Audeze MM-100

[Hifiearspeakers]

Along with the associated risks of buying from a company that probably has the worst quality control among major players in the business.

Plus, there's a real simple way to avoid paying up front: Wait.

It always makes sense to me to wait until trusted reviewers and the community evaluate a new product before I'll pry open my money clip with the Jaws of Life and spend. If initial demand is high, supply is low and I need to wait, no big deal. Patience pays.

This response has nothing to do with his post. Beagle has been around these forums for many years and is well aware of the business model of all the major brands.

His critique of Audeze and the way they announce early and then deliver so much later is valid. That business model only hurts their brand and annoys potential customers.

If Audeze made any effort at all to listen to its customers, it would be the Apex of headphone companies. But they don’t.

For all the talk about Audeze having such great build quality, their glued on earpad system is unacceptable and atrocious in this day and age. In addition to pads wearing out over time, hobbyists like to pad roll. You’d be hard pressed to find another earpad system less user friendly than what Audeze does. And that goes all the way up to their flagship models.

And on some models, if you even attempt to change the pads yourself, you void the warranty. Ridiculous.

 

[pk4425]

For all the talk about Audeze having such great build quality, their glued on earpad system is unacceptable and atrocious in this day and age. In addition to pads wearing out over time, hobbyists like to pad roll. You’d be hard pressed to find another earpad system less user friendly than what Audeze does. And that goes all the way up to their flagship models.

Dan Clark Audio also glues the pads on its Aeon models. Not sure about higher-end. So, Audeze isn't alone.

 

[Pesado]

For all the talk about Audeze having such great build quality, their glued on earpad system is unacceptable and atrocious in this day and age. In addition to pads wearing out over time, hobbyists like to pad roll. You’d be hard pressed to find another earpad system less user friendly than what Audeze does. And that goes all the way up to their flagship models.

And on some models, if you even attempt to change the pads yourself, you void the warranty. Ridiculous.

That's why i make custom plastic rings for all my headphones that have the pads glued on.

 

[Beagle]

This response has nothing to do with his post. Beagle has been around these forums for many years and is well aware of the business model of all the major brands.

His critique of Audeze and the way they announce early and then deliver so much later is valid. That business model only hurts their brand and annoys potential customers.

If Audeze made any effort at all to listen to its customers, it would be the Apex of headphone companies. But they don’t.

For all the talk about Audeze having such great build quality, their glued on earpad system is unacceptable and atrocious in this day and age. In addition to pads wearing out over time, hobbyists like to pad roll. You’d be hard pressed to find another earpad system less user friendly than what Audeze does. And that goes all the way up to their flagship models.

And on some models, if you even attempt to change the pads yourself, you void the warranty. Ridiculous.

Maybe they want you to try and take the pads off and tear them in the process so they can sell you a new pair for $100.

I wasn’t posting originally to bash Audeze in general. This “preorder create a demand thing” is commonplace. I think it’s stupid for paying consumers but obviously smart for the manufacturers.

I do like Audeze. I own or have owned about nine of their headphones. They’ve got something at almost every price point and they have brought down their prices significantly an models like the LCD-X, XC and 2C. They have brought out some less bulky and heavy models while maintaining most of the sound quality.

But as you have pointed out, there are a lot of other things they could improve on but choose not to. Especially that upper mid/lower treble dip in so many of their cans.

 

[gikigill]

This response has nothing to do with his post. Beagle has been around these forums for many years and is well aware of the business model of all the major brands.

His critique of Audeze and the way they announce early and then deliver so much later is valid. That business model only hurts their brand and annoys potential customers.

If Audeze made any effort at all to listen to its customers, it would be the Apex of headphone companies. But they don’t.

For all the talk about Audeze having such great build quality, their glued on earpad system is unacceptable and atrocious in this day and age. In addition to pads wearing out over time, hobbyists like to pad roll. You’d be hard pressed to find another earpad system less user friendly than what Audeze does. And that goes all the way up to their flagship models.

And on some models, if you even attempt to change the pads yourself, you void the warranty. Ridiculous.

It's better than Hifimans business model where they rush a product to market, then the whole headphone falls apart or the drivers die or develops an imbalance.

My EF400 has developed the famed imbalance problem that has plagued a vast number of EF400s and Hifiman has been sitting on its thumbs as to what they plan to do about it.

Turns out that the very basic framework of the EF400 is built wrongly and a firmware upgrade can't fix it. Yup, they are so incompetent they can't design a decent r2r dac.

As they say, act in haste and repent in leisure so I'll go with Audezes approach of slow but steady.

None of my over 10 current Audezes have a single fault, a testament to their R&D and Manufacturing operations.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Dan Clark Audio also glues the pads on its Aeon models. Not sure about higher-end. So, Audeze isn't alone.

Dan Clark specifically makes his pads easy to be removed and put back on. His adhesive allows the pads to be removed and put back on several times before needing to be replaced. They even come with a storage strip for that reason.

Audeze, has none of that. And you would know that if you ever owned a DCA headphone. Their systems are not comparable when it comes to being user friendly. And Dan Clark has never had a policy that would void your warranty if you swapped pads, in fact he encourages it to fit your taste, the same way ZMF does.

