Introduction

US-based Audeze has been covered multiple times on TPU already, be it for its in-ear monitors or electrostatic headphones. Audeze is more synonymous with its planar magnetic over-ear headphones though, with the current flagship LCD-5 heralding in a new design language focusing on weight and bulk reduction to help address one of the more prevailing complaints that users have had about previous Audeze headphones. I remarked in that review how the LCD-5 was no doubt going to influence newer Audeze products too, and today we look at one such offering.


A lot has happened since our last Audeze review. There have been at least three products released—more if you count the Sony Playstation Pulse Elite and Pulse Explore, among others. You see, Audeze was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment last year and this no doubt will see a push towards more gaming solutions to complement Audeze's professional and audiophile lineup. It's perhaps for the best then that Audeze had laid the foundations to appease those who feared otherwise even before this acquisition was announced, with the release of the MM-500. The MM here stands for 14-time Grammy Winner Manny Marroquin, a mixing engineer who has worked with some of the world's best music artists and has been responsible for many soundtracks and songs that have no doubt brought joy to many people. The MM-500 is not a new product necessarily, having been released over two years ago, but Audeze was only just able to send over a review sample to TechPowerUp after months of demand far exceeding supply. You already know the Audeze MM-500 is a popular product thus, so let's find out why in this review which begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

The Audeze MM-500 arrived in a large cardboard box directly from Audeze since the company operates a web shop. There is plenty of Audeze-branded tape all around the box and a sticker on the side also confirms the product inside. I would have preferred a stealthier approach here for obvious reasons. Open the box and you see the product box is very well protected with eight thick shaped foam pieces in the corners keeping it safe from any damage done to the outer packaging. There is also a foam wrap over the product box for further protection.


I say product box, but Audeze always ships its headphones in a hard carry/storage case which does a great job protecting the headphones and making it easy to transport it as needed. This case sells for $120 separately and we've seen it many times already to where I already know it looks and works well. There's a locking latch on the front and the corners are reinforced, with four support pads at the bottom to help prevent scratches to the underside of the case. There are four other pads on another side should you place the case vertically more than horizontally, although this is close to a cube in geometry. The handle is large and comfortable to use, the hinges on the back are complementary in size and support, and the case is not uncomfortable to carry around at all overall. Open the box and you see egg-crate style foam sheets at the top, while a thick foam block fills in the bulk of the box that has precise cutouts for the headphones and accessories.


As with the other Audeze headphones, we get a set of two keys for the case in addition to a handwritten card with the serial number of the unit you have which confirms these headphones were inspected personally, accompanied by the actual signature of the person having done it. Present also is a more generic reminder to see if there are any applicable downloads or user manuals on the Audeze website, and then we see the MM-500 also comes with a MM-series soft carry pouch for the headphones as an alternative storage solution. The headphones cable comes inside a plastic bag similar to the keys, and we will examine it in more detail on the next page. I will also note that Audeze places a thick foam piece between the headphone earcups as it comes out of the case. This helps keeps them snugly in place with applied inward and outward pressure to further prevent any possibility of damage in transit. There's also a certification tag on one side which I promptly removed before taking more photos of the headphones by themselves.