MM-500 FAQs

How does the sound of the MM-500 compare to _____?

The MM-500 was designed from scratch to meet the professional needs of Manny Marroquin and other working professionals. As such, it’s not directly comparable to any of our previous models and has it’s own unique sonic characteristics. The primary goal is accurate reproduction of sound with minimal coloration and a flat frequency response, the MM-500 takes advantage of some of our more recent technological improvements like our Fluxor magnet array, which allows it to be slightly smaller than most of our previous models and weigh significantly less without sacrificing performance. 

-Are the ear pads removable?

As with all of our headphones, we’ve chosen to forgo earpad clips in favor of the more reliable and sonically advantageous adhesive for our earpads. You can read about this choice in our technology blog article here.

-Are the ear openings as large as on the LCD-5, or has there been a sacrifice of ear space to make way for a more traditionally shaped pad?

The earpads of the MM-500 are similar in design to our reference series earpads. The MM-500 earpads do not feature the sloped design of the LCD-5, which was a choice to achieve our desired goals for frequency response and comfort on this product. The actual dimensions of the ear opening are very similar to our standard LCD earpads, 67mm x 49mm at their widest points, and 26-34mm deep.

-Is there a benefit to using the LCD-5 ear pads vs MM500 pad outside of comfort and shape difference?

Earpads can have a remarkable impact on perceived sound. When designing the MM-500, we felt that having full sized earpads was a more appropriate method than the sloped earpads found in the LCD-5, and the headphones were tuned with these types of earpads in mind. Changing out the earpads with the sloped LCD-5 earpads will change the feel and comfort of the headphones, but more importantly, it will alter how they sound and their tuning and is not recommended. 

-Can I swap the included 1/4" cable for a balanced XLR cable?

Since the MM-500 was designed for the studio professional where 4-pin XLR headphone connections are rare, we chose to include a standard ¼” TRS cable with the MM-500. XLR balanced cables can be purchased separately from our web store here. 

-What is the differences between MM500 and LCD-5?

Although the LCD-5 and the MM-500 may look similar, they’re actually very different headphones in terms of materials used and construction methods. The LCD-5 specifically uses a thinner diaphragm material and a different type of voice coil pattern (our Nano-Scale Parallel Uniforce voice coil). With a 10dB difference in sensitivity, the MM-500 is easily driven by more equipment than the LCD-5, which requires a bit more amplification. In many ways, the MM-500 is more akin to the LCD-X than the LCD-5 apart from aesthetic similarities.

-Can I buy MM500 (X/Y/Z) parts for my LCD-5 (and vice versa)?

We will have spare parts available for the MM-500 at a later date, however, we recommend not swapping parts between the two models as they’re each tuned with their stock components in mind, and changing these parts could lead to detrimental performance.

-Is there going to be a leather-free option?

We do plan on offering a leather-free version at some point in the future. 

-Will Frequency response graphs be available for my MM-500?

Frequency response graphs for individual units are available upon request. 

Will the target measurements of the MM-500 be available?

We do not post average graphs, however, frequency response graphs are available for individual units and will lie within +/- 1dB of our target graph across all frequencies. 

For any other questions you might have, please contact our support team by emailing support@audeze.com or visiting https://audeze.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new