Hey! Yesterday I got the chance to listen to Audeze MM-500 extensively. I also tried the Hifiman HE-1000 V2.According to its frequency response graph and your past experiences you might like the new Audeze MM-500. They are tuned differently from the classic Audezes, not as dark and closer to the Sennheisers.
The HE-1000 is a comfortable and good sounding headphone. I liked it better than the Arya, because it's better balanced, has less treble spikes and worked better for all the genres I liked than the Arya. But I missed the slight mid forwardness und intimacy the HD650 offers me. Build quality is not acceptable for a >2000 € headphone. It wasn't faulty or anything, but it looks and feels really cheap (especially the cable, is this a joke?) and the price doesn't feel justified when holding it in the hands. Overall the sound was somehow very non-offensive and too polite for most "popular" music styles, but I really liked it for classical and soundtracks.
I liked the MM-500 better. It has a very nice tonal balance and you are right - it actually sounds similar to the HD650. It has a mid forward sound that I liked and the bass extension of course is better than the HD650s, while the treble felt just a tiny bit more airy, but really without any sibilance or harshness. Soundstage felt rather small and similar to the HD650. The build quality and feel was outstanding and it's lighter than the Audezes I owned before. The comfort was just okay - the pad pressure was really high so it wasn't super comfy, but I could wear it for 2 hours without problems. If you have the financial resources and look for a planar with a HD6XX style tonal balance you should try out the MM-500. It tried the LCD-X for a few minutes and it wasn't as good tuned, lacking in 1-5khz range. Altogether the MM-500 is a good headphone, but still fairly heavy, not super comfortable and very expensive (2100 €). Combined with the risk of a driver failure (that is way less than a few years ago, but still a higher probability than for dynamic headphones) and I don't see myself buying them or any other Audeze or Hifiman headphone.
Overall this made me appreciate the wonderful tonal balance and amazing value of the HD650 even more. I just wonder if I would like the HD600 with a tad less warmth and more air even more, especially for classical music and jazz. Or if a AKG K612 would be a good complement for a slightly more neutral sound with a bigger soundstage.
The only expensive headphone I am still be interested in is the ZMF Auteur (Classic) due to the amazing looks and build and lifelong driver guarantee. The Auteur should also sound really balanced and natural. But unfortunately I have no opportunity to try them out here so I don't think this will happen.
Last edited: