So, what's the trade? A bulky unit, a battery life that runs shorter than promised and a retail price that could make you shiver. If your ears struggle to find joy in the art of perfectly balanced sound, the Audeze Maxwell gaming headset will be too good for you. But's that not a swipe at the headset.
Rather, it tells you just how much the Maxwell packs.
Audeze Maxwell Headset Review
As many brands crossover into new markets, the distinction between gaming headsets and audio headsets is starting to become a little hazy. However, one distinction of note is that audio gaming headsets are typically too bulky and gaming audio headsets, well, lack somewhat in audio quality.
The Audeze Maxwell gaming headset attempts to set things straight.
Touted as one of the best gaming audio experiences within its price bracket, the Audeze Maxwell might not look like your stereotypical gaming headset, rendering it unsuitable for some, but there’s ample trade-off which might grant it a free pass.
So, will you stick with your current headset, Audeze ones? 😝
Audeze Maxwell Wireless Headset Review Contents:
- Design
- Comfortability
- Sound Quality
- AI Noise Reduction
- Microphone
- Connectivity
- Companion App
- Battery Life
- Price & Value
- Review Verdict
Design
Akin to studio headphones rather than your a-typical gaming headset, the Audeze Maxwell is chunky, weighted and absolutely rock solid. A headset that is wholesomely unapologetic about its land mass; begging for you to hear the magic inside.
Whilst there’s a slight swerve from past entries, I actually don’t mind the more simplified approach when used purely for gaming purposes. The earcups are mahoosive, the ear-cushioning nice and thick and there’s a spring-steel adjustable headband to ensure a comfortable fit.
It’s a concert sound management, meets airport baggage control experience.
But all of that gets a free pass once the Maxwell starts playing.
On the face of the left earcup, you will find the ON/OFF button and toggle for microphone muting. Underneath, there is your AI noise suppression button, ports for your USB-C cable or analogue 3.5mm jack, volume controls and a slider to balance both in-game and in-party chat sound.
The detachable mic also sits here and a full user guide is available.
As far as controls on the physical headset go, everything you need is right here to manage the basics. However, the majority of customisation is available inside the compatibility app and also just built-in to the headset itself with A.I.
Comfortability
Despite weighing 490g and giving you a good insight into what it feels like to work on an airport runway, the Audeze Maxwell gaming headset quickly squashed any futile comments when I opened the box. In fact, it was very comfortable indeed.
What’s that saying about books and covers?
The mass of the headset is suppressed by the softness of the earcups and the adjustable headband suspension strap has enough customisation over longer sessions. Although the ear cup size makes for some very slight ear-toasting, you would have to be really cynical to make note of that as a flaw.
Very few gaming headsets have perfect airflow and Audeze has done really well here to balance what is obviously a headset on the larger side.
For all you Twitch Streamers doing your crazy 24-48 charity events, please, for the love of the ear gods, choose something lighter. However, for gamers with some sanity left intact, the Audeze Maxwell wireless headset will only start getting a little uncomfortable after 10-12 hours of gameplay.
Sound Quality
For sound, the studio-like appearance of the Audeze Maxwell gaming headset is perfectly matched by just sheer raw audio performance. An immersive experience that has made me question whether I would ever swap back to using headsets from ‘gaming-first’ companies in the future.
The rewards are significant for putting up with the chunk.
Featuring planar magnetic drivers, the Audeze Maxwell puts the sword to its closest rivals by dishing out phenomenal bass whilst performing elegantly across mids and trebles. FPS games feel like you are physically present and the atmospherics when playing RPGs like Ghost of Tsushima are unparalleled. I have often found it’s either one or the other but the Maxwell (even out of the box) is well-balanced.
If you have used Audeze headphones before, you will know that even in the lows, you still receive an impactful atmosphere that doesn’t seem too distant when things get really low. There’s crystal balance to almost the entire depth of sound and to experience this in a gaming headset is rare.
Here, the Audeze Maxwell slightly edges the Audeze Penrose. But I expected nothing less from a company with a long history of collaborating with leading artists.
AI Noise Reduction
Despite lacking active noise cancellation (ANC), the noise suppression feature of Audeze’s Maxwell gaming headset is actually really effective. With a simple press of the AI noise reduction button on the left earcup, you can go from hearing absolutely everything externally to barely anything at all.
There’s a built-in dedicated AI processor that is way too complicated for me to explain, but it works like a charm. Although, I suspect those airport runway baggage handler earcups might also have to take some credit here! 😛
In addition to near-perfect noise suppression, a single press of the power button will completely pause/unpause all sound within a fraction of a second. As much as that is not really a flagship feature of the Audeze Maxwell gaming headset, I was surprised at how often this was required in my manic household.
A definite consideration for any future purchases.
Microphone Quality
As much as audio performance is one aspect of what makes a great gaming headset, crystal-clear communications are also top of the priority list for most gamers. Here, the Audeze Maxwell respectfully obliges.
In the box, you will find another smaller box that contains all of your cables and a detachable boom microphone. The microphone itself uses a super-cardioid broadcast style input which means that the Maxwell will be reasonably tight on what noise it will and won’t collect. Good news for households with barking dogs.
Inside the headset, what you won’t see is A.I hardware that is used to power advanced noise filtering. This results in next to zero unwanted input. That said, while the microphone does what it promises to do, there is a robotic nature to your voice for the receiving party. It’s not too damming, but I was asked a few times whether I was testing a new headset based on the sound of my voice alone.
