[Combover Grover]

My impressions:
I used the headset for about 2 hours of gaming. I'm not a reviewer, so I'll focus on the comfort and allow the more hardcore audiophiles to dive deep into the sound.

On comfort, it's say it's better than the stock Penrose, but worst than a modded Penrose (Wicked Cushions with a aftermarket headband).

Weight: The weight of the headset wasn't a problem, but the side of my head did feel some discomfort after about an hour due to the clamp force.

Headband: It's some what a challenge to find the correct position for the headband. The middle was ok, but put pressure on the top of my ear, while the bottom position was too small. For the people who have bigger heads and need the top position, there is some cushion between the band and metal headband so it shouldn't be too uncomfortable at the top position. For me, I stuck to the middle and delt with the discomfort at the top of the ear. I will say, the headband is not the most comfortable material. It's like a hard canvas material with a very cheap/thin PU leather film over it. Hopefully Audeze comes out with some more comfortable upgrades in the future.

Earpads: Are soft to the touch and feel good overall. Definitely got a little hot after a while, but that was expected. Overall, pretty good.

Controls: I still need to get used to this. So no strong feelings here outside of not knowing yet what the different beeps mean when you hold down the volume wheel.

Sound: Like I said, I'm not going to get too deep, but it sounds slightly better than the Penrose. Clarity is great, very low volume floor, and overall was good to go even without EQ. I will say, I solely played MW2 during my play session and the imagine was great, but the sound stage was pretty bad. I was using my Astros right before this and could hear footsteps from longer distances. What you sacrifice in soundstage you make up for in imaging, but I am a bit disappointed they couldn't make bigger improvements to the soundstage. Overall, if you liked the Penrose, you'll like this. It's just not the best for FPS.

Sound isolation: Sound isolation is good. Probably cuts out 30% more sound than the Astro A50s with the mod kit (if you've ever tried those), but I could still hear my fan going fairly well.

Range: I have a 2 bedroom apartment that's about 1100 sqft. With the Penrose, I can make it to about 40% of my apt before it disconnects (my PS5 is at the edge of my apt). With the Maxwell, I can make it basically anywhere in my apartment without it cutting off, BUT the quality drops considerably the further I go. The range with good quality is fairly similar to the Penrose for me, but the outside of that range it's bluetooth level quality sound not 2.4ghz. With the A50s, sound quality doesn't dip until I'm at the polar opposite side of my apt (~90% of the way).

Saving the 2 biggest things for last (good and bad):
Mic: The mic is INCREDIBLE from what my teammates said. The headset comes with the AI filter on medium out of the box, and the initial reaction was "the mic sounds like it's trying to make your voice too clear". I turned it off and BOOM it was perfect. They were saying during the game, the mic was so good it actually threw off their game audio lol. Even with the AI stuff off, another teammate commented that my air purifier in the background is MUCH lower with the new mic.

Problem: The left earcup has a rattle when you pick it up or move it around. It sounds like there's a piece loose inside. Very disappointing. I'm going to send Audeze an email. I don't want this post to be overall negative, which is why I'm putting this last, but I am very sad they didn't catch this quality control miss considering they manually unboxed and updated each headset individually.

I had the rattle in the ear twice with the Penrose. Once it was delivered like that and once it developed over time. Just exchange them.

 

[PixelSquish]

They're 1A and 1B imo. With a headset with a better soundstage, I hear people coming way earlier, but without good imaging it takes more time to figure out the direction. With good imaging and narrow sound stage, people get close to you without you knowing, but you instantly know where they're coming from. It honestly depends on your playstyle which is more important.

Ideally you have both time and accuracy.

Too much sound stage and you hear footsteps from so far away it just becomes almost useless, especially when there are multiple people headed your way It's just too much chitter chatter to pinpoint anything at that point. Imaging is more important than soundstage for footsteps.

 

[PwincessLuz]

1st review on YouTube?



This person didn't do much of a review but this mean we may get more review very soon.

 

[bluedessert]

Too much sound stage and you hear footsteps from so far away it just becomes almost useless, especially when there are multiple people headed your way It's just too much chitter chatter to pinpoint anything at that point. Imaging is more important than soundstage for footsteps.

