Audeze Maxwell 2  Headphones Review

The Audeze Maxwell 2 aren't designed for sports and fitness. They're very heavy and bulky, and they can shift around or come loose with gentle movement, especially if you're doing anything more intense than light walking. They also block out very little outside noise, so you'll still hear things like barbells clanking, gym music, and nearby conversations.

The Audeze Maxwell 2 are okay for travel, although they're not really designed for this usage. Even without the boom mic attached, they're still very heavy and bulky, and the fit can easily shift or come loose while you stand on trains or buses. They also block out very little noise, especially in the bass range, so you'll hear low-frequency engine rumble along with your audio. On the plus side, the microphone is amazing, which is handy if you need to take a conference call while you're away, and the 77-hour battery life is long enough to cover a trip away without needing a recharge.

The Audeze Maxwell 2 are decent for office use, but you'll need to be aware of their limitations. Their main obstacle to daily office use is their noise isolation, which does a poor job of blocking out sounds around you, so you'll hear chatty coworkers and other low-level office sounds along with your audio. They're also quite heavy, so they can become uncomfortable over longer sessions. That said, these headphones do have an excellent microphone system that reproduces your voice accurately. It also does a remarkably good job separating your voice from any noise around you, so whoever you're speaking with will always hear you loud and clear. Finally, their 77-hour battery life can easily get you through an exhausting work week without a recharge.

The Audeze Maxwell 2 are great for wired gaming. They deliver a well-balanced sound that stays close to our target curve, though a bit of low-bass roll-off can take some rumble out of kick drums and sound effects. Their latency is impressively low over both wired USB and analog connections, which helps keep gameplay feeling responsive, and the companion app makes it easy to adjust various settings to taste. The on-ear controls are also well thought out. The microphone performance is excellent, with superb noise handling that helps keep you sounding clear even in noisy environments. They're also well-built and offer 77 hours of battery life, but they're still on the heavy side and might feel fatiguing over long sessions.

The Audeze Maxwell 2 have very good audio reproduction accuracy. Their default frequency response doesn't deviate much from its balanced sound profile. That said, there's some roll-off in the low-bass that takes a bit of rumble out of deep explosion effects. Differences in phase and amplitude between the left and right drivers, particularly below 300Hz, are audible when listening to test tones, but harder to hear during gameplay. Harmonic distortion is also very low. Finally, their over-ear design lets sound interact with your outer ear to preserve spatial cues and add some sense of width and depth to your audio, although their closed-back ear cups mean your audio doesn't sound particularly open.

The Audeze Maxwell 2 have disappointing noise isolation. They block virtually no low-frequency rumble, so bass-heavy sounds like engine rumble are audible alongside your audio. They do a better job reducing mid-range noise like office chatter a bit and an even better job cutting down high-pitched fan whine, but these headphones don't have ANC and work best indoors in quieter spaces. On the plus side, leakage is decent: if you crank the volume in a quiet room, people nearby will hear your audio, but at more reasonable levels in mildly noisy environments, any leakage is mostly a quieter, mid-range-heavy version of what you're listening to.

The Audeze Maxwell 2 have an amazing microphone. Voice recordings sound impressively full and natural, with clear mids and only a slight roll-off in the highest treble that makes speech a bit less airy than a standalone mic. They also handle background noise remarkably well, and the built-in AI noise removal can further cut noise down while keeping your voice intelligible and relatively natural compared to many headset noise gates.

The Audeze Maxwell 2 have disappointing frequency response consistency. In particular, the bass you hear depends heavily on the fit and seal you achieve. People with differently sized heads can expect slightly different bass responses. However, since glasses can break the seal the ear cups form with your head, they can cause a much larger bass drop, noticeably reducing punch and thump. It's well worth taking time to seat these properly each wear.