Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC review: A headset unlike any other – now upgraded

Audeze occupies a really fascinating place in the pantheon of gaming headset makers. It's best known as an audiophile brand, making the sort of headphones that your dad wishes he could get his hands on.

However, after branching out into gaming audio some years back, it's found the segment to be by far its best-selling one, thanks to a lower price of entry, perhaps. Of course, there's also the fact that people want top-level immersion – and the news that a headset is the best way to get it has long since spread worldwide.

I've tested Audeze's headsets over the years and found their sound superb, but their design perhaps a little particular – but the Maxwell 2 ANC (noting that three-letter append differentiates this product from the base Maxwell 2) is perhaps the brand's most attractive and generalist effort yet.

Price and Availability

The Maxwell 2 ANC was unveiled earlier this summer, and it's therefore available to order now, although it's not at the widest range of retailers here in the UK – so you may have to dig around a little.

In case its name didn't make it clear: this is a direct follow-up to the Maxwell 2, which remains on sale.

The Maxwell 2 ANC has two variants, in a flashback to older days. The PlayStation version (which will also work on PC) comes in at £429 in the UK, while the Xbox-certified version is a bit pricier at £449.

In the US, that translates to $429 and $449, respectively. That price gap is almost certainly entirely down to the license that Microsoft charges for Xbox compatibility.

Design and Features

If you stuck a Maxwell 2 next to the newer Maxwell 2 ANC, you might be relatively hard-pressed to pick out differences between them. They're there, but they're extremely subtle where the design is concerned.

The most obvious tell is where the headband meets the earcups – where it was previously colour-matched, the arms now have a metallic finish that makes them contrast a little. Beyond that, though, almost nothing has changed (which is no bad thing).

That means you still get the same round earcup shape, along with the newer, wider headband that debuted on the Maxwell 2. It's suspended below the main headback (which is rigid) and has holes in it for ventilation, as well as some adjustment points for sizing.

The earcups themselves are pretty massive, and the headset overall is in fact one of the biggest I've tested. That probably won't matter to you since it's likely for home use, but you do look amusing with the Maxwell 2 ANC strapped on.

Image 1 of 3

On that front, a weight of 560g is also worth considering – this is a seriously heavy headset by any reckoning, although that does also mean it feels really premium in terms of build quality.

On those earcups you have a couple of removable parts to experiment with. Firstly, the outer panel of each earcup can now be removed, a bit like on SteelSeries' Arctis Nova Pro headsets, but without the hidden battery – this time it's just to offer the option of custom plates down the line.

You can also really easily pry off the ear cushions themselves. This both gets you a neat view of the planar magnetic drivers they hide, but should also make replacing them a total doddle, which is great.

Finally, the microphone is completely removable, too. I'm on the record as preferring a retractable system for convenience, but Audeze is hardly the only brand sticking with this model.

The earcup housing the microphone also holds most of the controls. It has a button to toggle between ANC modes, a USB-C port for charging, a 3.5mm jack for wired audio, and two volume dials.

One controls your master volume, while the other adjusts the balance between in-game audio and your chat – that this works out of the box on PS5 with no adjustments is a real boon.

Image 1 of 4

The other earcup has the power button and a mute switch for the microphone, rounding out your controls. The big selling point of Audeze's headphones is the planar magnetic drivers, which are present and correct here – each of them 90mm.

The big addition, though, is active noise-cancelling (ANC), and you get to choose between having it on, turning it off entirely, or using a transparency mode to hear the world around you more clearly.

Leaving ANC on, you'll get around 35 hours of gameplay on a charge, while turning it off raises this to 40 hours. Recharging from empty takes around 2 hours, but you'll get 25% of your charge in the first 20 minutes.

Finally, the box includes the all-important USB-C dongle for wireless 2.4Ghz audio, although Bluetooth is also supported (with LDAC, which is welcome). The dongle has a switch to go between PC and PlayStation modes, and you also get a cabled adapter for USB-A sockets.

Comfort-wise, having worn the Maxwell 2 ANC for dozens of hours at this point, I'm impressed. The wide headband makes its objectively sizeable weight feel like far less, and I've been able to wear it for 3 hours at a time without any complaints. The earcups are impressively plush, while the clamping force isn't excessive.

The materials also ensure this feels really premium, as befits the price. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite is a chunk more expensive, but I'd put these in a similar bracket in terms of solidity and build quality. That said, the trade-off in weight isn't to be ignored.

Sound and Performance

Audeze is famed for its planar magnetic drivers, and they're the stars of the show in almost all of its over-ears – but this isn't one of its regular launches. This time, ANC is right there in the product's name to highlight that it's the major addition, so it's what I'll tackle first.

When a brand that hasn't done much ANC dips its toes, the first results can be quite unpredictable. But I think Audeze has done a really creditable job here. The noise-cancelling offered by the Maxwell 2 ANC does almost exactly what I expected, dulling and dimming background noise to make immersion easier to achieve.

Audeze's marketing material makes it fairly obvious that it thinks it can match the ANC on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite, and in fairness I think it's in the same ballpark. There are slight differences when it comes to tuning, but with an air conditioner running or a washing machine going at full spin, I've been able to have enjoyable gaming sessions without interruption.

Image 1 of 3

The transparency mode here is serviceable enough, and could be useful if you're waiting for the doorbell or some other important audible alert, but I can't say I found the need to use it much.

That brings me back to the core question of sound quality, which is as impressive as the last few Audeze headsets led me to expect. The exact mechanics of what makes planar magnetic drivers good can be labyrinthine, but the outcome is obvious – powerful, crisp and detailed sound.

The richness here is really impressive, and I've found the bass response to be extremely solid, too. Playing a bunch of Battlefield 6, I've had no issues picking out footsteps near me, but I haven't had to compromise and turn down the scale of the booming sound of warfare.

Dipping into a busier soundscape like in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, the business of Havana or the stark open air of the sea are both translated really nicely, and you do get the precision to pick up tiny audio cues and background details.

Connectivity has been rock-solid throughout my testing, while battery life has lined up with Audeze's claims, making for a really impressive package that comes together with ease.

Verdict

The Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC is exactly what it says on the tin – an improvement on the Maxwell 2 with one major addition that is a genuine upgrade for gaming in normal environments. I'd always rather have ANC than not, and it helps when it's paired with powerful, accurate sound like this.

There are some minor caveats, though. The Maxwell 2 ANC is basically the heaviest high-end headset you could find, so trying it on before you buy it might be advisable, since its dimensions are also plus-sized.

It's also got a punchy price, even more so if you're an Xbox gamer. Still, if your budget is big and you like planar magnetic tech, then Audeze's latest is a seriously accomplished headset.

Also consider

A price that's this high means the Maxwell 2 ANC doesn't have much direct competition. That said, my top gaming headset recommendation (full stop) comes in a good chunk cheaper – the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni, which outdoes Audeze by bringing all console uses into one headset. It sounds great, too.

Another good way to cut costs would be to pick up the existing non-ANC Maxwell 2, which remains excellent and can be had for around £/$100 less than the new version, and doubtless more when sales events roll around.

Realistically, the only way to upgrade on the Maxwell 2 ANC is to step up to the Arctis Nova Elite, meanwhile, which is even more unbelievably expensive, but does have a few more bells and whistles. Again, its universal compatibility is a real boon if you want one headset for everything.