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Sennheiser Momentum Wireless Around Ear vs Bose QC35 for iPhone

T

TorontoSS

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 9, 2009
1,099
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Hi,

I managed to buy some Sennheiser Momentum Wireless around ear headphones for £267 (down from £379) on amazon and am debating whether to keep it.

Generally these are more expensive than the QC35 (£329). The QC35 are more comfy and have better noise cancelling. There is no doubt about this. But I'd like to know more about sound quality. I've read many many reviews pointing out that the sound quality is better than the QC35s.

However, the reviews all point to the apt-x codec which Apple does not support. The QC35s support AAC audio. I don't know much about either but I understand this: apt-x = better sound over Bluetooth. AAC audio = better sound over Bluetooth. By this equation, QC35 supports better sound for iphones. Momentums sound great over non-iphones (when using Bluetooth).

Which sounds better with iphones generally USING BLUETOOTH?
 
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Which pair sounds better to you? Ultimately the Momentum is bottlenecked by not having the AAC codec, it would definitively sound better if it did. The Momentum sounds natural and smooth, they're one of the best-sounding Bluetooth over-ear you can buy currently. AAC may give the QC35 a slight edge, but the Momentum have a better sound tuning and drivers so I don't think you'll mind the difference.
 
Personally I think the momentums sound better. The comfort is better on Bose but the sound to me is nicer on the momentums. Thanks for your reply. If anyone else has views, please share!
 
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TorontoSS said:
Personally I think the momentums sound better. The comfort is better on Bose but the sound to me is nicer on the momentums. Thanks for your reply. If anyone else has views, please share!
Click to expand...
I just noticed your post. I have the Momentum Wireless Over Ear also. They DO support AAC audio (natively). I just found a confirmation of this on the head-fi forum

from April 10, 2017 (Head-Fi): User MichaelSD:
from Sennheiser Technical Support: Yes, all Momentum 2/ HD1 headphones support the AAC codec.​

I can't offer a sound comparison to the Bose, as I don't have them (I use Sennheiser, BlueBuds, and Bragi Headphone).
 
FriendlyMackle said:
I just noticed your post. I have the Momentum Wireless Over Ear also. They DO support AAC audio (natively). I just found a confirmation of this on the head-fi forum

from April 10, 2017 (Head-Fi): User MichaelSD:
from Sennheiser Technical Support: Yes, all Momentum 2/ HD1 headphones support the AAC codec.​

I can't offer a sound comparison to the Bose, as I don't have them (I use Sennheiser, BlueBuds, and Bragi Headphone).
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. I actually saw that as well when I was doing some research. To be frank I wouldn't know too much of the difference but perhaps, I need to do a firmware update? I'm not sure. I wasn't aware of a firmware update being available with the Momentums. I may try it out.
 
TorontoSS said:
Thanks for this. I actually saw that as well when I was doing some research. To be frank I wouldn't know too much of the difference but perhaps, I need to do a firmware update? I'm not sure. I wasn't aware of a firmware update being available with the Momentums. I may try it out.
Click to expand...
I don't know that a firmware update is possible for them either. They should have come with the capability out of the box (as delivered). I'm not sure how to tell (definitively) that they are using AAC, though it is a sensible solution, and they do sound great. Some of the guys on that forum had attempted to monitor and decipher 'live' that the codec was being used, but did not seem to have success in verifying anything (from my brief search).
 
FriendlyMackle said:
I just noticed your post. I have the Momentum Wireless Over Ear also. They DO support AAC audio (natively). I just found a confirmation of this on the head-fi forum

from April 10, 2017 (Head-Fi): User MichaelSD:
from Sennheiser Technical Support: Yes, all Momentum 2/ HD1 headphones support the AAC codec.​

I can't offer a sound comparison to the Bose, as I don't have them (I use Sennheiser, BlueBuds, and Bragi Headphone).
Click to expand...

