Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wired vs bluetooth sound

Submitted by Memorycard1000 t3_1184bhf in headphones

Hi. I am really curious about some stuff.

1: Is the sound better if you use the aux instead of bluetooth with these? Say, if you plug them wired into your phone for example.

2: For you out there who owns these plus some good audiophile headphones. Are the M4s up there? Are they up there both wireless and wired? Say against beyerdynamic 700pro x, audio Technica ATH-M50X, or whatever you own and can compare too.

I have watched a lot of reviews about the Momentum 4 and they all seem to praise the sound. But it's still so hard to tell where it compares to wired regular headphones. Right?

Plus noone ever brings up if the wired vs bluetooth sound is the same with the Momentum 4.

3: I've read alot about all the software bugs but that was months back. Is most fixed now? Ok.

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Pauoolk t1_j9g482f wrote

I haven’t tried the M4 yet, but I owns the M3 since it came out. And I can tell you that using it wired is shit ! The sound isn’t as good at all and there are LOTS of parasite noise coming from the cable. Also, the headphone sounds horrendous without the noise-cancelling activated ! (For many years though, I considered it to be the best sounding headphones that I had ever tried, when ANC is activated at least. So I don’t even criticise the headphone as a whole, I loved it.)

So, if you need to activate the ANC to make it sound good, you need the headphones to be charged at all time, and then it is a bit stupid to use it wired because it won’t use less battery !

Which is the number 1 reason that made me stop buying ANC headphones, I became annoyed at having to charge it all the time for it to work. I bought a Hifiman Sundara a few months ago, and boy it is the best audio move I’ve done in years.. sound quality is far far better ! I can’t use it on my phone anymore though but that’s okay.

So I would say, if you are not about to use the M4 mainly outside, you’d rather buy a non-ANC headphone. With the same amount of money you can buy a headphone that sound 3x better (noise cancelling technology is pricy but useless at home)! 🤗

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Memorycard1000 OP t1_j9g6alp wrote

Thanks for that. 👍

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Pauoolk t1_j9ge224 wrote

But re-reading my comment i realise it is still quite very negative. So let me say again that the Sennheiser Momentum are truly amazing and, to my humble opinion, far better than its equals from other brands (Sony or Bose, basically, and others) !! If you want an ANC, this one is i think the best one you could get, sound-wise ! (i think for ANC it may be Sony, but the sound isn't that good).

On the M3, the bass were perfect, you could feel the physical rumble when it hits low notes, without taking all the space and getting over the mids like the Sony's :). Its sound signature is still what i qualify as my preference, quite Neutral, with some nice quality bass.

The soundstage was very impressive for a closed headphone i found ! And i would have definitely bought the M4 if i wasn't annoyed at the charging part. And i didn't use it outside, so ANC is useless for me. This is when i realised that paying 350 euros on a wired/Non ANC headphone actually might give you an even better one if you choose wisely.

But if you're going to use it outside, then don't hesitate one sec to go for the M4 ! Personally i owned the M1, then the M2 and the M3 😂 and these ones made me become addicted to good-sounding stuff. You'll probably end up buying an audiophile headphone as well in the future after the M4 anyway haha.. It's the effect it does to you 😂

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Memorycard1000 OP t1_j9gg5sj wrote

No, this is truly what I was after. Personal experience. 👍 I agree with everything you say here. I own the Hyper x cloud Alpha and the Sennheiser hd 599. I am tempted on upgrading the closed back side of things. Although I find the Alpha more than good enough to me I like new stuff too. 😁

Well. I feel I got the answers I wanted. After some thinking I am definitely going to put the money on pure wired closed back headphones if I upgrade my Alphas. Sound quality is nr 1. I use iems when I'm out and about so I don't really need that bluetooth. But it feels kinda cool with all the features. Not gonna lie. ☺️

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BernabethWarners t1_j9fy70g wrote

  1. No. I don't believe the DSP is in use while plugged in, That's how these ANC headphones sound decent.
  2. I own them/use all the time due to the NC and isolation. They do these things well, which also happens to be what they were designed for. My Edition XS are huge, not very mobile even when connected to something like my 5k, and leak sound both ways.
  3. I haven't experienced any software bugs, also out of the loop on any feedback/commentary from other owners though

I own them/use all the time due to the NC and isolation. They do these things well, which also happens to be what they were designed for, at half the cost of the PX8 or Bathys.

