[Netforce]

I wish..oh I wish! Here in Indianapolis there is just absolutely 0 hifi dealers or retailers. Not sure if Chicago does...but that may be my closest option at 3 hours away. Which...when you have little kids anything over an hour is pushing it haha! I'll continue my search and I may get lucky on a meet up or something like that.

Heh, might be a little spoiled down here in SoCal. I remember going to a pro-audio shop years back wanting to look at some speakers and ran into a few Audeze LCD cans there. Not even discounting Audeze pulled out all the stops with their soundproof booth at NAMM show.

The LCD-X is a great headphone but the MM 500 was a nice step up for me. Could always go to CJ SoCal in a few months to try it out again

 

[michicaust]

So, is this REALLY a step up, or more like an "LCD-X with some EQ"-kind-of-step-up?

 

[chargedcapacitor]

So, is this REALLY a step up, or more like an "LCD-X with some EQ"-kind-of-step-up?

It's my understanding that the MM500 is a step up in technical capabilities and detail, both things that cannot necessarily be improved with EQ.

 

[Benno1988]

When's the embargo lift?

Or whatever they call the reviewers one, NDA?

 

[Killerb]

What do you need to power these? Do they work straight out of an audio interface or a DAC like a Chord Dave?

If not, then I am not interested.

I listened to LCD-MX4 and MM-500 out of a Hugo 2 at Canjam and both sounded great. The 500s were smoother but still had lots of high end crispness which is my preference. Used Bill Evans Gloria's Step as my reference recording and I could hear all the room ambience details and attack on the bass. 500s were best in show for my taste (electrostatics aside). Will be ordering a 500.

I imagine those of us with high output impedance OTL tube amps are out of luck due to MM having low, 18 ohm impedance, although not sure that principle always holds true with planars. Thoughts from others who have experience with planars on OTL's would be welcomed!

I listened to it on a LTA ZOTL tube amp at Canjam and it was superb. I have both on my upgrade wish list. Best combo at show for me. Detailed and crisp with smooth mids and good bass detail.

 

[LoryWiv]

I listened to LCD-MX4 and MM-500 out of a Hugo 2 at Canjam and both sounded great. The 500s were smoother but still had lots of high end crispness which is my preference. Used Bill Evans Gloria's Step as my reference recording and I could hear all the room ambience details and attack on the bass. 500s were best in show for my taste (electrostatics aside). Will be ordering a 500.


I listened to it on a LTA ZOTL tube amp at Canjam and it was superb. I have both on my upgrade wish list. Best combo at show for me. Detailed and crisp with smooth mids and good bass detail.

Hi @Killerb, I listened to it on ZOTL as well and you are spot on. The only catch is that ZOTL is unique amongst output transformerless (OTL) tube amps in that it's output impedance is quite low at1-2 ohms versus most OTL's like my Feliks Elise which is 40-50 ohms. Still, the usual rules about amp / headphone impedance being <= 1/8th may not always apply to planars, and I am still interested in how it may pair with my Elise or a Feliks Euforia.

 

[FullBright1]

The literature says that the MM-500s are "5 yrs" in the making.... so, that is the same as the LCD-5, or is it before?
Unclear....

I personally hope it does not sound like the LCD-5, as if it does, then that means the bass is going to be small, the sound stage is going to be its weak link, and it will have an annoyingly forward midrange that Abyss will love.

It would have been nice had Audeze selected a "famous" producer-mixer-engineer, who stated that he has had years of experience with headphones, especially regarding listening to them..
So, this is a case of a person, who is not a Headphone audiophile, being chosen as a Marketing situation, first and foremost, who is use to Studio Monitors.
This means that he no serious experience (years) with Highend Audiophile Headphones, and his game plan was to create something that HE can use, to mix and master, that is shaped like a set of Headphones. He casually states that you can uses the MM-500 for deep night listening, yet, he's not familiar with this at all....so, that is just a tag line, meaningless.
It will be interesting to hear the MM-500 as an Audiophile product, as its really designed to be a set of studio monitors for your ears. And for this to work, they have to be very neutral, very linear, and very, well, flat. As any other type of sound performance, isn't a true studio headphone, as this one is designated to SOUND.

I suspect its going to sound more like the MX-4, then the LCD-X, as the MX-4, is trying to be the studio monitor professional sound.

Here is what we know.
We know that the first 20 people that buy them, will run in here and declare them to be the "ultimate", "astounding", and then they'll all sell them in about 3-6 weeks.

Looking forward to it all.

