Company & Product Overview

Audeze (pronounced awh-deh-zee) was formed in 2008 by a trio of science fiction buffs. CEO, Sankar Thiagasamudram, CTO, Dr. Drag Colich, & former Audeze founder, Alex Rosson, discovered a pretty cool technology engineered for NASA spacecraft—and, naturally, the trio did what any music lover would do—put the space-age tech in a pair of planar magnetic headphones!

The design for this special signature series Audeze open-back headphone has a pretty cool backstory. After the LCD-X came out in 2015, Audeze loaned a pair to Manny Marroquin for him to try, and he wouldn’t give them back! If you are not familiar with Manny Marroquin, you have definitely heard his work.

Marroquin is a “go-to” mixing engineer for Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, Lizzo, Maroon 5, Carlos Santana, Janet Jackson, Cher, and the list goes on and on. He is the audio engineer and mixing genius behind more than forty #1 hit songs. As a top-tier mixing engineer for some of the biggest artists in the music business, he has racked up 11 Grammy Awards so far!

Manny Maroquin really liked Audeze. At home, he would use Audeze’s flagship audiophile-grade headphones to mix. They offer the ultimate in high-end luxury and the best sounding experiences, but they are designed for at-home listening with a good headphone amp powerful enough to get them going.

After using the lower-impedance LCD-X–extensively–for mixing on the go, Manny Marroquin started giving Audeze his special sonic and ergonomic specifications to help Audeze create another reference-grade solution refined for his exact studio requirements. After lending his expertise, and thoroughly testing each prototype with Audeze, Manny Marroquin put his name on the MM-500 and became a part of the company!

Interestingly, while in the Bahamas attending a wedding, Manny tested the prototype that became the MM-500 and he actually mixed the final songs for DJ Khaled’s album right from his hotel room–which went on to win him another grammy!

Packaging, Design & Build Quality

These headphones have a pro-level look and feel compared to Audeze’s most expensive flagships.

The MM-500 is hand-crafted in the same Southern California workshop as Audeze’s most high-end planar magnetic headphones. However, the MM-500’s headband, yoke structure, and chassis have all been completely rethought to accommodate Manny’s exact ergonomic requirements. In terms of reliability, these headphones look and feel like they were made to stand the test of time.

Like the Audeze LCD-X open-back headphones, the backs of the MM-500’s earcups are ventilated to the outside world, allowing the sound to flow out into the surrounding environment. Because the backs of the earcups do not block the soundwaves from escaping out, this design is known amongst audiophiles for creating a “wide-open” soundstage that is similar to sitting in front of a pair of near-field speaker monitors. A bonus of open-back headphones is the ventilated airflow, which helps your ears stay cooler for longer.

Check out Open-Back vs.Closed-Back Headphones to find out which one you should buy.

The MM-500 features thick, extra-plush black premium leather on the earpads, a lightweight machined aluminum and spring steel construction, and a gun-metal dark gray finish for a very “no-frills'' purpose-built chassis that simply looks like a serious, professional listening tool. As an open-back headphone, the new MM-500 has the cool Audeze black grilles with the triangles on the sides of the open-back earcups that let people know you are listening to a pair of Audeze.

An interesting feature to point out about the use of spring steel in the MM-500’s chassis is its very high yield strength. Spring steel is strong, yet ultra-pliable and lightweight. Perfect ingredients for headphones! It always returns to its original shape even with significant deflection or twisting, so the MM-500 headband structure is highly flexible, which helps create a great fit around your head, but this also makes the MM-500 extremely durable just as you would expect from a professional piece of equipment.

Like most Audeze headsets, the new MM-500 features swiveling ear cups—which is a nice bonus since this allows the headphones to lay flat on a desk in case a headphone stand isn’t close by. Audeze also generously bundled a professional heavy-duty travel case with thick foam padding inside for storing and protecting your investment while you are on the go.

Inside the hardshell carrying case, there is an extra long braided 1/4-inch to dual 4-pin mini XLR cable that is about 8 feet long, a certificate of authenticity, and a warranty card that provides a link to download a digital user guide. There is also a soft felt-like carrying bag inside for more casual travel and protection.

