Exactly. Anyone who says the Momentum 3 have a "slight bass lift" must masturbate at the altar of Beats nightly. The M3's have punchy, elevated, bloated bass -- without a doubt.

The OP is used to "excited," consumer-oriented sound signatures you get with wireless over-ear cans from Sony, Bose, Beats, Sennheiser and others. It's V-shaped, with booming, bloated bass, scooped-out mids and hot, crispy, sibilant treble.

That elevated bass creates the sensation of punchy dynamics, while the hot treble creates the sensation of "clarity" or "air." Neither is accurate, but it's a parlor trick of tuning that manufacturers of consumer-oriented headphones use, and the marketplace apparently loves it.

I sound critical of this sound signature. Yeah, it's not my preferred profile. I'm more of a "neutral with some Cajun spice lightly sprinkled on" kind of listener. But there's nothing wrong with a V-shaped signature if that's what you like.

Of the headphones I listed, I think the Audeze LCD-2C, the Focal Elex and the Meze 109 Pro are closest to the "dynamic, musical" signature you seek rather than pure neutrality or a microscope into all the tones of the song.

Those three headphones still all sound much better than a Sennheiser M3 because the mids actually are present and not muddied by the bass or deep-fried by the treble. But their sonic DNA shares strands with consumer-oriented headphones, while cans like the Diana TC and 800S do not.