 

[LoryWiv]

I heard them at CanJam Chicago, admittedly far from a proper evaluation. However FWIW I found them neutral / reference tuned, yes, but still somehow quite musical at least through the LTA ZOTL available at the show. Obviously we all await more impressions based on use cases applicable to headphone enthusiasts

 

[rthomas]

The literature says that the MM-500s are "5 yrs" in the making.... so, that is the same as the LCD-5, or is it before?
Unclear....

I personally hope it does not sound like the LCD-5, as if it does, then that means the bass is going to be small, the sound stage is going to be its weak link, and it will have an annoyingly forward midrange that Abyss will love.

It would have been nice had Audeze selected a "famous" producer-mixer-engineer, who stated that he has had years of experience with headphones, especially regarding listening to them..
So, this is a case of a person, who is not a Headphone audiophile, being chosen as a Marketing situation, first and foremost, who is use to Studio Monitors.
This means that he no serious experience (years) with Highend Audiophile Headphones, and his game plan was to create something that HE can use, to mix and master, that is shaped like a set of Headphones. He casually states that you can uses the MM-500 for deep night listening, yet, he's not familiar with this at all....so, that is just a tag line, meaningless.
It will be interesting to hear the MM-500 as an Audiophile product, as its really designed to be a set of studio monitors for your ears. And for this to work, they have to be very neutral, very linear, and very, well, flat. As any other type of sound performance, isn't a true studio headphone, as this one is designated to SOUND.

I suspect its going to sound more like the MX-4, then the LCD-X, as the MX-4, is trying to be the studio monitor professional sound.

Here is what we know.
We know that the first 20 people that buy them, will run in here and declare them to be the "ultimate", "astounding", and then they'll all sell them in about 3-6 weeks.

Looking forward to it all.

don’t forget that when they write the for sale ad they’ll state that theirs is one of the special early versions which are the ultimate.

They’re only selling as they need the money - for the next hype train of course.

I’ve been in this “hobby” 12 years. It’s not a hobby. It’s just OCD and consumption weaponised to make a profit. dCS just released a $30k system to drive headphones. It’s just dumb. At least a Porsche 911 is demonstrably better in multiple ways compared to a Honda Civic Si.

Not releasing measurements for the MM-500 seems to be a marketing move. I support Audeze and I hope it’s good.

 

[FullBright1]

don’t forget that when they write the for sale ad they’ll state that theirs is one of the special early versions which are the ultimate.

They’re only selling as they need the money - for the next hype train of course.

I’ve been in this “hobby” 12 years. It’s not a hobby. It’s just OCD and consumption weaponised to make a profit. dCS just released a $30k system to drive headphones. It’s just dumb. At least a Porsche 911 is demonstrably better in multiple ways compared to a Honda Civic Si.

Not releasing measurements for the MM-500 seems to be a marketing move. I support Audeze and I hope it’s good.

Yes, yes, and yes.

The Audeze Hype Train has been released on Paper, as Audeze never has any product at the time of the "release".
But once they collect money for about 6 weeks the "trickle" begins..
And keep in mind this MM-500 is "5 yrs in the making", so you'd think they had time to make 20 or 30, for delivery, once they "released it".
But......nope.

So, its always nice to have a "new" product out there, as the headphone builders, other than Hifiman, are pretty slow to get out the next product.

Looking forward to the MM-500., and hopefully, it wont sound anything like the LCD-5.
For $1700, i'd take a hybrid sound that is a cross between the LCD-X and the MX-4, as that would be both a reasonable studio headphone, and a reasonable audiophile headphone.

A.) Time will tell us.

 

[LoryWiv]

Yes, yes, and yes.

The Audeze Hype Train has been released on Paper, as Audeze never has any product at the time of the "release".
But once they collect money for about 6 weeks the "trickle" begins..
And keep in mind this MM-500 is "5 yrs in the making", so you'd think they had time to make 20 or 30, for delivery, once they "released it".
But......nope.

So, its always nice to have a "new" product out there, as the headphone builders, other than Hifiman, are pretty slow to get out the next product.

Looking forward to the MM-500., and hopefully, it wont sound anything like the LCD-5.
For $1700, i'd take a hybrid sound that is a cross between the LCD-X and the MX-4, as that would be both a reasonable studio headphone, and a reasonable audiophile headphone.

A.) Time will tell us.

B.) I agree with @FullBright1 and based on my brief audition, that is a strong and favorable possibility.

 

[Killerb]

The literature says that the MM-500s are "5 yrs" in the making.... so, that is the same as the LCD-5, or is it before?
Unclear....

