have you had any durability issues with the headset?? Ive read a BUNCH of reviews about the headset being extremely easily damaged even from a tiny bump how has it been for you especially after a year of the comment you have left? this is the only thing that is pulling me away from the Maxwells. My current headset has lasted me 7+ years so far so if I am spending 300+ on the maxwells id love for it to last me around the same hopefully even longer.
@Das_Carstel simultaneous play back, it doeeees have it but only cable and a wireless either bt or dongal. Unlike the steelseries artic pro wireless, with that ueadset i could listen to my phones bt and my pc wireless at the same time sadly these headphone can not do that its a really bummer condering how much more they cost. The only reason i went away from steel series was because their new headband design is god awful. Which is a shame as i loves the pro wireless. Tho apart from the lack of good sim play back, the adueze are amazing headphones. Mic i was a little disappointed with
@@NIKOtheMONKEY Oh, this really a bummer. I wasn't even aware that this is possible to listen to two things at once. It would be cool though, but I guess it is not deal breaker. Thank you very much for explaining it to me.
Hey this is the BEST style of Short Circuit. I hate the ones with the goofy hosts who just clown around and don't go in depth about the product. This guy, on the other hand, is fantastic! More like this please, and give this guy more screen time.
Loved the review. God why doesn’t anyone do this! Informative, arguments that are rooted in facts and data, you took us through your points with examples, and you weren’t trying to get away with superlatives for nothing. Thank you, really helpful review!
I would be very interested for labs to also do some latency testing for wireless headphones. A lot of headphones in the gaming space get advertised as "ultra low latency" or whatever, but they rarely put a number on it. For gaming latency is pretty important and for me personally, I make some music on PC here and there and I've been looking arround for wireless headphones/-sets for a long time but most if not all suffer from pretty bad latency. Especially when using bluetooth it can get over 100ms in latency which is pretty noticable, when its added onto all latency inherently present in the chain already. The yamaha YH-WL500 that came out this year are the only wireless headphones I know of that got into the sub 10ms range (at least they say). Maybe you could do a review of those sometime?
The dongle of the Maxwell is a new latest Bluetooth ble-audio dongle in disguise. So they don't do really lossless and they don't do truly low latency. I believe it's rated under 3ms or something though. But for monitoring yourself a cable is still the way to go
@@Le_Mon9 for regular use like gaming etc, I'd say yes definitely. But monitoring yourself while playing an instrument is, at least in my experience, very different. In that case, every ms I can shave off the chain is worth it
@@Reikasa under 20ms you cant here a difference anymore the bottleneck than is the sound processing and you need something like ASIO for low latency Input/Output, WASAPI or DirectSound cant do that
Thank you, finally a product worth buying made for Gamers. I was getting sick of all the positive reviews for shitty headsets. Couple things to note: 1. There's a matte black version of the Maxwell's. For people that don't want the shiny, plastic look 2. The Xbox version is more expensive because Dolby licensing is incredibly expensive. It's also not necessary for 99% of use cases so just go with the Sony version if you're buying it for PC/Mobile use. 3. The Microphone is only limited by the Noise Suppression mode, If you turn off the processing on the audio, it sounds very decent, unfortunately this wasn't really accounted for all that much.
Oh cool! You guys are covering these. They got a lot of praise in the audiophile community. For the price, they really do seem to be above and beyond most other closed backs in the same price bracket, or even higher
5:41 This is the most relevnt info to me. Ive been watching headset reviews lately looking for this detail and think it should be called out in every review if they have these specif features or not. THANK YOU!
Solid video, but I wish there was more of a focus on comparing to other headphones at a similar price point, particularly in the frequency response section.
@@michaelgourvitch5323 they have done comparisons on different products on this channel before, hell most of them have for sound test on phone or laptop speakers comparing them to like iphones, macbooks, hp dragonfly or dell xps which are considered some of the best speakers on phones/laptops
There is no comparison really, other gaming headsets come no where close to what audeze does. They use the same B&K testing rig that LTT uses to tune their headphones, so until other manufactures start following suit, they are in a class of their own right now. The planar tech in audeze headphones shines especially when it comes to distortion; the dynamic drivers of other headphones completely fall apart distortion wise when applying EQ to match the target curve.
Plain and simple: If you want the best AUDIO for gaming, Audeze Maxwell is the way to go. That said, if your sole focus is footsteps on FPS games, there other that can provide that.
Have you guys looked into the new graph standards proposed by the Headphone Show guys? Standardizing the output to remove biases and just showing target deviations along with a "preference space" to account for the Harmon research showing the range of listening preferences.
8:14 i'm no audio geek but this is impressive. 20-30hz does show that this is a planar magnetic speaker but negligible weakness unless you are used to recent earphones with bass tuned up excessively. at $300, a bargain vs other brands that has nothing to do with audio technology/development.
So I have the mobius headphones and the bass is really good and the drivers can handle them well. Its a more you can hear it than feel it type. That's exactly what I've looked for in gaming headphones.
@@frankhu8692 I guess you have a point. Most people say that planar vs dynamic drivers have little to no difference to the ears and dynamic drivers have better low end bass. I'd like to see freq. response or chart of the beyerdynamic
@@zodiacfmlI have the Audeze Maxwell and the Razer blackshark V2 pro 2023*. The Maxwell blows the blackshark out of the water. I've been spoiled by Audeze. I did NOT expect other headphones would sound so muddy, undetailed, quiet, and have little bass. But they do! Anyways I EQ'd the blackshark as much as I could but it's still nothing compared to the Maxwell.
I got the xBox (dolby atmos license) version just a few weeks ago, the software has been rock solid for me, and they've been pretty consistent with firmware updates. They sound great for both games and music! (The built-in EQs are amazing) Also, I've been using them without the boom mic attachment for gaming on Discord, no issues with sound quality on the beam forming mics at all! The noise cancellation on the mics work great too. My only minor gripe is its heavy at almost half a kilogram. You WILL feel it after a few hours of using it. Overall 9/10 highly recommended for anyone looking for wireless end-game quality headset for a fair price.
