Audeze made its name on planar magnetic headphones designed for audiophiles, but since entering the gaming market several years ago, it has brought those strengths to bear with some of the best-sounding gaming headsets you can buy. The Audeze Maxwell is its latest entry and is closer to its audiophile counterparts than anything since the $900 LCD-GX. At $299, it doesn’t come cheap, but with great battery life, one of the best noise-canceling microphones on any gaming headset, and a customizable sound that you’ll want to use for music just as much as gaming, it’s worth saving up for.
Specifications
Current Price: $299 (Amazon)
Audio
- Style: Over-ear (circumaural), closed-back
- 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: >120dB
- Frequency response: 10Hz - 50kHz
- THD: <0.1% (@ 1 kHz, 1mW)
- Spatial Audio: Dolby Atmos® (Xbox Version), Tempest 3D (PlayStation Version)
- Weight: 490g
- Warranty: 1-year
Microphones
- Boom Microphone
- Detachable, Hypercardioid
- Beamforming
- Physical and AI noise reduction, Internal mic for chat
Power
- Battery type: Lithium-polymer, 1800mAh
Battery life
- Over 80 hrs wireless playback @ 80dBA
- Fast charge
- USB-C, 5v 1.8 Amp max - 25% charge / 20min (Full charge 2hr)
Connection
- Wireless
- Ultra-low-latency
- Bluetooth: 5.3
- Supports: Multipoint, LE Audio, LC3, LC3plus, LDAC, AAC, SBC
- Wired - Digital: USB-C with dual-audio endpoints and game-chat mix
- Wired - Analog: 3.5mm TRRS active
Audeze Maxwell - Design and Highlights
The Audeze Maxwell is a large and in-charge wireless gaming headset that’s designed to make an audiophile out of you.
That’s not an exaggeration.
As a company, Audeze was hugely influential in making planar magnetic headphones a staple of the audiophile community. It has tried its hand at gaming headsets several times in the past, incorporating its audio innovations with gamer-friendly features, like wireless connectivity and immersive positional surround sound. It also released the most expensive gaming headset we’ve ever covered, the LCD-GX, which was much more of an audiophile headphone than a gaming headset but proved to be glorious for gaming nonetheless. The Mobius and Penrose were widely acclaimed, though each had shortcomings that have been largely addressed with the Maxwell.
The Maxwell has been out for some time, so when it arrived at more door, I opened it with eager anticipation. Compared to other gaming headsets, it’s significantly larger and noticeably heavier at just under half a kilogram. Its circular earcups are also reminiscent of its LCD and MM-series headphones. In fact, the size and shape are almost exactly the same as the company’s MM-100 headphones, $400 cans designed for use in the studio. The key difference, outside of the controls and the port for the detachable mic, is that the Maxwell has closed ear cups while the LCD and MM series are both open-back.
The similarities carry through to the internal design, which is why the Maxwell sounds so good. Rather than opt for run-of-the-mill dynamic drivers like most gaming headsets, it uses the same planar magnetic driver type that made Audeze headphones famous.
For the uninitiated, planar magnetic drivers use an entirely different design than dynamic drivers. While dynamics use cone-like designs backed by a wire voice coil and magnets to create sound (think of larger speaker cones and you’ll be on the right track), planars use a large, flat, and extremely thin diaphragm traced with electrical filament. This diaphragm is flanked by rows of powerful magnets. When electricity is applied to the filament, the diaphragm vibrates to create sound, held taut by the magnets.
Planar magnetics are known for their exceptional clarity and detailed sound. When properly designed, implemented, and tuned, they can provide a listening experience akin to jumping from 720p to 4K. The best allow you to hear more fine details, like texture in the bass, and seem to pull sound sources apart into distinct layers. They also offer measurably less distortion and a bigger sound due to their physically larger size. Often, lower-cost planars do so at the expense of bass, but that isn’t the case with the Maxwell if you take the time to adjust the EQ.
Audeze also brings some of its custom technologies over from the audiophile side with its Fluxor and Fazor systems. Fluxor magnets are Audeze’s proprietary design, involving a complex process of magnetizing the magnets and arranging them to increase the total magnetic power (rated in Teslas). This allows the headphones greater control over the driver, improving their clarity and speed.
The Fazor system, on the other hand, is a waveguide system positioned outside of the magnet array. This system prevents waves from clashing and creating phase distortion that might undermine the clarity of the driver and Fluxor array.
The headset also supports a wide range of high-res Bluetooth codecs for when you want to listen to music. All told, it supports LC3, LC3plus, LDAC, AAC, and SBC. That’s a wider array of support than just about any other gaming headset. It also supports LE audio for improved battery life. It also comes with a USB Type-C dongle to connect to the Playstation or Xbox (PS is limited to PS and PC, Xbox can connect to both consoles and PC). Battery life is a whopping 80 hours between recharges, which take about two hours or 25% in 20 minutes.