I personally hope it does not sound like the LCD-5, as if it does, then that means the bass is going to be small, the sound stage is going to be its weak link, and it will have an annoyingly forward midrange that Abyss will love.

It would have been nice had Audeze selected a "famous" producer-mixer-engineer, who stated that he has had years of experience with headphones, especially regarding listening to them..
So, this is a case of a person, who is not a Headphone audiophile, being chosen as a Marketing situation, first and foremost, who is use to Studio Monitors.
This means that he no serious experience (years) with Highend Audiophile Headphones, and his game plan was to create something that HE can use, to mix and master, that is shaped like a set of Headphones. He casually states that you can uses the MM-500 for deep night listening, yet, he's not familiar with this at all....so, that is just a tag line, meaningless.
It will be interesting to hear the MM-500 as an Audiophile product, as its really designed to be a set of studio monitors for your ears. And for this to work, they have to be very neutral, very linear, and very, well, flat. As any other type of sound performance, isn't a true studio headphone, as this one is designated to SOUND.

I suspect its going to sound more like the MX-4, then the LCD-X, as the MX-4, is trying to be the studio monitor professional sound.

Here is what we know.
We know that the first 20 people that buy them, will run in here and declare them to be the "ultimate", "astounding", and then they'll all sell them in about 3-6 weeks.

Looking forward to it all.

The MM-500 do indeed sound more like the MX4 than the X. I didn't really have Audeze on the Canjam radar since I lean more towards electrostat sound but I was lured to their booth by the CRBN and stayed to listen to the whole line. I gravitated towards the MX4 at first but after listening to both on the LTA amp, 500s are officially on my wish list. I am not the early adopter type so I will wait until the bugs get worked out to purchase mine. Still love my Stax, but the combo of LTA and MM-500 just does it for me. Bonus is the LTA can run Stax and sounds awesome with electrostats.

 

[FullBright1]

The MM-500 do indeed sound more like the MX4 than the X.

That makes sense, as the X is old Tech, and at the time of the first model, was kinda thumpy and had a unique and lively treble.
It was one of those headphones that made music sound good, similar to the Empyrean, = the Old "X" was my favorite Audeze.
They changed it's sound as time kept allowing it to be revised, and now it does not sound like the original.

The MX-4 is a great feeling headphone, and its quite linear. and sounds like no other Audeze. Ive owned it a few times.
So, its good to hear that the MM500 is in that "sonic camp" vs trying to sound like a LCD-5, which is not a headphone sound i learned to love.
If given a deserted island and a choice of a LCD-5 or the recent Abyss Diana TC, then i go with the TC, as it does everything the LCD-5 does, + adds a little magic into the very lively sound.

 

[Killerb]

That makes sense, as the X is old Tech, and at the time of the first model, was kinda thumpy and had a unique and lively treble.
It was one of those headphones that made music sound good, similar to the Empyrean, yet, the Old "X" was much more clear and was my favorite Audeze.
They changed it's sound as time kept allowing it to be revised, and now it does not sound like the original.

The MX-4 is a great feeling headphone, and its quite linear. and sounds like no other Audeze. Ive owned it a few times.
So, its good to hear that the MM500 is in that "sonic camp" vs trying to sound like a LCD-5, which is not a headphone sound i learned to love.
If given a deserted island and a choice of a LCD-5 or the recent Abyss Diana TC, then i go with the TC, as it does everything the LCD-5 does, + adds a little magic into the very lively sound.

100% agree as the LCD-5 and X didn't do it for me but MX4 and MM-500 were both such a good match for my taste I kept going back and forth trying them on various amps. Very balanced, detailed, and dynamic. The MX4 were a bit sharper on the treble and the MM-500 sounded a little less harsh on the string attack of an upright bass. I would be happy with either but the price difference sealed the deal for me. I also like the clean new styling of the MM-500, very comfy on my melon.

 

[Sound Eq]

Let me address this in addition to a similar line of thought from a previous post of yours. I've worked closely with Manny on this project. He's clearly stated on numerous occasions that he wants to mix on something where no frequency spectrum/region is "hyped", as that would lead to a dead spot in that area of the mix. The MM-500 has an extremely flat tuning, and the excellent bass extension and low bass distortion that Audeze planar drivers are renowned for. Just in the last few months Manny has mixed for Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone, among others, using this headphone. I can assure you there are no issues with the ability to use this headphone to mix and master material intended to have powerful lows.

We do currently have an MM-500 on the way to Jude for his assessment. We'd like to have done this before launch day, but were extremely limited on headphone quantity.

well having heard how badly recorded Post Malone new album is, I never can take such recordings to indicate quality on recording or production