It might be marketed as a gaming headset, but Audeze’s Maxwell has serious studio potential, especially for Atmos.
Compared to the long‑established headphone brands such as Sennheiser, beyerdynamic and AKG, Audeze are relatively new entrants to the pro headphone business. But the company have made a significant impression in their relatively short existence, and the Audeze products reviewed so far within these pages have invariably impressed with their combination of wide bandwidth, detail, clarity, neutral tonality and comfort.
The Audeze Maxwell reviewed here might appear slightly off‑piste in Sound On Sound terms, though, because if you go to the Audeze website, you’ll see it listed as a gaming headset. It even ships with a plug‑in boom mic attachment with which, presumably, you can gloat at your recently vanquished alien opponents. The Maxwell is also relatively inexpensive compared to some of Audeze’s more ambitious mix headphones. So why, you might ask, are we reviewing a gaming headset? Well, apart from the likelihood, based on previous Audeze experience, that the Maxwell will offer a good level of cost‑effective headphone performance, it happens to incorporate a feature that potentially has some significance in the world of Atmos mixing: head‑tracking integration with the Dolby Atmos renderer.
Plane Saling
Audeze’s USP in terms of headphone technology is the use of planar magnetic diaphragms, in which a conducting voice coil, etched onto a lightweight and flexible diaphragm, is suspended in a magnetic field. This type of headphone architecture (first introduced, I believe, in the early 1970s by UK hi‑fi speaker company Wharfedale) is not dissimilar to that of a ribbon tweeter, and it offers the same fundamental advantage in that the diaphragm is driven across its entire area rather than just locally by a centrally positioned voice coil. This means the diaphragm is less prone to breakup and structural resonance. The diaphragm of a planar magnetic headphone driver will also typically be significantly lighter than that of a conventional headphone driver, meaning it can offer extended high‑frequency bandwidth and have a greater radiating area, so it doesn’t have to move as far. I think there’s little question that, when implemented skilfully, the planar magnetic architecture can result in particularly fine‑sounding headphones, and Audeze’s track record would seem to confirm that.
Along with the gaming sector, the Maxwell also incorporates facilities that suit it to more general consumer applications. It offers Bluetooth wireless operation, along with wired and USB connectivity, and it provides optional active noise cancellation for the headset microphone. This all means that the Maxwell is an active headphone that incorporates wireless, DSP and amplification hardware, as well as batteries, and they all contribute to its notably increased weight compared to typical passive headphones. For example, in comparison to the Maxwell’s 490g, my Sennheiser HD650s are 260g and my AKG K371 are 255g. Even before wearing the Maxwells their weight was apparent, and although I found them reasonably comfortable on the head (something that I know other reviews have questioned), the weight was definitely noticeable and felt somewhat tiring after a while.
In design and build terms, the Maxwell felt somewhat of a mixed bag to me. The substantially metallic construction feels well engineered and gives the impression that the Maxwell will laugh in the face of the everyday rough and tumble that headphones are invariably subject to. However, some of the details, such as the thumbwheel volume control, are a little awkward and less satisfactory. And returning to the subject of comfort, the Maxwell is not blessed with much adjustment in terms of earcup height relative to the headband. Where many headphones incorporate some form of sliding mechanism that allows the earcups to move up and down, the Maxwell offers five headband height positions — adjustable by popping four buttons out of the headband and refitting them into a series of different height holes. (There is a sixth height position, if you count removing the headband entirely.) It’s a perfectly serviceable solution for a single user, but if you find yourself collaborating and passing the headphones to somebody else to use for a moment, you may find adjusting the fit to be a frustration.
Maxwell Measuring
One of my regular checks when reviewing headphones is to take a frequency response measurement using a Neumann KU100 binaural head. Headphone response measurements using a KU100 don’t result in definitive, calibrated data, but they do enable some comparisons to be made. So the Diagram 1 frequency response curves illustrate the Maxwell overlaid with data for the Sennheiser HD650 and the AKG K371. The Maxwell was measured via its wired input, but I checked the USB input too, and found its frequency response to be all but identical.
Frequency response measurements taken using a Neumann KU100 dummy head, of the Audeze Maxwell (red trace), Sennheiser HD650 (green) and AKG K371 (blue).
The response curve of the Maxwell in comparison to the HD650 and K371 is highly satisfactory and I reckon it hits a good compromise between the slightly scooped (bass and high‑mid emphasised) character of the K371 and the more gentle midrange‑emphasised HD650. The messy character that headphone frequency response measurements show at the top end of the audio range is predominantly a function of how the headphone driver and earcup interact with the ear pinna, and it is not as disastrous as it looks. It will also vary from person to person. But back on the frequency response comparison, if I were asked blind which one of the three headphones was likely to demonstrate the most generally usable tonal balance, I’d probably say the Maxwell.
Majoring In Rendering
Along with its internal DSP and amp electronics, the Maxwell contains an array of gyroscopes that enable it to derive its orientation in 3D space. By sending this information over USB to the Dolby Renderer, the Renderer’s real‑time binaural output can be informed by a user’s head position. The result of this is that a sound panned, for example, to front centre will move in the binaural headphone render so that it stays in a fixed position with respect to the listener’s head. So, say I turn my head 90 degrees to the right; the front‑centre sound will appear now to be coming directly from the left. It mirrors what would happen if I were listening on speakers. But, say Audeze, the value of head‑tracking in an Atmos mix context is not really about its ability to mirror large head movements. It’s about the constant small, almost subconscious head movements we all make naturally to aid our identification of the location of sounds — especially those behind us. Tracking those movements results in a significant improvement in the overall binaural experience.
