Sennheiser HDB 630: https://geni.us/GC-SennHDB630
Sennheiser Momentum 4: https://geni.us/GC-SennMomentum4HP
Bowers Wilkins PX7 S3: https://geni.us/GC-BWPX7S3
If you’re looking for a pair of ANC headphones and if sound is very important to you, then I feel either the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 S3 and the Sennheiser HDB 630 are great options to consider. Now the PX7 S3’s have amazing build quality and design… where as with the HDB 630, these are a little different from the Momentum 4’s but not by much. But toady we’re going to compare these two headphones and lets see which ones are right for you.
Regarding pricing, the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 S3’s have a retail price of $470, which is a lot but they are already going on sale for $430 and thanks to their build quality, id say therye worth it. But then there are the Sennheiser HDB 630 which have a retail price of $500, and these don’t have the same build quality as the PX7 S3… and since they aren’t all that different from the Momentum 4’s, you’re not going to get as big as a bang for your buck which is a big selling point for the Momentum 4’s. 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 watch some of the related videos in the description below.
So first there’s the case, now since both of these headphones have a lay flat design to them, their cases do have a larger foot print to them when compared to any of Bose’s headphones or the Sony 1000XM6’s. But the biggest issue with the HDB 630 is that their case is also pretty thick. So for me it is very hard to justify traveling with the Momentum 4’s. Where as with the PX7 S3’s, their case is thinner, so I feel that traveling is doable with these headphones. But nonetheless, both of these cases are hardshell cases and they both feel more premium than your more common cases out there.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves, and design wise, these headphones are super different. With the HDB 630 these headphones have a mostly plastic body to them and there are some pretty big gaps between these plastic body panels. Where as with the PX7 S3’s, there’s much less exposed plastic and instead they’re using metal, so not only do they look and feel better, they’re more durable as well. Cause with the HDB 630, one of the biggest disappointments is that their headband arms look like metal but they’re just painted plastic.
But also, these headphones fit very differently as well. Now when it comes to clamping force, the Sennheiser have a neutral amount of clamping force, where as the PX7 S3’s do have a firmer fit to them. So with the PX7 S3’s I wouldn’t say that these are big head approved where are the HDB 630 are big head approved. But then there are the headbands, with the HDB 630 this headband is padded silicon… but hot spots can be an issue with these headphones for some people. Where as with the PX7 S3’s this headband has a lot more padding so hot spots aren’t an issue. And then there are the earpads on these headphones. Now both of these earpads are very spacious and they should have no problem fitting people with larger ears or ears that stick out a lot… however, the ear pads on the HDB 630 can heat up faster and they do feel more colostroablephobic cause their pads have more surface area coming in contact with your skin… where as the PX7 S3’s do stay a little cooler for a little longer by comparison.
But then there’s the weight of these headphones, the Bowers and Wilkins PX7 S3’s weigh in at 300 grams and the HDB 630 weigh in at 310 grams. Now overall, the weight of these headphones are fine cause your average pair of premium ANC headphones weigh in between 280 and 300 grams… but for comparison sake, the Bose QC Ultra Headphones 2 weigh in at 262 grams, the Sony XM6’s weigh in at 254 grams, the Sony XM5 weigh in at 250 grams and then there are the Bose QC headphones which weigh in at 235 grams. So overall, with either the PX7 S3’s or Momentum 4’s, you never really forget that you’re wearing these headphones and you can notice them shifting around quiet a lot when you’re walking around with them on.
So overall, both of these headphones fit okay, but they aren’t going to be for everyone. The PX7 S3’s are going to be better suited for people with smaller heads… however im not the biggest fan of the HDB 630’s cause their headband can cause hot spots and their ear pads do heat up quickly. If you’re really concerned about fit, then I highly recommend that you look at either of Bose’s headphones cause you can’t go wrong with either one, fit wise. But also, we do have to talk about the looks of these headphones. With the HDB 630’s since these ear cups stick out so much, you do get a mega man effect cause even the momentum 4’s are more low profile. And then there are the PX7 S3 which are much more low profile and their metal headband arms just look good in general.
But now lets talk about tech specs, when it comes to battery life, the PX7 S3’s have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on, which is above average and you can extend their battery life by using them with their ANC turned off. Where as with the Sennehsier HDB 630’s these have an advertised battery life of 60 hours with their ANC turned on which is truly impressive.
And both of these headphones charge via a USB C port as you’d expect… and with both of these headphones you can use their USB C port as a wired connection and you can also use these headphones while they’re charging, making them a good option for gaming. And you can also use both of these headphones with an audio jack connection… now the PX7 S3’s don’t have an audio jack but they do come with a USB C to audio jack cable… where as with HDB 630’s they still have an audio jack but more importantly you can also use them passively. Which I feel is a big deal for flyers or content creators cause with the PX7 S3’s even if you want to use them with a wired connection, they have to be powered on.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, both of these headphones can be connected to any two bluetooth devices at the same, making them a great option for any power user out there that likes to hot swap between lets say your PC and iPhone… 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 and AAC, and they both have support for multiple APTX audio codecs, but in order to use any of these higher quality audio codecs you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC, but regardless both of these headphones sound good with AAC.
