[AudioViking]

I saw a generalised month that they would ship I was wondering if they had a date yet when they would get their first shipment in. It’s all good though happy to wait was just curious

Some European e-tailers such as LDLC are listing the Maxwell to be available "in 7-15 days" with the first day of availability being the 4th of January 2023. Which is probably not going to be that soon but they let you preorder, so that's what I did.

However, many hi-fi online stores in the EU are pricing the Maxwells at 359€ for the Playstation version and 399€ for the Xbox version. At Thomann the Maxwells for Playstation start at 398€, which is quite the price hike. So watch out for that too.

 

[Rambone]

If you want to use wired headphones with a standard audio cable and a headphone amplifier, why would you buy wireless headphones which have a built in onboard amp? This makes no sense.

Because the option is available to do so and do so I shall.

In my post I mentioned a few things which led me down this path, do not worry about coming up with ways to assist me with troubleshooting it because I already have that figured out but its not practical which is why I'd rather not have to deal with MORE USB devices. I do not want to discuss it any further as this is not the place for it but I will place a few bullet points on WHY I want to use the Maxwell wired.

Let me start:
* PC has horrible DPC latency. This means external audio devices plugged in through USB are going to be interrupted quite a bit. So you will be playing a song or game and then audio will temporarily stop and 1 second later will resume again. This will repeat every couple of minutes. Absolute PITA.
* USB ports (all of them) have some degree of audible noise that can be heard.
* On-board audio: The audio quality is absolute trash, I refuse to use it.
* Audeze headphones are expensive and I do not have the budget at the moment to purchase a proper wired LCD headphone. Mobius/Penrose/Maxwell seem to be the only way to get my foot into the door to get a taste of that sweet 'Audeze' house sound. I refuse to buy secondhand/used/refurbished, been burned so many times. I absolutely will not touch a Mobius or Penrose due to build issues.
* I have found a way to get around the first two bullet points but it requires time and material for me to resolve, I'm not going to bother with the wireless or USB aspect of Maxwell as I have a now problem free dac/amp chain to use and they are NICE, so I AM going to use it, especially if it works.

 

[Arkard1]

Will the Xbox version work on Playstation without an issue? Or is the PS dongle doing anything specific?

This is answered, go back and look for more specifics. It will work but not as well as the one designed for playstation

 

[Vash369]

Because the option is available to do so and do so I shall.

In my post I mentioned a few things which led me down this path, do not worry about coming up with ways to assist me with troubleshooting it because I already have that figured out but its not practical which is why I'd rather not have to deal with MORE USB devices. I do not want to discuss it any further as this is not the place for it but I will place a few bullet points on WHY I want to use the Maxwell wired.

Let me start:
* PC has horrible DPC latency. This means external audio devices plugged in through USB are going to be interrupted quite a bit. So you will be playing a song or game and then audio will temporarily stop and 1 second later will resume again. This will repeat every couple of minutes. Absolute PITA.
* USB ports (all of them) have some degree of audible noise that can be heard.
* On-board audio: The audio quality is absolute trash, I refuse to use it.
* Audeze headphones are expensive and I do not have the budget at the moment to purchase a proper wired LCD headphone. Mobius/Penrose/Maxwell seem to be the only way to get my foot into the door to get a taste of that sweet 'Audeze' house sound. I refuse to buy secondhand/used/refurbished, been burned so many times. I absolutely will not touch a Mobius or Penrose due to build issues.
* I have found a way to get around the first two bullet points but it requires time and material for me to resolve, I'm not going to bother with the wireless or USB aspect of Maxwell as I have a now problem free dac/amp chain to use and they are NICE, so I AM going to use it, especially if it works.

The only thing I can think of is to find a good external dac (such as a portable dac) with as minimum power as possible and use minimum gain as possible. That way hopefully you won't damage the Maxwell.

TBH I see no reason why you cannot use the wireless dongle though, especially if no other option works for you.

 

[Rambone]

The only thing I can think of is to find a good external dac (such as a portable dac) with as minimum power as possible and use minimum gain as possible. That way hopefully you won't damage the Maxwell.

TBH I see no reason why you cannot use the wireless dongle though, especially if no other option works for you.

