Hi Everyone,
What a weekend! Last week Paul asked me to spend some time with the new Audeze-MM500 headphones that had been in the office unboxed for over a week. I was very keen to try and did not take much persuading. My current set-up is minimal primarily – using an Apogee duet 2 DAC as my main interface and HD-650s for music production and general listening. For this reason, Paul suggested taking home the Qutest DAC from Chord and Trilogy 931i headphone amp to drive the new cans!
Before I go into any detail regarding performance, I wanted to mention that the reduced weight of the new MM-500 was noticeable compared to the LCD-2C I used to own and although; still not as light as my HD-650 certainly made for a more comfortable listening experience. The construction is as expected from Audeze and feels durable; the new design gives the headphones an industrial and modern look. I think they are some of the best-looking headphones on the market today and had no issues with comfort!
Now the Elephant in the room – The new MM-500s have been co-designed by grammy award-winning mix engineer Manny Marroquin and are highly regarded as reliable headphones when making critical mix decisions. Depending on how you enjoy listening to music, a reference headphone might sound like it will be too detailed and over-analytical for consumer purposes, but I did not find this to be the case!
I spent most of my time with the MM-500 listening to music and not mixing in logic. I could talk about how the bass felt tighter – more focused or how the mids were prominent, and the stereo image was open and engaging, but everyone hears these things differently anyway! There was no desire to over analyse what I was listening to, even though I could easily pick out intricate parts and tiny details if I wanted! Everything I threw at it felt effortless, and I was completely engaged. I know people talk about feeling like they are in the room all the time, but I could feel it- Billie Jean sounded ridiculous! Is it the headphones alone? Or the combination of the headphone amp and DAC? I think the answer is obvious, every aspect of the process adds that little bit more to the overall experience, and I know that it would have been even better if I wasn’t streaming from my Mac, but I was content with what I was hearing!
If you are unsure, please feel free to book a demo! These headphones are not limited to the pro community!
https://hifilounge.co.uk/product/audeze-mm-500-headphones/
Thanks,
Billy ?
