That color reference you brought is awesome. I've been thinking this way all the time 👍

Thanks for keeping it honest as always!

Somehow I'm more excited to see a new video from Joshua, than hear about new movie, or game. As always, amazing content!

Thank you so much for your incredible work and being such a necessary resource

I am an avid music listener, sometimes musician and producer that has some experience as a mix engineer, too. I am restricted to a fairly meager budget and tend to spend a lot of time researching for the best bang for buck equipment. With headphones and active monitors, I go for something that gives me enough neutrality to take mixes a long way but also are really enjoyable to listen to, as well. Your vids are definitely among my faves when it comes to headphones and headphone amps. You also seem to be one of the few reviewers of quality audio equipment that sometimes touches on the fact that everyone's ears are actually tuned differently. So, it's all pretty subjective. I recently got the chance to demo a few headphones I had heard about. I checked them out on a headphone amp that was affordable on my budget and could be used running through my studio sound interface ( well, two of the 3 I tested ). I checked out the Sundara and the Meze Classic 99 and ran the same tracks through ( covering several different genres because I listen to everything from classical to EDM to metal ). I preferred the Meze to the Sundara. Better over the full range for me. I then tested way out of my budget on both amp and headphone and listened to the Susvara. Super impressive. But, even if I had the budget, I would have preferred the Meze. I then tried the Beyerdynamic DT900 Pro X and that is what I bought. Like you mention with the MM500, the DT 900 Pro X isn't incredibly forgiving with certain productions. It seems pretty truthful to me while being very nice on the enjoyment side, as well. It's a headphone geared toward the professional market that I believe would also satisfy a lot of folks with audiophile tastes and lack audiophile bucks. Keep up the good work!

Thanks, Josh. Appreciate the honesty.

Your videos are so high quality now.

my favorite headphone of all time, this and the HD600.

I'm an audiophile, not a producer. I've owned the MM-500s for about a year now and couldn't be happier with how they sound out of the headphone output of my Audio Analogue AAdac. I originally auditioned them with the Naim Uniti Atom HE alongside LCD-5 and Meze Elite. Altough I have the LCD-5 in the back of my head ATM, the choice was a no brainer. And the headphones shine even more in my home setup. What do I like about them? One thing that voices come across as more neutral than on any other headhpones I've heard, save, maybe, for the LCD-5s. Voices are somewhat enlighted, coming across as utterly realistic. Especially female voices, gaining from the little extra energy in the upper midrange. Another upside is that the tonality sounds less planar-like than I've heard before. I've owned the HE1000 v2 and I've also demo:ed the Arya stealth, and in comparison to those I perceive the MM-500s to sound more life-like. Before the MM-500, I stuck with dynamic designs, but not anymore. I don't experience any timbre problems with the treble, as mentioned in the video. Maybe that the most metallic sounds come across as more metallic than they do with some other designs. But nothing that distracts, in my book. Guitars generally sound excellent. The soundstage surely is more narrow than what you can find at the price point, but I believe that it would be wrong to say that they lack in the soundstage apartment. Precision, depth and other aspects are good or very good. That said, I realize that direct comparsions might emphasize the more narrow, focused soundstage. It's not as beguiling as some other designs, but paried with the right electronics, it can open up nicely. In my book, the MM-500s remains a hidden gem in the consumer market. Surely not for everyone, but I encourage people to audition them before going to similarly priced or even more expensive designs.

Love my Audeze LCD 2 Classics for listening to my music. Thank you for your opinion on these MM-500 headphones. Headphones

Finally indeed, great review =] Any plans on reviewing the new Fiio K11?

Just bought the Arya Organic today. I’m absolutely loving it. Thanks for your reviews, they really helped me choose the right headphones for me :)

Thank you! Finally someone that heard somewhat the same as me, when I auditioned them. I found the midrange way too forward, and it dropped my interest in them quite quickly.

Well done, Joshua! Finally, a reviewer pays serious attention to the different perspectives that studios and audiophile headphones have.

In my experience they're very good at layering, in a way where definitely it's a go to headphone for some music. If I want soundstage and sub base I'd go Aryas, if I want tamber and soundstage I'd go Hd800s.

I personally prefer more ear gain in headphones and IEMs so I really like the mm-500. I just wish it had a little more treble extension.

