Planar magnetic drivers such as those used in these headphones differ from more commonly found dynamic drivers. Their design is more complex, making them more prone to L/R driver mismatch than dynamic drivers, and can have more variance from unit to unit. Audeze usually has good quality control and ergonomics, and our unit's L/R drivers are well-matched in group delay, ensuring tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. They're also well-matched in amplitude and frequency response, ensuring a stable stereo soundstage.

This contrasts with our original test results, which were performed three times using Reaper software, resulting in our final averaged results of 85 ms via non-Bluetooth wireless and 43 ms via wired USB. These three measurements were among the high side of our testing and aren't representative of their typical latency. As a result, we updated the measurements in our review to be more representative. 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 We test headphones on our HMS II rig using REW software. We play a sine sweep in the left and right driver separately, and we repeat this process across five different reseats to ensure consistent results. Keep in mind that we do these five different reseats throughout all of our sound tests. This is primarily because each person can experience sound differently, depending on the shape and size of their auditory features (like their pinna shape) and how they prefer to wear their headphones. The value of these five passes is fully demonstrated in Frequency Response Consistency as it allows us to highlight the variance in frequency response depending on fit, positioning, and seal. While wear and variance don't factor in the same way when it comes to imaging, running five tests acts like a fail-safe and helps us catch any irregularities in driver matching. Most gaming headsets (and most headphones and speakers in general) have dynamic drivers, which produce sound using a passive diaphragm attached to a moving voice coil — which is why dynamic drivers are also called “moving coil” drivers. Audeze specializes in a different type of driver: planar magnetic. Planar magnetic drivers produce sound using a diaphragm with the conductor embedded inside it (instead of attached to it, like a voice coil is), positioned between two magnetic arrays. This allows for more detailed control over the diaphragm, which means (in theory, at least) more accurate sound reproduction. The Maxwell sounds fantastic, whether you’re gaming, chatting, or listening to music. You won’t find a better-sounding gaming headset at (or near) this price point. It’s also surprisingly comfortable, despite being one of the larger and heavier headsets we’ve tried, and its 80+ hour battery life far outlasts most of the competition (though, so does its weight). The Maxwell makes more sense for the gamer-leaning-audiophile than does the Audeze LCD-GX, which is basically just an audiophile headset with a mic, and it’s also much cheaper.Maxwell has a brand new driver design that was based on the original Mobius/Penrose design and is going to have a similar sonic signature. Are the headsets cross compatible with the dongles (will PS dongle work on Xbox headset and vice versa)?

Jazz, slow musical genres, vocalists in general, all that sort of thing feels great and engaging on this Maxwell but without ever being fatiguing. I’ve wanted this in a cheaper planar for over a decade. 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. On the exterior left cup, a power button at the base side. Long pressing it turns the unit on and powers up. After that, a double tap will enable wireless Bluetooth pairing mode. Above at the top of the cup, a microphone disables and enables the mute switch, which is great for fast “ Please, stop talking to me while I am on voice cha-type moments”Please note we do not officially endorse this product, so your mileage may vary. Other options may exist online. Though I haven’t used this headset for that many hours, what I can tell you is that I’ve been testing it for about a week now, and I have yet to charge it again. Audeze Maxwell: Price & availability In short:Game/Chat balance is simply done by adjusting the lower wheel (chat/communication wheel) up and down. Mic gain is now automatically controlled (adjusts microphone volume automatically). For most head shapes and sizes, as long as you don’t need both sides to be on the lowest screws (which maximizes size for the biggest heads), the headband will be suspension style. Do note that while we try as much as possible to accommodate all head shapes and sizes, the strap does touch the steel headband when the the strap is set to allow for the largest size. The Audeze Maxwell Wireless are impressive planar magnetic gaming headphones. They're also some of the best gaming headphones we've tested to date. When we published our review on April 24th, 2023, we observed the conversation surrounding our review, including Audeze's public response to our measurements, which caused doubt in our results. However, after reviewing all the comments, we launched an extensive investigation; our goal wasn't to prove that our measurements were correct but to find out how this product truly performs.