By Brady Betzel

In the HBO limited series Sharp Objects, character Alan Crellin escapes daily life by retreating to his HiFi audio cave. Alan’s escapism is a fundamental theme that runs throughout the series. While I watched each episode, I noticed I held my breath when Alan placed his headphones over his ears and was transported to another dimension. I had a similar experience when putting on the Audeze MM-500 headphones for the first time — I was immediately transported to another musical dimension, much like Alan was.

The Audeze MM-500 professional-level studio headphones, designed in combination with 11-time Grammy Award-winning mixer Manny Marroquin, are some of the cleanest and truly most natural-sounding headphones I have ever used.

If you’ve been in a professional recording studio, you will never forget how good it can sound. As an editor, I’ve been lucky enough to edit in a few that had high-end audio monitoring. There is truly nothing like it — from the clarity to the power to the timbre and dynamics of engaging audio. In the past, I’ve really enjoyed Beyerdynamic headphones when editing, specifically for the unimpeded, natural sound. That is until I received the Audeze MM-500 headphones.

Digging In

The Audeze MM-500 headphones retail for $1,699: https://www.audeze.com/products/mm-500. They are shipped in a durable and lockable travel case with a braided, 95-inch-long cable with a mini-XLR to ¼-inch jack. You also get a carrying bag, a signed certificate of authenticity and a warranty card.

The MM-500 headphones themselves are open-backed and sleek. They are a modern, professional studio-style headphone with a brushed aluminum structure that feels secure yet is light enough to wear comfortably for hours of work. The gunmetal color combined with a not-too-cumbersome heft really classes up the place.

They stay in place thanks to a clamp with a single leather band on the top. They are easily adjustable and fit comfortably around my ears with the leather earpads. The first time I used them I was able to go an hour without taking them off, but with continued use the MM-500 headphones are very comfortable and can be worn for long stretches of time.

Specifications are:
Transducer type – Planar Magnetic
Magnetic structure – Fluxor magnet array
Phase management – Fazor
Magnet type – Neodymium N50
Diaphragm type – Ultra-Thin Uniforce
Transducer size – 90 mm
Maximum SPL – >130dB
Frequency response – 5Hz – 50kHz
THD – <0.1% @ 100 dB SPL, 1kHz
Sensitivity – 100 dB/1mW (at drum reference point)
Impedance – 18 ohms
Max power handling – 5W RMS
Min recommended power – >100mW
Recommended power level – >250mW
Weight – 495g

The specs punch way above their weight class. Audeze has a few high-level headphones that retail from under $2,000 all the way up to $4,500, and some of the MM-500 specs are the same as elite-level headphones. One of the more interesting specs is the low impedance measuring at 18 ohms while still maintaining a relatively high sensitivity of 100dB. This essentially means the MM-500s will work with relatively low power pushing the signal, like a cell phone.

As a matter of fact, I used a USB-C digital audio converter (aka DAC) to connect the Audeze MM-500 headphones, and what do you know? They work. Mathematically speaking, it makes sense, but in the real world you never know, so this was a welcome surprise. This hammers home the point that Audeze really wanted to make a versatile professional headphone solution with the MM-500s; they are compatible with low-power devices as well as powerful amplifiers. However, if you really want to push professional headphones to work as they should, running through a nice DAC/pre-amp stack is the way to go.

Audeze’s Planar Magnetic technology is the company’s not-so-secret sauce, and they have a great article for all us nerds wanting to learn more It goes into detail on how Audeze’s large planar drivers help with stereo imaging and sound localization. They go deep, but it’s a really interesting read.

Real-World Use
Using the Audeze MM-500 headphones in an edit suite is a luxury. Most editors would attest that unless you bring your own headphones, you get whatever the rental facility left. Sometimes you will get lucky and run into a set of Beyerdynamics or maybe some Seinnheisers, but nothing that feels as good as the MM-500s.

The Audeze MM-500 headphones have bested any other headphones I have used, and they sounded great immediately with little burn-in needed. What’s even more impressive is what I was hearing in production audio while editing — things I would have never heard using lower-quality headphones or monitor speakers. Little separations, like a shoe coming out of the mud while the character is talking, are much more present and up front.

