My hands-on experience: unboxing

The MM-500 unboxing experience is all Audeze. Which is to say it feels super-special. I found the headphones inside of a sturdy, latching hard storage case, nestled in thick foam. Alongside them was a heavy-duty braided cable with a 1/4" headphone plug. Audeze says the braided design helps with durability and preventing noise from EMI and RFI interference. I found it pleasant to hold, and a nice design touch to further enhance the high-end feel.

Speaking of design touches, I immediately noticed a little extra sparkle to the familiar out-facing grilles with the Audeze "A" pattern. Manny's name and initials are also tastefully placed on the earcups and headband. These headphones have an attractive look, at once functional and downright cool.

Fit, feel, and first impressions

As noted, these headphones are lighter than most Audeze headphones I've tried in the past. Still, they are certainly bigger and heavier than the average headphones. But like the new Audeze flagship LCD-5s, these headphones fit snugly and securely without feeling like they grip too much. This helps distribute the weight well and keeps them from slipping around or drooping, so I felt comfortable wearing them for whole work shifts.

I used them for listening to music rather than creating it, but the well-balanced, linear tuning worked well for that, too. I enjoyed trying out different headphone amps and hearing these headphones — almost chameleon-like — taking on their characteristics. The MM-500s adapted well to the warm charm of my vintage tube amp and also handled the more forceful slam of the iFi ZEN CAN.

Strong vocal presentation

Another trait these headphones share with the LCD-5s is their midrange presence. I recently named the LCD-5s the "best audiophile headphones for vocals," and while Audeze uses an even thinner, higher grade film diaphragm for that headphone, I found the MM-500s get you 95% of the way there. Vocals come across with plenty of nuance and bite and seem to sit in just the right place.

Manny's mixes are known for there potent vocals, so one great example is the Pusha T album he worked on earlier this year, It's Almost Dry. Push has a very precise delivery that lends eloquence and authority to his rhymes — but can invite harsh sibilance in lesser hands (and 'phones). Streaming Qobuz through these headphones in high-res, the pronunciation came through clearly but never sounded grating or sharp.

Switching gears a bit, I played the Amanda Shires album, Take it like a Man. Her charming twang came through dead center as she harmonized with soulful duet partners like Maren Morris and Brittney Spencer. It added heft to the already poignant lyrics and timely ruminations on household dynamics.

"Emotion with space"

In other headphone reviews, I've talked about how much I enjoy Manny's hypnotic Dolby Atmos Music mix of the Kendrick Lamar track "Mother I Sober." Manny, who's concerned above all with how a track feels, told me, "For stereo mixes, it's always been an evolution of how we 'glue' sounds together to make emotion."

He says he and his fellow mixers and artists are still trying to figure out how to make emotion with the extra space Dolby Atmos gives them. Well, through the Audeze MM-500s, the stereo version of this song provided a visceral, soaring, and three-dimensional experience that rivaled the Atmos mix.

Thundercat's bone-deep bass seemed to pulse through my whole body, giving way to Kendrick's introspective whisper. It sounded haunting, secretive, and positioned right in front of me. Then chamber-esque piano entered from the right, before the wave of Beth Gibbons' vocals crashed over my head.

I sat there, taken back — all over again — by a song I'd heard countless times since its release. And I could only think of Manny working on all those moving parts, getting the mix just right. Imagine that first time he heard the final product through these MM-500 headphones — the way he knew the song should sound.