I'm afraid you've been misinformed, as that same thread now shows. The M2W definitely doesn't support AAC. Or, rather, it MIGHT support AAC, but if it does, it's not been turned on in the firmware. :(
 
SBruv said:
I'm afraid you've been misinformed, as that same thread now shows. The M2W definitely doesn't support AAC. Or, rather, it MIGHT support AAC, but if it does, it's not been turned on in the firmware. :(
Click to expand...
That is a drag! and dumb...why wouldn't they just 'turn it on' in the firmware. Amazing for such an expensive piece of hardware if they did not enable AAC-streaming just in order to avoid paying Apple a royalty...
 
I tried the QC35 first. Gave them away. I tried the Sony MDR-1000X, really happy but annoyed they didn't have the ability to connect to two devices at once feature. The better bluetooth range and much better sound were great.

I eventually got the Momentum 2 NC Over-ears wireless. I didn't like them as much so returned them.

Bose is the most comfortable but not by an significant margin. The Sonys have the best sound, all the codecs, best bluetooth range, but the worst build quality. The Sennheisers cost the most and had the best build quality.
 
mickeydean said:
I tried the QC35 first. Gave them away. I tried the Sony MDR-1000X, really happy but annoyed they didn't have the ability to connect to two devices at once feature. The better bluetooth range and much better sound were great.

I eventually got the Momentum 2 NC Over-ears wireless. I didn't like them as much so returned them.

Bose is the most comfortable but not by an significant margin. The Sonys have the best sound, all the codecs, best bluetooth range, but the worst build quality. The Sennheisers cost the most and had the best build quality.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I haven't tried out the Sony's but am very satisfied with the senneisers though. I like that the NC is not over powering so I have a quiet commute but I'm not isolated from the world. I love the sound as well. I will try them with wires and see if there's any real difference to me.

My husband has the bose qc35s - he doesn't like them much though as he's into metal and would have preferred more bass. I actually got the momentums for him and thought I'd take his bose but he didn't like those. Before returning tried them on and really liked it so kept it. I sold off my bose Soundlink Ae2.
 
TorontoSS said:
Thanks for that. I haven't tried out the Sony's but am very satisfied with the senneisers though. I like that the NC is not over powering so I have a quiet commute but I'm not isolated from the world. I love the sound as well. I will try them with wires and see if there's any real difference to me.

My husband has the bose qc35s - he doesn't like them much though as he's into metal and would have preferred more bass. I actually got the momentums for him and thought I'd take his bose but he didn't like those. Before returning tried them on and really liked it so kept it. I sold off my bose Soundlink Ae2.
Click to expand...

I really like my Sennheiser Momentum 2 NC Over-Ears. The sound is quite nice, the NC works well, yes the construction and design is beautiful, and they have amazing battery life of 22+ hours (in my experience).

I don't think I have plugged them into a sound source via USB. I am curious as to how that would sound. I did do that with another pair of Wireless NC Over-Ears (oldies but goodies by UE, the UE 9000 Wireless, back a few years - which do have a huge sound/presence increase when listening via USB). I wish they had not been bought by Logitech, who immediately canned the line, and EOL'd those in the market. If only there was a way to update the firmware/software.
 
I was in the QC35 vs B&O H7 dilemma a few months back.

Ended up going with the B&O for the following reasons:

  • Got them for a discounted price through B&O as an open box return
  • The build quality is leaps and bounds ahead of the QC35. It has aluminium, lamb skin and cow leather. Not plastic like the QC35.
The build quality was huge to me. The QC35s feel very cheap, albeit very comfortable. The noise cancellation is also phenomenal (the H7s do not have NC).

Both have an app to control sound signature, which is very useful. One major drawback of the H7s is the lack of multipoint Bluetooth. I didn't think this would be a big deal, but switching between my iPhone and my Mac usually takes a bit of connect and disconnect malarkey. The QC35s can connect to multiple devices at one time.

All in all, I don't regret my decision, because if I'm spending north of £200, I don't want plastic headphones. You really do pay a lot for their marketing (like Apple I guess).

Finally, you can get the QC35s for around £280 from:

http://petertyson.co.uk/index.php/bose-quietcomfort-35.html

You could then get John Lewis to price match if you wanted to buy from the high street. I got my H7s for just over half this price, however.
 
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