Audeze Maxwell Wireless Gaming Headset for Xbox & Windows

Product Information

The pads though, are of a higher quality than 99.9% of gaming headphones out there. No junk here, this is the good stuff. Is the Aux/3.5mm connection passive? Will it work like a normal headset without the unit being powered on?

Unique to Audeze, Fazor elements complement the magnetic structure by influencing sound waves. This enhanced control gives reduced distortion, better imaging, more accurate frequency extremes and an improved phase response. In short, it makes the Maxwell headphones the most lifelike sounding gaming headphones at their price. We have to talk about how heavy these are and if that matters to gamers who game for half the day. Can I wear them that long? No, I cannot. 490g is fairly heavy. We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.6 , which updates how we measure latency. We've updated and renamed the following test groups: Wired Connection, Bluetooth Connection, and Wireless Connection (Dongle). We've also added new codec latency measurements and provided an audio sample of recorded latency.First time I can say that an Audeze headphones star of the show is the top side and not the mids or the bass. The Maxwell is wider than tall, with good depth. So, their shapes are very different. I also find the Maxwell to pinpoint sounds a fair bit better than the T5, despite that T5 being more expensive. Our new measurements show non-Bluetooth wireless latency is ~34 ms and wired USB is ~18 ms. This means that latency depends on your setup and that some people may have higher or lower latency than others. By learning how latency fluctuates depending on the device and by unplugging/replugging the dongle into the same port, we improved and re-evaluated our test. We thank Audeze for pointing out these flaws in our methodology and pushing us to explore new, more accurate ways of measuring latency. I’ve wanted this sound since the original LCD-3 and in my opinion, this is the only Audeze to come out after the original variant of the LCD-3 that sounds anything like it in tone and physical setup. The Maxwell has an internal DAC that handles up to 24bit/96kHz bitrate and is Dolby Atmos friendly with the Xbox variant only. Meaning, if you are running 4K content with your audio needs, you can also experience the equivalent hi-def audio stream that comes with it. Bluetooth

It is not supremely forward, but it’s well into the forward tier when references the placement of midrange vocals. However, the forward mids have a lovely pristine, dense feeling, meaty, and looming into the warm territory. The older LCD-X series and the LCD-GX do not sound like this in tonality. The Maxwell has four connectivity options: 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth 5.3, wired via USB-C, and analog. While the headset can connect to both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.3 at the same time, it can’t play audio from both wireless sources simultaneously, like the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT or the Logitech G735 can. It can, however, play dual-source audio simultaneously provided one of the sources is wired — e.g., it can play audio simultaneously over an analog connection and Bluetooth. It’s an active headset with an internal DSP and a built-in DAC, so it will need to be powered on even if you’re using a wired analog connection. Maxwell, like the Penrose and Mobius, requires power as it is an active headset on all connection types. Like those headsets, Maxwell utilizes an internal DSP and houses a balanced amplifier for each driver. We suggest common sense in what you plug the Maxwell into with a 3.5mm/aux cable. If you use an amplifier and don’t set the volume accordingly, you can overcharge the circuitry inside the headset. It is highly recommended you either bypass using amplifiers, or set the volume very low and adjust up until you achieve a good balance between the Maxwell’s volume control, and your source gear. Using external amplifiers may be detrimental to sound quality and potentially add more noise and distortion. Without any active custom EQ, or the Bass Boost Preset in the Audeze linked app on your phone, the Maxwell leans to the top side and the pronounced and lush midrange overpowers the low end.Once I had the headset’s EQ sorted out, listening to music on the Maxwell was a pleasure. It did a great job of producing full-bodied, clean-sounding bass in Knife Party’s Boss Mode and maintaining the power of the low beat in Kaskade’s POW POW POW without getting too muddy. In K-391’s Lonely World, vocals and sustained mids sounded full and balanced (again, once I adjusted the EQ — the mids are a little recessed out of the box). Microphone of the Maxwell Of course, it isn’t an open headphone, so it doesn’t breathe as nicely and doesn’t move as much air. But, for a closed model, the spaciousness is very appreciated.