Sennheiser Momentum 4 vs Sony WH-1000XM4 vs WH-1000XM5 Sound Comparison 🔥

Get them here:

✅ Bitcoin Tip Jar: 32QpY8tkfg7Cn2zoKo97E4Uyjg7rJWfKqN

Affiliate Links
When you make a purchase through the Affiliate Links here, I earn a small cut for the sale at no cost to you, and this helps the channel out in a big way. Thank you for your support!

00:00 60 hours of battery, so what?
01:09 Sound Quality
02:05 Sound Samples
03:11 EQ Effectivness
03:35 Sound quality problems!
04:23 Smart Control App
04:53 Adaptive Noise Cancelling
05:45 Noise Cancelling vs Sony XM4 and XM5
06:25 You can't turn it off!
06:53 Transparency Mode
07:28 Call Quality (Quiet Conditions)
07:57 Call Quality (Noisy Conditions with Wind)
09:18 What I love about M4
10:33 What I DON'T love about M4
11:24 The biggest problem with the M4!

[Gershwnn]

I own the Momentum 4s (former xm4) and have tried the Sony xm5s. I find the xm5 to have better noise cancelling than the momentum 4s if you're just wearing the headphones without music, but with music the difference is negligible.The mic quality on both headphones are very similar, however it is true the xm5s have better noise isolation. As for the sound quality, I think the momentum 4s are unmatched, especially just based off the default EQ settings (which I later adjusted to my preferences). Every person that I have given the headphones to to try have all said every instrument and frequency is clear as if they are all laid out in front of you, allowing every aspect of the track to shine. I also noted that in listening to my favourite songs, the depth was mind- blowing. I was able to hear things in the track that I hadn't heard listening to the same song with a speaker. And when you consider the price, it only adds to the amazement. £/$/€100 less for better sound quality and 60. hours. of battery life (I've been using these headphones for 5/6 days and haven't charged them since I got them), only at the cost of slightly worse ANC and mic noise isolation. In my eyes, these are hands down the best headphones on the market right now, I cannot recommend them enough. I wish everyone could just hear for themselves because that's the only way you could truly do them justice. Hats off to sennheiser, I don't think I'll be looking anywhere else for headphones anytime soon.

[gonk]

I was legitimately waiting just for your review. You bring up some criticisms that other reviewers haven't for some reason and you are brutally honest.

[tirathfaldu]

I have tried all three let me tell you my opinion.

1) XM4 are bass heavy out of the box compared to M4 and especially compared to XM5.

2) People say XM4 doesn't have a high range but you can always adject it in EQ(i was using OnePlus 8T so i was using Dolby Atmos EQ). When i tried to increase the bass in XM5, the sound started to crack. M4 has good tight bass but not as much as XM4

3) In the ANC department XM4 & XM5 destroy M4. Personally, i can't differentiate between XM4 & XM5.

4) In microphone voice quality XM5 is best. Then XM4 and at last M4.

5) XM4 feels little loss. When you move your head it feels like it can fall down. The M4 has a little bit of a tight grip. XM5 has the best feel while wearing it.

6) Believe me don't go for LDAC s**t. In real life you can't notice any difference if you are using a music subscription having 320kbps quality (personally i tried tidal also and not very very slight difference in some songs when we especially look for it).

7) M4 sound feel like it surround your ears while XM5 and especially XM4 feel like sound is through directly to your ear.

8) Battery life is as individual specifications.

Final verdict:

See, you are only looking for great sound quality or great battery life then go for M4. For good sound quality and great ANC go for XM5(when i increased the bass in EQ it started cracking between 20-60HZ, don't know if this was an issue with my device or universal). Finally, if you are looking for great ANC and Bass heavy sound quality go for XM4(Note: you can always increase high end in EQ but you can't increase "clean bass without distortion" in EQ without compromising mid and high).

Hope it helps 🙂

[levi]

Can confirm Sennheiser still hasn’t fixed the balancing issue I bought a pair of Momentum 4s and as a audio engineer I noticed immediately that audio was unbalanced and overall louder on the right side, they sounded good even with that problem but it was very annoying so I ended up returning them. I don’t care how good they sound I just can’t get down with the unbalanced audio especially if I’m paying close to $400 I expect the quality control to be better

[jeremytheoneofdestiny]

Sennheiser released a new “sound personalization” feature last year, and you can radically change the sound of the headphones using it. It has allowed me to bring the mids and trebles out in a way that the standard EQ doesn’t even come close to, and gets rid of that boomy bass-heavy sound that came with them out of the box.

[STRDVD]

I'm sticking with my discounted XM-4s. Also, hindsight 20-20 as it were, I'm glad I went for the Sennheiser TWS Momentum 3s for the win as their noise cancelling is bloody amazing.

[tanadetmaitrichit]

Both Sony have more bass sound than Sennheiser momentum 4 that they are excellent for the movie listening.🎶🎧🥁 But, Sennheiser momentum 4 gives feeling much better for the guitar sound rhythms🎸with clearer and more natural voices like real music instruments.🎶🎧🥰 Both Sony and Sennheiser have different musical styles.

[Alex-kycd]

Nice review. I picked up the Momentum 4 recently and am really liking it so far (hardware version 4.0, firmware 2.9.12). Really comfortable and great sound. I tried a balance test but couldn't perceive a difference. I thought the ANC was the best I've tried but your tests clearly show the Sony XM5 is a step up. But the $100 price difference and 60 hr battery life are good reasons to lean towards the Momentum.