 

[Beagle]

It's better than Hifimans business model where they rush a product to market, then the whole headphone falls apart or the drivers die or develops an imbalance.

Seriously?

I think they’d be long gone and out of business if this were the case.

 

[HAydin]

"Why We Use Adhesive to Attach Earpads on our Upper-end Headphone Models"​

https://www.audeze.com/en-eu/blogs/technology-and-innovation/why-we-use-adhesive-to-attach-earpads-on-our-upper-end-models#:~:text=This is mostly because the,response Audeze is famous for.

 

[Kevintj604]

Seriously?

I think they’d be long gone and out of business if this were the case.

I agree with you. That’s a really hot take. HiFiMan is one of the worlds most sold headphone manufacturers. This quality control narrative is getting really tired as well. I’ve owned quite a few HiFiMan headphones over the past 5 years and never had any issues whatsoever.

 

[gikigill]

Seriously?

I think they’d be long gone and out of business if this were the case.

When did rationality and common sense become a part of audiophilia?

Hifiman would have gone broke long time ago if reason and common sense were a part of audio. From a group of hobbyists that worships swapping cables and fuses, Hifiman is smart enough to empty their pockets.

They throw a new model out every month without much thought while Audeze and others take their time to refine their products.

The Maxwell is a fantastic piece of kit and Audeze admits it's a part of the learning process from previous experience in gaming audio.

If people bought headphones with the same level of level headedness as they did cars - (Toyota, Fords and others which are reliable and cost effective) , Hifiman would be extinct ages ago. Heck Fang even commented on how he made sure the Sony R10 patent was expired before launching their fake R10.

 

[pk4425]

Dan Clark specifically makes his pads easy to be removed and put back on. His adhesive allows the pads to be removed and put back on several times before needing to be replaced. They even come with a storage strip for that reason.

Audeze, has none of that. And you would know that if you ever owned a DCA headphone. Their systems are not comparable when it comes to being user friendly. And Dan Clark has never had a policy that would void your warranty if you swapped pads, in fact he encourages it to fit your taste, the same way ZMF does.

I owned a DCA headphone, Aeon 2 Closed with Noire pads. Basically a Noire. Never changed the pads, but they are glued. Whether easy or not, glued pads are BS. I feel the same way about Audeze. It's a crap design.

Sold the Noire because I didn't care for the blunted top end, and the cabin pressure and clamping force were too high for me. Nitinol headband is strong as hell, but it makes bending to accommodate bigger domes almost impossible.

 

[MisterMudd]

I agree with you. That’s a really hot take. HiFiMan is one of the worlds most sold headphone manufacturers. This quality control narrative is getting really tired as well. I’ve owned quite a few HiFiMan headphones over the past 5 years and never had any issues whatsoever.

True. I have had the original wireless Deva going on 3 years now, trouble free. YMMV.

 

[pk4425]

I agree with you. That’s a really hot take. HiFiMan is one of the worlds most sold headphone manufacturers. This quality control narrative is getting really tired as well. I’ve owned quite a few HiFiMan headphones over the past 5 years and never had any issues whatsoever.

Just because you've had no problems with HiFiMan QC doesn't mean it's not a problem. Read any headphone forum, and the major brand with the most problems or failures is HiFiMan. Sure, the squeakiest wheel gets the most grease, but you don't see as much consistent bitching about nearly any other brand. Focal is about the only one that's close, from my reading here, Sonus Apparatus, The Headphone Community, ASR and HiFi Guides.

HiFiMan QC issues may not be widespread, but they're real. And more prevalent than most other brands.

I've had very good luck with the two HiFiMan headphones I've purchased. No problems. But that doesn't mean the narrative is wrong. It may be tired to you, but HiFiMan QC still has a ways to go to match most of its European and North American counterparts.

 

[ahmonge]

I agree with you. That’s a really hot take. HiFiMan is one of the worlds most sold headphone manufacturers. This quality control narrative is getting really tired as well. I’ve owned quite a few HiFiMan headphones over the past 5 years and never had any issues whatsoever.

The existence of defects due to quality problems in the design or manufacture of any industrial product is an assertion that must be based on quantitative, not qualitative, criteria. Without knowing the number of units sold and the number of defective units in which it has been verified that the problem is not caused by other factors (improper use, dropping, etc.), the existence of a QC problem cannot be affirmed (or denied). Obviously, this information is only available to the manufacturers and their distribution networks, and it is clear that they are not willing to publish such data.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

I owned a DCA headphone, Aeon 2 Closed with Noire pads. Basically a Noire. Never changed the pads, but they are glued. Whether easy or not, glued pads are BS. I feel the same way about Audeze. It's a crap design.

Sold the Noire because I didn't care for the blunted top end, and the cabin pressure and clamping force were too high for me. Nitinol headband is strong as hell, but it makes bending to accommodate bigger domes almost impossible.

I completely agree with you. I much prefer magnetic attachments like Meze and Abyss use. Those are fantastic and can be changed out in under 5 seconds. I was just pointing out that the DCA system is better than Audeze’s.

But yes, neither are great.