Sennheiser HDB 630: https://geni.us/GC-SennHDB630
Sony WH-1000XM6: https://geni.us/GC-SonyWH1000XM6
Bose QC Headphones: https://geni.us/GC-BoseQCHeadphones
Bose QC Ultra Headphones 2: https://geni.us/GC-BoseQCUltra2HP
So these are the Sennheiser HDB 630, they’re slightly different from the Sennheiser Momentum 4 but I wouldn’t consider them to be the new generation Sennheiser Momentum 5. Nonetheless these are the latest premium ANC Headphones from Sennheiser which boast superior sound quality… but today we’re going to see how they compare to both the Bose QC Ultra Headphones and the Bose QC Headphones… no they might not have the best sound quality or the best tech specs, but they are super comfy, which I feel is the most important thing to take into consideration when choosing headphones. Nonetheless lets see which ones are right for you.
Regarding pricing, the sennheiser HDB 630 have a retail price of $500, which is up there and just knowing Sennhesier I do expect these to eventually go on sale by a lot. Where as the Bose QC Ultra headphones 2 have a retail price of $450 and the Bose QC’s have a retail price of $360 but they can also be found on sale now. Now I think you can’t go wrong with either of Bose’s headphones, but nonetheless if you want to pick any of these 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 down below.
So first we have to talk about these cases, now the HDB 630 have a similar case to the Sennheiser momentum 4, which is a problem cause even though these headphones have good active noise cancelation and a super long battery life, for me it is hard to justify traveling with these headphones cause their case is just so big. Where as with both of Bose’s headphones, since they both have a collapsible design to them they both have a significantly smaller case which has a smaller foot print and they’re thinner as well, so traveling with both of Bose’s headphones is just going to be much more convenient than the HDB 630.
But with the cases out of the way lets talk about the headphones themselves. Now with all of these headphones, their ear cups and pivot and swivel a good amount so they are all going to be able to rest very naturally on your head. And the headband on both the HDB 630 and Bose QC Ultra Headphones 2 glide in and out, but I personally prefer when my headbands click like on the Bose QC cause its easier to find your fit. However something that I do want to point out about the Bose QC Ultra 2 is that its arms are polished metal, which not only looks good, its also feels more durable. Where as with the HDB 630, these arms are painted to look like metal, but they’re plastic. Now all of these headphones have well padded headbands, but both of Bose’s headbands just have more padding and its soft as well, and I feel that hot spots are less of an issue on Bose’s headphones over the HDB 630. And when it comes to the leatherette on these headphones, all of these headphones have a good grain to their leatherette, but strangely enough, I think the HDB 630’s leatherette feels a little nicer than Boses.
But then there’s the fit of these headphones, now when it comes to clamping force, all of these headphones are big head approved. However with the HDB 630, these do have a firmer fit to them. Where as with the Bose QC Ultra 2’s these have a loser fit to them… but then there’s the Bose QC’s which have a super lose fit to them. So if you have a really big head or if you just want a loser and more comfortable fit, then I would go with the Bose QC. And then there are th ear cups on these headphones. Now the ear cups on all of these headphones are spacious and they should all have no problem fitting people with larger ears or ears that stick out a lot. However the Bose QC Ultra 2’s are more spacious than the HDB 630 and the Bose QC’s are even more spacious than the Bose QC Ultra. But also, both of Bose’s ear pads do a better job of staying cooler for longer than the HDB 630 cause they have less surface area coming in contact with your skin, so they don’t collect as much heat.
And then there’s their weight, now the HDB 630 weigh in at 310 grams… which is okay… cause most premium ANC headphones weigh in between 280 and 300 grams… but for comparison sake, the Bose QC Ultra headphones 2 which weigh in at 262 grams which I would consider to be light weight and the bose QC which weigh in at 235 grams which I would consider to be super light weight. So with both of Bose’s headphones, you don’t notice them shifting around on your head when you’re walking around with them on and they are both much easier to forget that you’re wearing them when you’re sitting at your desk, in bed or if youre on a plane. Where as with the HDB 630 you never really forget that youre wearing these headphones.
So plainly said, both of Bose’s headphones are much more comfortable than the Sennheiser HDB 630 cause they both have less clamping force, their ear pads are more spacious and they stay cooler for longer, and they’re both lighter as well… but also I feel that both of Bose’s headphones look better than the HDB 630 cause with the HDB 630 they do have a bit of a mega man affect cause their ear cups stick out so much… and with the Bose QC Ultra 2, these do feel a little more premium and durable cause they have actual metal arms unlike the HDB 630 who’s arms are painted to look like metal.