Love my LCDX 2021 …except for vocals ( recessed and nasal) ..otherwise for movies OST and more techno / edm or electronica or trance it’s fabulous. Phenomenal bass and clean highs . That being said .. I’ll be sending mine to Rhythm Devil to have the wonkyness tuned up ..( bringing vocals ..especially) and balancing the mids . Great review…but I suspect as you’ve said ..give it a listen for yourself. Best of the Christmas 🎄 season to you and yours.

I own a Focal clear MG, 2021 version LCD-X, and I’ve heard the MM-500 at 2 different CanJams. I agreed with a lot of what you said. The clear MG is better at vocals all around, and I personally do prefer it to the MM-500 for enjoyability of music. I’m glad someone finally said it and gave the clear MG the recognition it deserved here. MM-500 with the LCD-X this is where things get tricky. The LCD-X is my personal preference between the two, however I must say that vocals in particular sound far more natural on the MM-500. The LCD-X has a big dip at 4k in the FR which makes vocalist sound extremely warm. The fullness and lower end body of the vocalist on the LCD-X is very present, but the upper vocal range is lacking. The MM-500 fixes this, while being just a little bit too much in the upper midrange (around 3k like you mentioned) but it is far more “correct” sounding and less colored for vocals specifically than the LCD-X to my ear. Although I do agree that the LCD-X has better bass, treble and staging for the enjoyability factor of music. Great review as always Josh!

The Yamaha NS10 equivalent in 2023 is listening to a mix on your iPhone speakers, not because they sound bad but because most people will probably first hear your mix on their phone speakers and if it can sound good on your iPhone, it will probably mean more people will end up buying your music. The NS 10 is a legacy speaker and throwback to old school 80s-90s recording studios.

my all time favorite will always be the 109 pro

The reason why it sounds better on the MacBook is because of the Interpolation Filter of the Cirrus Logic chip in the MacBook. Almost all Dacs have either a Min. phase fast filter or a Lin. phase fast filter. Both sound different and have their pros and cons. The filter of the CS chip in the MacBook has a compromise of both (also called: Low Dispersion Filter) and therefore sounds neither too soft nor too hard, especially at low frequencies.

I have the first model LCD-2C and I think it has a spike at 1k(?) that I find pretty shouty in the way you describe. Dark Bright is a good description. Not an expert though, but that part resonated with me, even though there's obviously a difference between 1k and 3k.

i love my sundara. i need help deciding between the clear og and the elex, do you have a strong suggestion with either?

Whoa, I can't believe how good they sound with the MacBook Pro M1 headphone amp! That is no joke!

The upper mid pinna gain is a deal breaker for me and I’m curious why these are tuned that way for mixing and mastering. The tuning will yield muted vocals,guitars and synths etc as the mixer will hear frequencies that will need to be dampened. I’m very happy with my LCD X 2021s which have a beautiful tuning and while heavier, I find them comfortable (and have no clamping issues).

Thank you for this review. Could you compare it to the MM100 as I do not have $ 1700 to spend on headphones but I could invest $ 400 if the MM100 are good enough...And I am sure I am not the only one interested to compare these 2 headphones! Currently I have the Sennheiser HD 560S (+ ifi audio amp) which I love! Thanks! Olivier

I heard about the clamp force and it was game over.

I'm SO thankful I didn't see this review before I tested these cans on display at Denver's largest audiophile store. I am NOT an expert, but I can only state that these headphones--tested side by side against a variety of competitors including Focal's finest on a variety of tracks--felt like NOTHING I've ever experienced from sound. The depth and separation of detail is so outstanding, Im finding it hard to listen to music without this level of DISSECTION; is the only appropriate word. Listen: F the reviews and do whatever you can to properly test these for yourself

I haven't heard the MM-500 but I have the LCD-5 and I found the 5s upper midrange to be rather shouty. Didn't like vocals on it. Treble and especially bass wasn't enough to counter the upper midrange shout. I much prefer the mids of the Susvara over the LCD-5s. I wonder if I would like the MM-500 or MM-100 but so far I much prefer the older audeze tuning over the newer one.

yess finally

Would you get the same performance from a 2022 M2 Macbook Air as what you do with the Pro?

Hi love your videos and take from an audio file perspective, great job! But with that being said as a freelance mixing engineer this headphone is primarily made and marketed for the mixing engineer that sits at the mixing console NOT for the talent that comes to the studio to be recorded… you probably wouldn’t have multiple pairs of these headphones just laying around. As you stated in the video this stuff is so subjective but I personally hated the LCD X tonally! I gravitated towards the MM 500 mainly because I felt like it was a tonal and quality upgrade from my beloved HD 650 that I’ve grown to mix with for the past six years. As a mixing engineer sometimes getting too much detail can work against you because you are microscope’d into the mix too close and can’t see it as a whole picture from a distance due to the amount of detail that’s in your face.

