AudezeMaxwell Wireless Gaming Headset for PlayStation, Mac, PC, and Switch

The media could not be loaded. I don’t buy anything expensive without a deep dive. Hours of research, endless comparisons, maybe even a spreadsheet. But after scrolling through reviews, now that I actually have it I’ve realized a lot of the important details get lost between the hype and the half-baked opinions.So, for my fellow overthinkers, buckle in, and prepare yourself for my ADHD powered review I wish had been here before I bought these. No fluff (mostly), no buyer’s remorse rant, just what actually matters.Let me preface... If you are trying to find a pair of headphones you can unbox and be blown away immediately, these headphones are not it, at all. Why did I rate them 5 stars then? It's quite difficult actually.Right off the bat this is what I will be covering. (Locate the corresponding emoji for specific information and try not to judge how long I spent on this):❓-What are these headphones meant for? What would they not be for? Are they for you?⚠️-How is the sound quality? (actually)•Not the: oMg bEsT heAdphOnes evErrr!!•Or the: these suck don't not sound good at ⠀⠀all not. *insert more lovely grammar here*🚫-How is the noise cancellation? Is it active, passive? How's the "transparency" mode?🎮-What's the difference between the X-box and the PlayStation version?🤓-Annnd what should your decision be? The biggest pro, the biggest con, and my personal suggestions and reasoning.❓What are these for?❓These headphones strike a solid balance between gaming and music. For gaming, they’re decent, maybe not as pinpoint-accurate as dedicated high-end gaming only headsets, but still impressive. In some games, I swear I heard in-game voices in an entirely different way, it was scarily good and weird. That said, they lean more toward music than gaming. They’re well-built, not cheap-feeling, and deliver great directional audio. But if you’re looking for a lightweight, on-the-go pair, these aren’t it. They’re heavy (well-balenced and comfortable), but definitely more of a “wear at home” situation.⚠️The sound quality.(Most important part)⚠️Here we go, the elephant in the room. If I had to sum up the sound quality in 3 words it would be "jaw-dropping beautiful" but if I had to sum it up in 1 word it would be "ugh". What does that mean you ask?They have the POTENTIAL to sound amazing. But when you first put them on, start playing your favorite song, get ready to be underwhelmed. My airpod pro 2's sounded better, no joke. Why?1) These headphones require immense amount of EQ work. I'm a bass lover, and if you are too, get ready to cry with disappointment when you first try them. Then after being sad, open the Audeze EQ and put in the preset I attached in my pictures. That's my bass preset. Gives you an idea of the potential these have, get ready to cry again, and in the best way possible this time.2) Dolby Atmos on PC. Let me save you some time, when you download "Audeze HQ" go ahead and just download "Dolby Access" along with it. It entirely changes the game with these, makes them worth the money. Without it they sound pretty dull and there's less separation of sound profiles.⠀3) Ear pads. This one may be opinion, but the default ear pads do not give your ears much room. Your ears are RIGHT by the drivers, and it can be intense especially for the highs. I bought the Wicked Cushions cooling pads, and it made it more comfortable AND more importantly changed the sound profile entirely. It gave the frequencies room to work their magic, especially with bass. Mess around with this because it could make or break you keeping this headset.That was a long one, but if you're going to take anything away from this review: These have some SERIOUS POTENTIAL, you just have to work with them. It WILL take hours upon hours of messing with EQS, to find or make one that works for you. If you are a music enthusiast this is a phenomenal next step in leveling up your music. Once you get everything situated, it's a beautiful experience, truly. The 90mm planar magnetic drivers are other-worldly when configured right. Good things are never easy am I right?🚫Noise cancellation.🚫This is actually pretty simple. No, it does not have active noise cancellation, yes it has passive noise cancellation. This was a hard one for me to swallow before purchasing. Airpods pro 2 changed my idea of what I require a headset to have (Noise cancellation is close to the top) I'm a pretty little princess now, great. Before these I thought of passive noise cancellation as a joke, but it actually does what you would think passive noise cancellation should do. I'm satisfied which is saying something since I'm so picky. They additionally have "side-tone" which is good for hearing things around you, but it's not amazing at higher volumes (gets too harsh), I prefer it off, or really low.🎮The difference between the Xbox and PlayStation versions?🎮 A LOT. Yet no one talks about it. The Xbox version is the only real choice for PC users, especially if you want Dolby Atmos (which I wouldn’t recommend these without). The PlayStation version can connect via Bluetooth or wired, but you’ll need to buy a Dolby Atmos license and use it wired to get decent sound quality. Bluetooth sounds great but has a noticeable drop in volume and quality. If you’re mostly on PlayStation and occasionally on your phone, the PlayStation version works. But if you’re planning to use these on PC, do NOT buy the PlayStation version just because it’s cheaper, you’ll regret it.🤓Annnd what should your decision be?🤓I want you to ask yourself these three questions.1. Are you okay and willing to spend a considerable amount of time setting these headphones up and messing with custom EQS?2. Are you looking at these more for music than competitive gaming?3. Are you looking for portable headphones you can use anytime, on the go?If you answered: 1. Yes 2. Yes 3. NoI would rate these headphones a 9.5/10, for anything else I would honestly only give these headphones a 6/10. These are for a very specific person, if you're willing to learn, or you knew these answers right away; these will be the absolute best headphones you've ever used. That's a guarantee. (Biggest pro is superb sound quality) If you're not sure this is you, I still think they are really good, I'm truly just trying to help set your expectations. These aren't the most intuitive or easy to set up (biggest con), but I think they are worth learning. Just be careful! Hope this was helpful.