I get what you are saying but I also do not want to spend $300 on a headphone that I'm not going to be able to use how I want to. I want to use it wired and I want to use it on my dac/amp chain, even if the manufacturer doesn't see the value in it but since it has the option to do so and I find value in it, I will want to do it and for personal reasons which nobody but me will understand.

I need to know from Audeze how much amp power is too much power. If they are saying (for example) don't connect it to a 100 watt speaker amp like an Emotiva which people are trying to do with HE6se V2's to give it more bass then that's kind of a no crap statement.

If Maxwell's circuitry is prone to blowing up from being plugged into amps with 'High' power which is what the Audeze rep has explained well then I need to know what they consider high power. If high power is considered medium to high performance amps within the 2-6 watt range then I am absolutely going to pass on the Maxwell and will just have to set aside money until I can afford a proper LCD series headphone that will NOT blow up when plugging into an amp. I need to know what are my limits.

I assume this would be good information to know for others attempting to use them wired with an amp whether on purpose or to experiment. Its not without reason that people may buy the Xbox version of the headphone (assuming they own a series x or regular xbox and also own a PS4/PS5) and try and use it on their PS4/PS5 but find that the volume isn't loud enough which they have explained many times in this thread that is a possibility and this might also extend directly plugging into the controller, so a person may have a DAC/AMP all in one like a Creative G6 laying around and decide to use that to remedy the volume and sound quality issues. If for example, the G6 is considered excessive power for the Maxwell and will cause its circuitry to fail, well I think consumers should probably know this before buying the Maxwell, as this kind of failure is kind of a big deal even if it was never thought to be used this way.

 

[ChickenPoppers]

Hi all,

Just joined the forum specifically for this thread, I’ve pre ordered the Maxwell in XBOX form (even though I only have a PC), I have tried many headphones and headsets including SS Arctic’s Pro, PS Pulse, Mayflower ARC 2 + Senn PC38x etc, my fav being the later.

I just want a really good wireless headset, as good as the SS is it doesn’t have a great sound quality overall, I feel the steelseries is good for footsteps on COD and that’s it so I’m hoping the Maxwell can be my go to headphones, currently I use my Sony WH1000XM4 for phone use and music/youtube with my mayflower/senns for gaming, I want something I can use for everything, maybe the Maxwell is the answar?

 

[bluedessert]

Because the option is available to do so and do so I shall.

I feel you. I recently bought a katana to use as a kitchen knife.

 

[Rambone]

I feel you. I recently bought a katana to use as a kitchen knife.

I can respect that.

 

[deafenears]

I do not plan on using the wireless or USB capability of the headphone all that much but plan to have it wired to an external amplifier.

I do not want to discuss it any further as this is not the place for it but I will place a few bullet points on WHY I want to use the Maxwell wired.

Give it up already, the Maxwell is not fit for your use case. Time to move on and find something else that is.

 

[Vash369]

I get what you are saying but I also do not want to spend $300 on a headphone that I'm not going to be able to use how I want to. I want to use it wired and I want to use it on my dac/amp chain, even if the manufacturer doesn't see the value in it but since it has the option to do so and I find value in it, I will want to do it and for personal reasons which nobody but me will understand.

I need to know from Audeze how much amp power is too much power. If they are saying (for example) don't connect it to a 100 watt speaker amp like an Emotiva which people are trying to do with HE6se V2's to give it more bass then that's kind of a no crap statement.

If Maxwell's circuitry is prone to blowing up from being plugged into amps with 'High' power which is what the Audeze rep has explained well then I need to know what they consider high power. If high power is considered medium to high performance amps within the 2-6 watt range then I am absolutely going to pass on the Maxwell and will just have to set aside money until I can afford a proper LCD series headphone that will NOT blow up when plugging into an amp. I need to know what are my limits.

I assume this would be good information to know for others attempting to use them wired with an amp whether on purpose or to experiment. Its not without reason that people may buy the Xbox version of the headphone (assuming they own a series x or regular xbox and also own a PS4/PS5) and try and use it on their PS4/PS5 but find that the volume isn't loud enough which they have explained many times in this thread that is a possibility and this might also extend directly plugging into the controller, so a person may have a DAC/AMP all in one like a Creative G6 laying around and decide to use that to remedy the volume and sound quality issues. If for example, the G6 is considered excessive power for the Maxwell and will cause its circuitry to fail, well I think consumers should probably know this before buying the Maxwell, as this kind of failure is kind of a big deal even if it was never thought to be used this way.