Can you please give the Fosi K5 Pro Gaming DAC a view ? Especially with the PC38X they are unbeatable in price function compatibility and sound

He's right about those speakers and it's a true method that actually works it's just extremely difficult to make music that sounds like 💩

Any plans to review DCA expanse?

One thing I can’t understand is why hardly anyone has reviewed the Audeze MX4. It’s really difficult to understand this. Maybe it’s a bad product? But they still produce it, so there must be takers!? Did the MX4 get a facelift when the model X did (2021)? I don’t know and I have not had the chance to hear it myself. Somehow there seems only two possibilities, either it’s an inferior product or a hidden gem. Point being if you can get your hands on one and report your findings it would be wonderful. Greetings from Denmark.

That is why I like about this channel, not pushing the hype train.

Review the Audeze MM-100!

@Joshua, do you think that you could ask Yamaha to send you the YH-5000SE for a review? I believe that they should be rather happy to do so :)

joshua which headphones would you go for if you were to choose one for movies only?

Very good headphone, but I still like the LCD-X even for mixing.

When will you gonna "Try" """""Project Red"""""", waiting for your review.

The 3K is the point. These are advertised as "mixing headphones", and how are ATC monitors tuned? Or the Yamaha mentioned in the review? Or some Genelec monitors? Amphion monitors? Sony 7506? These, and others, are all tools with hot 3Khz. Even the good old hd600 is quite forward in that area. If one mixes with 3K 2db below neutral it usually doesn't damage timber and tonal balance, and chances are many people prefer that in listening. Mix with 3K 2db ABOVE neutral and that's gonna bother many! Headphones or speakers with hot 3K are a guarantee that masters will come out with that area under control. The fact the mm500 almost doesn't scale at all (they nearly sound the same from my iPhone, my MacBook Pro, and my Mjolnir 3 (!!!) ) is intentional, as stated by M. Marroquin himself. They are intended for use on the go, so that production work can continue on a laptop if one is traveling. I don't know how they achieved that (electric specs? damping?), but these headphones are the least scaling I've ever had, they literally sound close to their best from a laptop.

Great review; spot on! I use these when I'm travelling or on holiday to stay ontop of my sessions / updates and I'm away from the studio driven on the MBP!; There are the only headphones I've felt fully comfortable working on mixing and mastering. Reason being; (Same goes for my monitors) I find headphones in general to be too coloured; emphasised low ends, or unique sound staging makes EVERYTHING sound great; then when the mixes or masters are out in the real world they're lackluster. These headphones tell it like it is; no frills.

We need a review of ATH R70X.

Josh, what is the model of your monitor/TV?

very off topic but gosh Joshua is an incredibly handsome fella! 😄

D7200/9200 review and lcd x vs focal clear og review plzzz

I love mine

This headphone is meant for studios....99.9999999% of all professional studios use 1/4 inch, not 3.5mm FYI so thats probably why, not to mention MM himself helped design this and he's a professional producer that works in professional recording studios.

If it is super transparent it should sound better thru a better headphone amp.

I just got mine yesterday. The yamaha reference is dead on. They are the least fun headphones I've tried in a minute... that said, mixing on them would no doubt have benefits.

You look like a contract killer in this video with the glasses on. "If you want it done right.......call the Reviewer"

The MM100 is 100% meant for mixing and mastering engineers. Audeze's biggest consumer market is 85% mixing and mastering engineers... not audiophiles. Mastering engineer, Bob Katz and myself, work closely with Sankar and Audeze on setting the Audeze EQ profiles for the headphones. I know more than 100 Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox producers, mastering and mixing engineers who say that Audeze has the best reference headphones... hands down. These producers and engineers are Grammy winners and have mixed high-level artists and orchestras.

I usually really like Yoshuas reviews - in this though I disagree. I realize that it is hard to review a headphone and take EQ or the effects of certain other equipment like r2r DACs. DDCs or even tube amps into consideration. If you do this though I would like a full and fair comparison to other headphones in regard of all aspects. It is easy to say that the HD800S has a wider stage or the Arya Organic is warmer or a LCD-X having more base, but for true comparsion you should also mention that the MM-500 is still a lot in front of the HB800S in regard to base. or that the LCD-X has a bid downside in regard of its weight. If I take into consideration how I EQ the MM-500 and that I use a DAC that gives a much wider stage than I would use on the Arya Organic of HD800s the MM-500 be my favourite headphone in this pricerange shortly folloged by the Arya Organic.

