Audeze Maxwell Review

Specifications.

Uniforce Diaphragm and Fluxor Magnets

Despite its gaming background, the Audeze Maxwell remains a true planar in and out.

Planar magnetic headphones all share specific traits, and one of them is very large drivers. The Maxwell remains true to its lineage, housing an “audiophile-grade” 90 mm wide driver, 10mm tinier than the one found on the Mobius but, rest assured, the active area remains exactly the same. 

A driver smaller than the LCD-5 106 mm wide drivers, but still bigger than the driver found in the mighty Sennheiser HD800S (!) or any other dynamic headphone available at the moment.

Inside, Audeze integrated all of their in-house patented technologies, such as :

• Uniforce Ultra-Thin diaphragm, offering super low distortion
• Fluxor magnet array, that works like a wave-guide for improved dynamic range
• Fazor, found in all Audeze LCD Flagships to lower the needed drive power
• in-house DSP that offers larger dynamic range and a lower noise floor

An impressive range of features already that also come with one additional feature: spatial audio.

Dolby Atmos/Tempest 3D Support

Like the Mobius, the Audeze Maxwell was designed from the start to support head-tracking and spatial audio. A feature that took prominence those last years, thanks to Dolby continuous push of its Atmos support – think Tidal, Apple Music or even Amazon Music that all offers extensive use of that technology.

In a nutshell, that technology creates a 3D soundscape where each sound is placed precisely in its own space making for an immersive listening experience, with the adequate source, renderer and setup. And, if that required a full set of speakers a few years ago – my home theater needed four additional ones to reach the correct 7.2.4 configuration – thanks to the powerful processors embedded in modern headphones/IEMs, it’s now possible to emulates the same render, on the go.

Of course, Dolby being Dolby, that’s never free and you’ll have to pay a little extra if you really want to try it out – and that’s still the case here: the Xbox version, which comes with Dolby, cost a little more than the PlayStation version…

But, enough of that, let’s see how the Maxwell fares.

Battery life

Audeze claims that the Maxwell should get you up to 80 hours of continuous listening on a single charge. An incredible number, that outperforms all and every Bluetooth headphone/IEM I know, with a quick charge (20 minute) giving you 24h of music.

And, during my tests, I found it virtually impossible to drain the Maxwell’s battery, even after weeks of regular use! Sure, I hooked it up to my computer via USB a few times, but it recharged so quickly that it felt like it was always ready to go.

So long story short, if endurance is a key factor for you, this is the one.

Full specs

• Model : Audeze Maxwell
• Type: Gaming wireless headphone
• Driver: Planar Magnetic with Fluxor magnet array
• Diaphragm : Ultra-thin Uniforcer 90mm wide with Fazor
• Sample rate: up to 24bit/96kHz
• Frequency response : 10Hz – 50kHz
• Maximum SPL : >120dB
• THD : <0.1% (1kHz 1mW)
• Inputs: USB-C / 3.5mm analog / Bluetooth / 2.4GHz dongle
• Bluetooth : SBC, AAC, LDAC, LE Audio, LC3, LC3plus, LDAC
• Spatial audio: Dolby Atmos (Xbox version) / Tempest 3D (PlayStation version)
• Microphone: detachable hypercardioid with dual noise reduction
• Battery life: up to 80h of continuous play
• Battery type: Li-Po, 1800 mAh
• Charging time: around 2h
• Weight : 490g
• Price : $299-$329

The review continues on Page Five, after the click HERE or by using the jump below.