The Best of Wireless Gaming and Sound? The Hype is real! | Audeze Maxwell Review 

I own the PS version of the Maxwell. It's a permanent fixture in my office along with a Stax Spirit S3. Maxwell's great for both calls and music. The mic's noise cancelling is good as my voice is often properly heard when recorded. This is considering I take my calls in an open, more noisy area.

I've switched to streaming many of my favorite shows to my Xbox due to the Maxwell's included Dolby Atmos capabilities. It's a nice added bonus to the gaming and music listening strengths of this headphone.

I have this headphone for a week now and love it. Great build quality, they get a bit hot but I don't find them to heavy. The sound is super for gaming and good for music, but I think I could make it better souding. So thank you for the tips. It's pricey but worth it!

If you guys are considering, these headphones ARE AMAZING, even for the normal listening of music to general gaming

I bought a pair of these after watching several reviews and love them. I also purchased the Wicked Cushion pads too.

Dude. It’s not often that someone makes a super solid video but THEN recommends other videos to check out that would be your direct competition. Kudos!

After 6 months of testing i found the best audio for gaming and music to be Audeze HQ on immersive + Dolby Atmos on Game preset Detailed.

Dude- you’re production quality is incredible. Thank you for the effort and passion.

I've been using these for a week. The build quality and battery life are fantastic. The audio quality is good for audiophile tracks and pure music (Spotify, RU-vid Music, iTunes, etc.). If I'm gaming (and this could be the assumption that developers expect gaming headsets to sound awful), the audio sounds similar to me. I'd have to blast gaming audio to notice a difference in audio quality versus past gaming headsets I've used. Although, the downloadable software has EQ settings - so that could definitely change your experience. Ask yourself if the game you're playing relies heavily on voice queues and footsteps, soundtrack, sound FX, and overall ambiance, and try to boost those aspects for audio impact.

Owned Maxwell since May. Best Headset I ever used for gaming. I used the Penrose prior to them. They are heavy, well built, can get hot.

Own these for a month now. Sound quality, clarity and detail is amazing. Build quality is top notch. Comfort and adjustment is the worst ever of any headphones i own....Ears are cooking after 5 minutes, (never had that with my Arctis Nova Pro), and headphone fell from my head multiple times after moving...

I hope you cover the new Elite Pulse headphones and earbuds, they are also using Planar tech maybe from Audeze since Sony bought em 🤔

I just bought a Bathys for on-the-go music listening and call-taking where i need ANC. The Maxwell will be my next purchase for my work/gaming rig. I already have an Arya (stealth) - with a stack - as my at-home listening. But the raves ive heard for the Maxwell have REALLY piqued my interest.

Its an incredible review!, but i want to know how it sounds in comparison with the focal bathys?, i mean i want it anyways, but i would like to know if how would be this comparison 🤘🏻🤘🏻

I'll wait for the next version, hopefully they make the dongle out of metal and smaller. Also reduce the overall weight by some amount 400+ is too heavy for long term use daily.

THANK YOU for talking about immersion for gaming. I don't play competitive FPS games, and far too often, reviewers who talk about headphones for gaming frequently only focus on that side of gaming.

Gadgetry tech also made an amazing review on the Audeze Maxwell. I have it, it really sounds good. FFXVI, Returnal and GT7 sounds incredible with it.

It is very important that people keep to mind, and, it's this: DO NOT PLUG THESE HEADPHONES INTO AMPLIFIERS! according to what I understood, amplifiers on the headphones do not turn off!!

Audeze makes the best price to performance Planar magnetic cans period imo i use a LCD2 for just about everything with a Mic on a desk boom for gaming half the time as long as no one is around because they hear everything you do and a HD650 the rest of time because they arent as loud fir a open back to everyone else in the room i love these headphones so much especially for listening to music and watching movies best BASS ever with a 1db boost from 10-300hz so good

Finally i saw somebody does change headband position with screwdriver. 👏👏👏

That mic quality is really good! As oppose the steelseries arctic pro, the mic in that thing is so bad. With the mic in audeze I think we can eliminate the need to purchase mic, boomarm, and that foam thingy for a decent everyday mic.