Some gamers like this, while others don’t.
Connectivity
For connectivity, the Audeze Maxwell enables complete versatility with four options to choose from when connecting to your Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC, Mac, iOS or Android device. There’s an analogue 3.5mm jack, Bluetooth LE 5.3, a USB Type-C dongle or high-speed 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity. Of which, there is industry-leading support for lossless high-resolution audio up to 24-bit 96KHz over wired USB.
For testing, I opted to connect via Bluetooth 5.3 and the USB-Type C dongle for Xbox as these two connections are usually the most prone to high latency. To my surprise, the Audeze Maxwell delivered what is arguably to lowest latency I have seen from a Bluetooth connection; remaining stable even when I positioned myself close to other devices competing for air space.
So, if you are someone who runs for the hills at the slightest chop in sound, you can save that tread on your running shoes for another day.
Audeze Companion App
The Audeze companion app is relatively intuitive and instantly connects to your headset via Bluetooth on both your console and mobile. Here, you can control audio volume and equalizer settings. There are also auto-off settings as well as controls for balancing game vs chat volume.
I won’t wax lyrical about the companion application as it’s relatively standard for a headset in this price bracket. But, what I will say is that I really enjoyed the preset equalizer settings for both “Footsteps” and “Competitive” gaming.
If you are playing competitive FPS games and want to hear footsteps a few seconds before anyone else, Audeze enables this with these two equalizers. Switching to these modes will definitely cut out more noise pollution like distant grenades, however, Acezone’s A-Spire delivers a wider pickup radius.
The A-Spire was purpose-built for footstep clearance so props to Audeze.
Battery Life
With the average battery life of higher-end gaming headsets sitting in the region of 40-50 hours, my scepticism went through at Audeze’s promise of 80+ hours of continuous use with the Maxwell. Unfortunately, this was not misplaced.
Hooking up for my daily fix of Overwatch 2, my review model of the Audeze Maxwell, once fully charged, lasted for around 52 hours at 70% volume and with AI noise suppression on high. It held strong at 95% battery life for a few hours, but it was a relatively harsh decline from there.
For listening to music at 50-60% volume, without noise suppression, the Maxwell will likely achieve the promised land of 80+ hours where frequencies are consistent. However, for gaming, that cute little + symbol is actually a minus.
A deal breaker? Meh, not really.
Price & Value
Audeze Maxwell Cost: $469 AUD (PlayStation) / $519 AUD (Xbox)
Retailing for $469 AUD (PlayStation) and $519 AUD (Xbox), a good ol’ rummage of your coffers will be necessary to buy an Audeze Maxwell gaming headset in Australia.
But there is justification for the price here.
The Audze Maxwell is a high-fidelity gaming headset from an audio company, not an afterthought from a gaming company. So, when you think of the Sennheisers and Beyerdynamics of the world, the price of the Audeze Maxwell is actually a drop in the ocean. Okay, so it’s not on Beyerdynamics’ level. But, when fairly compared to gaming headsets, the Audeze Maxwell’s sound control is hard to beat.
Gamers with an appreciation for music and sound will absolutely get value here. However, for those of you who couldn’t tell me the difference between treble and bass, your Razer gaming headset will do just fine.
Audeze Maxwell Review Verdict
For musos and gamers with attuned listening, the Audeze Maxwell wireless gaming headset presents as one of the best gaming headsets you will find for sound quality; particularly at this price point. Communications are crisp, gameplay sound is a pleasure and, despite lacking ANC, the Maxwell effortlessly filters both external and gameplay noise pollution.
There’s a mobile app with smart EQ presets and up to 4 saveable custom presets. Here, you can really tailor each game to pull through the sound precision that you need; leaning once more to discerning sound enthusiasts. The simultaneous audio over 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth also functions perfectly too.
A spot of heaven for audiophilic gamers.
However, for most, the sheer quality of the Audeze Maxwell wireless gaming headset will be lost on you. That doesn’t make the Maxwell bad, it’s just that the price tag is relative to the audio quality. And so, gamers without an appreciation for this will find the Audeze Maxwell expensive.
Had the battery life been more realistic, I would have awarded a few more points to this review. The quality of the audio makes the bulkiness of the headset and the finicky microphone passable. However, I just couldn’t get the battery to reach 80+ hours as stated on the box.
Would I trade that for a reduction in audio quality, of course not.
So, what's the trade? A bulky unit, a battery life that runs shorter than promised and a retail price that could make you shiver. If your ears struggle to find joy in the art of perfectly balanced sound, the Audeze Maxwell gaming headset will be too good for you. But's that not a swipe at the headset.
Rather, it tells you just how much the Maxwell packs.
Thoughts on the Audeze Maxwell Headset? Hit the comments below.
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Content Disclaimer: This Audeze Maxwell Wireless Headset Review has been independently written using a demo version of the Audeze Maxwell headset for Xbox. GamePro has not been commissioned by Audeze, nor have we received any royalties for this article. This includes financial reimbursement or a retail version of the Audeze Maxwell Headphones as a gift.
Should you click on any link to Amazon and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission. But that’s just how we keep this website alive! Feel free to hit us up in the comments with any questions about Audeze and we’ll be sure to hit you back!
