I’ve been justifiably obsessed with planar magnetic drivers since I got my first pair of Oppo PM-3, which just seemed to get better and better with age. Well, in terms of sound anyways… the faux leather headband started shedding ‘bits’ and they’ve been relegated to a box in my attic for years. But that’s fine because I then had a pair of Audeze LCD-1 headphones, which still sound amazing.
But they’re wired, and I’m a lazy audiophile and that meant I would perennially switch between the stunning wired sound of the LCD-1 and that actually-still-pretty-good wireless sound of Razer’s BlackShark V2 Pro. Though. to anyone foolish enough to talk to me about audio, I would always complain about not having a good wireless audiophile alternative.
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Until Audeze released the Maxwell headset. There was the Penrose, but that didn’t hit the sweet spot the stunning sound and versatility of the Maxwell delivers. I gushed over the form and audio in my Audeze Maxwell review over a year ago and they’ve been on my head ever since.
And this is the first time I’ve actually seen them discounted below their $299 MSRP, with the Maxwell on sale today for $269 at Amazon. Sure, that’s not the most stellar discount, and it’s still a huge amount of money for anyone to spend on a gaming headset, but it’s not a lot of money to spend on a planar magnetic set of headphones.
Planar magnetic drivers differ from standard dynamic drivers—which are effectively tiny speakers, with a wobbly conical diaphragm and magnetised coil—in that they have a completely flat shape. That delivers a broader, more detailed, more natural sound, and for me that makes them ideal for producing the expansive soundscapes we want in our PC games.
But they are heavy because of all the magnets in those drivers. The Maxwell is a pretty hefty headset, and after a really long gaming sesh, you might be happy to take them off for a while. But you will miss the gorgeous audio you leave behind, however.
I find they are generally still pretty comfortable on my bonce, though I have upgraded the faux leather ear cups with a set of memory foam Dekoni Elite Sheepskin pads, and they are the softest things to ever touch my head. They are some $80 at Amazon, however. Those aren’t on sale today, but the memory foam velour version is. With a Prime membership, you can grab the Elite Velour for $40 at Amazon.
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