I've never owned a gaming headset before because I'm put off by having to fiddle with the controls and set everything up. I'd be interested to know if people who've used them found them difficult to set up and operate in that regard. I'm also concerned about the weight. The video did a great job of covering the comfort but there still all that weight pushing down which is going to be a problem unless you have perfect posture while gaming, which I don't. Anyone who had the same concern I'd love to know what you think. Cheers everyone.

I have the Audeze Mobius and LOVE it. Sounds fantastic. Haven't heard Maxwell. Curious how they compare

After having a pair of GSP670, one of the criterias I look for in wireless headphones is that they have light weights. GSP670 killed me on it's weight, I couldn't wear it for more than an hour. Even though a lot of good reviews on this, the 400ish close to 500 grams sounds like a dealbreaker for me

I was waiting for your review My go to audio guide

So I recently got a pair due to the hype surrounding this headphone, and I needed one with a microphone for gaming. I was previously using the Hifiman Ananda BT, however I couldn’t get the microphone to work properly in Win 10 due to driver issues. The best things about the Maxwell are 1. It works as advertised - ie. it pairs with windows, it has software to manage the headset in windows for gaming, and its relatively easy to setup and works. That was the key ingredient for me - it had to work. 2. The Battery life was beyond my expectations. It lasts a long time, which is also critical for gaming. 3. Its a relatively comfortable headphone to wear and is well built. Although people talk about its weight, that didn’t bother me, and it has very soft leather or faux leather ear pads. Those are the positives. Now the not so positive - sound quality and sound stage/directionality. Coming from the Hifiman Ananda BT, this headphone is a major letdown in the sound quality, and sound stage department. Its like going from a Bentley GT in terms of sound quality to a Honda Civic. Sure,the Honda works great and gets you from A-B, but it doesn’t have the quality or the power of the Bentley. The frequency response seems relatively flat on the Maxwell, which is good, but the sound stage is tiny and relatively flat and lacks any depth or layering, which is helpful for gaming. Also there seems to be no bass below maybe 40 hertz in the Maxwell, whereas the Hifiman can give you sub bass hits down to 20 hertz. So sound quality wise, and soundstage wise, I was left feeling that this headphone was very overhyped and felt ‘meh’ it works, sort of.

I was incredibly excited to give this a try, but after using it for a few hours yesterday, my expectations plummeted rapidly. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad headphone; it's just incomparable to a real planar headphone within a similar price range (like Ananda, for instance). It definitely outperforms WH-1000XM5 or Airpods Pro Max, but that's about it. (strictly from SQ perspective alone)

If the temperature of the pads is a problem, you can buy some Wicked cushions, they weigh twice as much as the built-in pads but are more comfortable, more deeper and hardly distort the audio, And if weight is a problem dont be childish, train your neck like a formula 1 workout :p

Patiently awaiting that Arya Organic review 🙏

Get the wicked cushion pads. They significantly increase the comfort level without distorting the audio.

I had to listen to fusion to see what you meant on a bloated midrange base and I have to wonder if we got 2 completely different headphones lol because I didn’t detect any bloating at all it just sounded fuckin amazing 2 me. Didn’t detect any boxing effect, didn’t get sloppy, extremely clean on the contrary almost no reverb. . . Idk driver QC issue? Definitely a warmer leaning headphone but still sounds clean. Btw anyone getting into audio but doesn’t wanna take it to far looking for an all in one end game piece of equipment get these. They sound amazing for both gaming and music.

okay, I'm a fan of both audeze and focal, I own a pair of lcd-x and Elegias. I'm looking for a wireless Headphone to wear roughly 8 hours a day, comfort is king but sound quality and battery life are the second concerns since I mostly listen to music while I work. Is the Maxwell a better performer than the Bathys? I honestly do not care at all about the cost difference between them

I'm a little worried about the weight, but this looks like a great all-purpose pair that also tidies up the desk.

Audeze preset pretty much follows the harman curve

Hunt Showdown is a really good game to test headphones on

I've been on the hunt for a great pair of wireless cans. I've been using the HE4xx as my daily drives. I love them but want something wireless and a bit for versatile. Looks like i found them.