Audeze’s extra-long headphone cable is braided with high-purity copper and terminated with pro-level high-quality terminal connectors. The braided design helps reject RFI and EMI noise, so there’s less interference in your audio signal, and the braided design also helps the cable not become tangled up as easily and become microphonic. Constructed from audiophile-grade materials, Audeze tells us the headphone cable was designed to be totally repairable too, which is a great plus!

Comfort

Manny Marroquin typically mixes on a huge multitrack analog recording console that would be big enough to fill up an entire room, and several pairs of professional studio monitors at Larrabee Studios in Hollywood.

Since he does hours upon hours of serious critical listening to fine-tune the sound we ultimately hear on hi-res music streaming platforms, Manny wanted to see if he could mix number one hits outside of his famous Hollywood studio from hotels–using just a laptop and a pair of low-impedance headphones. The LCD-X open-back and LCD-XC closed-back are among Audeze’s most successful over-the-ear headphones under $2,000/pair, and he used them extensively to mix at home and on the go.

Audeze handbuilt the LCD-X series for mastering engineers and audiophiles to use in professional studios. As best-sellers, they are some of the most comfortable planar magnetic headphones on the market with thick, “beefy” ear pads and headbands that distribute the weight evenly, which makes the earcups practically “hug” your head. But, for the longer periods of critical listening Manny frequently does, he needed something that would let him go the distance and support all of his listening needs outside of his usual studio environment.

Inspired to create a slightly more portable design for Manny Marroquin, Audeze brought nearly everything from the LCD-X that made them so successful, but they created a new adjustable headband specially made for the MM-500. The MM-500’s flexible spring steel headband delivered a secure and flexible clamping force that created an excellent seal. The yoke allowed for a wide range of adjustments and this helped us find a snug fit even with everyone’s different head shapes and sizes at Audio Advice. Each step clicked into place and securely locked into position with each adjustment, and this made finding the perfect fit quick and easy.

Audeze also reduced the size of the planar magnetic drivers housed inside the earcups from 106mm to 90mm and this allowed the engineers to minimize the overall size of the chassis and weight sitting on top of the head. It’s worth noting that the surface area of the diaphragm is basically the same, so they have the same capabilities as far as producing bass. The MM-500 weighs just slightly over a pound—which is more than 4 ounces lighter (or about a ¼ of a pound lighter) than Audeze’s top-selling LCD-X open-back. In terms of ergonomics and comfort, when at work, in the studio. or on location, every little bit of weight counts, and we appreciate Audeze’s extra-special attention to these details.

The Audeze LCD-X series is one of the most comfortable planar magnetic headphones we have ever experienced at Audio Advice, so while we have no issue with the LCD-X’s level of comfort, there was significantly less pressure on top of our heads after 45 minutes of wearing the new MM-500 open-back.

This is because more pressure has been transferred directly to the MM-500’s beefy ear pads from its highly flexible spring steel headband, and this is exactly what you want when designing a headphone to stay comfortable. After about an hour of wearing them, pressure on top of the head was noticeably distributed around the ears evenly compared to even Audeze’s most popular planar magnetic headphones—and this helped reduce pressure points for us to sustain longer listening sessions.

Overall, we were deeply impressed with how well the Audeze MM-500’s lightweight materials, new flexible headband, and slightly smaller size made the smart compromise between a secure fit that stays on your head and a level of comfort that stays comfortable longer.

Features & Technology

Award-Winning Planar Magnetic Technology

“The best definition, clarity, and depth of any headphone I’ve ever used” — Manny Marroquin, 11-time Grammy Winner

When it comes to planar magnetic headphones, the name of the game is in making the diaphragm as thin as physically possible—and this is why the diaphragm in all of Audeze’s planar magnetic headphones is so special.

Similar to a piston, the faster the diaphragm can move, the better it will be able to reproduce the most subtle transients as they occur, naturally, in the real world. Think of the fast transient “attack” of a snare drum or the tiny, micro-dynamic details hiding in the Pizzicato picking style of a world-class bass player’s hands as her/his fingers pluck the strings and scrape against the fretboard.

