So believe it or not the sennheiser momentum 4 headphones are 3 years old now. But still, these are a good pair of headphones to consider cause they sound really… they dont sound as good as their predecessors… but they still sound very good. They block out a lot of noise, they have a lot of features, and therye constantly on sale now. So today we’re going to see how the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s compare to the brand new Sony 1000XM6’s, are the worth the premium and or are they worth the upgrade.
Regarding pricing, the Sony 1000XM6’s have a retail price of $450, which is up there but I still feel that they’re justifiable. Where as the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s have a retail price of $380 but they are constantly on sale for $300 or less. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two headphones up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button and if you want to further support the channel then you can always pick up some merch.
Now first lets talk about these included carrying cases. Now both of these headphones come included with hardshell cases which is great cause they are going to remain safe even if you stuff them into a cramped back pack… my main critique here is, the case that comes with the Momentum 4’s has a large foot print cause these headphones have a lay flat design to them, and this case is also pretty thick. So I feel that traveling with the Momentum 4’s isn’t a convenient as with the sony 1000Xm6’s cause this case is much smaller and thinner again, and this case has this new magnetic latch to it which makes it super easy to get in and out.
But with the case out of the way, lets talk about the headphones themselves. Now first off the Momentum 4’s have a lay flat design to them, which is why these headphones have such a large case. Where as the 1000XM6’s have a colpasble design to them again. Now both of these ear cups pivot and swivel a lot which is great for comfort and both of these headbands glide in and out. But personally I prefer when my headbands click cause its easier to find your fit. But if we move up the headband you’ll see the padding, and I do feel that both of these headbands had a little more padding to make them a little more comfortable.
But when it comes to fit, these headphones fit very differently from one another. Now when it comes to clamping force, both of these headphones are big head approved and they both have a neutral amount of clamping force. So even if you like to wear hats, both of these will have you covered. But when it comes to weight, the Sony 1000XM6’s weigh in at 254 grams… where as the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s weigh in at 295 grams, which isn’t awful like lets say the AirPods Max which clock in at 384… but with the Momentum 4’s these are a lot more noticeable while they’re on your head than the Sony 1000XM6’s cause 40 grams is a big deal.
And then there are the ear cups on these headphones. Now both of these ear cups should be able to fit most average sized ears. But if you have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot then you’ll want to go with the Momentum 4’s cause these ear cups are more spacious. Now the 1000XM6’s fit my ears just fine, but I do prefer and appreciate the more spacious ear pads on the Momentum 4’s. However with the momentum 4’s, since these earpads have more padding coming in contact with your skin and since this padding is so soft… these ear pads can heat up a little faster than the ear cups on the Sony 10000XM6’s.
But now lets talk about tech specs. When it comes to battery life, the Momentum 4’s dominate a lot of headphones out there, these have an advertised battery life of 60 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on. Which is super impressive and way above average.
Where as with the Sony 1000XM6’s these have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on, and with their ANC turned off they can go for as long as 40 hours. Now the battery life on the Sony 1000XM6’s is also really good and it also is a little above average… but the Momentum 4’s are in a different league.
And to charge these headphones, they both charge via a USB C port, which is what we expect. But these USB C port are a little different. With the Sony’s you can use these headphones while they’re charging which is good if you plan on using them as a gaming headset… but with the Momentum 4’s you can use this USB C port as a wired connection.
But nonetheless both of these headphones have an audio jack and they both come included with an audio cable so you can use these headphones with a with a wire connection.
And when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, both of these headphones can be connected to any 2 bluetooth devices at the same time regardless of eco system, which is good if you’re a power user cause you can hot swap from one device to another. And latency is not an issue for either of these headphones so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone. And when it comes to audio codecs, both of these headphones have support for SBC AAC and other higher quality audio codecs like APTX on the Momentum 4’s and LDAC on the Sony’s. However if you want to use these higher quality audio codecs you do have to be an android user cause iPhone’s top out at AAC… and with the Sony at least, if you use them with LDAC than that is going to take a toll on the battery life cause its going to go from 30 hours to 26 hours.
But now lets talk about sound. Now the Sony 1000XM6’s sound good. They have really good instrument separation, they sound very open and vocals are very well defined on these headphones. However these headphones aren’t all that much fun to listen to cause they bass doesn’t have all that much kick or resonance to it. Now you can adjust the EQ on these headphones, but I dont like to use a custom EQ on these headphones cause I feel like they lose some of their instrument separation.
But then there are the Sennheiser Momentum 4, now I still feel that the Sennheiser Momentum 3’s sound better than the Momentum 4’s, but nonetheless these still sound very good. Compared to the Sony 1000XM6’s… the Momentum 4’s actually manage to sound a little more open and they dont put as much emphasis on people’s voices… but more importantly the bass on these headphones both resonates a lot more and it kicks a lot more. So plainly said, yes the Momentum 4’s sound more open and a little more balanced than the Sony… and they sound more fun cause they have a more dynamic bass.
Now when it comes to the media controls on the these headphones… all of these headphones are using touch pads. But personally, I do prefer Sony’s touch pads over the momentum 4’s cause I’ve found that Sony’s touch pads do a much better job of rejecting accidental inputs. Where as with the Momentum 4’s… I feel that these are just a little too sensitive for my taste.
