AudezeMaxwell Wireless Gaming Headset for Xbox, PS, Mac, & PC

The media could not be loaded. I don’t buy anything expensive without a deep dive. Hours of research, endless comparisons, maybe even a spreadsheet. But after scrolling through reviews, now that I actually have it I’ve realized a lot of the important details get lost between the hype and the half-baked opinions.So, for my fellow overthinkers, buckle in, and prepare yourself for my ADHD powered review I wish had been here before I bought these. No fluff (mostly), no buyer’s remorse rant, just what actually matters.Let me preface... If you are trying to find a pair of headphones you can unbox and be blown away immediately, these headphones are not it, at all. Why did I rate them 5 stars then? It's quite difficult actually.Right off the bat this is what I will be covering. (Locate the corresponding emoji for specific information and try not to judge how long I spent on this):❓-What are these headphones meant for? What would they not be for? Are they for you?⚠️-How is the sound quality? (actually)•Not the: oMg bEsT heAdphOnes evErrr!!•Or the: these suck don't not sound good at ⠀⠀all not. *insert more lovely grammar here*🚫-How is the noise cancellation? Is it active, passive? How's the "transparency" mode?🎮-What's the difference between the X-box and the PlayStation version?🤓-Annnd what should your decision be? The biggest pro, the biggest con, and my personal suggestions and reasoning.❓What are these for?❓These headphones strike a solid balance between gaming and music. For gaming, they’re decent, maybe not as pinpoint-accurate as dedicated high-end gaming only headsets, but still impressive. In some games, I swear I heard in-game voices in an entirely different way, it was scarily good and weird. That said, they lean more toward music than gaming. They’re well-built, not cheap-feeling, and deliver great directional audio. But if you’re looking for a lightweight, on-the-go pair, these aren’t it. They’re heavy (well-balenced and comfortable), but definitely more of a “wear at home” situation.⚠️The sound quality.(Most important part)⚠️Here we go, the elephant in the room. If I had to sum up the sound quality in 3 words it would be "jaw-dropping beautiful" but if I had to sum it up in 1 word it would be "ugh". What does that mean you ask?They have the POTENTIAL to sound amazing. But when you first put them on, start playing your favorite song, get ready to be underwhelmed. My airpod pro 2's sounded better, no joke. Why?1) These headphones require immense amount of EQ work. I'm a bass lover, and if you are too, get ready to cry with disappointment when you first try them. Then after being sad, open the Audeze EQ and put in the preset I attached in my pictures. That's my bass preset. Gives you an idea of the potential these have, get ready to cry again, and in the best way possible this time.2) Dolby Atmos on PC. Let me save you some time, when you download "Audeze HQ" go ahead and just download "Dolby Access" along with it. It entirely changes the game with these, makes them worth the money. Without it they sound pretty dull and there's less separation of sound profiles.⠀3) Ear pads. This one may be opinion, but the default ear pads do not give your ears much room. Your ears are RIGHT by the drivers, and it can be intense especially for the highs. I bought the Wicked Cushions cooling pads, and it made it more comfortable AND more importantly changed the sound profile entirely. It gave the frequencies room to work their magic, especially with bass. Mess around with this because it could make or break you keeping this headset.That was a long one, but if you're going to take anything away from this review: These have some SERIOUS POTENTIAL, you just have to work with them. It WILL take hours upon hours of messing with EQS, to find or make one that works for you. If you are a music enthusiast this is a phenomenal next step in leveling up your music. Once you get everything situated, it's a beautiful experience, truly. The 90mm planar magnetic drivers are other-worldly when configured right. Good things are never easy am I right?🚫Noise cancellation.🚫This is actually pretty simple. No, it does not have active noise cancellation, yes it has passive noise cancellation. This was a hard one for me to swallow before purchasing. Airpods pro 2 changed my idea of what I require a headset to have (Noise cancellation is close to the top) I'm a pretty little princess now, great. Before these I thought of passive noise cancellation as a joke, but it actually does what you would think passive noise cancellation should do. I'm satisfied which is saying something since I'm so picky. They additionally have "side-tone" which is good for hearing things around you, but it's not amazing at higher volumes (gets too harsh), I prefer it off, or really low.🎮The difference between the Xbox and PlayStation versions?🎮 A LOT. Yet no one talks about it. The Xbox version is the only real choice for PC users, especially if you want Dolby Atmos (which I wouldn’t recommend these without). The PlayStation version can connect via Bluetooth or wired, but you’ll need to buy a Dolby Atmos license and use it wired to get decent sound quality. Bluetooth sounds great but has a noticeable drop in volume and quality. If you’re mostly on PlayStation and occasionally on your phone, the PlayStation version works. But if you’re planning to use these on PC, do NOT buy the PlayStation version just because it’s cheaper, you’ll regret it.🤓Annnd what should your decision be?🤓I want you to ask yourself these three questions.1. Are you okay and willing to spend a considerable amount of time setting these headphones up and messing with custom EQS?2. Are you looking at these more for music than competitive gaming?3. Are you looking for portable headphones you can use anytime, on the go?If you answered: 1. Yes 2. Yes 3. NoI would rate these headphones a 9.5/10, for anything else I would honestly only give these headphones a 6/10. These are for a very specific person, if you're willing to learn, or you knew these answers right away; these will be the absolute best headphones you've ever used. That's a guarantee. (Biggest pro is superb sound quality) If you're not sure this is you, I still think they are really good, I'm truly just trying to help set your expectations. These aren't the most intuitive or easy to set up (biggest con), but I think they are worth learning. Just be careful! Hope this was helpful.

