I really like seeing gaming headsets from audio firms, as a result of they method it from the audio aspect first, not the gaming aspect. So I do know they’re going to sound nice. And Audeze’s latest wi-fi gaming headset, the Maxwell, does sound nice. However sounding nice is only one side of what makes the greatest gaming headsets, effectively, the very best.
The Maxwell is a big, wi-fi over-ear gaming headset with a metal and aluminum body, a removable increase microphone, and 80+ hours of rated battery life. It options newly-designed 90mm planar magnetic drivers (extra on what meaning later) and an out-of-the-box sound profile that’s tuned for gaming. And once more, it sounds implausible. Design-wise, it’s a departure from Audeze’s earlier wi-fi gaming headsets, the Penrose and the Mobius, which have been smaller, lighter, and primarily fabricated from plastic.
The Maxwell is accessible now and is available in two variations: a PlayStation model ($299) and an Xbox model ($329). Each variations work with PC, however the Xbox model is licensed by Microsoft and consists of an embedded Dolby Atmos license (each variations of the headset additionally work with present Dolby Atmos licenses). We reviewed the PlayStation model.
Design and Consolation of the Maxwell
The Maxwell is a big, sturdy headset with an aluminum and metal body and glass-infused nylon earcups with plush, leatherette-covered foam earpads. The headset has average clamping power, which, mixed with its weight of 1,06 kilos (490g), means you’ll undoubtedly really feel it in your head.
Within the many hours I spent carrying this headset, I didn’t as soon as really feel discomfort from the power of the clamping power or the general heftiness of the unit. I did discover the big measurement of the earcups to be just a little inconvenient whereas touring — particularly, it was troublesome to lean in opposition to something with such cumbersome earcups — however that shouldn’t be an excessive amount of of a problem for those who plan on utilizing the Maxwell for its main goal of at-home gaming.
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The Maxwell isn’t the sleekest headset — in reality, it appears to be like just a little clunky subsequent to a number of the greatest wi-fi gaming headsets, particularly headsets designed to cross over into the approach to life class, such because the Razer Barracuda Professional Wi-fi. Whereas headsets just like the Barracuda Professional Wi-fi have no less than form of tried to sculpt down the scale of their earcups, the Maxwell merely owns its bulkiness. I’m positive a number of the Maxwell’s earcup measurement and chunkiness need to do with the dual-chamber design, which acoustically isolates the driving force from the headset’s electronics. However, whereas I discover this forgivable (in pursuit of audio high quality!), there’s no denying that this headset is big.
The excellent news is that it feels very sturdy (the majority in all probability helps with that), with a metal headband, aluminum yokes, and thick, weighty earcups. It’s an enormous step up from Audeze’s earlier wi-fi gaming headsets, the Penrose and the Mobius, which have been largely fabricated from plastic.
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The Maxwell’s understated, monochromatic design doesn’t scream “gamer,” however this isn’t too uncommon. Most of the greatest gaming headsets, particularly premium ones, are transferring in that path. The headset’s body is a darkish gunmetal grey, whereas the leatherette components (earpads, headband strap, and headband padding) are black. ‘Audeze’ is printed throughout the highest of the headscarf in gentle grey, and the corporate’s ‘A’ emblem is printed in blue on either side of the headscarf, simply above every yoke. The headset has no lights, except for a pinprick-sized LED indicator on the left earcup that flashes totally different colours to sign connection standing and battery life.
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The earcups swivel in each instructions (and likewise swivel flat for storage) and tilt for consolation. The one main level of adjustment, nonetheless, is the leatherette stress headband, which will be shortened or lengthened by way of three units of notches on both sides. The headscarf is simple to regulate (you may simply pull it off of the screws, you don’t have to interrupt out a screwdriver, or something), however this technique does appear a bit restricted. In spite of everything, it solely permits for 5 lengths — six, for those who depend eradicating the strap fully.
I used to be capable of finding an adjustment that labored for me, however I’d have most well-liked extra nuance. I suppose you possibly can use a leather-based punch so as to add extra holes to the strap, however ideally, you wouldn’t need to go to these sorts of lengths simply to make a $300+ headset match. SteelSeries’ Arctis Nova headsets have an identical suspension headband system, however these headsets even have independently height-adjustable earcups, whereas the Maxwell’s earcups are mounted.
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The Maxwell options delicate, foam, leatherette-covered earpads which are contoured to suit the curvature of your cranium. They’re much like the earpads on the Audeze LCD-GX, however as a result of the Maxwell has smaller earcups, the contour is much less dramatic. The headset doesn’t have energetic noise cancellation, however the earcups do a wonderful job of passive noise cancellation. The leatherette stays pretty cool for leatherette, nevertheless it nonetheless retains extra warmth than mesh fabric-covered earpads (equivalent to these on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7).
