Audeze is an American brand best known for making everything from some audiophile headphones to some of the best gaming headphones we've tested. Their MM-500 is more of a first choice, like a big, thick, impressive set of flat magnetic tins that also come with an incredibly high price tag – you'll only have to shell out £1699/$1699, no big deal. I really try.
I've tried some reasonably expensive headphones before, although none have given the same initial impression as the MM-500. While the Focal Bathys come with a sleek and beautiful hard case, Audeze has opted for a full briefcase to transport these cans. It's made from a mix of metal and plastic and is very durable, while inside, there's a generous helping of molded foam for carrying the MM-500s. You feel like you're a member of the United States Secret Service opening the briefcase.
Once you open the case, you are greeted with the MM-500s. They're all metal, with a mix of machined aluminum and spring steel, giving a premium feel while still being reasonably lightweight at 495g. It's still quite heavy compared to a couple of Grados, for example, although it's lighter than you might initially expect. The MM-500s look like a pair of classic Audeze cans, with a slimmer headband, earcups with oval cutouts on the outside, and large, plush angled earpads that are wonderfully soft and supportive, while also coming with greater headroom. fastening to ensure it stays on your head.
The weight of the MM-500 takes some getting used to, especially with the stiffer headband, although placing it on a stack of books can help loosen it a bit if the clamping force is too much out of the box, according to Audeze. . It's a tighter fit, but I didn't have many problems when I wore them in the evenings to listen to some songs or play some games.
The headphones on the MM-500 are perhaps the opposite of the Grado Hemps that I also recently tested. While the Hemps were a thinner, shallower option with fabric padding, the MM-500 has these luscious, deep cups with the most luxurious leather I've ever felt on a pair of headphones besides my own Focal Bathys that I use every time. days. The earcups are also angled to accommodate the fact that people's ears are not actually parallel to the sides of their head, but rather tilted a little. This means that the sound comes directly to your ears, unlike other headphones that lack the adjustability to rotate the earcups to achieve the same purpose.
Your ears are also located quite close to the drivers inside the MM-500, although they are not necessarily drivers per se. After all, these are planar magnetic headphones, unlike more common dynamic drivers. I'm not an expert on this by any means, but in essence, being planar magnetic means that they work by suspending the diaphragm material of the headphones between magnetic fields that cause vibration, rather than working by placing the driver over a coil that is pulled. using a magnet, in the case of dynamic controllers. This means that the flat magnetic cans need more surface area to work, hence the fact that the MM-500s are quite bulky compared to more “standard” headphones.
In terms of its tuning, this is where the MM-500 marks a departure from Audeze's previous efforts, with a move more towards a set of reference cans, in the same vein as Sennheiser's HD660S2. After all, these are designed perhaps more for music production and studio work than generalist use. This could be said to be due to the name that quietly adorns the MM-500's headphones. Look closely and you'll see Manny Maroquin's name on the side. He may not be a name you've heard of, but you've certainly heard of the artists' albums and songs he's produced or mixed. Red by Taylor Swift, for example, Unwriting by Natasha Bedingfield or Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars, have been worked on by Marroquin, and he has produced the MM-500 in collaboration with Audeze. That's a great endorsement.
With this point in mind, it changes the way you view the MM-500. After all, they may not be as exciting or energetic as other cans out there, but they are designed with a specific purpose in mind: to provide the most accurate view of the music possible. Fundamentally, if the audio sounds like it should when mixed here, it will be great elsewhere. The other thing about these being designed for audio mixing is that they come with a huge quarter inch jack on the end, but they come with a 3.5mm adapter to plug in more normal things, so you can use the MM-500 with your laptop. or a DAC.
I must say that you can really use them with a MacBook or not: they are remarkably easy to drive, with a low impedance of just 18 ohms. While it's not a foolproof method of measuring how easy headphones are to use, it does mean that specialized audio equipment isn't necessarily required for them to work and be loud. I had no problems using them with my MacBook Pro or my regular gaming PC with their included headphone jacks, although giving them more oomph with a DAC or DAP will likely produce higher quality listening.