Actually not a bad review and a big improvement from the last headphone review I watched. I do believe we need some comparisons and a developed tier list for gamers looking for a competitive edge. These vs let's say beyerdynamics or Sennheiser 560s. Wireless is a convenient feature for sure though. Great review by Adam. It seems like he is improving at a fast rate. Keep at it!
I know it would be a lot of work but could you make a series of LTT Audiophile Experience? It would be lovely to see what your opinion are of all sort of headphones.
My Audeze Maxwell's were delivered on Jun 12, 2023, I had already bought the Wicked Cushions for them so I never really used them with the normal ones. I love this headset and do recommend it to anyone looking for a high end headset. I would buy them again, I bought the PC/PS version. There have been a lot of firmware and software updates that keep making them better and better. I keep hearing Sony bought Audeze so I hope in the future they still release xbox versions of new headsets, but I only play on PC so it wouldn't affect me a lot.
What’s it like after a year I just bought mines. Going to use the regular cushions then upgrade what was the wicked cushions like for long duration of gaming/music? Did you get cooling one I’m unsure what pads to get I’m not an audiophile yet
@@beasthaven1571 Yeah I bought the ones with the cooling gel. I wear them all day when I'm home, if I'm not gaming I'm watching TH-cam, Twitch, or Vudu.
In my experience with regular Maxwells, if you don't use the boom mic people can hear your surroundings perfectly, but with the boom mic I can be blasting a movie in the background and my discord pals hear none of it. Love 'em.
It's super niche, but the side-audio thing means you could like, plug your phone or an ipod in or something and have that combined with your audio. I'm sure there's someone in the world that appreciates that.
There is. I for one could make very good use of that feature. It so happens that I had to get rid of my multi monitor setup (the things you do for your wife...), and I'd really enjoy having Spotify as a secondary input from my Surface propped up next to my keyboard instead of Alt-tabbing out of the game. Niche usecase, sure, and certainly no make or break feature, but still nice. Too bad I've just got myself a new headset.
Appreciate the work you put into these but it's still strange seeing headphone review videos in a format thatisn't a green ipad + hands of a certain Aussie
I had hoped you would critizise the more than crappy mic more. The technical abilities of this transmission chip and BLE audio allow for far better mic quality but they clearly decided to cheap out and instead implement noise suppression, a feature maybe pros at a lan really need. For this price, sure planar magnetic from Audeze (now Sony...) is great, but you cannot accept this level of microphone quality, especially if you consider that Antlion proofed many years before, that it is indeed possible to deliver perfect wireless mic sound. I hope you review the new Beyerdynamic MMX 200 soon (far superior mic) and give the Maxwell headset the hard slap it has earned! I was so hyped for the Maxwell, when the used chip was leaked and they underdelivered on a level i couldn't have ever imagine. A really good and fitting asset for Sonys gaming products.
Best Wireless Headphones for Gaming. Have used these and had the Penrose which still use. It’s a great time to be Gaming with all this new awesome audio🤙. It’s a must buy if you’re interested.
I actually bought some Wicked Cushions pads for my DT 770 Pros. They are pretty good! The cooling gel is kind of a useless gimmick. They do feel cool at first but the gel warms up so quickly the effect is basically gone within minutes. But they *are* more comfortable than the stock pads, the fabric feels nice and seems very durable. One thing I noticed though, right after putting them on my headphones sounded AWFUL. I was very disappointed. However, I guess they needed a little time to "settle in" properly because after like half an hour everything sounded great again and I never had that issue again after that :)
I got them in August and they are freakin AMAZING! They're really perfect for gaming and also sound great with movies and music. It's insane that I work and game on them daily and I charge them every 2-3 WEEKS 😍 The only downsides are that they are heavy, especially for women (my wife couldn't use them for longer than 20 minutes) and software that on windows really sucks and for the last month the app doesn't even SEE my headset :/
@@mz1929 You know what? Yeah in this video it did sound really bad, but from my experience it sounds more like on the badseed review here th-cam.com/video/DHAlw3tSmcc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=WT90t65yfXflAmrv&t=335 I have a Samson mic so most of t he time I'm using that but when I have meetings at work I connect with it on Windows and my colleagues still think I sound way better than 200usd Jabra headsets we have at work (and they are really solid mics!)
@@mz1929 thankfully for my case I have a proper external microphone so I don't care about the headset's mic sounding bad by default, although you would expect an expensive headset like this to have a decent sounding mic, but alas unfortunately that's usually how most of them sound on gaming headsets.
The major problem with this planar magnetic headphone is that the membrane is awfully delicate. You drop the headset once and you can dislodge the membrane and it will make flapping noise when sound plays. Oh and Audeze says this is normal. They don't help you with this issue.
Damn, that mic quality is a real shame. I've been hard pressed to find a gaming headset that I love and - after having flip boom mic failures on both Plantronics RIG & Astro A50s - having a replaceable boom mic is a must.
The Audeze Mobius has an amazing mic. When I heard the boom mic I noticed it was wireless. I can tell you if you use a wired connection you will sound really good.
They do sound good but after using wired openbacks for years these didn't feel immersive in gaming at all. Plus they are quite heavy and I started sweating after 10 minutes.
I love my Maxwell with Wicked Cushions. They are the best headphones I have ever owned. 9/10 one point off for LDAC not liking a custom EQ when connected to my Pixel. But the "Immersive" EQ sounds excellent.
@@mz1929 I honestly don't use it that often, so it doesn't factor into my score. But I understand. I've not had any comments from people when I accept a call while I'm out. I get complaints about the mic quality on a call when I'm using my WH-XM4's, but not when I use the Maxwell's.