A wireless gaming headset is about more than just pure sound quality, however. You also have microphone quality, positionality to the sound, effective onboard controls, comfort, and, of course, a durable design that’s up to the task of daily gaming for multiple years.
Returning to the physical qualities of the headset, it feels reassuringly durable with only a couple one real weak spot where the headband mates with the earcups. Otherwise, it feels robust, with a metal headband, leather suspension strap, and a mix of metal and plastic between the yokes and earcups.
For weighing 490 grams, it’s also surprisingly comfortable. The suspension band helps to distribute the weight better than the usual cushion on the band itself. This band is adjustable but uses a curious design where it’s screwed into place. You can pull the strap off and move it up or down a notch like a belt to adjust its fit. Its less convenient to adjust but you don’t need to worry about needing to readjust it after it’s set for you. Sharing could certainly be annoying, though.
The ear cushions are very plush and soft. They do a good job of keeping your ear from touching the driver and are trimmed in leatherette for improved isolation. Clamp force is also well balanced to keep it in place without causing fatigue from too much grip.
The Maxwell also has one of the most impressive microphones around when it comes to noise canceling. Pressing a button on the left earcup cycles through different levels of background noise removal. On its highest setting, you could have someone vacuuming in the room with you, and your teammates would hear only the smallest encroachment on your voice. It's like Nvidia Broadcast noise removal packed into a headset.
Elsewhere on the headset, you have a power button, a volume wheel, a game/chat mix, and a multifunction button. You can swap between wireless sources but note that the Maxwell doesn't support simultaneous audio, which is disappointing. It also doesn't offer any active noise cancelation for what you can hear, though the ear cushions do a pretty good job all on their own.
Audeze Maxwell - Performance
After hearing so many glowing impressions about the Maxwell, I was surprised to find that they really didn't wow me at first. Straight out of the box, they're nice and clear with the good layering and excellent resolution Audeze planars are known for but, honestly, they sounded a bit bland. With just a little bit of help, however, they transform from clear but unexciting into what is the best gaming headset I’ve ever heard.
Within the app, you can choose from a selection of different preset EQs, such as “Bass Boost” or “Immersion.” What I would recommend to do, however, is to create your own EQ profile by adjusting each slider one by one, seeing how it impacts the sound. I settled on a V-shaped tuning with enhanced bass and heightened upper mids and treble.
The results blew me away. The headset is so resilient to EQ that even when sliding the bass sliders to their max, they never distorted. I settled on a sub-bass boost of +6 and a treble boost of +5-6 and the headset absolutely came to life. This resilience is important because it means that you can fine-tune the Maxwell to sound exactly how you would like it to without diminishing the quality of its sound.
With my custom settings, the bass became powerful, rumbly, and tactile. They had punch for explosions and rumble for reverberations and heavy machinery tracking over the landscape. The texture in the bass was exceptional, revealing small but tangible details that made it sound more lifelike. There’s movement within the surface sound of a whooshing jet engine and for music, within every bassline.
The detail and layer separation higher in the spectrum was also very good, revealing exactly what’s happening in the soundscape and where. Team callouts are always clear, even in loud cacophonies of noise. Footsteps easily cut through and you’ll hear where they’re coming from before you see them. The treble is clean and sparkly, though can certainly become sharp if you push that slider too high. Tune it for your taste and you’ll be surprised at the results.
The soundstage isn’t the widest on its own. These are closed-back headphones after all. But the Xbox version comes with a license for Dolby Atmos on Xbox, the PS5 version is compatible with Tempest spatial audio, and on PC, Windows Sonic is an option for expanding it. You don’t need an Audeze surround sound solution with multiple spatial audio options on hand.
Battery life was all it was chalked up to be. Only gaming an hour or two a day, I wasn’t able to run them even half dry in a month. I was also impressed by the microphone, which I discussed above so won’t repeat it here.
The headset is excellent but it isn’t perfect. Even with the suspension band working to distribute its weight, it still managed to create a hot spot on my head after an hour or so of use. It was nowhere near as bad as a normal gaming headset with simple cushions on the band but it still happened as a result of its weight. I also noticed the lack of active noise canceling and simultaneous Bluetooth and 2.4GHz, which really would have benefitted the headset at this price in a feature comparison with something like the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless.
But even with those in mind, the Maxwell is excellent. It’s so good, in fact, that it’s one of the best planar magnetic headphones you can buy at this price period, even outside the world of gaming headsets. It’s tunable sound, wireless connectivity, and battery life really push the value proposition higher, even if you’re just a music fan.
Final Thoughts
The Audeze Maxwell is everything it’s cracked up to be. With a little customization, which is easy within the app, is sounds downright fantastic and sets a new high-water mark for gaming headsets. It’s worth every penny.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes. Some articles may contain affiliate links and purchases made through this will result in a small commission for the site. Commissions are not directed to the author or related to compensation in any way.
