Sennheiser Momentum 4, a Real-life Review

Hi everyone!

I got the Sennheiser Momentum 4 noise canceling headphones as a Christmas gift last year on a good deal, and ever since I've been using it whenever I go places. This time, I took it on my flight from the US back to China. I'd like to share with you some thoughts after wearing them on the flight.

I mainly bought them to have quality music with noise canceling, so I can travel comfortably. These didn't disappoint. They cut out the plane engine noise to the volume like that of a car or air conditioner hum (I tried describing what I heard), and the low rumble was gone. Music sounds very good on these headphones, especially wired. As you know, you can connect these not only to Bluetooth, but also the audio jack, and USB-C when you have a laptop. It doesn't have ASIO, though, sadly. Sorry, off-topic. Back to my travels.

I decided to not take them off, or at least try to do so, so I can test if they are comfortable or not. I'm happy to say that after 14 hours of wearing, my ears didn't feel too much hurting. There was a little bit of hurting from wearing a mask, but when the mask was taken off, the headphones themselves felt alone on my ears felt no pressure at all. So I consider them very comfortable.

Over all, I'm very satisfied with the performance of the Momentum 4s. Some people say that there are other headphones that cancel noise better than these, but the Momentum 4s sound better, and I go for sound quality anyday.

So much for now, just some random thoughts. Thanks for reading!

David

David Lai Thanks for reading!

Hi David,

Interesting read, thank you for posting!

It is good to know about these in case I get back to air travels.

Cheers and happy flights,

HZ

I'm going to be flying soon - which I hate doing - across North America and I'm thinking about getting some noise canceling headphones. They might even be useful in my garage now that summer is here and my wife keeps turning the air conditioner on. Since the air handler part is in the garage it competes with my Genelecs when I'm playing the piano. Momentum 4's might be just what I need to cancel out the air condition noise while giving me good sample sounds.

God Bless,
David

David B Well, David, if you decide to use the Momentum 4 plugged in, be aware there is a delay between when you play the key and when you hear the sound when you turn them on and noise canceling is on. I still haven't heard a pair of headphones that doesn't have such delays, which is sad. That said, 60 hours of battery life means you have a long time for music. I haven't charged mine since I've been back, and it's been a week. Granted, it's been raining here lately, so I couldn't take my headphones with me or I'll risk them not working.

HZPiano Yes, HZ. I think it's the best buy I've ever made! These are more spacious than Sony headphones, I can tell you that. Also, the battery life is truly amazing, and if you use them plugged in, you can leave them uncharged for a week!

David Lai David, if you decide to use the Momentum 4 plugged in, be aware there is a delay between when you play the key and when you hear the sound when you turn them on and noise canceling is on. I still haven't heard a pair of headphones that doesn't have such delays, which is sad.

I guess that wouldn't work for playing my piano. I don't know anything about noise canceling headphones. However, the Momentum 4's you mentioned sounded like something I could use in my garage to cancel out the air condition noise when playing the piano. My current open back Sennheiser don't help in that area at all. It sounds like there is nothing that would work without delay except over the ear, non-canceling, closed back headphones. That would help with the noise better than my open back phones.

God Bless,
David

David B Yes, only a few more MS, but I can feel it, at least… Not as bad as the Sony headphones I used to use, but it's there. So take it what you will. I say that for music listening, these work best.

Hello,

Wow, I just saw the price. My recently purchased (and very nice) HD 560s were more or less half of that.

Oh well, by the time I can afford tickets to the US and/or Canada again I guess a Momentum 4 expense would feel more within reach as well.

Cheers and happy nose cancelling,

HZ

HZPiano It's "noise canceling," or you can just do ANC (active noise canceling). 🙂 That said, yeah, I got them at 25% off. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't get these headphones in the first place.

@HZPiano I love my HD 560's too, as well as my Sony XM2's for noise cancelling on planes. I can imagine how the Momentum 4's could work well in both situations. I think Sony is one of the best ANC headphone companies, and Sennheiser is one of the best large market open backed headphone companies.

dore_m You have a point, Dore. Sony is doing very well with their ANC headphones. But I don't like the bass heavy tuning they usually have, so didn't choose the XM5s.

I travel so much that I have different headphones for different purposes.