[drbusner]

It's impressive that Maxwell are even in the same conversation with Bathys or Px8 for some of us given the massive price difference (2x). I wonder if they would be regarded differently if they had been released without the "gaming headset" label and priced at $700.

 

[rlw6534]

I agree with all of the frustrations in terms of not being able to find the details about the bitrates. Can I ask a question… which BT headphones that are commercially available have better performance than what is generally believed to be Maxwell’s (rather than the lacking factual representation from Audeze)?

I personally don't have experience with other wireless headphones so that's a fair question (I use HD6xx wired). I bought the Maxwell because it seemed to be the best option (and I wanted to try planar and closed back). But, even after some research, I was led to believe that the dongle's wireless connection was something other than bluetooth and was lossless.

I'm still not sure about the lossless thing, and I am still curious if it's true (or not).

I'm no idiot, but it appears that I was fooled into something that appears to not necessarily be factual (and I'm not the only one based on other posts).

And yes, the headphones sound good to me and that's why I didn't return them. But I still want to understand what's actually going on with the dongle...

It's all good of course... let's learn together.

 

[zilax002]

I personally don't have experience with other wireless headphones so that's a fair question (I use HD6xx wired). I bought the Maxwell because it seemed to be the best option (and I wanted to try planar and closed back). But, even after some research, I was led to believe that the dongle's wireless connection was something other than bluetooth and was lossless.

I'm still not sure about the lossless thing, and I am still curious if it's true (or not).

I'm no idiot, but it appears that I was fooled into something that appears to not necessarily be factual (and I'm not the only one based on other posts).

And yes, the headphones sound good to me and that's why I didn't return them. But I still want to understand what's actually going on with the dongle...

It's all good of course... let's learn together.

I mean, I understand we don't know the bitrate but we know the Bluetooth codec thanks to other users.

I'd say compare the wired USB connection and the dongle switching back and forth as quickly as you can. If you're not sure there's a perceptible difference to you, them I'm not sure it's worth worrying about IMO.

I like lossless! I pay for TIDAL and there's something to knowing you're playing uncompressed sound, but I'm also of the opinion that if the difference isn't readily audible, it's not a hill to die on.

I got the Qudelix 5K recently and LDAC on it is great. I don't think I can honestly discern a difference between LDAC at 990 kbps and wired. So I use LDAC. It sounds good and it's a joy to use without being tethered to my phone.

This seems like a similar scenario to me. If it sounds good and you're enjoying a good, low latency connection, why not just enjoy it?

Just my two cents. But as of now I don't think there's any true lossless wireless cans to upgrade to anyway.

 

[MrWalkman]

Even with LC3 and LC3Plus, information on bitrates, etc are difficult to find (at least with my Google skills).

 

[rlw6534]

I have previously noticed that these are per channel, rather than 2 channels combined like other BT audio codecs and Redbook. I guess it is potentially adaptive to signal strength, maybe? I have seen other references that listed somewhat different rates (like 250 * 2 kbps), depending on frame duration, which I honestly don't really understand. I suppose that 672 * 2 kbps is darn close to lossless at 44.1, even without compression. Of course, we don't really know the rate used or if it is even adaptive in this application. I don't recall seeing any claims that it is actually capable of lossless (only high-res - but still lossy) like AptX Lossless.

Also note that LC3Plus and LC3Plus HR appear to be different modes and support may vary. Interesting stuff (at least for some of us)...

 

[zilax002]

I have previously noticed that these are per channel, rather than 2 channels combined like other BT audio codecs and Redbook. I guess it is potentially adaptive to signal strength, maybe? I have seen other references that listed somewhat different rates (like 250 * 2 kbps), depending on frame duration, which I honestly don't really understand. I suppose that 672 * 2 kbps is darn close to lossless at 44.1, even without compression. Of course, we don't really know the rate used or if it is even adaptive in this application. I don't recall seeing any claims that it is actually capable of lossless (only high-res - but still lossy) like AptX Lossless.

Also note that LC3Plus and LC3Plus HR appear to be different modes and support may vary. Interesting stuff (at least for some of us)...

I agree it's interesting.