In my opinion, the MM-500 headphones shine with vocals, dialogue and un-muddying midtones (if that even makes sense). That’s not to say the highs and lows are deficient; they are just as clear, but headphones often don’t have the ability to produce clear midtones while still harnessing the low range.

As mentioned earlier, being present in a professional studio with elite-level equipment can change your life. For me, it’s live-concert energy versus listening to a song from your phone’s speaker. There is no comparison. The Audeze MM-500 professional headphones give me that same excitement when editing audio, specifically music. One of the most amazing parts of being a video editor is the ability to use the highest quality sources available, and sometimes that means using audio stems that are from songs you hear every day on the radio.

Editing with the Audeze MM-500 allows you to hear a song in the highest quality available, so your “flow state” can be at its highest. That flow state is not an easy thing to achieve, but when using headphones like the MM-500, in addition to studio monitors and television speakers, you know you are starting at a high level, so the audience will experience the best listening experience they can.

I have to be honest; I am nowhere near a professional audio mixer. I just work in a facility with them. But just like editors, colorists, visual effects creators, producers and everyone else, true professionals are magicians. However, I am acutely aware of how great audio advances a story, and that is why all editors should have a pair of high-quality headphones to listen to their mixes.

Listening on a TV and/or studio monitors is fine in a general sense, but editors should always listen to their mix on headphones to catch the nuance. I like to close my eyes and “transport” to another dimension while listening to my mixes. This allows me to see how well they would tell the story if the video happened to drop out. The Audeze MM-500 headphones are the right headphones for this.

I know the $1,699 price tag is a little much to ask offline/online editors to pay but think of it this way: You could buy a new pair of pseudo-expensive headphones every few years or invest in a single pair of headphones that will accurately reproduce the mix you are editing and most likely last for many years. Plus, they look great.

So after playing around in my professional editing applications like Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve with Fairlight, I had to indulge myself. I signed up for the music streaming service Tidal, specifically to listen to the Master Quality Audio (MQA) tracks. After reading up on Tidal’s MQA tracks, I’m not sure whether it is truly as the artist intended or if it’s shaped by the compression, but regardless it sounds great in the Audeze MM-500 headphones.

Technically, MQA audio has a bit rate between 2304 and 9216Kbps — very high when compared to 128Kbps, which is kind of the standard bit rate for streaming audio. I first started listening to some more modern metal tracks from Lamb of God, Chimaira, Silent Planet, Meshuggah and Metallica. They all sounded very good and clear but not as impressive as I had hoped.

I then went to my softer side and played some Tool — their latest album sounded immaculate. I then started going down the A Perfect Circle and Puscifer rabbit hole. Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot of MQA on those two, but it still sounded great.

Finally, I gave in and listened to some pop hits, and “Stay” by Justin Bieber played. That was the trick, as much as I don’t want to admit it. Justin Bieber sounded excellent. It really showed off the intimate nature of the Audeze MM-500 headphones. It felt like an intimate and personal concert in a perfectly tuned space as opposed to a more arena-style sound. Afterward, I cleansed my palate with Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s “Lucky Man” and “Soundtracking: Atlanta,” an incredible playlist based off the FX show Atlanta. This is where I got lost in the music and could have kept listening for hours; it gave me that buzz that I remember feeling at concerts or listening inside of a professional mix room.

I have some musical experience on both the installation side as well as the performance side, but nothing like a true audiophile. So when describing the use of the Audeze MM-500 headphones to a colorist or an editor, it would be akin to going from color correcting 8-bit HD to 16-bit 4K/UHD HDR.

For many “civilians,” the standard Spotify bit rate is just as good as the MQA tracks off of Tidal, but when you are huge nerd like me, there are many levels of differences in the details. The shadows have many more nuances and details, the highlights contain intricacies and aren’t blown-out, and even the blue gradations in the sky are smooth and have no banding. This is how I would describe using the Audeze MM-500 professional headphones.

Summing Up
Audeze partnering up with Manny Marroquin was a smart move. The clarity, separation and comforting in the up-front staging of the Audeze MM-500 clearly show how Manny focused on the ability to go from million-dollar studio to mixing on a laptop in an airplane without losing sound quality.

These days, being mobile and adaptable is a key to staying successful. For anyone looking for mix-level quality headphones that will also take you to another musical dimension, the Audeze MM-500s are a great pick.

Main Image: Brady Betzel

Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and Uninterrupted: The Shop . He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.