Audeze Maxwell
The Audeze Maxwell Gaming Headphones are a complete package. You get a great build, solid performance, expansive compatibility, comfortable fit, and long-lasting battery life in a pair of headphones that would not let the audiophiles down. They are fairly heavy on the pocket, though. At ₹30,000 they will burn a hole in your pocket no doubt.
If you were to ask who are these for? I’d say for the audiophile who likes to game. People who can appreciate the magic of the planar magnetic drivers on these headphones, and want a single pair of headphones that can pull double duty in their gaming and music consumption/production needs, then these are the perfect pair of headphones.
A similar offering that you might want to look at before buying the Audeze Maxwell Wireless headphones would be the Audio-Technica ATH-M50XSTS headphones, which at the time of writing were retailing at ₹21,000. They come with a sound signature very close to the M50X headphones, which they draw their DNA from, and are a nice hybrid between a gaming headset and audiophile/production headphones.
With the phoenix of gaming spreading its wings to engulf the globe, we are seeing more and more purist audio brands launching products that are geared towards the mouse and keyboard warriors glued to their screens. Yes, I know console gamers are also gamers. You get the point. Brands like JBL, Sennheiser, and Audio-Technica, which are traditionally famous for their consumer audio products, are increasingly focussing on developing product lines that cater to gamers. Joining this newly formed tradition is Audeze with their Audeze Maxwell Wireless Headphones.
Launched earlier this year, these headphones stray away from the traditional gaming headphone, both in their design and sound signature, leaning towards the mainstream audio category, but bring a ton of creature comforts that enable them to be one of the best in the business. You know what is coming 🙂
Having used audiophile headphones for gaming, I was excited to have these headphones at the Test Labs, as they come from a brand that is popular amongst the audiophile elites. When I got them, the intrigue grew even more, and these planar-magnetic headphones, which are a rare breed in mainstream audio, piqued my interest. I used them as my primary gaming headphones for a good couple of weeks before penning down this review.
Priced at around ₹30,000 in the Indian market, they are a premium offering, one of the most expensive pairs of gaming headphones that have shown up at the Digit Test Centre, and for those who can appreciate their quality, they are a great buy. Now, I won’t spoil a lot, so let’s dive in and have a look at how my experience was and how these headphones fared in our testing –
The Audeze Maxwell Wireless headphones do not have the traditional gaming headphones look that we have come to expect. The colour scheme or the form factor does not indicate that these are a pair of gaming headphones, and that is something that I really appreciated about them.
Starting off with the colour scheme, there’s nothing fancy. You get a dark grey monotone finish on the headphones, with subtle branding on the end of the yoke where it connects to the swivel mechanism of the cans. The memory foam earpads have a leatherette finish, and the ski-band design headband also uses leather. Both these have a darker finish than the rest of the headset and add a nice touch to the overall look of the headphones.
The build quality of these headphones speaks volumes of the performance that they pack. Despite the cans being made of plastic, they instilled enough confidence to hold their own against the gamer rage that came their way. The headband also has a plastic casing but is reinforced with a metal inlay. Even the detachable microphone has a metal sheath covering it, allowing for easy and sturdy adjustments.
When it comes to the fit of the headphones, the ski-band adjustment band doesn’t seem like the best choice at first, but when you come to use them, you realise that what is there has been put there after a lot of thought. The scope for adjustment is low, but when you nail the fit, you won’t have to adjust the band again. The earpads are deep and squishy enough to make wearing these rather heavy headphones a breeze.
