[xsankar]

Did you guys work specifically on audio positioning for footsteps and soundstage accuracy for the Maxwell and improving it from the Penrose/Mobius? Are the main drivers the same as previous models or are they completely different?

The drivers are slightly different, but acoustics is much better because of new ear cup design. We have done quite a bit of work for positioning and imaging. There are quite a few EQ options and user adjustable user options that users will be able to tweak.

 

[christophermx4]

@xsankar - do you work for Audeze or something? If so I'm curious - will there be adjustable sidetone for the Maxwell? I have a speech impediment (I stutter), and I can usually control my stutter well if I hear my voice clearly in real time. Usually it's the opposite for people who stutter, but I took speech therapy for years and the method that works for me is speaking slowly and deliberating enunciating each syllable. I have to hear myself clearly talk in order to focus.

This is probably a stupid question, but I figured I'd ask.

 

[vsg28]

@xsankar - do you work for Audeze or something? If so I'm curious - will there be adjustable sidetone for the Maxwell? I have a speech impediment (I stutter), and I can usually control my stutter well if I hear my voice clearly in real time. Usually it's the opposite for people who stutter, but I took speech therapy for years and the method that works for me is speaking slowly and deliberating enunciating each syllable. I have to hear myself clearly talk in order to focus.

This is probably a stupid question, but I figured I'd ask.

Sankar is the founder and CEO of Audeze, so I'd say he certainly works there

 

[xsankar]

@xsankar - do you work for Audeze or something? If so I'm curious - will there be adjustable sidetone for the Maxwell?

Yes. This already works.

 

[Helvetica bold]

@xsankar if I understand this correctly, since Maxwell obviously uses "USB Game-audio" I can connect the Xbox headset to the PS5 via USB-C cable.
Now with the "powerful amplifier chipset inside the headphones" there shouldn't be an issue with the mentioned lower volume output on the PS5.
I can bypass the "Wireless Dongle Game-Audio" unless the Xbox headphone amplifier chipset is tuned differently than the PS5 version in addition to the wireless dongle ?
Yes this has been asked before but you provided some additional specifics, thank you for that! Just trying to justify my purchase and avoid a future return.
I pre-ordered immediately when it was available. Maxwell costs two-thirds the amount of a PS5 so I will continue to get as much info as possible or I cancel and wait for reviews.

 

[Dylan Chau]

@xsankar if I understand this correctly, since Maxwell obviously uses "USB Game-audio" I can connect the Xbox headset to the PS5 via USB-C cable.
Now with the "powerful amplifier chipset inside the headphones" there shouldn't be an issue with the mentioned lower volume output on the PS5.
I can bypass the "Wireless Dongle Game-Audio" unless the Xbox headphone amplifier chipset is tuned differently than the PS5 version in addition to the wireless dongle ?
Yes this has been asked before but you provided some additional specifics, thank you for that! Just trying to justify my purchase and avoid a future return.
I pre-ordered immediately when it was available. Maxwell costs two-thirds the amount of a PS5 so I will continue to get as much info as possible or I cancel and wait for reviews.

From the FAQ:

While the Xbox version will output sound on PS, there may be some difference in the volume control range of operation and other possible loss of functionality.

Based on what has been mentioned in the EQ, I would guess that if anything, the big difference of using the Xbox variant on PS5 will have more to do with its maximum volume output and perhaps its noise floor in practice. But we may just have to wait and see during reviews.

 

[babalenong]

Is there any improvement to the durability of the magnets? I'd love to finally jump onto planar but still paranoid about its durability. Or the improvement to the build quality implies better protection for the planars?

 

[crypticc]

From the FAQ:

Based on what has been mentioned in the EQ, I would guess that if anything, the big difference of using the Xbox variant on PS5 will have more to do with its maximum volume output and perhaps its noise floor in practice. But we may just have to wait and see during reviews.

This bit I don't understand.

Does that mean ALL USB and/or USB Dongle/wifi headphones, not Audeze ones, sound quiet/need to be driven harder on PS5?

 

[WhiteHartMart]

This bit I don't understand.

Does that mean ALL USB and/or USB Dongle/wifi headphones, not Audeze ones, sound quiet/need to be driven harder on PS5?

USB output is definitely low on PS5 - lots of audio devices I've tried have limited max volume due to this when they are absolutely fine on other devices.

Audio devices specifically designed for the PS5 should be fine though.

 

[Helvetica bold]

USB output is definitely low on PS5 - lots of audio devices I've tried have limited max volume due to this when they are absolutely fine on other devices.