There is a lot to be said about this headset. First there is the cost, it is expensive compared to its counterparts but in the end it is worth it. I have used at least 10 different headsets from different brands over the past 20 years of gaming and wireless interference was ALWAYS an issue. Well, this headset has a solid connection 99% of the time. Not to mention the sound quality is great. As soon as you get your EQ dialed in how you want it, you just leave it alone and you're good to go.The plastics that the headset are made of are high quality, even after months of use I haven't noticed any creaking. The mic quality is very good according to others in my use. And while the headset is heavy due to the drivers, it doesn't really bother me even after a few hours. So in the end yes it is expensive, but if you enjoy great sounding headphones and want a solid connection when wireless these are a no-brainer option.

Let me start by saying I was SO excited to get these after researching and seeing the reviews about how great they are. I wanted to drink the Kool Aid and I was not able to. In fact, I'm very wary of the articles I read saying these are good. I bought TWO PAIRS for my partner and I. Here was my experience:THE GOOD:-The sound quality is pretty much as good as they say. Crystal clear with nice heavy bass. I'm not an audiophile by any means but it just sounded good. I'm happy to give credit where it is due.-Battery life: I didn't use them long enough to benefit, but it's hard to beat 80 hours.-That's literally it.THE BAD (here we go):-The software on these things is so bad that I gave up using them after 20 minutes of trying to get by with them. The firmware included in the headset cuts out the first second of audio from any "new" source. Youtube Video, Discord call, Spotify, etc. It seems to want to "fade in" new media sources, but you just end up missing the beginning of whatever you're trying to hear. There is no setting for this and Audeze literally won't even acknowledge this if you email their support.-I know, who really cares about the mic on a high end pair of gaming headset? As long as people can understand you, it's fine, right? Well, that was too high a standard for the Maxwells, I guess. The mic quality is about the same as the $15 office headset you might use at a call center in Mumbai. It really is that bad. Condensed and muffled to the point that my friends on call were asking if maybe my input had defaulted to my webcam that was 15 feet away. (Ironically, that actually sounded better.) I thought maybe I just got a bad set but I looked up a Youtube video of comparing mic quality (Hardware Canucks has a great video showcasing what I mean) and that is just how they sound. Audeze Support says this poor sound quality is "designed to make your voice sound more natural," when I emailed them about this.-Enabling sidetone (which is helpful since they are noise cancelling) introduces an extremely loud hissing noise in a dead quiet room. Turning it down enough to a tolerable level means the sidetone is not really hearable. Furthermore, you can hear the terrible sound quality of the mic in your ear if you can manage to tune out the loud everpresent hissing. Audeze Support says "All headsets do this!" (My 4 year old Arctis headset did not do this, nor do the Razer Blackshark V2 Pros I got to replace my Maxwells, so I almost don't believe them!)-Chat app instability (at least in Discord): Many random things just cause the mic to stop sending audio altogether. Turning on your video, deafening briefly, locking my PC would cause the mic to stop working. Audeze has an article on what settings to change for Discord (because why would I want a headset that works out of the box?) and I followed the instructions and then emailed Audeze Support that it didn't make a difference. They said, "Have you read our article about changing the settings on Discord?"TL;DR: If you want to use these for console I hear they're pretty good other than the mic quality. If you are going to just use them for headphones, they're probably fine (though for 300 USD you can probably find better). For PC gaming, you will be disappointed and your friends will ask why your microphone sounds so bad, and then they'll say "Why did you stop talking?" If you email support, they will give you a copy/paste response and make you pay to ship them back and send you a pair with the same set of issues. My advice: Don't bother.