At the NAMM 2022 booth, the excitement around the presence of Manny Marroquin was visible, with multiple camera crews lined-up to interview the engineer and producer that has mixed albums for everyone, from Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys, all the way to Bruno Mars, Pharrell Williams or Ed Sheeran, among countless others. Marroquin’s work has been featured on more than 250 albums as well as forty #1 albums, one hundred Billboard Top 10 albums, and over forty singles in the top 10. Most recently, Marroquin’s work earned him a 2022 Grammy win for Album of the Year with Jon Batiste. Of course, among the NAMM crowd, most recognize Marroquin for its Waves Audio plugins, which helped to augment its recognition among audio professionals.
The new Audeze MM-500 was designed to deliver mixes that consistently translate and capture the studio work, conceived and refined by Manny Marroquin. Lighter than Audeze's famous LCD-X, the MM-500 offers a more elegant, unobtrusive and sturdy chassis, designed for longer comfort. The headphones benefit from all developments of the LCD series, and clearly from the more recent LCD-5 model, in terms of drivers, earpads, frame design, using a durable, lightweight chassis featuring machined aluminum and spring steel.
Specifically designed to suit the requirements of long daily listening sessions under almost any condition, and to deliver mixes that consistently translate well, referenced from nearfield monitors, the MM-500 headphones remove the room effects from the equation - with all the benefits but also undesirable proximity (in-your-head) effects, which need to be compensated by the over-ear, open-back design - an area that planar magnetic drivers support well. That is essentially what Manny Marroquin advised, aiming to create a tool that he could use in every situation.
The headphones feature extra-plush premium leather earpads, an adjustable spring steel headband, and a machined aluminum structure, feeling substantial yet lightweight (495g). The MM-500 drivers are essentially tuned for a flat and accurate response, improving from the already acclaimed performance of the Audeze LCD-X headphones, adopted by many audio professionals.
As Audeze describes, the MM-500’s 90mm planar magnetic drivers provide realism that audio professionals like Manny “can’t live without.” The result is lightning-fast transients, accurate frequency response and trusted mix translation powered by Audeze’s patented innovations, such as the Fluxor magnet array, Fazor phase management and ultra-thin Uniforce diaphragm. The result is also clear from the specified extended frequency response, >130dB maximum SPL, <0.1% THD (@100dB SPL, 1kHz) and improved sensitivity of 100 dB/1mW (at drum reference point). The Audeze MM-500 headphones are even easier to drive with 18 ohms impedance and a minimum recommended power of 100mW (>250mW recommended)
Audeze predicts to start shipping in August 2022, and the MM-500 headphones will come with a braided cable and standard travel case.
Head of Professional Products
The announced partnership with Manny Marroquin is intended to combine its music industry experience with the advanced engineering of Audeze to create a new series of products intended for creators and professionals. Also working from its base in Los Angeles, Marroquin brings his keen understanding of the demands facing producers directly to the engineers at Audeze.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Audeze team as my entire career has been spent in the music industry. I look forward to furthering my career by helping develop and provide other recording industry professionals with the tools that have helped me elevate my creativity,” says Marroquin.
“We are very excited to welcome Manny to our team. Manny brings a strong focus to our pro audio business, deepening our commitment to developing products and relationships that serve the needs of music industry professionals,” said Sankar Thiagasamudram.
www.audeze.com
