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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear Infinite Special Edition Review

This is such an exciting post for me, as I have finally purchased and received my own set of these gorgeous headphones! To start off, Sennheiser is a German audio company and one of its popular headphones are the Momentum On-Ear Headphones, which retail for about $120. Sennheiser collaborated with Infinite to release these same headphones, but an Infinite Special Edition where the headphone cups have Infinite's signature gold color, gold stitching on the headband, and comes with other special features. This entire set is only sold at Korean online site Auction, here, for 299,000, and only ships within South Korea. The site began pre-orders on October 29th, 2014 and released them on November 5th. Sennheiser has a brief article on the collaboration here.

It is really difficult to find these headphones if buying from outside of the country. Originally I was going to purchase this from an online store via Facebook, but that store was so aggravating that I didn't bother with them anymore and started to focus more on Infinite's many new releases during this time (Infinite F!). Kpoptown also originally had 10 in store at $359.90 + $63EMS, but after all this waiting, finally an eBay seller posted a listing right at $359.90 + free shipping. This seller had over 10 available and none sold yet, yet shortly after my purchase, eBay removed the listing. I was so weary of ordering from eBay when it came to such a grand purchase, but still I did receive a tracking number and my headphones arrived in just over a week!

The day these headphones were announced, just shortly before the pre-ordering time, some members of Infinite (Sunggyu, Woohyun, Hoya, Sungjong) wore these headphones while at the airport. But also, Sungyeol wore these during Myungsoo's solo at That Summer Concert 2 Day 1 back on August 7th! Wow, to think these were already made back then, and were right in front of Inspirits' eyes and we didn't even know it~ I just wish that the members would use these headphones more, just so I feel more...connected with them!
My package came wrapped with a few layers of bublewrap. The label says that it's 1.5 kilograms. I just held this package for a few minutes, astonished that I actually had these in my own hands!
The box itself comes with a foam padding wrap. I'm not sure how these are actually shipped within Korea though.
Here is a closeup of the caution sticker holding the padding together.
The box is so huge and so shiny and reflective! Infinite's Over The Top era logo is so gorgeous. It is about 10.125" x 13.5".
One side of the box even has Woollim printed on it.
The backside has information printed really small about Sennheiser's company information, copyright information, and the order number, though I don't know the significance of this.
I was really weary about getting fingerprints on this outer cover, but it's actually not really prone to fingerprints. The cover slips off easily. So far there hasn't been any protective seal, so really anyone could have opened this before sending it to me.
Taking off the cover reveals a random foam layer that's really short, the box containing the headphones, and everything else below that.
Removing the foam and box, underneath is the photobook and then the headphone stand, both embedded in its respective layers. Sadly the larger layer is made of cardboard and ripped at the top sides. The bottom layer where the photobook is made of foam with a black velvet top.
This headphone box is even more gorgeous than the exterior box. It's the same type of box as the exterior box, where the bronze outside is a slip. It's about 8" x 9".
The side reveals the limited edition specialness^^ I love how Woollim is printed in big everywhere, and then SM is only printed in the fine print. There is also a two year warranty, but that probably only applies to those in South Korea.
The backside, along with the sides, is matte black has information, all in English, French and German, (mostly everything so far has been in English) about the headphones, the two cables, and the carrying case. The top stats that the cable with the remote is for Samsung devices, but at the bottom it says it's for iPod/iPhone devices...the remote cable is for Android devices though.
The other side of this slip case has similar information of the backside of the exterior shiny slip case, with the order number printed again on the other side. While this is a German brand, it is still made in China...though overall it still seems like nice quality. The bottom of the box has this same information.
Taking off this slip reveals a matte black box with a lid. The side has a QR code that takes you to a page with two functions: to verify that it is a legit Sennheiser product (by ensuring that the QR code matches the unique code on the security seal above it) and product information (which said that this page was not found). This box also finally has two protective seals, just to know that this really is a new product and no contents inside this box got switched out by anyone.
Taking off the lid reveals the carrying case carefully protected by foam.
Underneath the case is a packet containing the metal serial plate and three pamphlets of information.
The information is about the Momentum On-Ear Headphone series, a quick guide including info on the remote buttons on one of the cables, and a safety guide.
The metal serial plate comes in its own plastic bag inside the greater plastic bag. It's oddly horizontally elongated but still so gorgeous. The front has the headphone name and the serial number at the bottom; I got 206! I'm surprised and so happy to have such a low number especially because I bought mine two months after being released, and a significant number for me as well. On the Sennhieser site, it said that they made 1300.
The backside has the engraved signatures of all the Infinite members.
The top of the case has the Infinite logo and name in the center. The top and bottom of the case are made of a velvet material. The zippers are made of plastic and say Sennheiser on them. There is a beautiful silver contrast stitching; I don't know why they chose silver when the headphones and stand both have gold contrast stitching.
The inside of the case has a net at the bottom to store the two cables. This case is pretty big compared to Beats Studio Headphones, since the case is as big as the headphones whereas Beats can fold to save space.
The headphones come inside this bag and already with the remote cable plugged in. The headphones go into the bag head first, with the ear cups at the opening of the bag. And then the ear cups go at the top of the case where the zippers are when you store it. This set of headphones comes with a remote cable that is compatible with Samsung devices (including my K Zoom, which I'm happy about because my phone isn't compatible with so many things). The instructions are in the pamphlet. It also comes with a regular cable with no remote that you can use for any device that is suitable with a typical 3.5 mm plug.
Here is the stand with the headphones, ready for display! The stand has the Infinite logo on the base and Infinite printed in the front. The base also has gold contrast stitching around the border. The stand is roughly 11.5" tall and the metal stand is built at an angle to balance the weight of the headphones.
The headphones are so gorgeous and high quality! Here you can see that the right side says Infinite (the other side says Sennheiser), the gold contrast stitching on the headband, and the special copper gold color on the ear cup made especially for this edition. The simple colors, metal, and exposed wiring makes for a contemporary and sleek design that I just love. The headphones came set in the shortest setting, and I'm figuring out how to adjust them to make them a big longer. Because of the design, you can slide them to be very long or very short, which gives a large range. On most headphones I use the smallest setting, but here I'm not; so for those with very small heads, this pair of headphones is perfect. They feel so comfy too, I really like wearing them! The cuffs easily move and stay at any angle (like they're not fixed in a certain position), so they really contour well to your head, yet they're still really durable.