The earpads are replaceable and twist off simply. Audeze doesn’t presently have replacements for the Maxwell listed on its web site, nevertheless it does have replacements for the Penrose/Mobius gaming headsets listed. So I assume the Maxwell replacements will make their solution to the store ultimately.
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The left earcups homes all the Maxwell’s controls and ports. On the left earcup’s face, there’s an influence button that additionally acts as a play/pause (single press) and Bluetooth pairing (double press) button, in addition to a bodily microphone mute swap. On the sting of the earcup, beginning on the entrance, there’s a button for toggling the headset’s microphone AI noise discount function, a 3.5mm microphone jack, a USB-C port, a 3.5mm aux jack, a clickable wheel for chat mixing and sidetone, and a clickable wheel for quantity. A lot of the buttons and wheels on this headset have a number of capabilities, which makes them just a little complicated at first — however no extra complicated than most multi-mode wi-fi gaming headsets nowadays.
The Maxwell notably does not have a solution to manually swap between wi-fi connections (2.4GHz and Bluetooth), which is irritating because it additionally doesn’t enable for simultaneous listening on these two connections. As an alternative, the headset is designed to routinely swap between these two connections, prioritizing Bluetooth. I’ve quite a lot of ideas on this, however we’ll dig deeper into it within the Battery Life and Wi-fi part.
The Maxwell comes with a number of cables and equipment: a removable increase microphone, a 2.4GHz wi-fi USB-C dongle, a 1-foot USB extender, a 4-foot aux cable, and a 5-foot USB-C to USB-C cable. It doesn’t include a carrying case (or perhaps a protecting fabric bag), which is just a little disappointing (the big, unblemished earcups make me cautious of stuffing it right into a backpack unprotected). Whereas it’s true that the majority gaming headsets don’t include carrying circumstances, I believe higher-end headsets ought to. In spite of everything, spending $300+ on a headset is rather more palatable if you should use it for extra than simply gaming.
Audio Efficiency of the Maxwell
Most gaming headsets (and most headphones and audio system usually) have dynamic drivers, which produce sound utilizing a passive diaphragm hooked up to a transferring voice coil — which is why dynamic drivers are additionally referred to as “transferring coil” drivers. Audeze focuses on a unique sort of driver: planar magnetic. Planar magnetic drivers produce sound utilizing a diaphragm with the conductor embedded inside it (as an alternative of hooked up to it, like a voice coil is), positioned between two magnetic arrays. This enables for extra detailed management over the diaphragm, which suggests (in idea, no less than) extra correct sound copy.
The Maxwell sports activities newly designed 90mm planar magnetic drivers with a frequency vary of 10 Hz – 50,000 Hz. That is a lot wider than the common frequency vary of gaming headsets, which principally follow a variety of 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz. The $350 SteelSeries Arctis Nova Professional Wi-fi has a barely increased vary of 20 Hz – 22,000 Hz (as much as 40,000 Hz when wired) and the $270 Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wi-fi XT has a variety of 20 Hz – 40,000 Hz. Each of these headsets have dynamic drivers, however the $330 HyperX Cloud Orbit S, which additionally makes use of planar magnetic drivers, has the identical frequency vary because the Maxwell. The Maxwell is an energetic headset with an inner DSP and a built-in DAC, so it can should be turned on even for those who’re utilizing a wired analog connection.
The Maxwell’s default sound profile is tuned for gaming — which is smart, because it’s a gaming headset — with punchy lows, barely pulled-back mids, and shiny, barely elevated highs. The headset’s large soundstage did a wonderful job of layering particulars within the jungles of each Uncharted 4 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, two of my favourite video games for immersive environmental audio.
I made it by way of sufficient of The Callisto Protocol to verify that the Maxwell’s crisp, detailed audio and passive noise isolation is far too spectacular for me to be taking part in horror video games with. Directional sound is superb — even with out spatial audio — in video games like Fortnite and Overwatch 2, particularly on the headset’s “competitors” EQ preset (there’s a “footsteps” EQ preset as effectively, however the highs are just a little too excessive for me). The Maxwell doesn’t embody spatial audio in its PC app, nevertheless it does help Sony’s 3D audio on PS5.
However whereas the Maxwell’s default sound profile is nice for gaming, it’s much less so for listening to music. Fortunately it solely takes a handful of EQ changes to rein within the headset’s aggressive highs and pump up the mid-range for a balanced, comparatively impartial listening profile. The app has 4 customizable EQ presets that, as soon as configured, save to the headset itself — so that you’ll solely have to do that as soon as.
As soon as I had the headset’s EQ sorted out, listening to music on the Maxwell was a pleasure. It did an amazing job of manufacturing full-bodied, clean-sounding bass in Knife Celebration’s Boss Mode and sustaining the ability of the low beat in Kaskade’s POW POW POW with out getting too muddy. In Okay-391’s Lonely World, vocals and sustained mids sounded full and balanced (once more, as soon as I adjusted the EQ — the mids are just a little recessed out of the field).