The pickup pattern is hypercardioid so you have to be very careful that it's pointed properly at your mouth or it will sound muffled as in this video. With the pop filter on I can't tell where it's pointed.
is it just me or does the boom mic actually sound really good.. Seeing all these people say "oh the mic is not that good", but they sound crystal clear... But I've never listened to my voice on my A40's so can't really compare those two but i've had zero complaints on these and If I did decide to pick up a pair of maxwells dont think they would complain either.
super disapointed that the mic isnt good quality. thats the only reason i need to switch from my really old 2011 astro A40 wireless headset is to get a better mic.
here in AUS the maxwell and the nova pro wireless are the same price, which would you pick up if you are trying to get the best headphones for FPS shooters and footsteps? I play on PC and dont plan to use for anything else
HD560s or the X2HR with a $50 usb condenser mic is a much better pick. Many cheap IEM choices that also work very well for gaming while providing even better frequency response, detail and imaging just losing out on soundstage size compared to open back headphones.
@@VexxedSR tried both as well. I liked the 38x a lot more. The 560s felt harsh and analytical. It literally hurt my ears in shooters. The x2hr felt muddy because of the overemphasized bass.
The 560s, At least to me is pretty decent for competitive gaming. For music listening I agree it was very analytical and not very enjoyable. I don't have any experience with the x2hr but I know it has a huge following in gaming. The pc38x I just recommend it to people who are more into gaming than headphones/audio. I've honestly moved to iems lately and for gaming been loving the Helios and orchestra lites.
@@GoldenSW I'm currently using the X2HR but with an EQ to reduce the mid bass bloat and add 2db below 50hz and it's a lot better than stock tuning. One of the few cheap open back headphones where the bass isn't anemic and has a nice soundstage size. Bass isn't the tightest and loses out on some detail and imaging compared to the hd560s but at least I can comfortably use them with my big ears unlike the 560s where the tips of my ears would press against the plastic hinge inside the cups. I also liked the tygr 300r but had 3 defective pairs in a row so gave up on them.
I'm so annoyed these don't have ANC, that would make them the perfect do everything headphones and an instant buy for me. I already have and love the predecessor Mobius, but without ANC they've become strictly at-home headphones. Fingers crossed for whatever will replace the Maxwell ...
I have these and can confirm they are fantastic in every way except I get complaints about my mic quality. The latency on xbox with dolby atmos enabled is fantastic as well. Lots of good things to say about the headset.
Seems like there are too many instances where they are going strong then out of nowhere 1 or both cans just stop working. I want to try them sooo bad but without an extended warranty I will wait on the Sony Pulse Elites and purchase the extended warranty through bestbuy. If there were an extended warranty on the Maxwells I'd buy right now without even a hesitation.
here in AUS the maxwell and the nova pro wireless are the same price, which would you pick up if you are trying to get the best headphones for FPS shooters and footsteps? I play on PC and dont plan to use for anything else
Now I kinda want to see a review of Audeze’s LCD-5 Flagship Headphone to see if there is any actual difference between them or if they are a giant waste of money
can yall compare these with the hyper x cloud orbit s. I'd be curious to see if there is a noticeable difference in driver quality after 5 years and at half the price might still be a good option
Was the microphone test with noise suppression on or off? As it makes a massive difference in how the mic sounds. Noise suppression ON sounds better and a lot louder than off.
Mine along with many others had issues with them. Mine had connection issues for weeks before the left side stopped working altogether. So I returned and went with steel series
These look great but I can't switch from my Arctis Nova Pro. The removable battery is an amazing idea for wireless headphones that I haven't seen anyone else try.
@@KaNoMikoProductions Audeze Maxwell are easily the best sounding closed back headphones up until like 900usd, and the Aurorus Australis are so hard to find that Maxwell STILL remains super competitive well into the thousand usd price range, it's crazy how badly this reviewer does with audio products. At least he remembered how a Planar driver works this time, just wish they could get a decent headphone reviewer, this guy gives me HEAVY "musician who doesn't know what amazing equipment he has" vibes. Plus in what world is it acceptable to put an earpad sponsor on your headphone video? It HEAVILY suggests that the stock pads aren't amazing and might need wickedcushions to be better, especially when that couldn't be further from the truth, wickedcushions are one of the worst earpad makers out there. Dekoni and Brainwavz are the only moderately good 3rd party makers but headphone makers tune to their earpads and not 3rd party imitations with different materials, it'd be like making a home insulation video for the countries prepping for winter and happily advertising the worst insulation manufacturer that barely traps any heat in your house. Or making a "x budget PC" video with a sponsor from a big parts builder that is incredibly sub-optimal for the budget and only noticeable to the PC builders. If only LTT could listen to the audio communities who really want new members in their hobby instead of hiring one guy from one of the worst audio review sites out there and doing another terrible job
How do these compare to a setup like mine? I use Sennheiser 6XX headphones and a Shure MV7X mic connected to an Apogee BOOM interface, and I use SoundID Reference for some response curve flattening on the 6XX.
Would you say Audaze Maxwell is a notable wireless upgrade from Beyerdynamic DT 880 premium 250ohms? Love how comfy DT 880’s are but started to hate the wire
Was looking at these a few months ago when I was in the market for a new headset. Ended up going with the steel series Arctis Nova Pro Wireless instead. Don’t regret it at all.
I have had my Audeze Maxwells for a few months now. Great headphones although a little heavy. The the clamping force and strap make it evenly spread out.
@@ms3862Sony Pulse Elites will have Planar drivers but im sure will be half the weight of these with smaller batteries and all plastic. Batteries will add alot of weight and in order to achieve 80hrs im sure the battery is a hefty size.
The biggest thing drawing me towards the nova pro is the simultaneous Bluetooth. That's a killer feature for me that we don't get here :/ which sucks as someone who cares a lot about sound quality
I have Audeze GX and LCD-X, going to buy these, people should buy some Planar headphones if they wish to play competitively. I have headphones worth $4500 and Audeze are still my favourite with my LCD-3s costing $3000
I don’t understand how the footsteps directional ques you struggle with. Because I find them to be very accurate better then Astro a50s and the nova pros. Something doesn’t add up? you’re not the only that said this about the directional footsteps. 12:05
Im disappointed in these headphones, main reasons being: Wireless being bluetooth, and not other methods Mic-quality being trash (partially subjective), i would feel bad for my friends if i was using this mic knowingly
Although its not silent (even after all the firmware updates that try to address this ) I have never ever noticed it while talking in a meeting. Only when it's completely silent otherwise. I use it daily when talking. Turn it off when not in a meeting / talking because I just don't want outside noise coming in :).