To each their own. For me personally, I wasn't a fan of suddenly hearing someone a second or 2 behind me and having to quickly having to reposition myself for that fight. A wider soundstage allows me to be more proactive and track people or even avoid gunfights rather than being reactive and only hearing people close by.

Also, I only play ranked play which is 4v4, so I don't worry about having too many footsteps around me except for the start of the round.

Imaging is critical, I'm not arguing against that, but soundstage is right up there for competitive fps.

 

[Bakemono]

who says we’re not calm? I’m simply getting my Maxwell the same day my PS VR2 arrives so OMFGGGGG (turns Metallica up to 12, punches several holes in drywall and smashes several wooden chairs). I’m chill bro.

I'm really looking forward to your experience of using maxwell and psvr2 at the same time, does one interfere with the other

 

[Drewbo]

 

[tag Nero]

Funny how no mention of the Xbox version not being available as of yet due to delay in MS Certification, bit sketchy not to give the correct facts.

 

[PwincessLuz]

I just noticed they're shipping by UPS Ground. I kinda of wished I could of paid extra to get faster then ground shipping.
(I live like 2600 miles away from Audeze company)

Regardless I am happy I will be getting it soon.

 

[Godstinct]

a was

Funny how no mention of the Xbox version not being available as of yet due to delay in MS Certification, bit sketchy not to give the correct facts.

i mean wooting keyboard was delayed a few month due to certification etc. such is the case with small companies lol

 

[Helvetica bold]

I'm really looking forward to your experience of using maxwell and psvr2 at the same time, does one interfere with the other

I’ll definitely gives impressions paired w/ VR2 but fear it might be too much bulk so I have my Koss KPH40s w/ Yeti pads close at hand. Also I can’t wait to see how Maxwell will compare to my current FPS favorite H6PRO Open back. Maxwell usage for me is more about single player immersive games but would be a pleasant surprise if they hold for multiplayer usage.

@GadgetryTech will really put Maxwell to the test so keep en eye out for his review on YouTube. So far we only have open box videos and everything is very surface level, granted it’s early days.

 

[HipHopScribe]

Funny how no mention of the Xbox version not being available as of yet due to delay in MS Certification, bit sketchy not to give the correct facts.

He didn’t give any incorrect facts. The delay is a temporary situation, he could have mentioned it but then once the Xbox version ships that’s no longer relevant, it’s not really material for a review

 

[RedJohn456]

I’ll definitely gives impressions paired w/ VR2 but fear it might be too much bulk so I have my Koss KPH40s w/ Yeti pads close at hand. Also I can’t wait to see how Maxwell will compare to my current FPS favorite H6PRO Open back. Maxwell usage for me is more about single player immersive games but would be a pleasant surprise if they hold for multiplayer usage.

@GadgetryTech will really put Maxwell to the test so keep en eye out for his review on YouTube. So far we only have open box videos and everything is very surface level, granted it’s early days.

Yeah I am not buying it until I watch his (@GadgetryTech) maxwell review. Unlike other reviewers, he touches on not only gaming performance (FPS specific) but also music/multimedia performance since he is also into high end audio.

 

[Helvetica bold]

Yeah I am not buying it until I watch his maxwell review. Unlike other reviewers, he touches on not only gaming performance (FPS specific) but also music/multimedia performance since he is also into high end audio.

Not be be an alarmist but the one report of white noise has me concerned or has me on a hype check. The point of purchasing the PS5 version is to avoid pushing the volume so there’s no distortion or noise. I just hope it’s an anomaly on that one headphone or back it goes… I know there will be a lot of unhappy owners (forum meltdown) if this is a widespread issue.

 

[WhiteHartMart]

Not be be an alarmist but the one report of white noise has me concerned or has me on a hype check. The point of purchasing the PS5 version is to avoid pushing the volume so there’s no distortion or noise. I just hope it’s an anomaly on that one headphone or back it goes… I know there will be a lot of unhappy owners (forum meltdown) if this is a widespread issue.

I'm expecting a small amount of white noise tbh. Personally think it's inevitable.

Will be exaggerated by sidetone being on I guess also though - especially if the sidetone has a stronger effect than on the Penrose.

 

[udd3n]

According to the person on Reddit regarding white noise it’s gone after turning side tone down.