I’m surprised Adam didn’t recognize the game-chat wheel for what it actually is: switching between two channels of audio so that you can hear chat or your game more or less. I often use these on my Arctic 7s to turn down the game audio so I can hear my friends on discord.
Its my favourite feature, its so helpful, and saves me so much hassle going back into discord or sound control panel etc. Just makes gaming so much smoother
Actually I got a hella late but when you stream games on Discord and you stream a game. How do you make the audio of the game come on the stream? When i did the channels for both audios it made it so when i streamed a game nobody heard it. Till i changed the game's audio output to the 'chat' one
@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.
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
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.
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.
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!
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 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 :)
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.
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 ua-cam.com/video/DHAlw3tSmcc/v-deo.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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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 $3000
The pickup pattern is hypercardioid so you have to be very careful that it's pointed properly at your mouth or it will sound muffled as in this video. With the pop filter on I can't tell where it's pointed.
Although its not silent (even after all the firmware updates that try to address this ) I have never ever noticed it while talking in a meeting. Only when it's completely silent otherwise. I use it daily when talking. Turn it off when not in a meeting / talking because I just don't want outside noise coming in :).
Not always the best choice though, for consoles or even pc players that doesn't have the money/real estate for a mic setup, it's annoying. And you can't beat a headset mic that is close to your mouth without using mic arms and stuff.
I would love these if they put like 30$ worth of mic in there, kinda sad. I have a 50$ wired headset which has pretty good mic imo (sharkoon SGH50) and im looking for something higher quality & wireless, but also better in every regard.
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.
Again LTT errors - do your research!!!! "a weird price discrepancy between the PS version and Xbox version"... no there isn't, it's due to the Dolby Atmos license addition on the Xbox version. :(
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.
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
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 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
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
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?
How do you guys think these hold up against the Audio Technica ATH M50xSTS you reviewed a while ago? I'm honestly stuck between the two. They both seem great for gaming and music listening, but there's a pretty significant price difference.
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
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.
1. one thing is wrong, there is no simultaneous bluetooth, even they are connected the same time. 2. the mic is really good, this review must have some issue or faulty mic.
I've had these for a few months now, they are awesome! I had the Mobius and the Penrose before them. This beats them and the battery life is voodoo magic.
I think the microphone is what kills it for me. If it first have great audio, and a microphone, I expect the microphone to be of good quality too. The reason you'd get this headset is to hear and to speak, but it is missing the point on the speaking part.
I have the Audeze Penrose. They are HANDS DOWN the best sounding headphones i have ever heard. BUT the wireless dongle is horrible. With the dongle connected to the PC on my desk. The connection cuts out at least once every hour, even though im sitting under 1 meter from them. And its the same whichever USB port i use, front or back, and the same is true when using them with my laptop. The sound is SOOO good though
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 Sony Inzone (at least H9s) can also do the simultaneous audio. So Discord on phone and game on Playstation, for example. I only use them w/ my PC, so it's not a super useful feature for me, but it's nice to have, nonetheless.
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 have the Maxwell's, used them for about 6 mo and switched back to my Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. Yes, they sound amazing...when they work. The audio was constantly cutting out with a "USB disconnected" message. I tried them in multiple ports directly on the MB, on a powered hub, and multiple devices. They would work for a short time then start disconnecting and reconnecting again. Support was never able to fix them and I just gave up. They still need a lot of work before I will consider switching back to them again. I did switch to the Wicked ear cushions and they made them feel better on my ears. Right now though they are an expensive paperweight for me. I really wanted these to work because I hate Steelserries as a company...but their hardware just works.
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
@@cryptok9185 Choice is simple for me since the Maxwells don't work for me. I've been using SS for years, the Nova's are new to me but I was using the Arctis Pro Wireless before them and have never had a problem with them.
Had the same issue too multiple times but it was ultimately resolved when I downloaded their new audeze app. You are suppose to delete the older version and use the new app to update the firmware on the headphones.
