Sennheiser Momentum 4 Headphones Review | Mark Ellis Reviews

It’s time for a much-requested review of the Sennheiser Momentum 4 noise-cancelling headphones. These often slip under the radar against the likes of Sony and Bose, but what are they really like? With a great price and massive battery life, these could be ‘the one’, right?

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I have zero interest in deep spec dives or long-winded comparisons. I review laptops, smartphones, tablets, headphones and the latest tech based on real experience. I'll tell you how it'll make you feel, whether or not it's worth your time (and money) and help you find the tech you need to get stuff done.

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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
00:43 - Pricing and specs
01:39 - Sound and noise cancelling
04:29 - Comfort and convenience
06:40 - Niggles
08:00 - Momentum 3 vs Momentum 4
09:20 - Conclusion

[MarkEllisReviews]

Who's up for these new Momentums, then?

[thetruth]

I tried them, and only one thing Wow. The sound stage is wide, the bass is punching and clean, this highs are clear, amazing amazing headphones

[slartybartfarst]

Excellent call on Sledgehammer. In my days as a live sound engineer before systems became computers Sledgehammer was a first choice track to tune a System.

[sonicslm]

Awesome review. I bought these and the XM4's recently. I totally understand the love for XM4's, they are a fantastic pair of headphones. That said, I personally consider the Momentum 4's to be a full class above in terms of sound quality. I have found the XM4's to have an annoying on-head external sound profile, they are 'noisy' cans when moving the head. And the Momentum 4's just have much more shape and character in the bass frequencies. These Sennheiser cans are the best consumer headphones I have owned, in my humble opinion. I would equate the first time I listened to my music through these cans to the first time I walked into the main room at Ministry of Sound and got hit by the Martin Audio W8 Stack. For reference my listening preferences are Trance, House, Techno, and electronic pop.

[lesterng]

Bought this pair because of your review and they are spot on! Mixed reviews from different sources but for me SQ, comfort, multipoint pairing is far superior vs the XM5. ANC is quite comparable not an issue at all.

[hiroshi]

I was not satisfied with XM5 and happy to hear that Momentum 4 is a decent upgrade. Personally, I love the new look, especially the white one

[CHUNKYLOZZA]

Excellent review video once again. No waffle, spoken in layman terms, straight to the point with a non bias approach. Thank you Mark 👍

[moltenbullet]

I remember the original momentum, with the ivory and brown. I ended up selling them off because my ears were a touch too large... but man, those were among the most beautiful headphones i've ever owned. I wished they'd kept the design language.

[roymorrison]

Well done Mark. You’re on the money with this one. I never liked the ‘mushy peas’ sound of the XM4, the XM5 is better but still behind the Apple AirPods Max and definitely behind these. If you get a chance try the B&O beoplay HX (or H95) and the Beyerdynamic Amiron’s as they are pretty good as well. The sennheiser’s are definitely the best value at the minute and deserve to sell really well. Good honest review as always.

[johangustafsson]

When you (at 7:30) talked about the sensitive touch control and that you by mistake turn the music on, its probably has nothing to do with that. You have the auto music feature on which turn the music on automatically. I think you can disable that in the setting. My personal opinion is that the touch control work great and Sennheiser has the perfect "sensetivity balance" for the touch.
Cheers!

[maxm]

Really great review - and thank you for Unfinished Sympathy mention - it was THE song to realize how good these sound comparing to Bose and Sony's similar offering. I don't care that much about ANC, but it's there and does the right job for me. The Quality and comfort on these are top notch... love it. You totally won a subscriber with this review! :)

[NeverStark]

I bought a refurbished pair of Momentum 4s, so maybe there's something wrong with them - but I found their ANC to be so lacking that I decided to pay full price for the Sony XM5s for comparison. Where ANC is concerned, between these two the difference is pretty stark. I do wonder how much 'head shape' enters into it and the seal the headphones are able to create. I find that if I'm laying back on a pillow and it pushes the earcups forward (on either model) that can noticeably change the perceived ANC performance. I've decided to keep the Sony's (which I don't think are as comfortable and which have half the battery life) and returning the Momentum 4s.

I also don't think enough is said about EQ options when comparing and contrasting sound quality. I find with the Sony's I can use the app's 5 band EQ, DSEE toggle, and clear bass slider to really dial in a sound I like much more easily than I can with the Senns. I appreciate that flexibility, and I'm curious what EQ settings you use for these evals.

Great music choices, by the way! Sledgehammer was one of the most influential songs of my childhood, and Steely Dan is a long time fav.

[ivarmarkusson]

i think the reason for the look change is that the momentum 4 are also supposed to replace the pcx550's, so their look resembles the look they had.

i just went from a pcx 550-II to momentum 4, man the momentum's are great.

[manuvb]

I already got the Xm4´s and after watch this video I'm thinking about trying these another ones, thanks pal for your accurate analysis...

[blauphus]

I chose the Momentum 4 over all the others (and believe me, I tried nearly every pair o' head cans on the market, through the course of about 2 months). I've very happy with my choice. The sound IS top notch! It made sense too, as I have the Senn AMBEO Soundbar & the Sennheiser AMBEO Smart headset (for field recording). A few minor issues though (one you touched on in the intro)...the 'is it on or is it off' thing can be a bit annoying. And I've found that is 'very eager' to connct to whatever Bluetooth device is transmitting. For example— listening on my phone, then take them off & set them down...they'll steal the to Mac audio! (bluetooth always on for KB & mouse.) A bit annoying. And yeah—the transparency mode is pretty weak, very muffled. One thing though, that you didn't mention is the 3.5 mm wired connection, which works even WITHOUT the 'phones powered up. THAT to me, is important. It sort of 'future proofs' them. Great review!

[RagavJanardhan]

Will there be a video comparing the Momentum 4's against the XM4/5's? And a great video by the way, love to see what's coming next.

[Landofalcon]

Never heard of Pop Evil, but damn, that Breathe Again is awesome! thanks for the rec 👍

[keysncoffee]

Thank you so much for your incredible review. This made the decision easy for me and I went with the Momentum 4’s because of this very video.

It is important to note that with the most recent updates to the app, even when the headphones are straight out of the box, the sound quality and customizability is through the roof!

If anyone else is getting these headphones please don’t simply use it in its stock form. You’re getting about 66% of the full potential!

[filipepaninho]

Nice review! In the end I just love the Momentum 3 classical looks, would be my option! Currently using HD25 Light and HD250BT.

[glonash]

I just got these and loving them, they are my first premium headphones and the sound is so crisp. I got them brand new for cheap from marketplace (AUD 200). If anyone is guess whether they should get these; go for them.