Microphone of the Maxwell
The Maxwell comes with a removable increase microphone, which plugs into the three.5mm mic jack on the left earcup. The mic sits on the finish of a 4-inch gooseneck arm and comes with a detachable foam pop filter. It seems to be the identical increase mic that got here with the Penrose and the Mobius, however the Maxwell incorporates a built-in AI-powered noise suppression function that works to filter out background noise whilst you’re speaking.
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The increase mic sounds fairly good — it provides a sure broadcast-quality fullness to your voice that you just gained’t get from most gaming headset mics — nevertheless it’s just a little finicky. Relying on the connection, it picks up fairly a little bit of self noise and infrequently sounds fuzzy, particularly within the increased mid-ranges.
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The AI noise suppression function has two ranges (excessive, low), and did an amazing job of filtering out constant background noise, equivalent to my 37 PC case followers, with out scaling down or in any other case distorting my voice. It even managed to boring the clicky sounds of my keyboard to the purpose the place the individuals I used to be speaking to have been nonetheless capable of perceive my phrases completely. (It didn’t, nonetheless, disguise the truth that I used to be typing on a really clicky keyboard throughout our Tom’s {Hardware} morning assembly.)
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Whenever you unplug the increase mic, the Maxwell switches over to its built-in mics. That’s proper, this headset has an on-board beamforming microphone array for whenever you don’t want (or need) an exterior increase mic. It’s good to see a gaming headset with each choices, as hooked up increase mics don’t look very cool whenever you’re not sitting in entrance of a PC or a TV. With that in thoughts, the Maxwell’s built-in mics are principally for comfort — they’re nowhere close to pretty much as good because the increase mic, and, frankly, they’re not even notably spectacular for built-in mics (the beamforming array within the Barracuda Professional Wi-fi is significantly better). However they work effectively sufficient if that you must take a cellphone name (indoors) and also you don’t have the increase mic helpful.
In the end, whereas the Maxwell’s mics will work in most informal conditions (how good do you actually have to sound over Discord), for those who’re streaming, podcasting, or in any other case creating content material, it’s all the time price investing in one of many greatest gaming microphones.
Specs
| Driver Kind | 90mm Planar Magnetic |
| Frequency Response | 10 Hz – 50,000 Hz |
| Design Model | Over-ear (circumaural), closed-back |
| Microphone Kind | Removable increase mic, built-in beamforming array |
| Connectivity | 2.4GHz wi-fi, Bluetooth, AUX |
| Weight | 17.28 ounces / 490g |
| Battery Life | 80+ hours |
| Lighting | N/A |
| Software program | Audeze HQ |
| MSRP / Value at Time of Evaluate | $299 (PC/PS), $329 (PC/Xbox) / $299 (PC/PS), $329 (PC/Xbox) |
| Launch Date | January 2023 |
Software program of the Maxwell
The Maxwell works with Audeze’s Audeze HQ software program, which is designed to help the model’s wi-fi gaming headsets. Sadly, on the time of this evaluation, the Maxwell software program scenario continues to be… let’s say, incomplete. Particularly, the desktop model of Audeze HQ doesn’t but embody an EQ for the Maxwell (Audeze assures me it’s coming in a future replace). That is inconvenient, as a result of — as I discussed earlier — the headset does want some tweaking for those who’re planning on utilizing it in a non-gaming capability.
Fortunately, the cellular (iOS and Android) model of Audeze HQ does embody an EQ, so you can also make your changes within the cellular app and they’re going to save to the headset’s onboard reminiscence. Nevertheless, you have to to disconnect the headset’s dongle out of your PC to make use of the cellular app.
EQ apart, Audeze HQ additionally has a handful of different helpful options — equivalent to the power to replace your gadget’s firmware and your dongle’s firmware, which you’ll have to do whenever you first take the headset out of the field. It’s also possible to regulate the headset’s auto-shutdown timer and voice immediate quantity, and toggle the amount limiter on or off.
It’s also possible to use Audeze HQ to manage the mic sidetone (how a lot of your individual voice will get pumped into the headset), combine between recreation and chat audio, and choose an EQ preset. You may carry out all of those actions instantly on the headset, utilizing the multi-function chatmix and quantity wheels. Clicking the chatmix wheel as soon as permits you to regulate sidetone, whereas clicking it twice toggles sidetone on and off; clicking the amount wheel as soon as permits you to scroll by way of tracks, whereas clicking it twice permits you to scroll by way of the EQ presets. The Maxwell comes with six pre-tuned presets and 4 customizable presets, which, once more, can solely be custom-made utilizing the cellular app in the meanwhile. The presets embody “Audeze” (the out-of-the-box preset), treble enhance, bass enhance, immersive, competitors, and footsteps.