Ultra-Thin Uniforce™ Diaphragm

“When you want studio quality sound anywhere you are” — Manny Marroquin

The diaphragm in the MM-500 implements a large 90mm, ultra-thin film that is less than 2 microns thin—so thin it’s actually thinner than a single bridge thread in a spider web—positioned in-between a special arrangement of magnets—and this light weightiness allows the diaphragm to achieve true pistonic back and forth motion at extreme velocity. This allows the MM-500 to reproduce the full spectrum of music and beyond (from 5hz to 50kHz), which is both below and above human hearing (20Hz-20kHz).

Trickle Down Tech from Audeze’s Best Headphones

“The MM-500 is as vital in my studio as any other piece of equipment” - Manny Marroquin

MM-500 inherits Audeze’s proprietary Fluxor™ magnetic structure to lower distortion to near-zero and combines this with Audeze’s special Uniforce™ voice-coil pattern—which helps all parts of the diaphragm experience the same force uniformly for truly, efficient pistonic motion. This trickle-down tech from Audeze’s most expensive high-end headphone models improves the tiny micro details you hear even more with the ultra-low distortion when you step up to the MM-500.

Reference-Grade Studio Quality Sound

“I rely on my MM-500 as much as the main monitors in my studio”— Manny Marroquin

One of the coolest things about Audeze headphones is their neutral sound profile. Audeze planar magnetic headphones are very transparent. In general, they tend to have a flatter, linear frequency response and offer fantastic detail retrieval—which makes music sound more like the artist intended you to experience it.

Clear, resolute, deep bass that you can almost feel hitting you in the chest like a good pair of loudspeakers is another feature Audeze planar magnetic headphones are famous for. The MM-500 is special in the way it was conceived by its 11-time Grammy-winning collaborator and then fine-tuned in one of the world’s most acclaimed studios. The MM-500 is truly a purpose-built tool that was designed to deliver mixes that consistently translate and capture the emotion an artist intended.

A Serious Tool for Every Situation

“Putting on the MM-500 makes me feel confident to deliver the best mix” — Manny Marroquin

Manny knows the importance of headphone listening in today’s world—studio to stage, cafe to the beachfront, canal to the jetway, the MM-500 is a reference-grade open-back headphone for the soundtrack of your life.

Designed with Manny Marroquin’s personal touches, the MM-500 will suit the requirements of long daily listening under almost any condition. At 18 Ohms, it is very easy to drive, so you won’t need to make room in your travel bag for a headphone amplifier. It’s also interesting to know this is the headphone Manny Marroquin actually used to mix Kendrick Lamar's number one album at Larrabee Studios—"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers”.

Performance

For our on-the-go setup, we used a Chord Mojo 2 DAC/Headphone amp which is a pocketable DAC/amp with plenty of power to drive even the most power-hungry headphones in Audeze’s lineup. Since the Audeze MM-500 has a low-impedance of 18 Ohms, it’s very easy to drive—but the Mojo 2 has two headphone jacks and a very transparent sound—which is perfect for A/B testing and bypassing a smartphone’s cheaply made op-amp to reveal the full potential of these high-performance headphones.

At home, we tested the MM-500 with a HiFi Rose RS150 Reference Network DAC/Streamer, which has a very high-performance DAC chip built-in—designed for professional recording studio consoles and audiophile equipment. The ES9038PRO DAC is ESS’s flagship 8-channel 32-bit DAC that delivers ultra-high-resolution sound with ultra-low noise and low distortion, which is perfect for the MM-500 reference-class sound profile.

We listened to a lot of music genres using just the headphone jack on our computer and then with the equipment mentioned above. The genres that stood out the most had more natural instrumentation such as Jazz, Classical, Rock, Funk, Soul, and Bluegrass. On the other hand, if you are into any kind of electronic music production with powerful low-end like trance or EDM, you will appreciate the deep resolute 5Hz bass response the MM-500 will reproduce.

Overall, we could hear a very resolute separation of details within a spacious soundstage that let us hear the music more like the artist intended it—and this is why the MM-500 will be really useful for anyone who prefers to listen more critically. With just our laptop driving the MM-500s, the soundstage was wide open and full of holographic details.