But now lets talk about tech specs, the Bose QC’s have an advertised battery life of 24 hours where as the Bose QC Ultra 2 have an advertised battery life of 30 with their ACN turned on. And with the Bose QC Ultra 2, you can also turn off their active noise cancellation and extend their battery life that way, where as with the Bose QC’s you can’t turn off their active noise cancellation.
But then there’s the HDB 630 and these have an advertised battery life of 60 hours which is super impressive and its way above average, and you can also extend their battery life even more if you use them with their ANC turned off… and this amazing battery life is great for frequent travelers, but like I said earlier, I feel that its hard to justify flying with these headphones cause of their large case.
And to charge all of these headphones, they charge via a USB C port as they should. And with both the HDB 630 and QC ultra 2, you can also use these USB C ports as a wired connection with your phone. Making them a good option for gamers. But with all of these headphones you can still use them with an audio jack connection cause they all still have an audio jack and they come included with an audio cable which I feel is important for flyers… but keep in mind that with the Bose QC Ultra 2, they can’t be used passively. So even if you want to use them with an audio jack, they have to be powered on.
And when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, all 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 any of these headphones so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone. But when it comes to audio codecs all of these headphones have support for SBC and AAC, duh, but the Bose QC Ultra 2 also have support for snap dragon sound and the PX7 S3 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 all 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 simply put, the HDB 630 sound much better than boses headphones. for starters the Bose QC Ultra 2 sound the same as the original Bose QC Ultra, and the QC Ultra 2’s sound similar to the Bose QC’s. Both of These headphones are going to be better suited for someone that like a more neutral sound signature or a more vocals focused sound signature cause these headphones just don't have a lot of kick in their bass. You can hear the bass, but you can’t feel the bass. And even if you were to go into their EQ and raise their bass all the way up, you’ll be able to hear it, but you’re not going to get too much of a resonance or kick from your bass. So they might not be as fun. And this goes for both of these headphones.
However, the Bose QC Ultra 2’s do sound very different with their ANC turned off. I feel that the Bose QC Ultra 2’s sound better with their ANC turned off , cause with their ANC turned off they sound a lot more open, the bass is a little more present and the mids and vocals aren’t over emphasized like with the original Bose QC Ultra or the Bose QC’s which you can only use with their ANC turned on. And this is a big deal, cause ANC changing the sound of your music, that’s something that happens on older headphones, cause with newer headphones, their sound doesn’t change all that much whether their ANC is on or off. So with the Bose QC Ultra Headphones 2, for the best sound quality, you do want to use them with their ANC turned off… but still these are going to be better suited for someone that likes a more neutral sound signature.
And then there’s the immersive audio on these headphones… and this is a feature that’s you’re not going to find on the Bose QC’s… and this is a feature that I never use for two reasons. For starters, immersive audio is going to take a toll on your battery life cause the Bose QC Ultra 2’s will go from 30 hours to 23 hours… but more importantly, I dont like immersive audio cause it adds a lot of reverb to your music, making it sound very unnatural. And with cinema mode, which is an all new feature for the Bose QC Ultra headphones 2… its another version of immersive mode which adds a lot of reverb to your audio, but it also amplifies the vocals.
So overall, i do not touch immersive mode or cinema mode cause it makes your audio sound very unnatural cause of all of the added reverb and it also takes an additional toll on the battery life. Also keep in mind, the Bose QC Ultra 2’s sound very different with their ANC turned on or off… I feel that for the best sound you want to use them with their ANC turned off cause your music is going to sound more open. The Bose QC Ultra 2’s sound good enough to get the job done, but these are still better suited for someone that like a more neutral or vocals focused EQ cause you’re not going to get a lot of kick out of their bass. But technically yes, the Bose QC Ultra 2 do have better sound quality than the Bose QC’s but only if you use them with their ANC turned off.
Where as with the HDB 630, for starters these headphones do sound more open than both of Bose’s headphones. They also have more pronounced mids and highs and since they offer better sound pressure, they offer better concentration in the mids. And when it comes to the bass on these headphones… its not as physical as the bass found on the Momentum 4’s… the bass on the HDB 630 is also more on the audible side like Bose’s headphones… but this bass does have more resonance and it does have a little more kick to it. Overall, all of these headphones are going to be better suited for someone that likes a more neutral sound signature… but I do think the HDB 630 give you better clarity than both of Bose’s headphones.
