Audeze is an American brand best known for making everything from some serious audiophile grade headphones to some of the best gaming headsets we’ve tested. Their MM-500 is more of the former option, as a big, chunky and impressive set of planar magnetic cans which have an eye-wateringly high price tag to boot – you’ll just need to fork out £1699/$1699, no big deal really.
I’ve tested some reasonably dear headphones before, although none have made quite the same initial impression as the MM-500s. Whereas the likes of the Focal Bathys come with a sleek, gorgeous hard case, Audeze has chosen to go for a full-on briefcase for transporting these cans in. It’s made of a blend of metal and plastic, and is seriously sturdy, while inside, there’s a generous helping of moulded foam for transporting the MM-500s. You feel like you’re a member of the US Secret Service opening the briefcase up.
Once you open the briefcase up, you’re greeted with the MM-500s. They’re fully metal, with a blend of machined alumnium and spring steel, which gives a premium feel while also being reasonably light at 495g. That’s still quite heavy against a pair of Grados, for instance, although is lighter than you’d initially expect. The MM-500s look like a classic pair of Audeze cans, with a thinner headband, earcups with oval cutouts on the outside, and big, plush angled earpads that are wonderfully soft amd supportive, while also coming with a heavier clamping force to ensure they stick on your noggin.
The weight of the MM-500s takes some getting used to, especially with the stiffer headband, although placing it over a stack of books can help to loosen it up a tad if the clamping force is too much out of the box, according to Audeze. It is on the tighter side, but I didn’t have much of an issue with it when using these in the evenings to listen to some tunes or play some games with.