheiser and Bose have what we call more "mainstream" tuning which is easy to like and have forward vocal which is good for pop. Another headphone that I like with forward vocal is Grado (yes I know it's love and hate here).
This might sound generic but..... I'll say it sounds energetic and fun, treble is sparkly, vocal is forward, and bass has nice kick. Overall very balanced and fun signature.
Timber is also quite good, things sound natural and realistic. Not too thin not too thick.
If I were to find a flaw I'd say........ resolution is decent. I think for regular listening it's fine but for critical listening you'll be reminded that it's a wireless headphone also the price point. I mean it makes sense since for the price point you have to also factor in cost that goes to noise cancelling and cost that goes into wireless vs 100% of the cost goes into sound (wired headphone).
Though if you have to ask for absolute sound quality, I'd say TH-X00 ($400) sounds better, but Momentum 4 at $350 on sound quality alone probably is competitive to $200-$300 wired headphone, then you factor in the Noise Cancelling and Bluetooth then it makes sense.
Again as I mentioned if you don't do any critical listening then this is totally fine and enjoyable. I didn't really need to use the EQ since the default tuning already sound quite good to me.
VS WIRED HEADPHONES
So I did try to run wired mode on the Momentum 4 to see what the difference are, and.......... it didn't sound too good to me LOL. So I THINK, this is similar to the Grado GW100 wireless headphone where they use digital tuning to "correct" the sound digitally. So the wireless mode actually sounds better than wired mode. Since the "tuned" sound is what they want you to hear. So here on I'll compare the sound quality to my wired headphone using Momentum's wireless mode.
As I previously mentioned I have a lot of Denon/Fostex headphones, and my current daily driver is Lawton Modded TH900 MK2 with Lyr 3 / Violectric V200 hooked up to SDAC.
Off the bat I'll say yeahhhhhh Momentum 4 can't live up to the resolution and depth and soundstage of my desktop setup BUT, I do think the tuning / tonal balance IS better on the Momentum 4. As I mentioned I struggle to find a vocal forward headphone that also has the tonal balance I like on treble and bass. TH900 is no exception, it's still not perfect but it's "close enough". But the Momentum 4 do win out on tonal balance but lose on resolution.
Again if I don't sit down and do some critical listening then the Momentum 4 is really enjoyable. Also we're comparing products that costs like........3-4 times the price of Momentum 4 so it's not really fair. But if you factor out the wireless aspect I do think on sound quality alone Momentum 4 do compare more directly to my Bose SoundTrue Around Ear and Sony MDR-1AM2. Though tuning wise the Momentum 4 and Bose SoudnTrue are better.
CONCLUSION
So as I mentioned I'm normally a wired guy and want to see if there's potential in wireless at this day and age. I definitely think it's getting close. It's not quite there yet but I have faith we'll get there. Again not at the fault of Sennheiser I think they made an excellent product, but for my use case (specific to me) I think I would prefer something more desktop friendly. Something with a desktop app and probably doesn't need noise cancelling? I know I'm in the niche market but one can dream LOL.
Maybeeeeee just maybe I could give Focal Bathys a try next time, again not really same price point so not a fair comparison. But I'm thinking something to bridge that wired desktop quality while having wireless functionality.
Otherwise I definitely had a fun on this tour and I'd like to thank Sennheiser for giving me this opportunity to try and write my first review on Head-Fi!
Please let me know if you have any questions, cheers!!!
Hyde00
ericpalonen
@Daniel Qi looks are definitely subjective but the new design folds up into a much more compact space (way flatter). For those that travel a lot the upgrade is welcome.
NickT23
Have I commented about the keyboard before ? Feels deja vu!
