[lamboman]

Hi all,
 
After a rather poor customer service experience with Apple, they have offered me £100 to spend on anything that I would like from their online store (which of course means a limited range of headphones). This should mean that I will be able to essentially get a substantial discount on any goods that I want. 
 
I went into my local Apple Store and had a listen to a few models, and ended up with the following conclusions (note that due to the way the headphones were wired, some static noise could be heard and sound quality will be slightly worse in the store):
 

1. Harman Kardon Classic (CL), £170 - veiled sound. Bass heavy, not exactly tight bass, but not diabolical. The bass and mid-bass appeared to be well balanced. Pretty poor overall.
2. B&W P5, £250 - better, but not amazing. A bit too bass light.
3. Sennheiser Momentum, £260 - close to what I'm looking for. Warm sound, slight bass-heavy sound signature but nothing ridiculous. Could do with less though. Unfortunately, the mids and highs in particular sounded "artificial", a bit synthesised, in a way.
4. Logitech UE6000, £170 (only in active mode as the display models cannot be put into passive mode) - extremely bass heavy, completely drowning out everything else. Even though I haven't heard them, I could imagine in passive mode they would be far too bass heavy still.

 
From what I have read, the Harman Kardon BT has slightly less bass than the CL (which is what I'd want) that is tighter and more controlled, and the mids and highs are clearer and have a bit more sparkle. My question is, how does the BT compare to the Sennheiser Momentum? I've had a good search but not much really comes up.
 
I heard a pair of HD25-IIs a while back, and didn't take well to them, so the Amperior is probably not for me. Similarly, I doubt that the Aiaiai TM-1 Studios would be for me, on the opposite end of the scale.
 
Any comparisons with the passive UE6000 or any other headphones that Apple offer in the £200-270 range would be appreciated.
 
Many thanks all!

 

[xStreame]

according to http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/surprisingly-good-logitec-ue6000-and-ue9000 the ue6000 should be sounding very good in passive mode. You might want to try them out again.

 

[lamboman]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately there is no way for me to try them out in passive mode, due to the display models being active only. Have read the review before and it seems that the bass is good, but not great. 
 
Any other opinions? How do the UE6000s stack up against the Momentums? Thanks

 

[awtryau89]

Personally I have had both and I prefer the Momentums. The Senns have less of a bass heavy signature even in passive mode. I really liked the UE6000s and they made the music very fun but the bass just bleeds to much into the rest of the spectrum to me. 

 

[lamboman]

Thanks for the reply. I thought it'd be something like that. Main interest is still the Harman Kardon BT, and how they compare to the Momentum, particularly at the lower end. Still found the Momentum a dash heavy in store, though hopefully a bit of EQ can sort that out.

 

[guyuemuziye]

I had both ue6000 and Momentum. I'm keeping Momentum and have already returned UE 6000.
UE 6000 is a very good phone especially considering its price tag. Speaking of fun, UE 6000 in active mod is surely more fun than Momentum to me. Way more deep and punchy bass and wider soundstage, it is great to use it in some noisy environment or to rock some tracks up. But in most of my folk and jazz tracks, mid-range is just too recessed and emotionless. It is unacceptable to me even for leisure listening.
In passive mod, UE 6000 could NOT be fully drived by a IPC. It is much more balanced but way too boring. Momentum is much better in this way. It's very clear, balanced in general and warm. I find the bass in Momentum is fine for me. It's emphasized but still well controlled in my ears. More importantly it's just very easy and comfortable to use. I found myself spend more time with it than my painfully great home use can: HE400... Momentum is simply the best portable closed back can without amp I have ever used.
Well, with amp (in my case, an O2), UE 6000 in passive mod is surprisingly good. The improvement of UE 6000 is way more remarkable than Momentum. It practically improved in every way and It's more banlanced than Momentum giving you more space to EQ your music for analytical listening. But I'm purly looking for a portable can to use without amp...so I eventually choose to keep Momentum...
They are both excellent cans, UE 6000 has higher price to quality rate, but it's kinda of handicapped in active mod. Momentum is not a saver but it is kind of phones that you are willing to pay some extra money when you get used to it... Best!

 

[Cavcalade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamboman /img/forum/go_quote.gif

From what I have read, the Harman Kardon BT has slightly less bass than the CL (which is what I'd want) that is tighter and more controlled, and the mids and highs are clearer and have a bit more sparkle. My question is, how does the BT compare to the Sennheiser Momentum? I've had a good search but not much really comes up.

 
 
I have had the BT for three weeks now and I must say I like them very much. Unfortunately, I cannot compare them to the CL, the Momentum nor the UE's from Logitech.
 
Bass response is very nice but not too harsh. One thing that's important if you're planning on using them (hope that phrase is correct, sorry not a native speaker ) via Bluetooth only make sure you have an aptX device. The same for the UE9000. Otherwise you won't get the best sound out of them when hooked up wirelessly.
 
That's why I find it ridiculous that they're sold exclusively at the Apple Store (US) because almost none of their devices support aptX except the MacBook (and I'm not sure if all of them or only certain models). All current iPhones don't support it.
 
When connected via cable the sound improved a little bit, at least that's what I thought. I can be wrong because I did it only for a very brief time.
 
What can be a problem though is, that it's not real leather (I don't know for sure but I think it isnt) and it can get your ears wet after approx. 45 minutes of continued listening (at home at 20°C / 68 °F). It's not much but the earcups are a little bit wet. In the summer time and at high humiditiy this could be a major issue.
 
When I had them on for about 1 1/2h my left ear started to hurt. I had to remove them to get some air on my ears That's what bothers me the most, that there is absolutlely no ventilation for your ears when wearing them.
 
Also if you have rather large ears, you may find these uncomfortable because they're constantly pushing against the leather.
 
Nonetheless, I like it, it fits my ears and I have no problem removing it every once in a while.
 
You also might wanna watch this review, it's great!