What do you get for the gamer in your life this Christmas? One possibility is the Audeze Maxwell, a new gaming headset with low latency, impressive sonic chops and a marathon 80-hour battery life.
The Maxwell follows the Mobius, Penrose and LCD-GX in Audeze's range of gaming headsets. But the firm also makes pure audio headphones, such as the open-backed LCD-1.
It's incorporated some of this knowhow into the Maxwell, which features Audeze's own planar magnetic drivers, made in California. Audeze claims the 90mm planar magnetic drivers have three times more surface area than its competitors' drivers to give more sonic detail.
Ultra-low-latency, high-resolution audio is the order of the day, with bitrates up to 24-bit 96kHz supported when connected to the bundled USB dongle. The low-latency wireless range and stability are both up to three times better than Audeze's Penrose headset, according to the brand, while Bluetooth 5.3 LE (the latest version) comes as standard. This version supports both L3 and L3 Plus codecs, while SBC, AAC and LDAC are also supported. Plug in via USB and you can listen to lossless hi-res audio up to 24-bit/96kHz.
There's noise-cancellation onboard too, though Audeze calls it noise-filtration. It uses AI to eliminate background noise – just press a button to activate it, there's no additional setup required. And to make sure you're heard, there are five microphones built-in along with a detachable boom mic made by Shure.
The chassis features a spring-steel headband with adjustable suspension strap, which should make it comfy for long gaming sessions. And noise-isolation comes courtesy of the earcups' reinforced dual-chamber design.