The Xbox ones likely just cost more because of the Atmos license. Not like it really matters. Very few people paid for the Atmos license on their computer, it's like $20 on the Windows store.
Purchased due to this video, in the process of replacing mine as the right planar driver failed after a week.. Crackling while off and with any movement while wearing. Hopefully I have better luck with the 2nd one, or might have to just refund altogether.
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
They really bought the gayest color XD
@@NathanDiNooh man now I have to get ot
I’m surprised Adam didn’t recognize the game-chat wheel for what it actually is: switching between two channels of audio so that you can hear chat or your game more or less. I often use these on my Arctic 7s to turn down the game audio so I can hear my friends on discord.
Honestly such a crucial aspect for wireless headphones you intend to game with. Should be an inclusion on all of them, it's so helpful.
Its my favourite feature, its so helpful, and saves me so much hassle going back into discord or sound control panel etc. Just makes gaming so much smoother
Astros started that now every gaming headset should have it
amazing feature cant wait to use that. how does it even do that?
Actually I got a hella late but when you stream games on Discord and you stream a game. How do you make the audio of the game come on the stream? When i did the channels for both audios it made it so when i streamed a game nobody heard it. Till i changed the game's audio output to the 'chat' one
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.
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
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.
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.
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!
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
They're not just the best of the best for gamer "headphones"; they're the best wireless headphones you can buy (period)
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.
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.
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.
Would have liked to see a comparison to the LCD-GX, but oh well
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 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.
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.
I'd rather buy a well tuned IEM and one of those cables that include a boom mic than a closed back headset personally.
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.
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 don't know if I'd wear this out of the house" he says about the headphones that match his shirt.
You can also use these wireless on the PS5 using the USBC to a adapter and switching the USBC dongle to PC.
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.
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?
I'm glad I didn't buy that ultraviolet edition because it's a fingerprint magnet! However, the headset itself is very good. 👍😎
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 :)
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.
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 ua-cam.com/video/DHAlw3tSmcc/v-deo.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
legends say this is the last time we will see adam in a beard for a while
Audeze nuts .. someone had to do it
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 price difference between the sony and the microsoft versions comes from Dolby Atmos support
Unless these are an updated Audeze Maxwell headset, they DO NOT have simultaneous audio.
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?
Those frequency curves look really clean!
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.
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
You should've put a 90's Black Wicked Cushions pads which would look really good on that Ultraviolet.
Don't know why these manufactures go with the plastic "leather' either go with real leather or a good cloth.
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
These have been on my wishlist for a while now
What's the difference between these and the Penrose? Are they just as fragile?
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.
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
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.
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 $3000
Can I assume that the plain black ones are just as good?
great video!
The pickup pattern is hypercardioid so you have to be very careful that it's pointed properly at your mouth or it will sound muffled as in this video.
With the pop filter on I can't tell where it's pointed.
The headphones are great but unfortunately the side tone is unusable because it adds some interference/noise.
Although its not silent (even after all the firmware updates that try to address this ) I have never ever noticed it while talking in a meeting. Only when it's completely silent otherwise. I use it daily when talking. Turn it off when not in a meeting / talking because I just don't want outside noise coming in :).
Simple rule, don't buy headsets 😅 buy it separately, headphones and microphone :) interesting products tho!
Not always the best choice though, for consoles or even pc players that doesn't have the money/real estate for a mic setup, it's annoying. And you can't beat a headset mic that is close to your mouth without using mic arms and stuff.
Audeze nuts.
I would love these if they put like 30$ worth of mic in there, kinda sad. I have a 50$ wired headset which has pretty good mic imo (sharkoon SGH50) and im looking for something higher quality & wireless, but also better in every regard.
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
Again LTT errors - do your research!!!! "a weird price discrepancy between the PS version and Xbox version"... no there isn't, it's due to the Dolby Atmos license addition on the Xbox version. :(
Holy smokes the bot spam is quite something eh. Nice review Adam!