However, something that make the HDB 630 special here is that they do come included with a USB C dongle, so you can plug this into any of your devices and you’re going to be able to use APTX… however don’t expect your audio to sound magically better cause you’re using this USB C dongle. I feel that with the dongle, your audio just gets a little louder. And you don’t need to use this dongle to connect your HDB 630 to your phone or laptop, it has its own built in bluetooth. Personally I feel that this USB C dongle is just a gimmick, and anyone that’s telling you that your music is going to sound automatically better is either lying to you or to themselves.
But now lets talk about sound, and well both of these headphones sound very good but they are a little different. Now both of these headphones have better instrument seperation than your main stream options from bose and Sony… and both of these headphones have a lot of sound pressure to them so they do put and emphasis on the mids and they give you very good clarity in the highs. But where these headphones differ is that the PX7 S3’s do have more resonance and more kick in their bass than the HDB 630’s. So both of these headphones are going to be great options for someone that like a neutral sound signature… but I do think that the PX7 S3’s are more fun to listen to then the HDB 630’s cause these are just too neutral. And regarding the USB C dongle on the HDB 630, this is going to make your headphones sound a little louder… but that’s it.
But then there are the media controls on these headphones… With the HDB 630’s theres a touchpad, and this touchpad works well, but it is a little overly sensitive. But you can play and pause your music, you can skip through your music and you can adjust your volume by swiping up and down and you can even adjust your ANC settings by pinching and zooming. Where as with the PX7 S3’s, these are using physical buttons, now my only critique is that these buttons are a little too flush, but besides that, these physical buttons are just super easy to use and they are very elegant just like with the rest of the design of these headphones.
But also, both of these headphones have wear sensors, so whenever you take these headphones off they’ll automatically pause your music, and when you put them back on they’ll start playing your music again. And for the most part both of these wear sensors work well… but personally I don’t really care for wear sensors on my headphones so I just turn them off, but they’re there if you want them.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones… and well if activate noise cancelation is very important to you, then you shouldn’t get the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 S3’s, but so that you can see for yourself, we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
ANC Test
So like you may have just seen, if active noise cancellation is very important to you, or if you plan on traveling a lot with your headphones, then you shouldn’t get the PX7 S3’s cause the ANC on these headphones is more akin to a pair of mid tier ANC like lets say the Sony ULT wear. Where as with the HDB 630’s, these are blocking out an adequate amount of noise for a pair of premium ANC headphones. Now the ANC on the PX7 S3’s is going to be useful on lets say a bus cause they block out lower frequency sounds, but where these headphones really struggle is when it comes to blocking out chatter.
But nonetheless, if active noise cancleiton is very important you, I still recommend that you go with either the Sony 1000XM6’s or Sony 1000XM5’s cause these are the kings when it comes to ANC, plus thank to their atmospheric pressure sensors, these will out perform these other headphones at cruising altitude.
And then there’s the ambient mode on these headphone, now the ambient mode on both of these headphones sound good enough to get the job done, but they can sound a little artificial, the PX7 S3’s more so than the HDB 630’s. But with the HDB 630’s their microphone array does a better job of blocking out wind noise when walking outdoors.
But something that I do like about the HDB 630’s is that if you have them set to pause your music when you turn on their ambient mode… then youll have a conversation mode where your headphones will lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk to someone without having to remove the headphones…
And when you double tap on the touch pad, they go back to normal again. And this type of feature is super useful for when you’re traveling with your headphones. And sadly the PX7 S3’s don’t have this feature,
Mic HDB 630 quiet
But finally here’s the microphone test, now the mic on the Sennhesier HDB 630’s sounds good enough to take phone calls with while in a quiet room, however this mic does sound rather robotic.
Mic PX7 S3 quiet
However the mic on the Bowers and WIlkins PX7 S3 does sound more natural than the mic found on the HDB 630.
Mic PX7 Road noise
However what really makes the PX7 S3 stand out here is that these do a much better job of reducing noise pollution, cause right now these are doing a good job of reducing all of this road noise, cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel mciphone you’re going to clealery hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 S3, it is reduced.
Mic HDB 630 road noise
Where as with the HDB 630’s, these are just letting in a lot more road noise and its harder to understand me.
Mic HDB 630 chatter
And its the same thing when it comes to blocking out chatter, these are just letting in a lot of noise pollution and its hard to understand me.
Mic PX7 Chatter
But then there are the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 S3 which are doing a better job of dealing with this chatter, cause again for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel mcrihpone, you’re going to clealery hear all of this chatter, but if we were to switch back over to the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 S3, it is severely reduced. So overall, the Momentum 4’s are okay to take phone calls with while in a quiet room, but surprisingly, the Bowers And Wilkins PX7 S3 do a better job of dealing with noise pollution.
But with all of that being said, both of these headphones are great options if sound quality is very important to you, both the PX7 S3 and Momentum 4 have better instrument separation than a lot of other main stream options out there. However the PX7 S3’s are a little more fun than the HDB 630’s cause they have a little more resonance and a little more kick in their bass. HDB 630’s just sound too neutral for my taste. The PX7 S3’s also have better build quality and they look sleeker as well. However these headphones aren’t for everyone cause they are not big head approved, and their ANC is more akin to a pair of mid tier ANC headphones. And with the HDB 630’s, personally I feel these are over hyped and the USB C dongle is just a placebo affect. Peronsally i would rather go with the Sennheiser Moeomtum 4’s cause you are going to get a better bang for your buck.