Wi-fi Efficiency of the Maxwell
The Maxwell has 4 connectivity choices: 2.4GHz wi-fi, Bluetooth 5.3, wired by way of USB-C, and analog. Whereas the headset can connect with each 2.4GHz wi-fi and Bluetooth 5.3 on the similar time, it may well’t play audio from each wi-fi sources concurrently, just like the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wi-fi XT or the Logitech G735 can. It could possibly, nonetheless, play dual-source audio concurrently offered one of many sources is wired — e.g., it may well play audio concurrently over an analog connection and Bluetooth. It’s an energetic headset with an inner DSP and a built-in DAC, so it can should be powered on even for those who’re utilizing a wired analog connection.
This isn’t essentially a problem, as most avid gamers don’t want a headset that may play from two wi-fi sources without delay — nonetheless, the Maxwell additionally doesn’t let you manually swap between the 2 sources. As an alternative, it switches between the 2 sources routinely, prioritizing Bluetooth. It should routinely swap to Bluetooth for those who get a cellphone name, or for those who open an app in your cellphone that’s taking part in sound.
The reasoning behind this makes some sense — it’s so that you gained’t miss cellphone calls. As a millennial, I’m extraordinarily averse to speaking on the cellphone (for any cause, ever), in order that in all probability colours my opinion. However, cellphone calls however, it’s nonetheless extremely irritating to not have the ability to manually swap again to the two.4GHz wi-fi connection with out silencing your cellphone fully. I decide up my cellphone and fiddle with random apps all all through the day, and any app that has sound will set off the swap. Additionally, whereas the swap to Bluetooth is instantaneous, the swap again takes a second (which is smart, logically, however is irritating for those who’re attempting to get straight again into your recreation).
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Connection switching apart, each of the Maxwell’s wi-fi connections have spectacular power and vary. The Maxwell is the primary headset I’ve used that’s been capable of keep a wi-fi connection once I stroll from my dwelling workplace to my kitchen — which isn’t very distant, however i separated by a four-foot-thick industrial manufacturing unit wall fabricated from metal and concrete (nothing has been capable of penetrate this wall — till now). As for precise vary: I wore the headset once I took my canine on a stroll, and it was nonetheless capable of decide up my PC audio completely once I was exterior, six tales beneath my condo and about 50 yards from the constructing.
Battery Lifetime of the Maxwell
The Maxwell additionally excels in battery life. Audeze charges the headsets battery life at 80+ hours over each 2.4GHz wi-fi and Bluetooth, which is… very, superb, particularly for a planar magnetic headset. Shockingly good. (However not HyperX-Cloud-Alpha-Wi-fi-300-hours good.) I took the absolutely charged Maxwell on a flight to Tokyo (and again), and the battery was nonetheless at 75% after virtually 30 hours of steady listening (at increased than 50% quantity degree) — so Audeze’s estimation appears to be like to be barely conservative. The headset additionally helps quick charging, so a mere 20 minutes of charging time will get you 20 – 30 hours of playback.
Backside Line
The Maxwell sounds implausible, whether or not you’re gaming, chatting, or listening to music. You gained’t discover a better-sounding gaming headset at (or close to) this worth level. It’s additionally surprisingly snug, regardless of being one of many bigger and heavier headsets we’ve tried, and its 80+ hour battery life far outlasts many of the competitors (although, so does its weight). The Maxwell makes extra sense for the gamer-leaning-audiophile than does the Audeze LCD-GX, which is principally simply an audiophile headset with a mic, and it’s additionally less expensive.
However there’s extra to gaming headsets than being actually, actually… actually ridiculously great-sounding. (Much more, really.)
I didn’t have too many issues with the Maxwell’s wi-fi connectivity — not counting the purposeful lack of management over connection switching — however I did have some. Sometimes the dongle wouldn’t join (this occurred extra usually when it was plugged right into a decrease energy USB port or a USB hub), and in an effort to change the EQ within the cellular app, I needed to unplug the dongle. Additionally, the cellular app is the one place you may change EQ settings (for now). There have been firmware updates for the reason that headset launched, and I’m positive there shall be extra, however that is one thing to bear in mind.
For rather less ($250), Razer’s Barracuda Professional Wi-fi gaming headset is light-weight, has energetic noise cancellation and glorious beamforming mics, and comes with a pleasant journey case. It could possibly’t step to the Maxwell by way of audio high quality, however every little thing else works significantly better. For just a little extra ($350), SteelSeries’ Arctis Nova Professional Wi-fi sounds very, superb and likewise options energetic noise cancellation and simultaneous audio over 2.4GHz wi-fi and Bluetooth. But when audio is your fundamental precedence by far, the Maxwell is tough to beat.
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