I was waiting to upgrade my headset for many years but nothing seems to have the versatility of my logitech G933. When this came out and I was very hyped about this headset and decided to finally pull the trigger. I received this unit on 3/21 and been using it daily. This headset sounds amazing. Overall, i enjoy this headset and it was a well worth purchase.Here are some pros and cons after 2 weeks of use.Pros:- Headset sounds amazing and can get extremely loud. There are various presets such as bass boost and treble boost. These presets slightly boost the bass and treble and maintain very clear sound. It doesnt make the sound muddy. Setting this headset to volume of 78 is equivalent to my old headset at 100 with dolby atmos on. If i turn off dolby for the G933, the volume will be extremely low.-Battery life: the headset battery life lasts quite long. Under the first week, i manage to get around 60 hours. I havent done a true test yet as Audeze claims 80 hours with volume being 80 dB. During my first week of use, I push this to the limits and multiple times running volume at 100 and connecting to multiple device. Overall, huge step up from my old headset which lasts ..maybe 8 hours now.- Connection versatility - Like my old logitech, this can connect in a variety of methods- aux, usb dongle, bluetooth 5.3 and wired USB mode. All these require the headset to be turned on but the battery life is so good that its not a big deal. Also, this support mutliple bluetooth codecs SBC,AAC, LC3, LDAC.- Connection range - the range using the dongle is quite amazing. So far for my apartment, i was able to walk out to the living room and still have good audio. Distance is about 25 ft or more. With bluetooth, it was almost as good, audio did get a little static.-Microphone was very good . My GF said I sound clear and loud. The background noise suppression was amazing. I was able to eat chips while talking and she did not hear it. Theres also a built in mic when you remove the boom mic which is neat.-Build quality - Aesthetic is sleek and very understated. Did not look gaudy at all. EarPads were comfortable but gets a little warm. Earpads were deep enough but after long use, my ears can eventually touch the driver. The construction feels sturdy and nice. Although makes me worry that I will scratch the paint off.Cons:-No simultaneous bluetooth with the dongle. Not a huge deal but this may be important for some people. You can still achieve this via usb + BT or aux + BT. Due to the nature of the dongle, I dont see wireless simultaneous BT ever being a possibility. The dongle is not a 2.4 ghz dongle. It is actually an LC3+ bluetooth dongle. Despite this, the latency is just as good. I did not notice any latency.-Latency for gaming on phone at the moment is okay. Since most phones dont have LC3 support, we are stuck with SBC, AAC, or LDAC. All three dont have amazing latency. I play alot of rhythm games on phone and I can sense lag right away. So far SBC is the best for Android and AAC for iphones.-Comfort - this headset is heavy so may be a dealbreaker for some people. It was fine for me with the suspension headband. One annoying thing was that on the default notch for the headband, the bottom of my top of my ears touch the inner ear pad wall. However, if i move the band notch up, it becomes too tight and the bottom of my ear now touches the earpad. I ultimately went back to default configuration and wore a hat instead.- Software - still needs to be updated. On PC, none of the custom preset can be set at the moment. You can still use android app to set the preset on your phone and it will sync with your device I think. Also the battery indicator on the Audeze HQ for PC is not giving the right readings. If you charge to 100%, and start using, it wil quickly drop to 95%. However, the next time you turn it on, it will read 100% again. Customer support says they are working on a fix for this to show proper battery reporting.