The mic test in this review did sound bad on playback, though I have heard numerous other reviews where it sounded great. So I do wonder what was going on with what I listened to here.
sound wise pretty good, comfort wise people have had issues, personally I had to swap to the wicked cushions earpads to make them usable for more than an hour
Something must be wrong there I guess. The examples of some of the other reviewers MONTHS ago sound way fuller (the boom at least). I have mine now since August and the mic isn't at all what you hear here .
The fact it supports LDAC or any of the higher end codeds is nice, as soon as you hop on Discord the Bluetooth mode switches into a comms device and the audio turs back to crap. Someone should really figure out windows bluetooth drivers, and standards huh.
So i just bought the Acezone A-spire , had them for a few days now, they seem very good, but some major flaws and i assume i will be returning these. Acezone is suppose to be #1 for footsteps, ill be testing them out all weekend with CoD tomorrow. I think i will be trying the Turtle Beach Stealth Pros (cant believe those words came out of my mouth) TB has always been shit quality and made fun of for 15 years! But apparently TB is the #1 right now for Footsteps. I do really want to try the Maxwell, but the weight and Mic are huge let downs. I am excited, but expect to be disappointed of new Astro A40's and 50's FINALLY in January. But fullly expect Logitech to have ruined the company and they will probably be shit. I might also check out the Audeze MM-100, are a better version of the Maxwell and open back i beleive, so they are even better for gaming/footsteps
Was looking for a new good gaming headset about a month ago, decided to treat myself and got the Audeze Maxwells. I have to say that the sound is simply amazing. But not even one week later, my left ear suddenly stopped working. Googled this exact issue, hoping that it was an easy fix, but it seems to be a rather common issue. Ended up RMA'ing the headset and went for a different brand.
That is my only issue. I normally buy all my electronics through bestbuy and purchase an extended warranty. Even with how amazing these sound them being fragile is keeping me away. I think im gonna wait for the Sony Pulse Elites with the Planar drivers in those and get those through bestbuy. If you don't mind me asking, what headset did you end up choosing?
What is a good wired alternative? I dont want some wireless bs. There is so many different audio brands. The drop hd6xx? or whats the best around that max 200usd
If you want wired closed backs your best option is AKG K371 with a modmic, closed headphones tend to suck and unfortunately for you the Maxwells are easily the best until like 1,000usd. For openbacks around 200usd the Drop HD6xx is technically best but they aren't always for sale and import fees anywhere but USA is completely not worth buying, you can find used Audio Technica R70x (only audio technica headphone worth buying) or new Sennheiser HD560S. nothing else really comes close
I'd like to add as a full time user of the Maxwells the grey color they normally come with feels much nicer in the hand and doesn’t scratch as easily
+1 here
@NathanDiNooh man now I have to get ot
have you had any durability issues with the headset?? Ive read a BUNCH of reviews about the headset being extremely easily damaged even from a tiny bump how has it been for you especially after a year of the comment you have left? this is the only thing that is pulling me away from the Maxwells. My current headset has lasted me 7+ years so far so if I am spending 300+ on the maxwells id love for it to last me around the same hopefully even longer.
I love how how excited Adam gets when he gets his hands on a good pair of headphones.
Mine tooo months to come, i love them they are great tho, the lack of sim play back really pisses me off, if steele series can do it, they can
@@NIKOtheMONKEY Sorry, can you tell me what SIM Play Back is? I can't find in the net.
@Das_Carstel simultaneous play back, it doeeees have it but only cable and a wireless either bt or dongal. Unlike the steelseries artic pro wireless, with that ueadset i could listen to my phones bt and my pc wireless at the same time sadly these headphone can not do that its a really bummer condering how much more they cost. The only reason i went away from steel series was because their new headband design is god awful. Which is a shame as i loves the pro wireless. Tho apart from the lack of good sim play back, the adueze are amazing headphones. Mic i was a little disappointed with
@@NIKOtheMONKEY Oh, this really a bummer. I wasn't even aware that this is possible to listen to two things at once. It would be cool though, but I guess it is not deal breaker. Thank you very much for explaining it to me.
Hey this is the BEST style of Short Circuit. I hate the ones with the goofy hosts who just clown around and don't go in depth about the product. This guy, on the other hand, is fantastic!
More like this please, and give this guy more screen time.
Yeah I'm fine with the goofing around with like building furniture and shit sometimes, this is the best way to do it for actual tech products.
Loved the review. God why doesn’t anyone do this! Informative, arguments that are rooted in facts and data, you took us through your points with examples, and you weren’t trying to get away with superlatives for nothing. Thank you, really helpful review!
I would be very interested for labs to also do some latency testing for wireless headphones. A lot of headphones in the gaming space get advertised as "ultra low latency" or whatever, but they rarely put a number on it. For gaming latency is pretty important and for me personally, I make some music on PC here and there and I've been looking arround for wireless headphones/-sets for a long time but most if not all suffer from pretty bad latency. Especially when using bluetooth it can get over 100ms in latency which is pretty noticable, when its added onto all latency inherently present in the chain already.
The yamaha YH-WL500 that came out this year are the only wireless headphones I know of that got into the sub 10ms range (at least they say). Maybe you could do a review of those sometime?
The dongle of the Maxwell is a new latest Bluetooth ble-audio dongle in disguise. So they don't do really lossless and they don't do truly low latency. I believe it's rated under 3ms or something though.
But for monitoring yourself a cable is still the way to go
Rtings test that as far as i know, they have a very big database too so you should be able to find something
latency for wireless only really is noticeable on bluetooth. 2.4ghz basically is almost the same as wired.
@@Le_Mon9 for regular use like gaming etc, I'd say yes definitely. But monitoring yourself while playing an instrument is, at least in my experience, very different. In that case, every ms I can shave off the chain is worth it
@@Reikasa under 20ms you cant here a difference anymore the bottleneck than is the sound processing and you need something like ASIO for low latency Input/Output, WASAPI or DirectSound cant do that
Thank you, finally a product worth buying made for Gamers.
