Headphone Reviews

Sennheiser Momentum
Captive cord, about 1 meter long, terminating in 1/8" four-circuit TRS from the left ear. I assume the four circuit plug is for mobile phone control, but I can't find the switch, must be there somewhere. It works into a TRS 1/4" adapter so no worries. Circumaural pads are not very soft, about a B- grade for longterm comfort. Let's see what grade these Sennheisers are going to earn.

Listening note: Lonely Heart of Mine. Leah Larson, my master, 2496, from her beautiful bluegrass album Long Journey. Very well recorded acoustic bluegrass album made by the great equipment designer and musician Fred Forssell. If you love bluegrass, Leah is sincere and has a lovely voice and plays a mean fiddle.

Very promising start. Leah's slightly nasal bluegrass voice is rendered pretty accurately. Does the speed sound fast because her fundamentals seem light? Bass has a resonance somewhere around 70 or 80 and is lacking in the body department. Upper midrange is not bad at all, pretty accurate. But there seems to be a lack of transparency, giving these a downgrade. If Sennheiser sells these for less than $200, grab them, these seem to be the most accurate cans in the pile so far.

Nothing fatiguing yet...but wait! There seems to be a resonance in the 7k region, it just rings out on vocals when she sings her peaks. Is this resonance the infamous Sennheiser curse? Now that I've identified their curse, these cans are much more open than my HD 600s but not as irritating as the unmodified HD800. When am I going to hear a Sennheiser phone that I'm going to love unequivocably? Oh yeah, the Orpheus, I know.

Listening note: Mambo Dalegria by Maria Dalegria. Sorry, this master is not publicly available (pity). Dynamic and impacting BK master of a Latin Jazz band from Spain, 2496.

Hmmm...initially very pleasant, a full sounding beginning. Cymbals might be a bit emphasized but not terribly. Aha... here's the rub, the trumpets have the same narrow band edge I heard on Leah's voice, confirming a narrow resonance around 7k. The bass instrument is pleasant. Vocal sounds nice however. I'd say if you can mate these with a sweet amp to tame them you'll have a nice bargain. But only if there is an inexpensive DAC and amp ready to mate with these. I wouldn't combine $200 headphones with a $1000 amp and DAC unless the cans were superb, and these are not superb. Check out the Schiit and O2 line for mating bargain components to go with these cans. That would make a good entry level or second system.

Bottom line: Initially attractive, if mated to the right amp and DAC. If not, skip 'em, they can quickly get fatiguing. $229 at Crutchfield, so I have nailed the price!

Read full InnerFidelity Sennheiser Momentum review.
Discontinued. Product page for successor Sennheiser Momentum 2.