[maxborn]

Appreciate your in-depth analysis and sampling for various conditions/audio quality. Haven't seen other reviewers make that much effort. I was thinking of buying Sennheiser M4, but after your detailed review, and the samples on your website, I can't help but think Sony XM4 and 5 are much better - for the price Sony XM4 > Sennheiser M4, even when latter is the more recent release. Sony XM4 might have problems with making calls in a noisy environment, but that's a very minor inconvenience (and I am not planning on running around with my headphones in public anyway).
Picking headphones seems to be much more difficult than buying a whole computer. Subscribed to your channel because how easy you make it for the viewers to get a good idea of what the headphones would sound like (discounting whatever headphones one uses to actually watch your videos 😅)

[ilciavo]

The clarity and color of the Momentum 4 is unique. I tested the XM4 and XM5, and they have an impressive ANC and software, but the sound lacks color and the bass is very punchy. It’s true that Seenheiser was bought by Sonova, and now they are trying to innovate, which is a learning curve. I hope that the app and features evolve in the following months.

[stephenderong]

I didn't notice the L & R balance being off with my pair, everything sounded great. Unlike the Ashdown Meters, the balance was so bad I had to return them. I was initially disappointed in the 3 band EQ, but after listening to many genres of music, I actually find it best to just leave it flat. I do wish the transparency mode gave me a little more transparency because I still can't hear anyone talking to me even if it's cranked all the way up.

[TheKillerind]

Been using the Momentum 4 for over a week now and tried my friend's XM4 today. I almost thought that my headphones were broken. The passive ANC on the XM4 are on another level.

[Ryuugaminechan]

Man! You've come a long way. The first video I watch from you was about the popping sound in xm3

[RonMar]

This was a review for the Sennheiser M4, but it sold me on the Sony XM5. I'm a fan of Sennheiser, but, since I made the change to wireless bluetooth noise reducing headphones, I've been team Sony -- And I've tried many, many brands (many of them budget noise celling NC headphones I will admit). Including some early Sennheiser noise cancelling headphones which were just awful. (I like Senn's wired headphones though.)
I've been using the Sony noise cancelling headphones since the XM3's. I'm on XM4 and will upgrade to XM5 when the opportunity presents itself.

[kochnevalexei]

As owner of two pairs from this comparison I can say: all true and issue with balance too! ANC on m4s and whxm4 is comparable. Mic is better on sennheiser. But I have one worst moment: Sennheiser is boiling on my ears, if environment not cool… But sound and stage on m4 are unbelievable, and moreover better than on px7s2 with lower price

[QualquerCoisa]

I get always so excited to watch your videos reviews! Amazing! You are the best reviewer of all here! Thanks! Big hug!

[benb]

Its great to see some sound signature's, but that seems somewhat moot when you have EQ.
It would be great to see EQ'd results, close to flat, close to harman curve, etc. I know that is asking a lot, but looking at stock curves does not tell the full story.

[RubenFlamand]

Went to a local store yesterday and spent a long time listening back to back, to different headphones. I was no fan off the momentum 4, yed it had a lot off detail, but they lacked a balance. On some jazz tracks the saxophone sounded overly bright and even harsh. Bass was not very good, there was to much and it was boomy, also not very transparent or defined. Also tryed de bose 700, not very impressed. Dit much better in the bass department as far ass transparency and defenition go. Not bad really, better than the momentum 4. De sony xm5 felt most natural although it was to bass heavy for me, more so than the momentum 4. But it was much easyer to listen to. Seperation was much better than the momentum 4 and bose 700. There was no harshness, yet there was a lot of detail. The xm4 was even more bass heavy and lacked the seperation of the xm5. Also tryed the jbl tour one, this was a suprice! It seemed to be the most balanced of them all! Seperation was very good, al very balanced sound, althoug still a little bit to much upperbass, but the least of them all. It was clearer then the xm5, but no where as harch ass the momentum 4. Later on in a different store i found the momentum 3 and pxc 550-ii. The latter didnt have the same testing songs, but the momentum 3 sounds much better to me than the momentum 4. Very different sound overal. The momentum 3 was much more laid back, neutral and natural than the momentum 4. What a difference. The momentum 3 are much more alike the xm5, not as big bass than de xm5, which is a good thing. But z bit too much upper bass, this was very noticable whit gregory porter and some other music, the upperbass consumed some midrange detail. Treble was nice and easy to listen to. The pxc 550-ii won the game for me. This was the most neutral and audiophile of them all. Very clear and detailed midrange, no bass boomyness, but very detailed contrabasslines and stuff like that, all the others made contrabass pluks so boomy that every detail was lost. Pxc 550-ii did this the best, for a little more bass but retaining most of the detail in this region I would recommend the jbl tour one. Both af these ar most neutral and balanced. Jbl wass a bit more treble heavy, but still whitin an eccaptable margin. Bit realy, the pcx 550-ii seemed to me to be the most audiophile and comparable to what I experienced with a good hifi se of speakers and amp!

[iamDoUdAr]

Extra reason for ppl to turn off ANC is that it can cause headaches for some ppl like myself. I have WF1000XM4 and I can't have ANC on unless its really needed.

Thanks for the good videos

[GahMehGrrrr]

listening on HD660S prefer the Momentum 4. Thanks. you helped me make up my mind