I was getting sick of all the positive reviews for shitty headsets.
Couple things to note:
1. There's a matte black version of the Maxwell's. For people that don't want the shiny, plastic look
2. The Xbox version is more expensive because Dolby licensing is incredibly expensive. It's also not necessary for 99% of use cases so just go with the
Sony version if you're buying it for PC/Mobile use.
3. The Microphone is only limited by the Noise Suppression mode, If you turn off the processing on the audio, it sounds very decent, unfortunately this wasn't
really accounted for all that much.
Oh cool! You guys are covering these. They got a lot of praise in the audiophile community. For the price, they really do seem to be above and beyond most other closed backs in the same price bracket, or even higher
5:41 This is the most relevnt info to me. Ive been watching headset reviews lately looking for this detail and think it should be called out in every review if they have these specif features or not. THANK YOU!
Solid video, but I wish there was more of a focus on comparing to other headphones at a similar price point, particularly in the frequency response section.
I think that's what they're intending the eventual lab website to do
This is a First impressions Channel, I am guessing, comparing will be either done on the main channel or on their website(-s).
@@michaelgourvitch5323 they have done comparisons on different products on this channel before, hell most of them have for sound test on phone or laptop speakers comparing them to like iphones, macbooks, hp dragonfly or dell xps which are considered some of the best speakers on phones/laptops
There is no comparison really, other gaming headsets come no where close to what audeze does. They use the same B&K testing rig that LTT uses to tune their headphones, so until other manufactures start following suit, they are in a class of their own right now. The planar tech in audeze headphones shines especially when it comes to distortion; the dynamic drivers of other headphones completely fall apart distortion wise when applying EQ to match the target curve.
@ryansemplexyz I'll believe that when I see it, and not a moment sooner. Thanks for your perspective though.
Plain and simple: If you want the best AUDIO for gaming, Audeze Maxwell is the way to go.
That said, if your sole focus is footsteps on FPS games, there other that can provide that.
Have you guys looked into the new graph standards proposed by the Headphone Show guys? Standardizing the output to remove biases and just showing target deviations along with a "preference space" to account for the Harmon research showing the range of listening preferences.
8:14 i'm no audio geek but this is impressive. 20-30hz does show that this is a planar magnetic speaker but negligible weakness unless you are used to recent earphones with bass tuned up excessively. at $300, a bargain vs other brands that has nothing to do with audio technology/development.
So I have the mobius headphones and the bass is really good and the drivers can handle them well. Its a more you can hear it than feel it type. That's exactly what I've looked for in gaming headphones.
byerdynamic has their gaming series that look nice and sound good, so not just audeze is doing this
@@frankhu8692 I guess you have a point. Most people say that planar vs dynamic drivers have little to no difference to the ears and dynamic drivers have better low end bass. I'd like to see freq. response or chart of the beyerdynamic
@@zodiacfml i mean for the price and the sound those byer gaming headphones delivered, i ask nothing more
@@zodiacfmlI have the Audeze Maxwell and the Razer blackshark V2 pro 2023*. The Maxwell blows the blackshark out of the water. I've been spoiled by Audeze. I did NOT expect other headphones would sound so muddy, undetailed, quiet, and have little bass. But they do! Anyways I EQ'd the blackshark as much as I could but it's still nothing compared to the Maxwell.
"I don't know if I'd wear this out of the house" he says about the headphones that match his shirt.
I got the xBox (dolby atmos license) version just a few weeks ago, the software has been rock solid for me, and they've been pretty consistent with firmware updates. They sound great for both games and music! (The built-in EQs are amazing) Also, I've been using them without the boom mic attachment for gaming on Discord, no issues with sound quality on the beam forming mics at all! The noise cancellation on the mics work great too.
My only minor gripe is its heavy at almost half a kilogram. You WILL feel it after a few hours of using it. Overall 9/10 highly recommended for anyone looking for wireless end-game quality headset for a fair price.
Actually not a bad review and a big improvement from the last headphone review I watched. I do believe we need some comparisons and a developed tier list for gamers looking for a competitive edge. These vs let's say beyerdynamics or Sennheiser 560s. Wireless is a convenient feature for sure though. Great review by Adam. It seems like he is improving at a fast rate. Keep at it!
I know it would be a lot of work but could you make a series of LTT Audiophile Experience? It would be lovely to see what your opinion are of all sort of headphones.
legends say this is the last time we will see adam in a beard for a while
My Audeze Maxwell's were delivered on Jun 12, 2023, I had already bought the Wicked Cushions for them so I never really used them with the normal ones. I love this headset and do recommend it to anyone looking for a high end headset. I would buy them again, I bought the PC/PS version. There have been a lot of firmware and software updates that keep making them better and better. I keep hearing Sony bought Audeze so I hope in the future they still release xbox versions of new headsets, but I only play on PC so it wouldn't affect me a lot.
What’s it like after a year I just bought mines. Going to use the regular cushions then upgrade what was the wicked cushions like for long duration of gaming/music? Did you get cooling one I’m unsure what pads to get I’m not an audiophile yet
@@beasthaven1571 Yeah I bought the ones with the cooling gel. I wear them all day when I'm home, if I'm not gaming I'm watching TH-cam, Twitch, or Vudu.
In my experience with regular Maxwells, if you don't use the boom mic people can hear your surroundings perfectly, but with the boom mic I can be blasting a movie in the background and my discord pals hear none of it. Love 'em.
Ive had my audeze maxwelll since march and have no problems since then!! I LOVE THEM!
Speaking of audio...
I don't know who mixed the dialog for this video, but it sounds REALLY nice. Very pleasant.
It's super niche, but the side-audio thing means you could like, plug your phone or an ipod in or something and have that combined with your audio. I'm sure there's someone in the world that appreciates that.
