Sennheiser Momentum 4 vs Sony XM5: A Surprising Winner

Looking at the frequency response comparison diagram here, you can see why I’m hearing what I’m hearing. The target curve is based on the Harman Over-Ear 2018 Target curve. It is essentially what most people want to hear when listening to headphones.  

The upper mids are the main area where the response of these two headphones diverges. This makes the text intelligibility and presence of the Momentum 4 immediately sound better and gives the Sony XM5 a slight old-radio distance.

Bass

The bass on the Sony XM5 and the Momentum 4 is overhyped – like that of most over-ear commercial headphones.  

The main problem is that the sub-bass region bleeds into the bass which bleeds into the lower mids. So the bass and lower-mid articulation is not as clear as it could be.  

With both headphones, by dropping the sub-bass down with EQ about 5 dB and dropping the 100-200 Hz area even a bit more, I was able to get more separation and overall, a much more pleasant listen with both of these cans.  

Both headphones are technically capable enough to respond well to EQ adjustments.

Midrange

I found the Sennheiser Momentum 4 to be very well-tuned in the midrange. Acoustic instruments sound realistic. In other words, they sound exactly as you expect them to sound without any distance or strange color added.  

The Sony XM5 need a bit of help out of the box in this area. As I said, there is a veil of old-radio effect to the mids here.  

For example, in the climax of the 3rd Movement of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, there’s a moment where the trumpets come in with a blazing single repeated note. On the XM5, the trumpets sound like they are being played through an old radio.

With a 5 dB boost from 2-6 kHz, I found that these trumpets and other recordings started to sound as they should.

Highs

The high frequencies are tuned well on both of these headphones. Neither are too zingy or sibilant, while there’s still enough air at the top for my taste.  

Dynamics

The Sennheiser’s win in the area of dynamics by a few strides. They have a greater dynamic range and a little more punch and weight than the XM5.  

It is worth noting that neither of these headphones gives you the kind of exciting dynamic punch or microdynamics that the Focal Bathys offer.   

Soundstage

Both of these headphones offer a normal closed-back, limited soundstage. The soundstage is just large enough to separate instruments and voices but no larger.  

Noise Cancelling

In the area of noise canceling, the Sony WH-1000XM5 offer better performance than the Sennheiser Momentum 4.  

Bose has traditionally taken the crown on the best noise cancellation, but with the advances the XM5 has made, this is no longer the case. The Sony WH-1000XM5 , tied with the AirPods Max, have better noise canceling than the latest Bose flagship ANC cans, the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700.

(See here for a direct comparison between the AirPods Max and the Sony XM5.)

Even so, the XM5 are better ANC performers than the Momentum 4 only by a small margin. If noise canceling is your highest priority when choosing ANC headphones, then choose the Sony XM5.

Otherwise, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 attenuates just as much as the XM5 in the high and high-mid frequencies, but less in the lower-mid and bass frequencies.  

Both headphones offer adaptive noise cancellation, which adjusts the noise cancellation to match your environment. This feature adjusts the sound output based on your environment. 

Build / Design

Both the XM5 and Momentum 4 have excellent overall build quality. Both headphones use a combination of plastic and pleather and fabric to give you a durable, lightweight set of cans. (The XM5 weighs 250 grams, the Momentum 4 weighs 293 grams)

That said, neither set of cans should win any design awards. Although they are both on the more elegant side of the spectrum, both headphones look just like every other set of ANC cans out there.

The Sony XM5 come in white, black, or navy. The Momentum 4 come in white/brown or black/grey.

Comfort

The Momentum 4 and XM5 are both very comfortable to wear. Being super light, they can be worn for long sessions comfortably.

The earcups on the Sony XM5 are slightly wider than the Momentum 4 and are likely to fit more ears and heads.

We found that the Momentum 4 were a little better for glasses wearers due to the pressure relief notch in the headband. This offers a tighter seal with glasses on.

Both fold flat to fit in their carry cases and both employ more touch controls on the right ear cup in lieu of buttons, dials, or switches.  

Controls

Pairing/Connecting

Pairing or connecting both of these headphones is a breeze. Out of the box, they connected immediately to my iPhone and computer without any effort on my part.  

Both headphones use Bluetooth 5.2 for connecting and offer the option of a wired connection with the supplied cable (Momentum 4 uses a 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable, and the XM5 uses a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable).

Both remember devices and immediately connect to the last devices used. Both can connect to up to two devices at one time.

App

Both headphones also have a dedicated app for EQ, firmware updates, and ANC controls.  

Both apps are basic and offer nothing new or exciting. For what it’s worth, I found the Sennheiser Smart Control App a bit more intuitive and straightforward than the Sony Headphones App.  

Other Controls

The Momentum 4 and XM5 both come with a touch surface on the outside of the right earcup with swipe up, down, and tap functions for play/pause, volume up/down, track forward/back, access voice assistant, and instant ambient sound (so you can hear what someone is saying without taking off the cans).

Both headphones also have the useful ‘pause playback’ feature. The headphones pause when you take them off and restart when you put them back on.

The Momentum 4 have a pinch-in and pinch-out function for adding more or less ANC on a sliding scale for those who are sensitive to noise-canceling pressure.

Battery Life

As you can see in the comparison chart below, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 offer 60 hours battery life from full to empty with music on constant play and ANC turned on.

The Sony XM5, like most other competitive models, can only manage half that at 30 hours. The Sennheiser Momentum 4 are head and shoulders above the competition in this regard.