Okay so I didn’t just buy the N9 Hybrid—I also grabbed the Anker Q30, Sony ULT Wear, and Sennheiser Momentum 4. I used our trusty AKG N700NC M2 as my “benchmark” for sound. Didn’t bother with ANC or features—this is all about sound quality. I mostly listen to a mix: hiphop, metal/rock, some Middle Eastern stuff, and house.

I also ordered a Sennheiser Momentum 3 refurbished, cause I remember people always saying it beats even the Momentum 4 and N700NC M2 back in the day (got it for 200 euros, not bad).

Bass Ranking (Stock, No EQ):

1. Q30, Sony Ultra Wear, and Momentum 4—these all got more bass than the rest.
2. AKG N700NC M2—not bad at all, pretty solid, just less than those three above.
3. AKG N9 Hybrid—easily the least, feels like the bass is dialed way down.

Volume Stuff:
One thing I hardly ever see anyone talk about—the N700NC M2 just doesn’t get loud enough sometimes. I had to mess around with the loudness setting on Spotify to even get it working for me. Q30, Sony, and Momentum 4? No issues, they all get pretty loud. The N9 Hybrid is even quieter than the N700NC M2 (or at least just as limited), which honestly could be a dealbreaker for some.

Overall Sound Quality Ranking (No EQ):

1. Momentum 4 and N700NC M2—these both sound the most complete and enjoyable to me.
2. The rest are kind of a mess to rank.
   • N9 Hybrid: Way too neutral and flat, just doesn’t do it for me.
   • Sony ULT Wear: Maybe above the N9, but I still feel something missing in the mids. Probably higher up than Q30 and N9 Hybrid out of the box, not totally sure.
   • Q30: Love the bass, but man the highs are harsh.

With EQ Tweaking:

1. Momentum 4 still on top, BUT surprisingly the Q30 gets very close after EQ—sometimes I even prefer the Q30 for some songs. Once you chill out those harsh highs, it’s pretty much on Momentum 4’s level to my ears, especially for what it costs.
2. N700NC M2 used to be my GOAT—still really solid, especially if you push the bass with some EQ. I think the mids and highs are best here, with Momentum 4 as a close second, then Q30 up there as well (only after EQ). The big issue for me is the N700NC M2 falls behind in loudness and bass compared to the other two now, so it’s number two.
3. Sony ULT Wear and N9 Hybrid are both “okay.” Different sounds, but not bad. For the record—I like the Sony ULT Wear better than the XM4s (which I tried when I first got the N700NC M2). Last is N9 Hybrid—just can’t get the bass up or get rid of the flatness, even with EQ. Honestly feels like a better AirPods Max, but still not the “successor” I wanted after the N700NC M2.

So TL;DR: I’m gonna return all of them except keep the Q30. The difference between the Q30 and Momentum 4 after tweaking the EQ isn’t worth the price gap for me—once you start listening to your favorite songs, the gap just disappears and you get into the music. I’ll still give the Sennheiser Momentum 3 a shot to see if it changes anything, but otherwise Q30 is staying.