Side tone is just hearing yourself (mic) in the headphone mix
There is. I for one could make very good use of that feature. It so happens that I had to get rid of my multi monitor setup (the things you do for your wife...), and I'd really enjoy having Spotify as a secondary input from my Surface propped up next to my keyboard instead of Alt-tabbing out of the game. Niche usecase, sure, and certainly no make or break feature, but still nice. Too bad I've just got myself a new headset.
They're not just the best of the best for gamer "headphones"; they're the best wireless headphones you can buy (period)
Would have liked to see a comparison to the LCD-GX, but oh well
Appreciate the work you put into these but it's still strange seeing headphone review videos in a format thatisn't a green ipad + hands of a certain Aussie
I had hoped you would critizise the more than crappy mic more. The technical abilities of this transmission chip and BLE audio allow for far better mic quality but they clearly decided to cheap out and instead implement noise suppression, a feature maybe pros at a lan really need. For this price, sure planar magnetic from Audeze (now Sony...) is great, but you cannot accept this level of microphone quality, especially if you consider that Antlion proofed many years before, that it is indeed possible to deliver perfect wireless mic sound.
I hope you review the new Beyerdynamic MMX 200 soon (far superior mic) and give the Maxwell headset the hard slap it has earned!
I was so hyped for the Maxwell, when the used chip was leaked and they underdelivered on a level i couldn't have ever imagine. A really good and fitting asset for Sonys gaming products.
Best Wireless Headphones for Gaming. Have used these and had the Penrose which still use.
It’s a great time to be Gaming with all this new awesome audio🤙.
It’s a must buy if you’re interested.
I actually bought some Wicked Cushions pads for my DT 770 Pros. They are pretty good!
The cooling gel is kind of a useless gimmick. They do feel cool at first but the gel warms up so quickly the effect is basically gone within minutes.
But they *are* more comfortable than the stock pads, the fabric feels nice and seems very durable.
One thing I noticed though, right after putting them on my headphones sounded AWFUL. I was very disappointed. However, I guess they needed a little time to "settle in" properly because after like half an hour everything sounded great again and I never had that issue again after that :)
Those frequency curves look really clean!
I got them in August and they are freakin AMAZING! They're really perfect for gaming and also sound great with movies and music. It's insane that I work and game on them daily and I charge them every 2-3 WEEKS 😍 The only downsides are that they are heavy, especially for women (my wife couldn't use them for longer than 20 minutes) and software that on windows really sucks and for the last month the app doesn't even SEE my headset :/
what about the mic tho? that did sound AWFUL. the internal ones sounded better
@@mz1929 You know what? Yeah in this video it did sound really bad, but from my experience it sounds more like on the badseed review here th-cam.com/video/DHAlw3tSmcc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=WT90t65yfXflAmrv&t=335
I have a Samson mic so most of t he time I'm using that but when I have meetings at work I connect with it on Windows and my colleagues still think I sound way better than 200usd Jabra headsets we have at work (and they are really solid mics!)
@@mz1929 thankfully for my case I have a proper external microphone so I don't care about the headset's mic sounding bad by default, although you would expect an expensive headset like this to have a decent sounding mic, but alas unfortunately that's usually how most of them sound on gaming headsets.
@@mz1929 how could say its awful when it is literally better than its competitor such as nova pro, hs80max etc
The major problem with this planar magnetic headphone is that the membrane is awfully delicate. You drop the headset once and you can dislodge the membrane and it will make flapping noise when sound plays. Oh and Audeze says this is normal. They don't help you with this issue.
I’ve already had to RMA mine do you know what I can do to prolong or keep it safe?
Damn, that mic quality is a real shame. I've been hard pressed to find a gaming headset that I love and - after having flip boom mic failures on both Plantronics RIG & Astro A50s - having a replaceable boom mic is a must.
The Audeze Mobius has an amazing mic. When I heard the boom mic I noticed it was wireless. I can tell you if you use a wired connection you will sound really good.
What's the difference between these and the Penrose? Are they just as fragile?
They do sound good but after using wired openbacks for years these didn't feel immersive in gaming at all. Plus they are quite heavy and I started sweating after 10 minutes.
You can also use these wireless on the PS5 using the USBC to a adapter and switching the USBC dongle to PC.
I love my Maxwell with Wicked Cushions. They are the best headphones I have ever owned. 9/10 one point off for LDAC not liking a custom EQ when connected to my Pixel. But the "Immersive" EQ sounds excellent.
needs another point off for that awful mic.
Ldac and custom eq was a known bug that has been fixed in the latest firmwares as far as I know .
@@mz1929 I honestly don't use it that often, so it doesn't factor into my score. But I understand. I've not had any comments from people when I accept a call while I'm out. I get complaints about the mic quality on a call when I'm using my WH-XM4's, but not when I use the Maxwell's.
Did you EQ your mic? If so, does it sound a lot better? I’m really excited for this headset but that mic is just throwing me off atm
@@Luuk8320 I don't think you can
The pickup pattern is hypercardioid so you have to be very careful that it's pointed properly at your mouth or it will sound muffled as in this video.
With the pop filter on I can't tell where it's pointed.
That was the best sponsor xD Really fit!
These have been on my wishlist for a while now
is it just me or does the boom mic actually sound really good.. Seeing all these people say "oh the mic is not that good", but they sound crystal clear... But I've never listened to my voice on my A40's so can't really compare those two but i've had zero complaints on these and If I did decide to pick up a pair of maxwells dont think they would complain either.
super disapointed that the mic isnt good quality. thats the only reason i need to switch from my really old 2011 astro A40 wireless headset is to get a better mic.
The price difference between the sony and the microsoft versions comes from Dolby Atmos support
Great video! Do you notice and static when using sidetone?
I'm glad I didn't buy that ultraviolet edition because it's a fingerprint magnet! However, the headset itself is very good. 👍😎
here in AUS the maxwell and the nova pro wireless are the same price, which would you pick up if you are trying to get the best headphones for FPS shooters and footsteps? I play on PC and dont plan to use for anything else
That what I’m stuck on as well . I have the SteelSeries pros and leaning towards the nova pro wireless but no sure
I'd rather buy a well tuned IEM and one of those cables that include a boom mic than a closed back headset personally.