The Audeze Maxwell Wireless headphones are equipped with all the trinkets gamers need. At every level, they are packed to the brim, and they aid not only the users in their gaming sessions but also in music listening and production. Here’s a quick rundown of the features and how their real-world impact was –
| Feature | Remarks |
| Ultra-Low Latency Wireless (over 2.4GHz) | This is very helpful for gamers who are looking to ditch the wires. In competitive FPS titles like CS2, there was no noticeable lag in the audio, and in casual games as well, these headphones held their own, providing a lag-free experience. |
| High-Res CODEC support | Given that these headphones can very well double up as the primary audio device for audiophiles and the folks who appreciate the finer things in their music, having support for High-Res CODECs definitely helps. You have support for LC3, LC3plus, LDAC, AAC, and SBC CODECs on these headphones. |
| AI Noise Filtering Microphones | I will talk in detail about the microphone quality of these headphones in the performance section. Here, I would like to preface my experience by saying that this feature works wonders. |
| Spatial Audio for Gaming | If you are a gamer who is looking for a truly immersive experience, then you will definitely appreciate the presence of the Spatial Audio features included in these headphones. In the Xbox version of the Audeze Maxwell Wireless headphones, you get Dolby Atmos handling spatial audio, and in the PlayStation version, there’s Tempest 3D doing the heavy lifting. I had the PlayStation variant, and across platforms, the immersion and efficacy of Spatial Audio were on point. |
| Spatial Audio for Production | Now, this is something limited to the XBox variant, so I won’t be able to add much to it. However, seeing what the PlayStation version is capable of, I don’t think you will have any complaints here. If you are someone who can utilise the capabilities of these headphones in your professional workflow, then definitely go for the XBox variant. |
There’s also the companion app, the AudezeHQ app, available on MacOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. Here, you get all the customisation options you need. There are EQ presets for you to pick and choose from and other features which you would definitely want to check out before diving into your first game with these headphones.
This part is the meat of every headphone review here at Digit. The Audeze Maxwell Wireless Gaming headphones held up to the expectations they built, carrying the Audeze name with them.
The planar magnetic drivers are tuned really well on these headphones. For gaming, the ideal headphones would have a great balance of thumpy bass, prominent mids, and brilliant highs to give you the best experience possible. Now, coming from the house of Audeze, they provide exactly that. The bass is outstanding, and it registers its presence prominently without impeding the other frequency ranges. The mids, which primarily house the vocals, are also accurate, thus ensuring that the riveting dialogue exchanges between game characters are well represented. When it comes to treble, controlled by the highs, you again get a consistent and accurate response like the mids and the lows. I did not find anything to complain about the sound quality of these headphones.
Given that these are closed-back headphones, the sound stage is not as vast as some other open-back offerings in the market; however, when compared to similarly priced headphones like the Steel Series Arctis Nova Pro, which were crowned the winners of last year’s Zero1 Awards in the Gaming Headphones category, these headphones sound more open. All this magic is produced thanks to the planar magnetic drivers on these headphones. As for the imaging, these headphones fall slightly short of what I expected them to be, with my unit having a little bit of perceivable disparity between the left and right channels, which was especially highlighted when male vocals took centre stage.
During my product briefing session with the founder of the brand, the microphone was one of the main highlights of these headphones. The Audeze Maxwell Wireless Headphones come with a dual microphone setup – an integrated mic and a detachable boom mic. Both microphones make great use of AI-powered software processing and ensure that the folks you are talking to hear your voice clearly at all times, across all conditions. Background noise, like the chatter of other people in the room and constant sounds like the drone of an AC unit, is cancelled very effectively by the microphones added to the headset.
When you are gaming, you want to be in an acoustic cocoon, away from the worries and distractions of the outside world, and these headphones handle that task really well. The soft padding on the earcups creates a nice seal around the ears and ensures that when the game audio is on, there’s no external disturbance coming in. Loud noises will still make their way through, but just with their isolation, they do the job well of keeping the noise away. If you want to be aware of your surroundings, you can turn up the sidetone.
Audeze claims that these headphones last over 80 hours on a single charge. And in my testing, I found that the battery of these headphones lasted around 76 hours with volume set to 50 per cent and the connection being over the 2.4Ghz dongle. Not gonna lie, I used the headphones for gaming after the test, and the battery is yet to drain out completely on these headphones after a week of moderate use. And, when you are out of juice, the brand claims that you can get a day’s worth of battery life in just 15 minutes of charge.
The Audeze Maxwell Gaming Headphones are a complete package. You get a great build, solid performance, expansive compatibility, comfortable fit, and long-lasting battery life in a pair of headphones that would not let the audiophiles down. They are fairly heavy on the pocket, though. At ₹30,000 they will burn a hole in your pocket no doubt.
If you were to ask who are these for? I’d say for the audiophile who likes to game. People who can appreciate the magic of the planar magnetic drivers on these headphones, and want a single pair of headphones that can pull double duty in their gaming and music consumption/production needs, then these are the perfect pair of headphones.
A similar offering that you might want to look at before buying the Audeze Maxwell Wireless headphones would be the Audio-Technica ATH-M50XSTS headphones, which at the time of writing were retailing at ₹21,000. They come with a sound signature very close to the M50X headphones, which they draw their DNA from, and are a nice hybrid between a gaming headset and audiophile/production headphones.