LDAC switches between three preset kbps rates depending on signal strengths (and you can bias it toward the highest rate on Android phones via developer mode options), and the new Samsung Scalable Codec is also adaptive. As is AptX Adaptive, of course.

So I wouldn't be surprised if the Maxwell and the implementation of LC3+ is adaptive as well.

But I don't know how you'd even test such things as a consumer and it doesn't seem like Audeze has provided in-depth info on their implementation.

 

[rlw6534]

So, just for comparison I tried my Maxwell with the USB cable connection on my RoPieee box. I was greeted by ear blasting maximum volume with no way to lower the volume from the headset. Is there a trick to get this to work properly? I was expecting it to work like any other DAC via USB and adjust volume from the headset. The lowest volume setting I could get on Roon was still too loud before muting completely.

Edit:

I also tried it on my iPad and MacBook (USB cable) and while I could adjust the volume, even the lowest "working" volume setting was still too loud. If I tried to lower further, the sound muted completely, similar to Roon.

 

[Audeze]

So, just for comparison I tried my Maxwell with the USB cable connection on my RoPieee box. I was greeted by ear blasting maximum volume with no way to lower the volume from the headset. Is there a trick to get this to work properly? I was expecting it to work like any other DAC via USB and adjust volume from the headset. The lowest volume setting I could get on Roon was still too loud before muting completely.

Edit:

I also tried it on my iPad and MacBook (USB cable) and while I could adjust the volume, even the lowest "working" volume setting was still too loud. If I tried to lower further, the sound muted completely, similar to Roon.

Are you on the latest firmware? V56 on both the headset and dongle. And latest AUdeze HQ (v86).

The headset must be updated through usb cable on PC/MAC. Or BT through Android. This issue was supposed to be fixed on the latest update unless you're on an older firmware. If so, you can also do a firmware reinstall which fixes the issue. Double click on device firmware version (both on headset and dongle firmware version) to bring up the update buttons if you're already on the latest firmware.

 

[rlw6534]

Are you on the latest firmware? V56 on both the headset and dongle. And latest AUdeze HQ (v86).

The headset must be updated through usb cable on PC/MAC. Or BT through Android. This issue was supposed to be fixed on the latest update unless you're on an older firmware. If so, you can also do a firmware reinstall which fixes the issue. Double click on device firmware version (both on headset and dongle firmware version) to bring up the update buttons if you're already on the latest firmware.

Thank you. I was already on the latest firmware but a reinstall did fix the issue. The volume control on the headset still doesn't control the volume (but it works on my iPad) so that may be a limitation of Roon or Ropieee. I usually try to run my digital source at maximum volume and control from the headset as I understand that's the best approach for quality. In this case I had Roon set to "device volume" but "fixed volume" didn't work either. Shouldn't the volume control be local to the headset and independent from the source?

 

[theodyofil]

Hey guys, I posted a video review of the Maxwell.

It includes a sound demo with a comparison to Focal Bathys and a mic test.

 

[iOnlyEatMusic]

I'm hearing constant white noise when connected to my PC through dongle. Anyone else getting this? I hear it constantly when nothing is playing.

 

[pixelcowboy]

I'm hearing constant white noise when connected to my PC through dongle. Anyone else getting this? I hear it constantly when nothing is playing.

That's probably the sidetone. It's unusable on the Maxwell unfortunately.

 

[Doug2507]

I'm hearing constant white noise when connected to my PC through dongle. Anyone else getting this? I hear it constantly when nothing is playing.

Check sidetone settings in app or mic in windows.

 

[Doug2507]

It's impressive that Maxwell are even in the same conversation with Bathys or Px8 for some of us given the massive price difference (2x). I wonder if they would be regarded differently if they had been released without the "gaming headset" label and priced at $700.

I own all 3. Regardless of sound, I won't use Maxwell for music as they're just way too big / heavy compared to PX8 / Bathys.

 

[shinbojan]

I have a really irritating issue that occurs when I am listening music via Tidal (windows, with dongle).
If I switch songs, the music often does not start immediately. It is like there is some fade in or maybe the volume does not start from 100%.
It does not happen every time, so not really sure what could cause this. If I don't switch songs, everything works correctly.
I don't get this issue with other audio outputs, only when using Maxwell (does not matter if I am using game or chat).