translation: real Audiophiles (capital A) do not like these headphones. Is that about right?
I mean audiophiles who care a lot about tonal balance will probably prefer these to the LCD-X based off of what people are saying.
Second that. If you like a smooth and detailed sound signature the MM-500 will satisfy. Don't be turned off by the "monitoring" label placed on headphones. These sound very natural to me with no hot spots in the range and makes music I love sound very engaging. I like the upper end sparkle that is smoother than the LCD-MX4 and great textured bass. I compared them against the whole Audeze LCD lineup at CanJam and they came out on top for me even compared to the LCD-5 and CRBN. I also like the new look for the cups and the new headband is very clean looking and comfortable. Make sure you have a good source and amp to do these cans justice.
I'd be turned off if it's not musically enjoyable. I'm not at all looking for a headphone that's clinically accurate. Moreover if this is tuned as a mixing/mastering tool and lacks bass extension and note weight I wouldn't be interested. I'd like a definition of what "monitor like neutrality" means as well as that definition is up to the person who tunes it to define. Luckily Manny primarily works on Hip-Hop, R&B and modern genres so I'd be surprised if it's not a musically rich headphone. I'm waiting for the graphs and early impressions before I think about booking a demo at my local Audeze dealer.
Typically Audeze isn't known for lacking note weight. The bass will be linear, as it is with most planars. So if elevated bass is a priority, you will need tone control of some sort. If you aren't a fan of other Audeze cans or the type of sound they create, or planars in general, you might as well save your time and look elsewhere.
In general I am a fan of Audeze as I've owned four or five of their products in the past and still own the LCDX 2021 and drive it almost daily. The LCD4 is easily one of if not the best headphone ever for bass texture, quantity, quality and slam. I'd own one if the weight wasn't such a problem. I'm not a fan of the LCD5 or LCDR as they are both quite bass lean with an over emphasis on mid range. I'm hoping the MM doesn't follow this trend.
It probably will, since the main reason the LCD-4 sounds more bassy than the LCD-5 is due to the large increase in mid frequency energy. If you EQ the LCD-4 to a similar FR as the LCD-5, you'll find that they share equivalent bass reproduction. I personally found that the LCD-5 bass was tighter and punchier when volume matched.
Have you sat and listened to music inside of a studio? “Monitor neutral” doesn’t have to be boring, otherwise no one would enjoy their music in the studio, which is where it’s supposed to be made. The point of “neutral” imo is to reproduce sound without any emphasis anywhere in the frequency range. Sub bass roll off or sibilant treble would be directly antithetical to the idea of presenting sound without any emphasis anywhere (this is similar to what Manny says in a quote regarding the MM-500, and I agree with him on this idea of neutrality). I will concede that different people can perceive neutrality in different ways due to treble or bass sensitivity. I myself can take a bit of a bass boost while still hearing the other frequencies well but I know some people who would listen to my EQ profiles and think that they’re dark. I agree with you that FR graphs would be nice but I also do think that generally audiophiles place too much of an emphasis on them and treat them as some ultimate arbiter of headphone performance. FR graphs are useful for telling you about tonal balance and frequency extension in either direction and that’s literally it (treble measurement is usually limited by couplers anyways so FR graphs will never be able to tell you the whole picture). FR graphs give you nothing about technicalities or other intangibles. The only way to find those things out is either deduce it from the specs or take a listen yourself. IMO the only true way to find whether or not a pair of cans is meant for you is to give them a listen with songs you know well in a quiet place.
I'm a film editor by trade and the last four years have been working on Netflix series exclusively. The final phase of the post process involves me being in our studio listening to the final mix of each episode in multiple passes. So yeah, I have sat inside a studio listening to music and spend in total roughly a month of time every year in a professional studio environment. As i've stated in my previous comments i'm interested and would love to book a demo but also curious to see what Manny's interpretation of neutral is. I agree with you that FR graphs would be nice and kinda surprised that Jude hasn't gotten his hands on the MM-500 yet for a proper debut. My local shop has been an Audeze dealer for years and already has them on order so hopefully I won't have to wait very long to hear them.
That’s pretty cool honestly. What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on so far? (If you’re allowed to talk about it) I wasn’t trying to imply you’ve never sat in a studio, just wondering if you had. I want to take a listen to them too because for me right now it’s a toss up between the MM-500 and the LCD-X.
I'm currently working on a bunch of Netflix kids programming and we're just wrapping on another show so I can't really talk about that one. The favorite projects that I've worked on in my career are the 3D conversions of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy though. The daily screening sessions with Skywalker Ranch were incredible. I never thought you were implying that I haven't spent time in a studio so no harm there. I have a feeling the MM-500 will be considerably different tuning wise compared to the LCDX 2021. Depending on how they sound I might need to have both in my collection and offload something else.