I'm pretty sure the headphone jack will be a non-issue. The issue with the volume is only by wireless USB dongle though I could be wrong. Anyhow GL I suppose.

 

[Scratchansniff]

Who buys a wireless headset and uses it wired? There are better wired headsets around so going wireless makes no sense.

 

[Rambone]

Who buys a wireless headset and uses it wired? There are better wired headsets around so going wireless makes no sense.

Give it up already, the Maxwell is not fit for your use case. Time to move on and find something else that is.

@ Scratchansniff: It doesn't have to make sense to you on why I purchase something or how I intend to use it. There might be better wired headsets around but are they Audeze, no, no they are not. You also missed my point in that the Maxwell is the cheapest way into getting an Audeze headphone (that isn't Penrose or Mobius) as the LCD headphones are above what I have set aside to spend anytime soon. It doesn't matter if there are better headphones out there, I am only looking to get an Audeze headphone but it sounds like the Maxwell will be unable to be used as a wired headphone in the way I would like to use it, so it is a no go, this is OK, not everything works out the way you hope.

@ deafenears: This might be the case but I still want to know more about what Audeze considers too much power, seeing as they state plugging into an amp can cause damage to the circuitry in the Maxwell.

I will still wait on an answer from Audeze before I cancel my order.

 

[Dylan Chau]

@ Scratchansniff: It doesn't have to make sense to you on why I purchase something or how I intend to use it. There might be better wired headsets around but are they Audeze, no, no they are not. You also missed my point in that the Maxwell is the cheapest way into getting an Audeze headphone (that isn't Penrose or Mobius) as the LCD headphones are above what I have set aside to spend anytime soon. It doesn't matter if there are better headphones out there, I am only looking to get an Audeze headphone but it sounds like the Maxwell will be unable to be used as a wired headphone in the way I would like to use it, so it is a no go, this is OK, not everything works out the way you hope.

@ deafenears: This might be the case but I still want to know more about what Audeze considers too much power, seeing as they state plugging into an amp can cause damage to the circuitry in the Maxwell.

I will still wait on an answer from Audeze before I cancel my order.

I don't know how knowledgeable you are on amplifiers and such, so I'll just try to explain some of Audeze's logic to the best of my ability for those who might not know. But the Maxwell has a built-in amplifier and circuitry, and it likely relies on that to deliver consistent audio performance via digital signal processing. Without that DSP, it's quite possible the Maxwell would not sound very good without Audeze doing a lot more tuning in the signal chain. That would likely complicate a lot, and would make the Maxwell much more expensive to enable it to be used purely passively. So whenever you're using the Maxwell, the signal is being amplified by an onboard integrated amplifier.

Ideally, you would hook up the Maxwell to a line-level output rather than a headphone amplifier. Line-level is the standard signal strength at which most audio equipment is designed to operate. Using a line-level output would mean that the only volume control you need to worry about will be on the Maxwell. However, if you hook it up to an external headphone amplifier (any 3.5mm output with volume control), you're technically double-amplifying the line-level signal (once through the external headphone amp, then once again through the Maxwell's internal headphone amp), and that can increase audible noise and distortion, as well as damage the circuitry if you accidentally crank the amp up too much.

That being said, you can usually cautiously mitigate this kind of issue by setting the integrated headphone amp on the Maxwell to like 50-75% volume and then starting from 0% slowly increase your external amplifier gain until you reach a comfortable signal. That being said, if you push your external amplifier too hard, you could cause damage to the driver by forcing the driver take too much current/voltage that it's not intended for. The same could also occur if you increase the integrated headphone amp beyond that 50-75%. You might even consider just using 100% on the integrated amp so that you can't accidentally push it beyond that. However, that will probably yield a higher noise floor.

There is no meaningful numerical answer for "what is too much power" because unless you own all the proper measurement equipment, no number they could give you will help you figure out what is appropriate for your own hardware. People own different amplifiers, and the gain controls on each amplifier will yield different results. For example, using an Xbox controller's headphone output will be very different than using a desktop headphone amplifier like the Topping A90.

