Design and features:This model has controls for volume control, music player transport, call connect/disconnect, noise cancellation and ambient sound monitoring on/off, and digital voice assistant activation. It supports Apple Siri and Google Assistant digital voice assistants when it is used with Bluetooth devices that have those capabilities. The free Sennheiser Smart Control app download for Apple and Android mobile devices adds additional features and software updates.
Sound quality:We found the ACCENTUM provides excellent active noise reduction and delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can be summarized as somewhat bassy and hazy, and a bit sizzly. With the Sennheiser Smart Control app EQ set to flat, Bass Boost and Pod Cast set to off, and the noise canceling mode engaged the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is somewhat prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even but is a bit grainy, somewhat hazy and congested (think sonic traffic jam), and a touch plasticky. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended, but is a bit prominent, sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying) and smeared. The sound also has a decent sense of liveliness and is somewhat open--sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything covering your ears. It also does a decent job of recovering the room ambience of recordings. The Sennheiser Smart Control app EQ settings and presets had a noticeable effect on the sound. These headphones provide excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. A very faint rushing sound can be heard in quiet environments when there is no audio program to drown it out.
Comfort and Fit:We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears.
As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use.
Large
Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range to allow the ear cups to rest properly over the ears and/or that the headband presses uncomfortably on the top of the head.
Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the ear pad seal and reduce the bass response and/or noise reduction capabilities of the headphone.
Some users may find that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward.
When wearing this model while walking the muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard slightly through the headphones regardless of whether or not the headphones are in noise cancelling mode.