The Maxwell incorporates gyroscopes, which must be calibrated in the Audeze HQ app. Once this is done, the calibration file can be added to the Dolby Atmos Renderer library.
Setting up head‑tracking requires first a download of the Audeze HQ app and its use to calibrate the Maxwell gyroscopes. This is done by connecting the headphones to the computer via USB, placing the headphones on a flat surface, pressing the Calibrate button and going away for half an hour to make a cuppa. A small headphone driver file that’s downloaded along with the Audeze HQ app also needs dropping in the appropriate Dolby Atmos Renderer library folder, so that the Renderer can understand the headphone orientation data. Once the headphones are calibrated, you’ve installed the driver file, and selected the Maxwell as the USB output of the Dolby Atmos Renderer, the headphones will become an option in the Renderer head‑tracking setup window. And that’s pretty much all there is to it. I have to admit to a couple of false starts in understanding the setup process, and the slightly rough‑around‑the edges beta release level of the Audeze HQ app feels a little apparent, but once I’d made everything work, head‑tracking definitely brings a worthwhile new quality to the Atmos mix workflow and experience. As promised, it seemed to help binaural renders feel more coherent and natural, and it definitely helps sounds placed behind the head become more explicitly apparent in the binaural field. But it raises a couple of questions also.
Enabling head‑tracking in the Dolby Atmos Renderer.Firstly, with the Maxwell headphones in head‑tracking mode being necessarily driven from the DAW computer USB output, their use in a mixed‑format (speakers and binaural headphones) Atmos monitoring system becomes problematic. One of the delights of the Dolby Atmos Renderer with an interface such as the Audient ORIA is that alternative downmixes and monitoring setups are easily available so if, for example, I want to hear how an Atmos mix I’ve been monitoring on speakers works in binaural format, that’s available at the click of a switch (or even just by slipping on the headphones that are simultaneously playing a binaural render). But if using the Maxwell headphones, I’d have to stop and select an alternative output device, and change a few other preferences in the Dolby Atmos Renderer.
The second question head‑tracking raises for me is to wonder how much value it really brings to Atmos mixing. It does enhance the binaural experience, and I can absolutely appreciate that in gaming or in the world of immersive headphone‑based theatre, head‑tracking is a hugely valuable and significant advance. But when I’m sitting at my DAW working on an Atmos mix, my head really doesn’t move much at all as I’m mostly staring intently at the display. Head‑tracking is a nice‑to‑have functionality, but my experience of the Maxwell didn’t really make it a must‑have. Having said that, I have the benefit of an Atmos monitor setup — if I was working on Atmos mixes using headphones alone, I can imagine I’d be more won over by head‑tracking. And of course if gaming is just as much a thing for you as is audio production, the Maxwell may well be your perfect set of headphones.
With the Immersive EQ preset engaged in the Audeze HQ app, they really come into their own and deliver a level of performance that to my ears is significantly beyond their price.
To The Max
The one aspect of the Maxwell headphones I’ve not covered so far is how they sound, and on that subject I’ve absolutely no complaints. In fact they are really extremely good. With the default EQ, they are perhaps a little wanting of high‑frequency detail, a touch too smooth‑sounding, but with the Immersive EQ preset in the Audeze HQ app, they really come into their own and deliver a level of performance that to my ears is significantly beyond their price. The way they separate and present different strands and elements of a mix, and their delivery of naturally recorded female vocals (listen to Athena Andreadis’ first album Athena) is worth the entry price alone. I found them a hugely seductive listen.
I came to the Audeze Maxwells genuinely intrigued by the concept of head‑tracking and how it would integrate with Atmos mixing. It turned out that I wasn’t entirely blown away by head‑tracking. It works, but I’m not sure in an Atmos mix context how much it changes the game. What I wasn’t expecting was such a high level of headphone sound quality. If they weren’t quite so heavy the Maxwells would probably be my new headphone reference. I’d even occasionally use them in head‑tracking mode.
Alternatives
There are no other headphones I’m aware of that offer native head‑tracking integration with the Dolby Atmos Renderer, although there is an add‑on solution that can add Dolby Renderer‑compatible head‑tracking to any headphones: the Supperware Head Tracker. So conventional high‑performance headphones in the same kind of price bracket as the Audeze Maxwell, with a Supperware Head Tracker installed, would be an alternative. Such headphones might be the Sennheiser HD650, Austrian Audio Hi‑X65, Neumann NDH 20 or even the Audeze MM‑100.
Pros
- Very high‑quality headphone sound.
- Versatile if gaming or day‑to‑day headphone use is your thing.
- Head‑tracking functions well with the Dolby Atmos Renderer.
Cons
- Noticeably heavy.
- Integration of head‑tracking with the Atmos mix workflow is not ideal.
- Audeze HQ app feels a little undercooked.
Summary
The Audeze Maxwell head‑tracking headline feature works well and adds a useful quality to binaural Atmos mix work, but it’s the headphone’s outstanding sound quality that really steals the show.
Information
Xbox/PC/Mac version (as reviewed £349), PlayStation version (without Atmos compatibility) £319. Prices include VAT.
K&S Technology +44 (0)1903 768919.
Xbox/PC/Mac version (as reviewed) $299, PlayStation version (without Atmos compatibility) $329.
Audeze +1 714 581 8010.
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