You should've put a 90's Black Wicked Cushions pads which would look really good on that Ultraviolet.
The pc38x is still my go to recommendation for gaming headsets. Also, the hate towards Adam in the comments is weird.
The 38x is great. Liked it more than the maxwell since it's openback so sound feels a lot more spacious so ended up choosing it.
HD560s or the X2HR with a $50 usb condenser mic is a much better pick. Many cheap IEM choices that also work very well for gaming while providing even better frequency response, detail and imaging just losing out on soundstage size compared to open back headphones.
@@VexxedSR tried both as well. I liked the 38x a lot more. The 560s felt harsh and analytical. It literally hurt my ears in shooters. The x2hr felt muddy because of the overemphasized bass.
The 560s, At least to me is pretty decent for competitive gaming. For music listening I agree it was very analytical and not very enjoyable. I don't have any experience with the x2hr but I know it has a huge following in gaming. The pc38x I just recommend it to people who are more into gaming than headphones/audio. I've honestly moved to iems lately and for gaming been loving the Helios and orchestra lites.
@@GoldenSW I'm currently using the X2HR but with an EQ to reduce the mid bass bloat and add 2db below 50hz and it's a lot better than stock tuning. One of the few cheap open back headphones where the bass isn't anemic and has a nice soundstage size. Bass isn't the tightest and loses out on some detail and imaging compared to the hd560s but at least I can comfortably use them with my big ears unlike the 560s where the tips of my ears would press against the plastic hinge inside the cups. I also liked the tygr 300r but had 3 defective pairs in a row so gave up on them.
I'm so annoyed these don't have ANC, that would make them the perfect do everything headphones and an instant buy for me. I already have and love the predecessor Mobius, but without ANC they've become strictly at-home headphones. Fingers crossed for whatever will replace the Maxwell ...
I have these and can confirm they are fantastic in every way except I get complaints about my mic quality. The latency on xbox with dolby atmos enabled is fantastic as well. Lots of good things to say about the headset.
Have you tried buy a separate 3.5 mic and use it ?
Seems like there are too many instances where they are going strong then out of nowhere 1 or both cans just stop working. I want to try them sooo bad but without an extended warranty I will wait on the Sony Pulse Elites and purchase the extended warranty through bestbuy. If there were an extended warranty on the Maxwells I'd buy right now without even a hesitation.
here in AUS the maxwell and the nova pro wireless are the same price, which would you pick up if you are trying to get the best headphones for FPS shooters and footsteps? I play on PC and dont plan to use for anything else
Can I assume that the plain black ones are just as good?
great video!
So if you have an analogue DAC (like an actual sound card) can you plug these in with the 3.5mm jack and use the DAC instead of the Audeze app?
I daily drive the Sennheiser PC38X. It would be nice to see a review of them by you guys.
The ultraviolet color way is sold out and has been for months? It looks like. I don't think they're going to do another run.
Now I kinda want to see a review of Audeze’s LCD-5 Flagship Headphone to see if there is any actual difference between them or if they are a giant waste of money
can yall compare these with the hyper x cloud orbit s. I'd be curious to see if there is a noticeable difference in driver quality after 5 years and at half the price might still be a good option
Was the microphone test with noise suppression on or off? As it makes a massive difference in how the mic sounds. Noise suppression ON sounds better and a lot louder than off.
The microphone quality is bad in wireless mode. If you connect it by the AUX cable the microphone quality is tremendously improved
Mine along with many others had issues with them. Mine had connection issues for weeks before the left side stopped working altogether. So I returned and went with steel series
the price difference is just the Dolby License. you can buy the PS version and Dolby license for $15.
Then, would you be able to enjoy Dolby when connected to your PC and Tempest 3D when connected to the PS5?
Kind of a shame there doesnt seem to be a version of these will all the features minus the Microphone.
I'd buy it then for the wireless support alone.
the mic is detachable so what does it matter?
These are going straight to Adam's place after a week or two
These look great but I can't switch from my Arctis Nova Pro. The removable battery is an amazing idea for wireless headphones that I haven't seen anyone else try.
How do the nova pros sound? The battery swap does seem like a big seller to me
@@mattyP27 Nowhere near the Maxwells.
@@mattyP27Yeah I’d say sound is meh but they’re good enough for what I use them for
@@KaNoMikoProductions Audeze Maxwell are easily the best sounding closed back headphones up until like 900usd, and the Aurorus Australis are so hard to find that Maxwell STILL remains super competitive well into the thousand usd price range, it's crazy how badly this reviewer does with audio products. At least he remembered how a Planar driver works this time, just wish they could get a decent headphone reviewer, this guy gives me HEAVY "musician who doesn't know what amazing equipment he has" vibes.
Plus in what world is it acceptable to put an earpad sponsor on your headphone video? It HEAVILY suggests that the stock pads aren't amazing and might need wickedcushions to be better, especially when that couldn't be further from the truth, wickedcushions are one of the worst earpad makers out there. Dekoni and Brainwavz are the only moderately good 3rd party makers but headphone makers tune to their earpads and not 3rd party imitations with different materials, it'd be like making a home insulation video for the countries prepping for winter and happily advertising the worst insulation manufacturer that barely traps any heat in your house. Or making a "x budget PC" video with a sponsor from a big parts builder that is incredibly sub-optimal for the budget and only noticeable to the PC builders. If only LTT could listen to the audio communities who really want new members in their hobby instead of hiring one guy from one of the worst audio review sites out there and doing another terrible job
How do these compare to a setup like mine? I use Sennheiser 6XX headphones and a Shure MV7X mic connected to an Apogee BOOM interface, and I use SoundID Reference for some response curve flattening on the 6XX.
Has anyone ever told you that you are the absolute spittin image of that Ryan Gosling.
Would you say Audaze Maxwell is a notable wireless upgrade from Beyerdynamic DT 880 premium 250ohms? Love how comfy DT 880’s are but started to hate the wire
No multipoint connection in 2023? Microphone from 2019? Are they insane? How can you recommend this!