Now when it comes to your media controls, the QC Ultra 2 have a hybrid system, they have a physical button so you can play and pause your music and you can double tap to skip through your music, but to adjust your volume they have a touch pad that you swipe up or down on. But honestly, I don't like this touch pad cause it very hard to get the volume that you actually want. I just really wish they had a physical volume rocker like on the Bose QC headphones, so anytime that I need to adjust my volume on these headphones, I usually just use my phone cause I don't want to deal with the QC Ultra 2’s touch pad. And the media controls on the Bose QC’s is one of the big reasons why I like recommending these headphones either to non tech savvy people, or older people, cause not only are the Bose QC’s super comfy… thanks to their physical buttons and power on switch, these headphones are super easy to use. Where as with the HDB 630, they have the same touch pad as the Momentum 4. Now this touchpad can be a little overly sensitive, but its still pretty good. And from here you can tap to play and pause, you can swipe front or back to skip through your music, you can swipe up and down to adjust your volume and you can even pinch and zoom to adjust your ANC settings directly from the headphones themselves.
And, both the HDB 630 and Bose QC Ultra 2 have wear sensors, so whenever you take these headphones off they are going to automatically pause your music and when you put them back on, they’ll start playing your music again. Now I don’t really care for wear sensors on my headphones so I just sully then them off, but they are there if you want them. And tehcncinally speaking, the Bose QC’s should have wear sensors giving their price, but they don’t.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancleiton on these headphones, and well, all of these headphones perform very well, 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, all of these headphones block out basically the same amount of noise. All of these headphones are going to be super useful on your bus ride commute, or if you’re in a chatty office. However if active noise cancelation is very important to you, then you do want to look at either the Sony 1000XM6’s or the Sony 1000XM5’s cause both of these headphones block out more noise than all of these other headphones and thanks to their built in atmospheric pressure sensors, both of Sony’s headphones are going to block out more noise while at cursing altitude.
But when it comes to the ambient mode on these headphones, the ambient mode on the Bose do sound better than the ambient mode found on the HDB 630s cause it sounds more natural. With the HDB 630’s it can be a little harder to understand people and for some reason it prioritizes noise pollution over people’s voices, and also the microphone array on the Momentum 4’s collects more wind noise when walking out doors than the bose.
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 Bose QC ultra 2’s don’t have this feature, and its very sad that the Bose QC Ultra 2’s don’t have this feature cause the Bose NC 700’s do and Bose can easily add this feature by making it a short cut on the Bose QC Ultra 2 through a firmware update. Lets just see if they listen.
Mic Bose QC Quiet
But finally here’s the microphone test, and for the last few years bose has been struggling with their microphones for phone calls.
Mic Ultra 2 quiet
But the mic on the Bose QC Ultra 2 has been improved. Now while in a quiet room, both of these headphones sound good… however I do feel the Bose QC Ultra 2’s do a slightly better job of focusing on your voice. But its a very slight difference.
Mic HDB 630 Quiet Room
And then here are the Sennehsier HDN 630, and this mic sounds pretty goo while in a quiet room as well.
Mic HDB 630 road Noise
Now when it come to dealing with noise pollution, this mic is doing an okay job when it comes to reducing 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 HDB 630, it is reduced and its still easy enough to understand me.
Mic Ultra 2 road
Now the Bose QC Ultra 2 are also doing an okay job of reducing this road noise… but there can be some interference going on.
Mix QC Road
And when it comes to the Bose QC’s you can still somewhat understand me, but there is a lot of road noise in the back ground by comparison and my voice is pushed down as well.
Mic Bose QC chatter
And when it comes to blocking out chatter, you can also hear a lot of noise pollution in the background, my voice does sound a little hollow and its getting pushed down on.
Mic Ultra 2 Chatter
Wehre as with the Bose QC Ultra 2, these are doing a better job of dealing with this chatter.
Mic HDB 630 Chatter
And here we have the HDB 630 which are performing very well as well, and 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 HDB 630, it is severely reduced. So overall, both the Bose QC Ultra and Sennheiser HDB 630 have a good performing microphone and they do a good job of dealing with noise pollution, but the Bose QC’s do need some work when it comes to blocking out noise pollution.
But with all of that being said, Bose’s headphones don’t have the best tech specs out there, they don’t have the best battery lives, they don’t block out the most amount of noise, they don’t have the best sounding microphones for phone calls and they don’t have the best sound quality. However both of Bose’s headphones fit very well and they are both very comfortable. And now matter how amazing your headphone’s tech specs are… if they don’t fit well, you’re not going to want to use them. And both of Bose’s headphones fit well. Specifically, they’re both lighter, they have a looser fit, their ear cups are more spacious and their ear pads stay cooler for longer than the Sennheiser HDB 630. They both block out the same amount of noise and the HDB 630 and they both have a smaller case, making them better options for traveling. However the HDB 630 do sound better than both of Bose’s headphones and they have a much longer battery life… however I do feel that the HDB 630 are a little over hyped and you are going to get better value with either of Bose’s headphones.