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.
I heard the next model will have the codename nuts. So I'm waiting for
audeze nutz
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
Audeze are now owned by Sony's PlayStation division Audeze worked on the new PlayStation pulse elite headset.
I was already getting these headphones.
didn't know there was A pretty colorful version!
but its sold out.
The microphone quality is bad in wireless mode. If you connect it by the AUX cable the microphone quality is tremendously improved
I daily drive the Sennheiser PC38X. It would be nice to see a review of them by you guys.
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 xbox version comes with the dolby atmos license which is why its slightly more expensive.
These are going straight to Adam's place after a week or two
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
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
To everyone i suggest not ordering on their site as they are on like a backorder and ive been waiting for like a month to ship
You need to put these in “Immersive”, great EQ setting
That was the best sponsor xD Really fit!
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
He's such a great host
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.
Has anyone ever told you that you are the absolute spittin image of that Ryan Gosling.
How do you guys think these hold up against the Audio Technica ATH M50xSTS you reviewed a while ago?
I'm honestly stuck between the two. They both seem great for gaming and music listening, but there's a pretty significant price difference.
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
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?
Great video! Do you notice and static when using sidetone?
One of the few times a sponsor spot has me clicking to find out more.
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.
1. one thing is wrong, there is no simultaneous bluetooth, even they are connected the same time.
2. the mic is really good, this review must have some issue or faulty mic.
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.,
I've had these for a few months now, they are awesome! I had the Mobius and the Penrose before them. This beats them and the battery life is voodoo magic.
I think the microphone is what kills it for me.
If it first have great audio, and a microphone, I expect the microphone to be of good quality too.
The reason you'd get this headset is to hear and to speak, but it is missing the point on the speaking part.
I have the Audeze Penrose. They are HANDS DOWN the best sounding headphones i have ever heard. BUT the wireless dongle is horrible. With the dongle connected to the PC on my desk. The connection cuts out at least once every hour, even though im sitting under 1 meter from them.
And its the same whichever USB port i use, front or back, and the same is true when using them with my laptop.
The sound is SOOO good though
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 Sony Inzone (at least H9s) can also do the simultaneous audio. So Discord on phone and game on Playstation, for example. I only use them w/ my PC, so it's not a super useful feature for me, but it's nice to have, nonetheless.
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 have the Maxwell's, used them for about 6 mo and switched back to my Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. Yes, they sound amazing...when they work. The audio was constantly cutting out with a "USB disconnected" message. I tried them in multiple ports directly on the MB, on a powered hub, and multiple devices. They would work for a short time then start disconnecting and reconnecting again. Support was never able to fix them and I just gave up. They still need a lot of work before I will consider switching back to them again. I did switch to the Wicked ear cushions and they made them feel better on my ears. Right now though they are an expensive paperweight for me. I really wanted these to work because I hate Steelserries as a company...but their hardware just works.
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
@@cryptok9185 Choice is simple for me since the Maxwells don't work for me. I've been using SS for years, the Nova's are new to me but I was using the Arctis Pro Wireless before them and have never had a problem with them.
@@cryptok9185Nova Pro W. Better pinpoint, but you do sacrifice audio quality.
Had the same issue too multiple times but it was ultimately resolved when I downloaded their new audeze app. You are suppose to delete the older version and use the new app to update the firmware on the headphones.
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.
The Xbox ones likely just cost more because of the Atmos license. Not like it really matters. Very few people paid for the Atmos license on their computer, it's like $20 on the Windows store.
Purchased due to this video, in the process of replacing mine as the right planar driver failed after a week.. Crackling while off and with any movement while wearing. Hopefully I have better luck with the 2nd one, or might have to just refund altogether.
crackling is normal with planar drivers
Just hope they dont fall apart like the mobius did. Sounds great but the ear cup arm design did not age well. Very prone to snapping
1:30 48 and 52 inch cables? I thought LTT videos were fact checked and not rushed anymore?