And both of these headphones have built in wear sensors, so they are both going to automatically play and pause your music when you put them on and when you take them off. now personally I dont really care for wear sensors so I just usually turn them off, but they are there if you want them.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones. For the last few years, the Sony 1000XM5’s have been the best headphones to travel with cause they blocked out the most amount of noise… and thanks to their built in atmospheric pressure sensors, both the Sony 1000XM5’s and Sony 1000XM4’s blocked out the most amount of noise while at cruising altitude. At cruising altitude, the Sony 1000XM4’s are able to block out noticeably more noise than both the Bose QC Ultra and Bose QC.
But now, we have the Sony 1000XM6’s and these continue to block out a ton of noise, and they block out noticeably more noise than the Sony 1000XM5’s as well. But more importantly, the Sony 1000XM6’s are able to block out more noise than the sennheiser momentum 4’s but so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
ANC Test
So first off, the ANC on the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s performs very well and its able to keep up with both the Bose QC Ultra and Sony 1000XM6’s…. However the Sony are just able to block out more noise. Specifically with the Sony 1000XM6’s there’s much less of a high pitched hum when it comes to blocking out lower frequency sounds like road noise or jet engine… and people’s voices are much better blocked out as well. Simply put, yes the sony 1000XM6’s are blocking out significantly more noise than
But what really makes the XM6 special is just like with the XM5’s and XM4’s, these have built in atmospheric pressure sensors and they are constantly calibrating themselves. And while at cruising altitude, both the XM5’s and XM4’s are able to block out way more noise than lets say the Bose QC Ultra, Bose QC Headphones, AirPods Max or Sennheiser Momentum 4’s, so its also safe to assume that the XM6’s are also going to block out a ton of noise while flying, and rest assured that we will be putting out a separate video on that.
But overall, yes the Sony 1000XM6’s block out noticeably more noise than both the Bose QC Ultra and Sennheiser Momeutm 4 while at ground level… and these are poised to be the best ANC Headphones to fly with cause they are going to block out the most amount of noise while at cruising altitude thanks to their atmospheric pressure sensors.
But then theres the ambient mode on these headphones. Overall I feel that the Sony 1000XM6’s have a better sounding ambient mode cause it sounds more natural and their microphone array does a much better job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors. Where as with the momentum 4’s, for some reason they prioritize noise pollution over people’s voices. But also both of these headphones have extra features in their ambient modes. First off theres the 1000XM6’s which have speak to chat which works like this.
Speak to chat demo
But personally, I’m not a really big fan of speak to chat because it is very easy to accidentally active it. If you’re talking to yourself very quietly that can activate it, if you’re singing along to your music, that can activate it, if you start laughing that can active it, and on rare occasions loud enough outside noises can activate it. So that’s why I don’t use it.
Personally, I still prefer to use quick attention on these headphones cause its a lot more intentional. When you fully cover the touch pad on these headphones they’re going to lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you like this.
Quick attention demo
And then when you let go, the headphones will go back to normal. Now like I said, I prefer quick attention cause its a lot more intentional. And this feature is extremely useful especially when you’re flying with these headphones. But I still feel that sony should change it so that when you have this touchpad covered for 5 seconds or more, they should lock themselves in this state so that you can let go, cause keeping your arm up can get uncomftabel and award after awhile. And again, this is something that they can change through a software update.
And ive been asking sony to fix this for a while, cause the momentum 4’s get this right, cause with them you just double tap on this touch pad like this.
Senn Convo mode
And when you double tap the headphones will go back to normal again. And more importantly, when you activate this feature, both of your hands are free. And like ive said, I like when headphones have this type of feature cause its super useful if you plan on flying a lot with your headphones.
Mic Sony XM6 quiet
But finally heres the microphone test, and both of these microphones perform very similarly to one another.
Mic Senn quiet
Now while in a quiet room both of these microphones are decent enough to take phone calls with.
Mic Senn Road
But when it comes to noise pollution, both of these headphones to struggle quiet a bit, now when it comes to blocking out road noise, I feel the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s do a slightly better job cause its easier to understand me.
Mic Sony XM6 road
Where as with the Sony 1000XM6’s these are struggling a lot more to block out this road noise and theres a lot more interference going on with my voice.
Mic Sony XM5 Road Noise
Cause with the Sony 1000XM5’s these are doing a much better job of dealing with this road noise. Cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to the Sony 1000XM5’s it is severely reduced.
Mic Sony XM5 chatter
And the Sony 1000XM5’s also do a decent job of blocking out this chatter, cause again for comparison sake if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clealery hear all of this chatter, but if we were to switch back over to the Sony 1000XM5’s it is reduced.
Mic Sony XM6 Chatter
Where as with the Sony 1000XM6’s these do have more interference going on with my voice.
Mic Senn Chatter
And the sennehsier momentum 4’s are really pushing down on my voice. So with both of these headphones, I would only take phone calls with them while in a quiet room.
But with all of that being said, the sennehsier momentum 4’s are pretty old, but they are still pretty good cause they sound really good, they block out a lot noise, and they have a ton of battery life. But they do have their draw backs like a huge case and they might not be as comfortable as some other headphones out there. But if you can find the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s at a stupid price, they’re a great pick up. But with the Sony 1000XM6’s these are hands down the best headphones to fly and travel with cause they block out a ton of noise… and thanks to their atmospheric pressure sensors, they should be able to block out a ton of noise while at cruising altitude. They’re also significantly lighter than the Momentum 4’s and they have a smaller case as well. I just really hope that Sony fixes the mic on these headphones.