I’m not an audiophile. I value range and variety in music over quality of music delivery.

This, despite the fact that I listen to at least 7+ new music albums across multiple languages every week (since I have been running a 8 year old music review blog), if I don’t add the older albums that I listen to, week after week.

My favorite music delivery system is really simple and inexpensive. I love in-ear phones and have about 4 of them. I also replace them once every 6+ months.

Given this background, when I got the mail from Sennheiser India that they want to send me their Momentum headphones (as a gift – I’m assuming it is because of my music-related online pursuits), I was fairly surprised. My music listening habits and preferences do not deserve, in my head, high-end headphones like Sennheiser Momentum.

I have never owned circumaural headphones ever in my life. It’s just that I don’t know if I need one, particularly when I find in-ear phones to be perfectly good for my listening preferences.

So, when I did receive the large Sennheiser Momentum headphones package, the first thing I checked was the price. The box displayed an obscene amount – INR 24,999!

Sweet Jesus!!

I could find many, many things worth going for, for that price – definitely not circumaural headphones.

As I opened the pack and started noticing the contents, one thing was clear – the entire pack was incredibly classy and polished!

The headphones comes with a cover that is mind-bogglingly plush!

The headphones itself is a piece of art. There is more leather in it than many of the things I own and the quality of leather is impeccable. It’s plush, supple and absolutely classy. The thick red cable is smooth and seems eons better than the thin wires that I have to contend with in my in-ear phones. And that connector – the pin that connects to the headphone jack… boy, it seems to be made in steel and feels as solid as a bullet! Ditto for the volume rocker on the phone – heavy and solid. For someone used to the plastic equivalents of similar things, this feels sinfully indulgent!

The first time I slid the Momentum over my ears, I noticed that the ambient noise around me (consisting of my two kids fighting and playing at the same time, and the blaring Tamil mega-serial on the TV from the living room) go down by at least 50%!

The first song I played in it, as a test (it usually is a song by A R Rahman – I still remember using ‘Konjam Nilavu’ from Thiruda Thiruda as THE song for testing new headphones and audio systems!), was ‘Magudi’ from the recent Rahman-Mani Ratnam combo, Kadal.

The sound was fantastic, but to be honest, it wasn’t something dramatically different from what I’m used to in in-ear phones. What was different is the comfort level in the phones itself. The steel and leather package of Momentum offered a completely different level of immersive comfort than a tiny thing plugged inside my ear.

And the best part is that this also has a mike! So, if I’m listening to music on my phone, I can attend to an incoming call without taking them off!

I haven’t gone back to my in-ear phones for regular listening and my review-based listening ever since I have got this – two reasons… one, the sheer encompassing comfort this offers and two, this is highly show-off worthy. But yes, I do use my in-ear phones for my nightly audiobook session since I listen to it lying down in my bed.

So there! As I mentioned, I really don’t think I’m the kind of person who’d voluntarily invest in a premium headphones like Sennheiser Momentum since I have always assumed a INR 1-2K in-ear phones are ‘good enough’ for my needs. I would have never consciously bought a INR 20K+ phones… ever. But having been exposed to the comforts of better headphones like this one, I think going back to in-ear phones seems like a tough call.

And not to forget the snob-value of walking around with this one in an airport, for instance.

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