Was looking at these a few months ago when I was in the market for a new headset. Ended up going with the steel series Arctis Nova Pro Wireless instead. Don’t regret it at all.
then why are you watching maxwell videos
I was already getting these headphones.
didn't know there was A pretty colorful version!
but its sold out.
I have had my Audeze Maxwells for a few months now. Great headphones although a little heavy. The the clamping force and strap make it evenly spread out.
Don't buy planardrivers if you don't want heavy
@@ms3862Sony Pulse Elites will have Planar drivers but im sure will be half the weight of these with smaller batteries and all plastic. Batteries will add alot of weight and in order to achieve 80hrs im sure the battery is a hefty size.
One of the few times a sponsor spot has me clicking to find out more.
Audeze are now owned by Sony's PlayStation division Audeze worked on the new PlayStation pulse elite headset.
The Xbox ones cost more because of the Dolby license, which can be bought separately for the Sony ones as well if you decide you want them later.,
The biggest thing drawing me towards the nova pro is the simultaneous Bluetooth. That's a killer feature for me that we don't get here :/ which sucks as someone who cares a lot about sound quality
5:28 didn't he say you can use all of them simultaneously? literally. so thats above nova pro. up your skip game
I have Audeze GX and LCD-X, going to buy these, people should buy some Planar headphones if they wish to play competitively.
I have headphones worth $4500 and Audeze are still my favourite with my LCD-3s costing $3000
Is the build quality of these better than the build quality of the Mobius?
I heard the next model will have the codename nuts. So I'm waiting for
audeze nutz
Can you plug in the detachable mic from a Razer Blackshark v2 2023 and test the functionality for us?
why are these sold out everywhere? How do i get one?
Don't know why these manufactures go with the plastic "leather' either go with real leather or a good cloth.
Do you think you sacrifice any sound performance when using the usb wireless vs the wire connection?
I don’t understand how the footsteps directional ques you struggle with. Because I find them to be very accurate better then Astro a50s and the nova pros. Something doesn’t add up? you’re not the only that said this about the directional footsteps. 12:05
Im disappointed in these headphones, main reasons being:
Wireless being bluetooth, and not other methods
Mic-quality being trash (partially subjective), i would feel bad for my friends if i was using this mic knowingly
The headphones are great but unfortunately the side tone is unusable because it adds some interference/noise.
Although its not silent (even after all the firmware updates that try to address this ) I have never ever noticed it while talking in a meeting. Only when it's completely silent otherwise. I use it daily when talking. Turn it off when not in a meeting / talking because I just don't want outside noise coming in :).
The mic test in this review did sound bad on playback, though I have heard numerous other reviews where it sounded great. So I do wonder what was going on with what I listened to here.
I wonder if there are alternative mics, because there is a Samsung headset that uses pretty much the same, also USB-C connected mic arm.
how's the latency? my ath-g1wl is petty good with DJ MAX Respect and Musynx. i do kind of want to 'upgrade'
sound wise pretty good, comfort wise people have had issues, personally I had to swap to the wicked cushions earpads to make them usable for more than an hour
This headset is probably the reason Sony bought Audeze.
how is the linux software support? Do they have a way to change eq and update firmware if you were to use this with a steam deck?
That mic sucks though, would it be possible and would it even help, to attach a different boom mic?
Something must be wrong there I guess. The examples of some of the other reviewers MONTHS ago sound way fuller (the boom at least). I have mine now since August and the mic isn't at all what you hear here .
The fact it supports LDAC or any of the higher end codeds is nice, as soon as you hop on Discord the Bluetooth mode switches into a comms device and the audio turs back to crap. Someone should really figure out windows bluetooth drivers, and standards huh.
You need to put these in “Immersive”, great EQ setting
If you create a custom preset on the app while connected to a pc, will it stay in the headset when you connect to a PS5/xbox?
isn't the arctis nova pro way under 300??? Isn't that the price of the wireless verson?
*the xbox version comes with the dolby atmos license which is why its slightly more expensive.
The microphone is great on the boom, the other is a bit shit, but more than good enough for daily driving and a few calls.
So i just bought the Acezone A-spire , had them for a few days now, they seem very good, but some major flaws and i assume i will be returning these. Acezone is suppose to be #1 for footsteps, ill be testing them out all weekend with CoD tomorrow. I think i will be trying the Turtle Beach Stealth Pros (cant believe those words came out of my mouth) TB has always been shit quality and made fun of for 15 years! But apparently TB is the #1 right now for Footsteps. I do really want to try the Maxwell, but the weight and Mic are huge let downs. I am excited, but expect to be disappointed of new Astro A40's and 50's FINALLY in January. But fullly expect Logitech to have ruined the company and they will probably be shit. I might also check out the Audeze MM-100, are a better version of the Maxwell and open back i beleive, so they are even better for gaming/footsteps
Was looking for a new good gaming headset about a month ago, decided to treat myself and got the Audeze Maxwells. I have to say that the sound is simply amazing. But not even one week later, my left ear suddenly stopped working. Googled this exact issue, hoping that it was an easy fix, but it seems to be a rather common issue. Ended up RMA'ing the headset and went for a different brand.
That is my only issue. I normally buy all my electronics through bestbuy and purchase an extended warranty. Even with how amazing these sound them being fragile is keeping me away. I think im gonna wait for the Sony Pulse Elites with the Planar drivers in those and get those through bestbuy. If you don't mind me asking, what headset did you end up choosing?
Legit rma mine and 2nd ones died too. 😢😢 . Other than that I audio is great. Would also like to know @markveenvliet6116
What is a good wired alternative? I dont want some wireless bs. There is so many different audio brands. The drop hd6xx? or whats the best around that max 200usd
If you want wired closed backs your best option is AKG K371 with a modmic, closed headphones tend to suck and unfortunately for you the Maxwells are easily the best until like 1,000usd. For openbacks around 200usd the Drop HD6xx is technically best but they aren't always for sale and import fees anywhere but USA is completely not worth buying, you can find used Audio Technica R70x (only audio technica headphone worth buying) or new Sennheiser HD560S. nothing else really comes close