Audeze — loved in circles of high profile mixing and mastering engineers — has released a wireless headset: Maxwell. Jam packed with features and the highest tech, we took them for a test drive in the studio.
High-end Audio manufacturers Audeze, has introduced their high class to the wireless game with Maxwell. It’s the world’s first wireless headset to feature Bluetooth 5.3 for ultra-low-latency, specs that gamers dream of, and moreover, embraces the immersive audio experiences of Dolby Atmos and PlayStation’s Tempest 3D audio.
Coming in two versions — Xbox/PC or Playstation — Maxwell is priced well under what you would expect, and features modern tech like a USB-C dongle for low latency and a detachable boom mic (designed by Shure). We tested out the Xbox model.
If you are in the mixing game you’ve probably seen some your friends flash around their Audeze headphones — they are for the serious user with a price point and no compromise design and build, finding themselves as a standard for such mixers like Manny Marroquin and Michael Brauer, and Mastering Engineer Elaine Rasnake.
If you already know about Audeze you might raise your eyebrow as to why they are getting into the gaming headset world — but, be advised, these are some of the best closed back headphones on the market and are not locked into that gaming category like other counterparts.
The Maxwell wireless headset has all the standard stuff — a power button, a mic mute button, independent volume wheels for the headset level and the microphone level, 3.5mm TRRS jack input, USB-C input, a single press A.I. Noise reduction button, and the afformentioned detachable boom mic — which is very easy to get in and out, and feels very solid.
Worth mentioning that the power button and two volume and headphone wheels are multi-functional — Answer calls, Bluetooth pairing, next/previous tracks, EQ presets, adjust sidetone volume and turn it off. And it’s also very important to get the app (phone or comp) and update firmware on both the headset and dongle, as we as dive into some extra features here.
It ships with all the cables you’d need, a USB-C to C cable, a USB-C to A adaptor, and a 3.5mm TRRS AUX cable, and a sturdy box with a sculpted foam cutout that’s good enough keep and store for life.
The ear pads are detachable, just in case you get carried away and spend too much time in these and wish to replace them, and the headband is easy to slip off and adjust to suit all the head sizes of the world.
The headphones diaphragms are made from ultra-thin uniforce™ with a magnetic structure using Fluxor™ magnet array and the magnets are Neodymium N50, but they still have a bit of weight to them — coming in at 490 grams. On these earcups there’s a 5-mic array of beamforming microphones for convenience and noise reduction. You’ll never miss a thing.
We have a little secret here too…there’s a LOT of talk online about these being the perfect studio headphone as the sound quality of these is on par with Audeze high-end headphones. The Maxwell headphones have been tuned, and compared to other wired headphones, they wipe the floor.
The battery life is an incredible 80+ hours. That’s almost double the standard gaming headphones.
The Maxwell comes in at $519 AUD and you can get them from Addictedtoaudio.com.au