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playgroundmx t1_j9faqmp wrote

I noticed most reviews don’t really cover this too. They only test wireless headphones in wireless mode, despite the headphones can also be used in wired mode.

I can only assume it’s because wired mode just sounds the same on the majority of headphones? There was a clear difference on my HD450BT; I’ve always wondered if this is the odd one out.

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Memorycard1000 OP t1_j9fb1vp wrote

Thank you. Someone more out there who noticed this too. ☺️

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[deleted] t1_j9fcm3d wrote

A lot of BT headphones use DSP to change FR and thus try to improve FR.

Even the 1000€ Mark Levinson 5909 does this, as you can see here.

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VisceralVoyage420 t1_j9ffifq wrote

I used to have Momentum 2.0, they were... okay. I then upgraded to B&W PX8, most people agree that they're on a whole different level than the Sennheiser Momentum 4. HOWEVER, compared to the Hifiman Edition XS I use at home, they're not as good. I doubt the Momentum 4 is as good as a proper wired headphone setup and they sound their best wireless, because they're designed to be used that way. The only time you'd use them with a wire is if they run out of battery and even then I don't know if they even work "passive"/unpowered.

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Memorycard1000 OP t1_j9fgdp1 wrote

Oh. You have some nice pair of headphones man. 👍I'm not surprised the momentum 4 aint up there. ☺️ Anyways. Thanks for the info about the momentum 4 sounding best with the wireless thing. I think I can be at ease with what I got already. But I find these things really interesting. ☺️

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Junior-Repair6778 t1_j9gnjhg wrote

  1. I found that the sound does significantly improve when plugging them using the provided cable vs. over Bluetooth (could be that I get to use my dedicated amp/dac v.s. whatever's built into the headphone?). I do think you lose the ability to have ANC with them plugged in though, so this option is best used at home.
  2. I have the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, the Sennheiser 6xx, and the Momentum 4. Compared to the DT770, the Momentum 4 has less punch in the bass, and slightly less emphasized highs, but the M4 has warmer mids and sound overall more detailed. Compared to the 6xx, the Momentum 4 have more bass and more highs, but are less detailed, especially in the mids. Overall, I'd say, DT770 <= Momentum 4 << 6xx, but that's just my preference. I think the DT770 and Momentum 4 are pretty even when plugged in, just depends if you want more of a V shaped sound with punchier bass (DT770) or a warmer sound (Momentum 4). 6xx has detail that just far exceeds both of the others.
  3. I did experience software bugs when I first got my M4. They failed to pair, would pair and then not play any sound, and there was even a time where they wouldn't turn on or respond to any button presses at all. I was able to factory reset them to fix the issues, and since the most recent firmware update they have been acting as they should with no issues. Definitely update them as soon as you get them though.

&#x200B;

Overall, I like the M4 when I'm on the go as they have ANC and Bluetooth. I rarely plug them in, but I think they'd make a great can if they are your only higher end headphone and you need to be on the go.

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Memorycard1000 OP t1_j9gpbp4 wrote

Nice! I have been very close to buying the dt 770 before then the really nice looking dt 700 pro x came out... There's so many options but I must confess I will use them mostly with my series x so I don't think the controller can give them justice.

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ricardo9505 t1_j9f7tbe wrote

Anything wired is superior to Bluetooth. Always

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[deleted] t1_j9fabai wrote

Delta airline complementary earbuds.

Case in point.

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Memorycard1000 OP t1_j9faymc wrote

? I don't get it. And please don't downvote my post. 😖

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[deleted] t1_j9fc3px wrote

Well, the guy said that anything with a wire is ALWAYS better than BT.

The Delta Airline complementary earbuds are utter TRASH and a waste of plastic.

So, they are the perfect example for a wired pair of headphone that sucks and there are many more.

It aint as simple as saying wire>BT. That is like arguing that gasoline engines are more powerful than diesel engines. It all depends on the engines (headphones) in question.

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Memorycard1000 OP t1_j9fcqsq wrote

Alright 👍 The post is about Wired vs bluetooth on the same headphone though. The Momentum 4s in particular. ☺️

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Memorycard1000 OP t1_j9f8cnc wrote

Ok. 👍 My thoughts is if the internal dac has become really good these days. Like if the Momentum 4s internal dac is so good it actually matches, say your phone? Or is the bluetooth in itself ruining the sound somehow however good the rest is?

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