It was a great headset when I tried it. I ended up returning them because of the weight and heat. I’ve been using the Logitech G Pro X wireless headset for several years now until the band broke last month (my fault not theirs). Was really hoping the Maxwell would be a great upgrade/replacement option. But alas, I might just give wired headphones a chance again…

Great video! Thank you! Would this be an upgrade for the Penrose? Did they fix the range of the usb paired device? The Penrose does not have good range from the dongle.

Josh, do you think they will make an open back version of this? I figured the wireless aspect and all other bells and whistles would make an open back back version impossible.

I’m amazed how they could do this with wireless

Interesting to hear that about the build quality. In pictures and even video it looks absolutely terrible :D Glad to hear it's better in the hand!

My personal preference is that I`m gaming, so I need closed back headphones to not disturb someone around me and I was looking for and upgrade, now I fink I found it...!

I had these Maxwell headset for 1 month before I returned them. Good headset, but the weight was a huge problem for me. It's a comfortable headset, but these made my head hurt (as in fatigue) when having them on for hours by the end. I have the senheiser HD 560s now instead and I'm super happy with it so far.

I would love if he did a review of the VZR Model One headphones. I've had mine for a few months now and I love them. They are very comfortable and I love them for music and gaming and combined with the Dolby Access app on PC these are so much fun to listen to

Thanks God they put LDAC in it. Finally an Audiophile marketed headphone that can at least transmit lossless audio CD quality

i'm so interested on buying one but how did you get it in that colorrrr, IT LOOKS SO GOOODD!!

I am looking at either this or the Focal Clear for pc and console use. I don't plan on using an amp and/or dac, at least for now. Price difference is about nz$300 (us$200) because of a massive sale on focal products here in nz/au. Maxwell @ nz$580, Clear @ nz$900. Is Clear the easy buy? and will the dual sense/monitor/pc jacks be enough to power it?

Good to know that there is a decent sounding pair of "Wireless Gaming Headphones" out there. Sadly they seem to suffer from the same issue all Wireless Headsets do: atrocious microphone quality due to a limited frequency range.

Are these better than the SteelSeries - Arctis Nova Pro Wireless?

Thanks for the great review ! I see you play Destiny2 😁👍 are you satisfied with in the Maxwell in D2 pvp ? I play a lot of trials and I don’t want to make a mistake . Thanks a lot 👍

Been looking for an all-in-one wireless headset to replace my DT1770 Pro's for gaming... This might finally do it for me. I would love if you could possibly get your hands on the Wicked Cushions earpads for these! I'm curious how much they change the audio.

Must have is the wicked cushion for a little bit cooler ears. My Problem with this Headset is more the driver. I use Voicemeter and when i turn off the Headset it get completely removed in the windows devices, so when i turn it back on i have to reconnect the headset in Voicemeter, which is kinda annoying.

What a great felwinter enjoyer

Quality is a disagree to me. I dont wear it often but the Hexel connecting the Ear Cup to the headstrap came loose. sounds is definitely great

Wish they made em in white

Have this set since launch, and while it sounds good, I've actually not found it to be directionally accurate in games. Sometimes I can't tell which direction footsteps come from. Not sure if it's because of the game itself (Warzone), or the way I EQ'ed it (Immersive). Or maybe it's just me.

You don't need to screw the screws out. It's meant to just remove the headband by pulling. I also think it could be dangerous if you are able to screw them a little bit more inside because the headband is just welded to the mounting plate. There are a few cases where this part comes lose, but i don't know if it could be related. Iam super happy with mine. Pretty near to flawless. Btw: great content, i discovered you a few weeks ago and iam now following. Looking forward to see more great content.

left earcup died on me today after 3 months of owning them and now I have to wait over a month for replacement, they're good but they don't seem to last more than 6 months from what I've seen online.

which is the best between Ananda BT, Focal Bathys, and Audeze Maxwell?

Great review, thanks. But i did not find here detailed info about spatial sound experience. Does this headset support some kind of virtual surround in any Games? Or does surround work only with Atmos supporting games and just in Stereo mode in all others? For example Logitech Pro X has DTS:X virtual surround, and works absolutely with any games, movies as well. There are quite a few games with native Atmos support. Would be great to clarify it. Thanks!