The MM-500's music, whether Latin pop, hard rock or jazz fusion, has a wonderfully smooth and warm quality that sounds great. Connecting them to my HiBy R3 II, FiiO M11S, or Chord Mojo 2 DAC, I was greeted with gorgeous audio with deep but not overbearing bass, excellent and more prominent mids, and smooth highs. A Riverman listen to Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds exemplified this beautifully, with soothing bass, fantastic vocal handling, and solid, crisp highs with the track's cymbal work.
That deep bass was also reflected in Earth, Wind & Fire's fantastic Let's Groove, with the track's prominent funky bassline, while Rush's YYZ had appropriate, precise drive with wonderful extension. Midrange-wise, James Taylor's Lighthouse was superb, with the MM-500 handling his vocals well, as well as the song's standout acoustic guitar and drum work, while Peter Mayer's The Last Island was a rich soundscape. led by his voice. and the brilliant percussion work of the theme.
The MM-500 also handles the treble with a smooth, crisp finish, rather than being overly crisp like some other headphones I've tested. This was well demonstrated by the intermittent crashes of cymbals and tambourine hits on Phil Collins' I'm Not Moving, while on Ralph MacDonald's Calypso Breakdown the track's constant bell hits were handled with panache. Steely Dan's Do It Again is always a track I use to test the highs, and the song's percussion-laden intro is a potential minefield for some cans. The MM-500 produced a sublime result, as everything from the cymbals to the bells to the organ had excellent smoothness and precision.
The soundstage here isn't as wide as other, even more “affordable” open backs I've tried, although there is a good sense of spaciousness and impressive precision, as on Rush's 2112, the legendary 20-minute all-rounder. . epic progressive part that I always use to test headphones. The 'Discovery' section of the track, which builds from limited electric guitar parts with ambient water noise to intermittent vocals and even harder rock, is a particular highlight for testing as it gives you an idea of how wide and spacious can be a set of cans. particularly at the beginning. Also, I've always paid attention to the position of the bongos in the month of Earth, Wind & Fire in September. If you do it right, they will be far away on the right side, with a great sense of location.
The MM-500's more pronounced midrange frequency also helped make gaming immersive, with steps prominent in games like CS:2, and the open nature of the headset also helped with immersion. The solid stereo image also helped me immerse myself in Forza Horizon 5 racing with engine notes from nearby cars, and it also worked well in Assetto Corsa. GTA Online was also fantastic and fun with the MM-500, with the fun of the game's drift racing or just running over pedestrians and picking fights with other players online in the middle of Los Santos.
The Audeze MM-500 is a brilliant set of planar magnetic headphones that, while designed for studio use, primarily for mixing and production, frankly surprised me at how good they are for both gaming and general music listening. They have deep bass that isn't overbearing, excellent, accurate mids, and smooth highs that made everything from Genesis to Grand Theft Auto a sublime listen. The big problem, of course, is the high price they have: £1699/$1699 is exclusively for professional people or those audiophiles with a good chunk of change. Are they worth the price? Probably in the context of what you're getting. Would I recommend buying them? No.
Let me explain: The MM-500 are simply some of the best headphones I've ever used solely for listening, given their reference-like neutral profile and immense detail, although if you're looking for a little more oomph in your music and it's more fun , Grado Hemps are wonderful and are a third of the price of these. Or, if you want to have some fun with planar magnetism without breaking the bank, pick up a pair of Audeze Maxwells, which are one of our favorite gaming headsets.
I'm not saying that the MM-500 is a contextually bad set of cans, because they really aren't; the last 1600 words should prove it. But they're only worth it if you want a neutral sound, the reputation of these planar magnetic drivers and also if you have £1699/$1699 to spend. Otherwise, they're a bit of a tough sell.