And the headband is very thick and cushy, but feels like it'll never wear down; it is so high quality! And of course the sound is stellar. When I listen to my Infinite songs, there is so many more components that makes each song so much more complex that I never noticed while using my standard Apple ear buds, iHome, or even TV sound system via Apple TV.
And lastly, the photobook. There are some super rare ones where one member signed the front cover or inside page of the photobook (I've only seen about four online; also thank you to the anon for the tip!). The entire photobook is very high quality, with the covers imitating a crocodile texture.
The photobook has 11 pages made of thick card stock, filled with photos of Infinite modeling the headphones. It includes one group photo, three photos with 2-3 members, and seven individual photos that include printed autographs. The backside of every page includes this watermark.
This is the complete set! Wow, after so much back and forth on whether or not I should buy it, I'm so glad I did (and I'm so glad I waited so long to get a really good deal)! While the headphones are such a big markup from the original series just because it's a limited edition, it is so worth it for Inspirits! Especially because Inspirits love listening to music, there's nothing like listening to music, especially Infinite's powerful songs, with high quality headphones. If you have any questions about the headphones, the information packets, comparing these to competitor Beats Studio headphones, or anything else, feel free to ask below!

6 comments:

  1. Helloo! I noticed my photobook has Sungjong's signature on the first page (the black page) rather than the front cover.

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    1. Wow, you're so lucky to have gotten an autograph!!! Ahh I didn't know that they could also be on the inside page, thank you^^

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    2. https://41.media.tumblr.com/e06c62a3843dbd329d47ca11651cebde/tumblr_nj418kJDri1rm0k1yo1_1280.png Here it is. It doesn't look as if it has been printed, but I don't know!

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    3. Oh my gosh that autograph is so gorgeous!!!!!!! Wow, for sure that doesn't seem printed, mine is just a completely black page lol. Ahh I'm so jealous, thank you for sharing!!

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  2. Hello! Is your pair still working? I found a secondhand pair online and am thinking of purchasing it. Would really appreciate feedback. Thank you!

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    1. Hello!! I just used my pair today and it's still working perfectly! I really do love using them and they look really pretty without being in-your-face Infinite related~

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