review by Stephen Goode of Hifi Gear:
Sennheiser Momentum and AudioQuest Dragonfly DACThis is a review of the original Dragonfly from AudioQuest which is now discontinued - following the release of their upgraded and updated version: The Dragonfly 1.2.
Being a huge Sennheiser headphone fan, having owned a pair of HD202’s for a considerable amount of time – I was interested to test and try out a pair of Sennheiser headphones in the sub-£300 price level, and the Sennheiser Momentum headphones caught my eye immediately with their stylish appearance, intrigued as to whether or not they sounded as good as they looked, I took a pair to the demo room and began listening. Below is a review of what I personally thought of the headphones overall.
Sennheiser Momentum in brown leatherThe Sennheiser Momentum headphones are stylish in appearance with a smooth steel casing, tempered with bronze-finish cans, topped with a dark brown leather headband - there is also a rather natty black leather finish with red ear cushions for the more fashion conscious listener. The headband sits delicately and is well balanced, whilst the ear-cups themselves offer a cushion of softness so that you almost forget you're wearing them. To truly test the performance of the headphones, I decide to listen to one song from each of my favorite genres through my laptop, which include, hip-hop, rock, electronic and pop.
While listening to "When I Was Young" by Blink-182, I began to notice a number of sonic elements that I'd never previously experienced from the song (previously using my HD202's), namely the degree of panning used on the drums during the introduction of the song, the stereo field of the headphones is precise and extremely detailed. As the song progresses, I continue to discover hidden sounds and underlying riffs and vocal tracks that I had never heard before (despite having previously listened to the song more than 30 times). I found, however, that through the course of the song, the headphones lacked 'oomf', and although the sound was clear and I was discovering new and exciting sounds within the mix, the overall sound was somewhat quiet, despite the volume being at max generally and lacking 'momentum' the name of the headphones suggest.
Packaging for Momentum headphones and Dragonfly DACI then proceeded to plug in an AudioQuest Dragonfly DAC whish retails for £215 £89 (this model is now discontinued - you can pick up the more advanced Dragonfly for just £129), and immediately retract that opinion. The song sounds full, heavy and loud with an equal (if not greater) degree of clarity of than previously experienced (using the standard headphone socket of my laptop).
AudioQuest Dragonfly DACI then began listening to "Warning Shot" by Machine Gun Kelly, and with the Momentums through the Dragonfly, the bass and drums sound thick and nasty as the sound engineer intended, and compliment the vocal and other higher-end frequencies almost perfectly, without drowning them out. When it comes to hip-hop, you expect the vocal to be the most clear and detailed aspect of the song - the Momentums know this so deliver an impeccable clarity against the rest of the instrumentation. The Momentums (with the Dragonfly) really push and emphasise the essential elements of the song and enable you to feel the passion in MGK's voice, you can almost hear the spit leave the rapper's mouth and land on the microphone, which, in my opinion, is awesome.
The Momentums handle the low end of Eliminate's 'Beast Mode' extremely well, and although the artist may have produced the song in a way that more-or-less displays the higher frequency elements in more of a complimentary manner to the bass, rather than focusing on these elements themselves - the Momentums do a great job at keeping the bass tight and detailed, as well as full and deep - without compromising the sound and clarity of the midrange. After quickly swapping to my HD202's and back again to compare, the entire mix almost sounds liquid through the Momentums, and while my HD202's sound great with this song, these headphones really bring it to a new level, and with the Dragonfly behind it - flawless.
Lastly, I switched to "Off to the Races" by Lana Del Rey, and immediately noticed the difference the Dragonfly and Momentums make to the listening experience. The song I used to use for background music in the car or relaxing in the living room is now giving me shivers and making me feel charged and productive. Again, I begin to notice sonic elements that I hadn't before, namely how impressive the snare drum is in the bridge! The headphones juggle the higher vocal notes and deep heavy drums exquisitely, and although a lot of things are going on within the mix, all of them are easy to pick out and listen to individually.
To summarise, the £259 Sennheiser Momentum Headphones are extremely prolific, complimenting a variety of genres, ranging from heavy metal/rock (Bullet For My Valentine's "Waking The Demon" screams are clear and genuinely sound beautiful against the clean vocals) to pop, hip-hop and EDM. Topped with a stylish and classy design, these headphones provide a clear and full listening experience while looking the part. Having listened to a number of headphones within this price range, these are, in my opinion, among the best. The Dragonfly USB DAC from AudioQuest is also flawless in style, bearing a sleek black design with a light-up dragon fly (which changes colours depending on what the device is doing) and even more impressive in performance, giving the Momentums (in this case) that extra boost to sounding as good as they possibly can.
