Unsurprisingly, the sound quality on the Audeze Maxwell is fantastic. Just a step below a true audiophile performance, it delivers detailed, articulate highs, rich mids, extended low end, and a great immersive soundstage. It’s clear and detailed with lots of headroom, making games like Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Cyberpunk 2077, and Hogwarts Legacy incredibly immersive to play. I made it through enough of The Callisto Protocol to confirm that the Maxwell’s crisp, detailed audio and passive noise isolation is much too impressive for me to be playing horror games with. Directional sound is excellent — even without spatial audio — in games like Fortnite and Overwatch 2, especially on the headset’s “competition” EQ preset (there’s a “footsteps” EQ preset as well, but the highs are a little too high for me). The Maxwell doesn’t include spatial audio in its PC app, but it does support Sony’s 3D audio on PS5. The Soundstage of the Maxwell is absolutely fantastic. Simply put you have to try them out to understand. Playing Apex legends, I can perfectly pin point where the bullets are coming from and work out if the players footsteps are above or below me. With Tempest audio on, you even get a sense of perception of just how far (or near) they are to you. I am pretty sure I can now work out what character I am chasing/ be chased by just from the footsteps! Those sweaty Wraiths now stand no chance against me (Huwah ah ah). It is like having a second controller but not only that, a second controller which brings you directly into the world you are playing. On the Penrose and Penrose X, the Game/Chat Mix was done by pressing the Microphone wheel and then adjusting up and down, due to the default action on the wheel being microphone volume control. On Maxwell, as there is no microphone volume control (Maxwell uses AGC - Automatic Gain Control), Game/Chat balance is now the default action, meaning that you only have to adjust the lower wheel up and down to adjust the game/chat balance. The Maxwell has four connectivity options: 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth 5.3, wired via USB-C, and analog. While the headset can connect to both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.3 at the same time, it can’t play audio from both wireless sources simultaneously, like the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT or the Logitech G735 can. It can, however, play dual-source audio simultaneously provided one of the sources is wired — e.g., it can play audio simultaneously over an analog connection and Bluetooth. It’s an active headset with an internal DSP and a built-in DAC, so it will need to be powered on even if you’re using a wired analog connection.

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.Maxwell uses an All-New Reinforced Chassis Built with Aluminum yokes, spring steel headband, and glass infused nylon for other structural parts including the cups. There are no plans to offer a specific case at this point in time, however, Maxwell will fit standard and premium LCD cases. Either version is universally compatible using the 3.5mm connection. In low-latency wireless mode or via USB, due to differing hardware, firmware, and licensing requirements, the PlayStation version will not work on Xbox. Xbox version on PlayStation via the USB dongle is not officially supported and may not work. Using the Xbox version on PS via wired USB, there may be some limitations in volume control and other possible loss of functionality. We recommend use of the properly supported version for each console.

Maxwell does have AI powered noise cancelling for its outgoing chat/communications for both internal and external microphones (boom mic). On the Penrose and Penrose X, the Game/Chat Mix was done by pressing the Microphone wheel and then adjusting up and down, as the default scroll action on the wheel was your mic volume. On Maxwell, as there is no microphone volume control (Maxwell uses AGC - Automatic Gain Control) to control the output level of your mic. Game/Chat balance is now the default action, meaning that you only have to adjust the lower wheel up and down to adjust the game/chat balance.

The active area is still same. The new dual chamber earcup design takes up some of the space by having two physical earcups, one internal and one external - this helps with noise isolation and acoustics. 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. The following test groups have been updated following TB 1.6: Wired Connection, Bluetooth Connection, and Wireless Connection (Dongle). There have also been text changes made throughout the review, including to the usages and product comparisons to match these results. The best PS5 headsets deliver clear, crisp, and all-round excellent audio performance. They take full advantage of the PS5’s next-gen 3D audio tech and many offer premium features like active noise cancellation. If you like tinkering with sound profiles to get your headset exactly to your liking, EQ adjustment support is essential. If you’re big on multiplayer, prioritize a solid microphone and wide soundstage. Or if comfort’s your priority, make sure to get a well-padded headset that can be worn for hours at a time.

The longest I have used them in a one-er was 8 hours and I could have really worn them for 8 more. Comfort: 9.5/10 It feels great too. We’ve used enough headsets over the years to understand that tactility in both hand and on head are extremely important to any headset and again, Maxwell excels. Of course it is heavy, and at times in-use scenarios amplify that weight but it always feels comfortable. Much of the reasoning behind that will be down to the suspension styled leather inner headband, keeping your skull away from the less flexible outer parts. And with simple pop-on, pop-off adjustability, getting a decent fit is easy. Maxwell, like the Penrose and Mobius, requires power as it is an active headset on all connection types. Like those headsets, Maxwell utilizes an internal DSP and houses a balanced amplifier for each driver. We suggest common sense in what you plug the Maxwell into with a 3.5mm/aux cable. If you use an amplifier and don’t set the volume accordingly, you can overcharge the circuitry inside the headset. It is highly recommended you either bypass using amplifiers, or set the volume very low and adjust up until you achieve a good balance between the Maxwell’s volume control, and your source gear. Using external amplifiers may be detrimental to sound quality and potentially add more noise and distortion. April 4th:Testing started. We noticed phase mismatch present in our unit and that non-Bluetooth wireless latency was higher than expected. However, these flaws didn't qualify the unit as broken—the Maxwell performed very well in most other tests. If a product doesn't perform as it should but isn't clearly broken, we refer to the out-of-spec policy. It's the manufacturer's responsibility to define what is out of spec for their products as they're the ones who know how their products should perform.This isn’t necessarily an issue, as most gamers don’t need a headset that can play from two wireless sources at once — however, the Maxwell also doesn’t allow you to manually switch between the two sources. Instead, it switches between the two sources automatically, prioritizing Bluetooth. It will automatically switch to Bluetooth if you get a phone call, or if you open an app on your phone that is playing sound.