So the important part here is to use common sense. Don't let your headphone get ridiculously loud. Always start your headphone amplifier at 0% gain, and slowly increase it until you reach a comfortable level. Listen at reasonable volumes like anybody normally should, and you won't have issues.

 

[Rambone]

I don't know how knowledgeable you are on amplifiers and such, so I'll just try to explain some of Audeze's logic to the best of my ability for those who might not know. But the Maxwell has a built-in amplifier and circuitry, and it likely relies on that to deliver consistent audio performance via digital signal processing. Without that DSP, it's quite possible the Maxwell would not sound very good without Audeze doing a lot more tuning in the signal chain. That would likely complicate a lot, and would make the Maxwell much more expensive to enable it to be used purely passively. So whenever you're using the Maxwell, the signal is being amplified by an onboard integrated amplifier.

Ideally, you would hook up the Maxwell to a line-level output rather than a headphone amplifier. Line-level is the standard signal strength at which most audio equipment is designed to operate. Using a line-level output would mean that the only volume control you need to worry about will be on the Maxwell. However, if you hook it up to an external headphone amplifier (any 3.5mm output with volume control), you're technically double-amplifying the line-level signal (once through the external headphone amp, then once again through the Maxwell's internal headphone amp), and that can increase audible noise and distortion, as well as damage the circuitry if you accidentally crank the amp up too much.

That being said, you can usually cautiously mitigate this kind of issue by setting the integrated headphone amp on the Maxwell to like 50-75% volume and then starting from 0% slowly increase your external amplifier gain until you reach a comfortable signal. That being said, if you push your external amplifier too hard, you could cause damage to the driver by forcing the driver take too much current/voltage that it's not intended for. The same could also occur if you increase the integrated headphone amp beyond that 50-75%. You might even consider just using 100% on the integrated amp so that you can't accidentally push it beyond that. However, that will probably yield a higher noise floor.

There is no meaningful numerical answer for "what is too much power" because unless you own all the proper measurement equipment, no number they could give you will help you figure out what is appropriate for your own hardware. People own different amplifiers, and the gain controls on each amplifier will yield different results. For example, using an Xbox controller's headphone output will be very different than using a desktop headphone amplifier like the Topping A90.

So the important part here is to use common sense. Don't let your headphone get ridiculously loud. Always start your headphone amplifier at 0% gain, and slowly increase it until you reach a comfortable level. Listen at reasonable volumes like anybody normally should, and you won't have issues.

This is a good and thoughtful explanation and makes the most sense, thank you!

I had not considered the double amping, so there isn't really any meaningful way to answer my original inquiry on "what is too much power". There is also the noise floor and sound quality degradation to consider, so in the end, this isn't the headphone to plan on using wired with enthusiast audio gear outside of plugging into a controller or your computer/laptops audio jack. Not worth it or the damage that can be done to the internals.

Case closed.

 

[Scratchansniff]

@ Scratchansniff: It doesn't have to make sense to you on why I purchase something or how I intend to use it. There might be better wired headsets around but are they Audeze, no, no they are not. You also missed my point in that the Maxwell is the cheapest way into getting an Audeze headphone (that isn't Penrose or Mobius) as the LCD headphones are above what I have set aside to spend anytime soon. It doesn't matter if there are better headphones out there, I am only looking to get an Audeze headphone but it sounds like the Maxwell will be unable to be used as a wired headphone in the way I would like to use it, so it is a no go, this is OK, not everything works out the way you hope.

@ deafenears: This might be the case but I still want to know more about what Audeze considers too much power, seeing as they state plugging into an amp can cause damage to the circuitry in the Maxwell.

I will still wait on an answer from Audeze before I cancel my order.

Nobody even suggested that I have to understand it. This is a public forum I was stating what I thought concerning your post. I understand that you want to buy an audeze But you'd be better served with a decent wired and use the Maxwell for Wireless. From what I remember from reading the best quality audio comes through Usb too are you going to utilise this? If not then wireless would be your best bet anyway with this headset. I always have one wired and one wireless. Which I am currently using that is. I have a collection of headsets in general.