Audeze Maxwell

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. 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...