If you want to hear the MM-500’s big, full and neutral presentation, check out Fleetwood Mac’s very intimate live performance of their hit song “Landslide" off their first live album. Performed live, The Fleetwood Mac: Live album includes recordings from their 1979-1980 Tusk Tour with a few recordings from their earlier Rumours Tour of 1977. Stevie Nick’s vocal and Lindsey Buckingham’s plucky acoustic guitar came alive with a realism that easily felt like being serenaded by the duo in the room with us. So cool!

Similar to the LCD-X open-back, the MM-500 is extremely linear, neutral, and natural sounding from top to bottom. You might expect a planar magnetic driver to have a slight emphasis in the top-end, but not so with either of these headphones. The MM-500’s 50 kHz top-end will extend way beyond the range of human hearing, but the MM-500 is more neutral and natural sounding in its presentation across all frequencies from 5 Hz to 50 kHz compared to even the LCD-X.

Even on a track like Michael Jackson’s “Workin’ Day and Night,” which is full of tiny percussive elements all played by Michael and his family members, we could immediately tell the MM-500 was designed for mastering engineers & audiophiles who want a truer representation of their music. Recorded in 1979 for the Michael’s “Off The Wall” solo album, this cut is full of natural instruments playing all at once. However, Michael’s voice and the other instruments were all presented equally with a very balanced soundstage across the MM-500’s wide frequency range–exactly how Michael would want you to hear it.

For comparison, the popular LCD-X, is slightly sweeter—especially with mid-range frequencies like vocals. Having said that, the dynamic “crack” of snare drums stood out slightly more in the MM-500’s soundstage compared to the LCD-X without ever becoming fatiguing. With the MM-500, we just heard more dynamic details hiding in the percussion, which helped us get into the music a little more. This test also demonstrated the MM-500’s natural response curve and its ability to help us sustain our listening session for a long time. And when you hear a deep bass instrument with the MM-500, it is full, rich, and it reaches incredibly low—albeit a little deeper than the LCD-X!

If you want to push the MM-500’s deep resolute 5 Hz bass response, then you will want to check out Kendrick Lamar’s "Die Hard" off the new “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” album. Even though the MM-500 retains a neutral sound profile, it’s a great example of just how deep the bottom-end weight performs with this headphone. For mastering engineers who need to work remotely, the MM-500 is a neutral-sounding, lightweight open-back headphone that will translate deeper resolute bass like nothing else in its class.

It’s also cool knowing Manny Marroquin actually used the MM-500 to mix the latest album for Kendrick Lamar at Larrabee Studios.

Overall Recommendation

Compared to something highly-portable like a wireless headphone with noise-canceling, the MM-500 is not portable, but then again most people shopping for a planar magnetic headphone are not considering portability.

People shopping for planar magnetic headphones are in a different category. These are audiophiles and true music fans who care about having the best sound quality, available. Audiophiles who appreciate having the most accurate sound money can buy covet Audeze’s larger over-ear headphones that practically hug your head to enhance listening at home.

The Audeze LCD-X open-back has been one of the most popular and best-selling Audeze headphones here at Audio Advice because of its linear frequency response. But, the LCD-X is a little bulkier and a little heavier compared to the new MM-500. If you are shopping for really comfortable planar headphones that happen to be slightly more travel friendly than Audeze’s top seller, then stepping up to the MM-500 will offer the best of both worlds without comprising any of the reference-grade sound quality or performance.

In our testing, Audeze MM-500 is the lightest planar magnetic headphone and one of the most comfortable we have worn for long periods of time. Like the LCD-X, it offers a transparent, resolute sound that is very well-suited for audiophiles who want to enjoy music as the artist intended. But, if you love the planar magnetic sound and want to take it a little further, Audeze LCD-X is a good option for the money.

If you are into headphones co-designed by an 11-time grammy winning audio engineer, then the MM-500 is it! For people who really care about sound quality in almost every scenario on the go or at home, we highly recommend this new Audeze open-back headphone.