If only they made a comfortable head strap. It’s pretty bad compared to many cheaper headphones while everything else is outstanding. A shame really.

I watched so many reviews about this headphones that I finally bought them two days ago, so I'm patiently waiting for them in the mail, but after watching your review I'm now dying to listen to them.

How does the staging compare to the Mobius? If you have and love the Mobius, is it worth upgrading?

The opening track - Top Funnel by Ooyy 😌

I can barely tolerate my turtle beach stealth pro which is almost 100 grams lighter so this is a no go for me although I'd love to see this company create a lighter version of this in the mid 300 gram range if that's even possible. I'd be the first to sign up if they did

Cant wait for mine i pre ordered the maxwell aydan version i currently use the steelseries arctis 7 for my pc needed an upgrade and goving my old headphones to my son

Did I got this right, there is a specific version for each console? So I'd need to buy both of them? Or is there some kind of dongle?

I own both PS5 and SeriesX. Could I use any versions of these (Xbox or PS) with BOTH consoles? If both versions are compatible with both consoles, which one would you recommend? Thanks

is it better than steelseries arctis pro?

Hi! I saw a couple of reviews for these headsets, but no tests or comments for Dolby Atmos and how is supported for movies on blu-ray players and multi-media players like Zidoo... It is working good or not?

Wait so these can work on PS5, PC, and Xbox? Or are they console specific versions? Cuz if it can do all three, then you’ve 100% sold me. Just will save to get a pair in the future!

Are there any problems when listening to music from iPhone or MacBook?🙄 I don't play games, I want to buy one just for listening to music.👂

does it feel open back like the astros?

sucks the sidetone is so bad in these, really wanted to like them, but they're unusable for me. $300 for closed back no sidetone is yikes.

This headset sounds amazing. But I’m having other issues that make me want to return them. Sometimes they take a while to connect, sometimes they won’t connect, once in a while, they’ll disconnect. Also I get this crackling noise. Pretty annoying.

Clean video

planning to get one, xbox version or playstation version?

You show the MDR Z1R but never actually mention anything about it, just the HD820. Anything to note on this vs them?

What would they be like compared to astro a50? I'm thinking of upgrading from them and don't know what to buy 😢

When my Razer BlackShark V2 Pro die, I'll be buying these.

are the cup handles plastic or metal? I'm worried because i had the Mobius, they were plastic, and they just became brittle and started cracking all over, I did not hit them or anithing. They replaced them under warranty , but it was way to close to the deadline.

So I bought this one today and I wanna know if u can use these with an audio interface with aux? I know it prob works but is it wisely to do so and do I still have all the benefits for overall soundstage in games?

Are they suitable for watching movies?

Does it matter what one you get if your on pc?

if we remove the fact that its wireless and compare it to the Dt 900 pro x , is it worth the upgrade? or is the dt 900 pro by beyerdynamic better?

Our boys a Hunter main.. rejoice

If this compared with epos h3 pro hybrid, which is the best for overall sound and features?

Can anyone confirm please is Playstation version working on PS3 for game audio?

Great review, Josh. Spot on.

PC38x or Audeze Maxwell? Regardless of cost

i use my Susvara 90% with gaming

Hi guys, having an old senheiser game one paired with a gsx1000, im satisfied with gaming sound, but regarding music it lacks power. With a budget of 1000 euros im considering buying a dt103 pro paired with a topping dx3 pro plus. I listen to electronic, house, rock and jazz. Would you recommend anything else?

5:01 what’s the headphone stand you use?

Hope they release a mobius 2 with ANC

Does anyone have hinge problem after buying Audeze Maxwell? I want to buy it but hearing a lot of people in reddit having this hinge broken problem I'm having my doubt.

But which is better these or dt 990 with good dac ?

How do these compare to the had 490 pros?

Im ps5 an xbox series x user, have some question about auduze maxwell. I heard the xbox version works on both consoles. Do i missing any features on ps5? And can i be connected to both consoles , like for example like in steelseries arctis nova pro wireless?

What's the last fps game played at the beginning?

Im looking to buy this or the H600S2, which one should i get?