I think you don't have exactly clear what the use case for "studio headphones" is. The studio headphones that recording studios tend to have in bulk, are cheaper and closed back headphones (Sony 7506/beyer dt 770) these are used mostly for "tracking" in a recording studio. Meaning when you are recording you need a closed back headphone so that what the musician is hearing doesn't get picked up by the super sensitive microphones that are used. On the other hand open back headphones are used by the mixing/mastering engineers. So no studio would buy a bulk of MM 500, even if they have unlimited budget, they would be simply useless

neutral is harman target

Any basshead headphone suggestion

people! keep in mind that the newest is always the best, isn't it? there is a basic construction and it is varied in eight different ways. for example, they all have a nanodiagram.

When everybody says 3.5 is not a standard, then it's maybe a standard.

Voshua Jalour

I disagree with the "neutral" part. If you say something is boosted up at 3KHz and it is audible, then it isn't neutral. If if you say it's "dark bright" then it's not neutral. Neutral should mean no coloration (everything is balanced and not under or overemphasized).

Man this is an odd review. As a producer, I understand how important it is not to embellish certain frequencies for the final mix, a peak at 3k probably means not to add too much to 3k, a dip in the highs probably means adding a little extra air in the mix is a good idea, it’s all contextual, and I wouldn’t review this headphone as if it were a normal pair with the normal function

Can honestly say that I've neither heard of the MM guy or anything he's made... As far as the clamp, the MM500 and LCD-5 are some of if not the best fitting high end headphones to my head, to date. So I definitely hope they don't change it :P

As a sound engineer for films and TVs, the neumann NDH30 sounds a lot more neutral, accurate and studio like than the MM-500.

Endorsed headphones audeze is collaborating on to make money

I didn't like any of LCD their "super" HP that i've tryed.....Sorry LCD, are way better and cheaper alternatives out there..

The MM100 is meant for mixing and mastering engineers, not for audiophiles, Audeze have been clear about that.

This is what I don't understand with lots of reviewers or internet forum users: how can amps affect the sound of a headphone when all it should - should - be doing is supplying power? Yes, tube amps can deliberately colour the source but for solid state stuff how or why would there be any changes so that one makes a headphone sound "better"? I'm old enough to have drunk plenty of kool aid, sampled some snake oil ... and I still don't get it.

Cynical take, but I assumed Marroquin didn't tune it at all; it is just marketing 101. Especially after looking at the list of artists he was worked with...

5:20 trs

I have to bust your balls a little bit. I think it’s perfect that it ships with a quarter inch plug and especially with a long cable. I think that audio file pretentiousness has taken over a little bit and you don’t realize this headphone wasn’t made for you this was made by a mixing engineer who is sitting in a chair plugged into a 40-year-old mixing console and his headphones were created for him and his peers that create music, not just pretentious KZfaqrs, who talk about consumer products and don’t really create anything except videos to sell ads :)

Way wider? lol

this is exactly why I never got and never will buy an audeze headphone. It is always the "not great but respond very well to EQ". I designed my entire chain to exclude any negative standards like USB for example so I will not fix something that will never be just as good as it was in the beginning anyway, and they expect me to get their headphone, then buy extra gear to fix their headphone? That's a joke

Audiophiles should not be allowed to review a technical / tool headphone like mm500

13:40 I must say is probably one of the most ignorant presumptions I've ever heard on this channel. You think Mixing and Mastering engineers don't care about instrument details, positioning??? (Insane thing to say) you think they don't care about impact and slam???? If you don't know what you're talking about, I'd suggest not bringing it up. Of course they care about those things, that is their job, you have a far greater misunderstanding about music as a whole than they do, and I can guarantee that.

first

A soon to be Sony MM-500. Nothing intrinsically wrong with that, I am just worried Audeze will go the way of Beats (Not that I feel sorry for Beats)

I have no idea where he got the 3.5mm thing… I don’t think you could name a single single audio interface that uses 3.5mm instead of 1/4”

Your black glasses... no

Just to save viewers some time: These headphones are $1,700. And if that price might be waaaay out of the range of what you can afford, as it is the case for me, you can just stop watching now.