Audio devices specifically designed for the PS5 should be fine though.

Strange, I purchased the Xbox SS Wired Nova Pro played the NFS Unbound trial on both systems and left the volume at the same level, didn’t notice any difference. Did the same thing for BF2042, no difference, perhaps it’s the wired connection? I’ve never heard one review mentioned low volume on PS5 on any duel console gaming headphone.
One thing I notice about PS5 it aways outputs 44/24, however Xbox via USB max is 44/16.
I’m done with the topic, looking forward to the Maxwell release hopefully it won’t disappoint.

 

[WhiteHartMart]

Strange, I purchased the Xbox SS Wired Nova Pro played the NFS Unbound trial on both systems and left the volume at the same level, didn’t notice any difference. Did the same thing for BF2042, no difference, perhaps it’s the wired connection? I’ve never heard one review mentioned low volume on PS5 on any duel console gaming headphone.
I’m done with the topic, looking forward to the Maxwell release hopefully it won’t disappoint.

It's the USB connection - so some devices connected via USB will have this issue - I've had it with USB Dacs and even USB headsets. Some might work fine (and those designed for the PS5 will obviously be fine) others will not. The Nova Pro Xbox version is advertised as working with PS5 so probably has made allowances in the design for this.

 

[HifiFLEX]

Hello,
me and my wife would like to use our Xbox Series X as a movie player with Dolb-Atmos together at the same time and would like to know if I can use two Maxwell gaming headsets on an Xbox Series X at the same time.
Possibly via two controllers with a 3.5mm jack? Of course, 2.4WLAN would be better.
We are currently using two MDR-HW700DS in home theater and would like to improve.
Thanks and greetings from Cologne

 

[bluedessert]

@xsankar a couple of quick questions.

1. How will game/chat mix work on PS5 specifically? I was under the assumption Sony didn't allow this from 3rd party headsets. Is it showing as 2 different connections?

2. How's the wired USB-C latency? Less than 30ms I hope.

3. Will there be Audeze eqs dropping with the launch? Something optimized for footsteps on MW2 would be amazing.

 

[Audeze]

@xsankar a couple of quick questions.

1. How will game/chat mix work on PS5 specifically? I was under the assumption Sony didn't allow this from 3rd party headsets. Is it showing as 2 different connections?

2. How's the wired USB-C latency? Less than 30ms I hope.

3. Will there be Audeze eqs dropping with the launch? Something optimized for footsteps on MW2 would be amazing.

1. We will have more to say as we finalize features. As of RIGHT NOW, the function is only Xbox and PC (PS5 does not have game/chat under its compatibility list, though this may be subject to change). On a PS Maxwell (and Xbox Maxwell as well), when you connect it to PC, you will have 2 source devices. One is called Maxwell GAME, and the other is called Maxwell CHAT. So you would set Game as your default audio device, and then when you're on a program like Discord, you can set the output device there as "Maxwell chat". So the game/chat balance will adjust between the two device outputs.

2. While we do not have any numbers to share at this time, this is a low latency product and we have no doubt that latency will not be an issue for the vast majority of users. I myself am a hardcore gamer, and none of the wired/dongle connection types I would deem anything but responsive. Bluetooth varies greatly on codec, and we expect the BLE/ULL connections to be quite responsive.

3. We will have the Presets like Audeze, Alternate (one I think head-fiers will be interested in), Ballistics, and a few others. There are also a few open EQ slots for users to manually adjust and save for themselves. At this point, we would suggest users check online forums for specific games and see what frequencies are important, and adjust custom presets to preference. Unfortunately we are focused on many other aspects of Maxwell, and do not have resources available for making presets on a game by game basis.

 

[divertiti]

Here is some more information regarding Maxwell compared to Penrose/Mobius.
Chips - The Maxwell uses a newer more powerful dedicated DAC/AMP chip. The DSP is also much more powerful compared to Penrose. We have much bigger dynamic range and lower nose floor on these compared to Mobius and Penrose.

acoustic - One of the biggest improvements comes from the new housing. In the Penrose/mobius housing the left and right side were not acoustically balanced because of the presence of PCB on one side and the battery on the other side. Buttons were also mostly on the left. Wit Maxwell, we have a dual chamber design. There is an inner housing that acoustically isolates the driver from the electronics. This alone makes a huge improvement in our opinion.

Unlike Mobius both Maxwell and Penrose have custom EQ options. So users can tweak the EQ if they think it is necessary.

This is the exact type of information I was hoping to learn. Thanks for looking into it a bit more and sharing this. It builds confidence in the new product and purchasing decisions.