Sennheiser MOMENTUM In-Ear Headphones
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,806 words · ~9 min read
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so my review of the sennheiser momentum in year started on what was either a
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very promising or very ominous note you see when manufacturers with whom i have
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a long-standing relationship simply drop something in the mail to me rather than
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asking if i want to review it first it either indicates that it's junk that
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they know no one will want but they have to send out a certain number of review
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units and they figure once it's in my hands i kind of have to review it or it
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indicates that they're certain it's going to blow my socks off so they want
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to get it in the mail rather than wait for me to confirm that my socks are on
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and ready to be blown off but which one is this
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if you're into earphones i guess watch on to find out
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and if you're into gaming pcs make sure you're subscribed because this video
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isn't about that but our 2014 holiday pc buyers guide is coming next week
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Corsair gaming RGB keyboards feature precision cherry mx RGB key switches for
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16.8 million color per key backlighting for virtually unlimited customization
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click now to learn more it starts with the package it always does doesn't it
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the momentum in ears come with four sizes of ear tips i used the extra small
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ones because the size of your ear canals obviously has nothing to do with other
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things my wife can back me up on this and this super amazing carrying case
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that i immediately discarded because any iem not rugged enough to be
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coiled up and thrown in my pocket is not worth buying to me i mean the thing is
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called momentum so if i can't keep it in my pants then i
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guess that's just nature for you right my wife can back me up on this too
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sorry what was i talking about right earphones so let's do the whole physical
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overview thing shall we we'll start with the bottom i guess where we find a four
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pole three and a half millimeter right angle jack attached to a one and a half
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meter long oval elliptical cable thing that manages to
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not be bulky but also be surprisingly tangle resistant for how light and thin
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it is moving up we've got a tasteful plastic accent where the black cable
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splits into a striking black and red color scheme that i think works really
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well a strong wire management slider and then the inline microphone and remote
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one of the biggest points of differentiation for this headset you see
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most manufacturers sit on either the Android or apple side of the fence so
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while the mic will work and volume control should work single pressing the
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middle button to play and pause audio might work and double or triple pressing
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for additional functionality probably won't if you don't have a compatible
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device because everyone handles the signaling on the phone end a little bit
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differently sennheiser is partially getting around this by maintaining two
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completely separate models of this in-ear one for apple users and one for
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samsung galaxy or Android users now this
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solution isn't perfect and many Android phones including ed z2 and luke's moto x
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still won't work with the galaxy version but my htc one m8 worked and brandon's
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nexus 5 worked just fine they have a compatibility list on their site so
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while it's not perfect at least it's a step in the right direction in kudos to
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sennheiser for this now let's have a look at the in-ears
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themselves while i don't consider if one earbud is slightly more
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fashionable than the next one as a top priority when shopping for something
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you're planning to wear outside of the house it can't be completely ignored
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either and i think sennheiser has done a good job here their logo is green
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engraved in a shiny multi-colored plastic end cap that's set into a black
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strain relieving wire loop thing and the rest of the housing is this shiny red
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plastic that might not go perfectly with my eye color but it's certainly
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eye-catching the ear tips are installed on a metal nozzle that sennheiser and
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i'm not sure if they're joking here calls a sound tunnel that sits at a 15
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degree angle to the rest of the housing for theoretically improved comfort and
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they are your run-of-the-mill silicone type with unfortunately no included
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memory foam tips although comply lovers need not despair as they should be
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compatible with aftermarket tips that work with the sennheiser ie8s now moving
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into the actual use of the momentum in ears i think i should start with my
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biggest gripe about these in ears they stay in my ears fine but i just didn't
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find them that comfortable your mileage may vary but having used ieees for so
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long i've gotten very accustomed to using my ears as cable strain relief and
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i found that in spite of the lightweight cable having their anchor point sticking
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so far out of my ears caused more pull than i'd like while i was wearing them
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user report reports on comfort seem to fly directly in the face of my
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experience though so it's possible that my ear shape simply doesn't work that
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well with them when it comes to comfort
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but the sound quality is a different story i did my listening with my usual
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mix of top 40 garbage music on an iphone 6 and an xperia z2 and initially i have
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to say i wasn't that impressed because i was comparing against my daily drivers
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the ie80s and next to those with the base ports dialed to 4 like i've been
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doing lately the bass is unexceptional and the mids lack strength but i
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realized after having already started writing my notes for this review what a
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stupid comparison that was because they cost a third as much as the ie80s so i
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picked up these similarly affordable and
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very very well regarded sure se215s
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specifically to have a reasonable head to head get it contender for the
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momentum in-ears and listening to those side by side gave me a completely new
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appreciation for the sound of these earphones they do have a v-shaped sound
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signature with more emphasis on the lows and highs but bass is well controlled
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and doesn't overpower the slightly recessed mids meaning that vocalists
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won't have that far away or tinny sound that you get with many beats generation
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tuned audio products highs are clear and detailed without any of the fatiguing
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harshness that i find so unappealing with headphones that have a lot of
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sparkle in the highs and overall i guess i would just say compared to the shirts
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they sound richer warmer and much more
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fun the sub bass rumble that you get from a really nice bass guitar in the
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background is powerful enough to make you really pay attention to it you can
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actually hear it but it doesn't muddy up the rest of the track they are a
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pleasure to listen to but like any hundred dollar product there
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are trade-offs and where the shares come away as clear winners is in noise
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isolation and comfort for me the first one i guess is justifiable if the idea
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is to wear them well walking around on train tracks and not get hit by a train
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that you don't hear coming but while the sure flexible wire over the air system
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might be a little bit cumbersome to put on and might look a little bit doofy as
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someone who doesn't need inline controls and likes his iem so comfortable he can
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sleep in them without a special pillow the se215s hold a lot of appeal but the
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missing piece of the puzzle here is long-term durability and one of our
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moderators on the forum has shared a horror story with me about the not very
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robust looking earphone connector failing multiple times within a few
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months until his warranty expires and with my experience with removable iem
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cables i don't find it terribly hard to believe so the conclusion is this solid
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product worthy of the momentum name comfort was a weak point for me but i
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seem to be in the minority here and gosh are they ever fun to listen to for a
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hundred bucks speaking of fun yahoo's aviate launcher
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is launching in canada and as someone who's never used a third-party launcher
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using it was a pretty different experience for me some stuff like the
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way it automatically categorizes your apps i was already able to do albeit
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manually with folders but the swipe up quick dialer is fast and intuitive the
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replacement app tray is much better to navigate than the ones in many Android
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skins the way it prompts you when relevant events occur like asking if you
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want to launch a music player when you plug in your headphones and app
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suggestions on the different spaces make the Android experience
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easier more than anything else especially for new users i mean i was
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expecting it to just kind of be full of yahoo apps to install
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but while some stuff like the news widget that sends you stories in the
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morning and after work are can be powered by yahoo a lot of the rest of it
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was just useful stuff that i hadn't thought of putting on my phone before so
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guys if any of that looked interesting to you check out yahoo aviate on the
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google play store there's a link in the video description and a big thanks to
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yahoo for sponsoring today's episode or aviate as it were
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guys like this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment if your feelings are more
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video description if you want to support us you can give us a monthly contribution buy a cool t-shirt like
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this one or change your amazon bookmarks one with our affiliate code so whenever you're
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that kind of stuff helps us out a lot thanks again for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe
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okay that voice clip's on there i'm out of here bye
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you