I’ve been using a Sennheiser HD650 along side with a Presonus Studio 26c for about 3 years now and I wished to have a wireless setup as much a possible for aesthetic reasons. My keyboard and my mouse already being wireless, my headset was the next change in line.
Table of contents
Open Table of contents
My use cases
I listen to music almost all day and being a developer, I spend quite a lot of time at my desk. During my free time I either play video games or consume various content on the internet.
The fondamental requirements were as so:
- Decent audio quality: while I knew it would most certainly be a downgrade from my previous headset, I aimed at minimal audio fidelity loss.
- Low latency: because I also play a lot of competitive FPS (mainly Counter-Strike) I didn’t want the headset to feel like a disadvantage.
- Wireless: pretty much the main motivation behind the change.
Everything else was a secondary parameter, including comfort, ergonomics, and battery life. I use an external microphone so I didn’t really care about that.
Audeze Maxwell
After a small first batch of research, it looked like the options were not many, the market for this kind of wireless gamer X kinda audiophile Frankenstein of a headset is quite narrow.
Still, 2 options piqued my interest: the Audeze Maxwell and
the Artics Nova Pro. I ended up
picking the Maxwell because the music side of things was more important to me, and it seems like it was better at that.
To be honest the design and overall look of the headset made with lean towards the Audeze too. Even if I didn’t care the
Maxwell also had the advantage of being bluetooth compatible (mic included)
Direct comparison
Audio
If you’re interested by a more in depth, technical comparison, I would recommend you to check out rtings.com as they always do fantastic review:
HD650
The HD650 was the best headset I’ve ever used, and to cut the suspense short, it still is.
The audio quality and sound stage is unmatched, it being open back is perfect for me and the comfort is way better that its appearance may indicate.
Its audio profile is really neutral with basses a bit more pronounced than its legendary sibling
the HD600 which made me choose it back then.
Courtesy of rtings.com
Its only flaw to me really, is not being wireless.
Maxwell
The Maxwell had really big shoes to fill, and for now I think it did a good job. It’s obvious, even to me that it’s at best a sidegrade and most likely a downgrade overall, but the quality is what I expected and it’s completely fine for my music consumption.
Its sound profile is still very neutral, maybe a tiny bit “boomy” or “thumpy” if that even means something.
The headset comes with a software that allows you to chose between mulitple EQ presets or even tune it yourself, which
is really sweet.
Courtesy
of rtings.com
But to me, the biggest offender is the closed back nature of the headset, I really liked the sound stage an open back one provided and over long period of wear, it made a night and day difference in how my head felt.
Comfort
HD650
I said that the comfort is way better than the appearance suggested but it still kinda hurt me over long duration, but I mainly blame my glasses for that as its been the case for frankly every headset I owned.
Otherwise the HD650 is light weight and clamps exactly where it needs in my opinion, a nice pressure around the ears with padded supports on the top
Maxwell
Because of its battery, the Maxwell is obviously heavier than the HD650, still my neck feels great even after 5h+ with it. You can’t adjust the sides but the support of the top arc is hand screwed to the base which allows you to set its placement at three différents slots.
The clamp feels really different from the 650’s, way less pressure around the ears, but not that much more on top, which is a
bit unusual after 3 years of daily driving the HD650, but it works well, and it does not hurt the top of my head.
Once again though, my glasses hurt me over long period with the headset, but I was expecting it.
General feeling
HD650
The first time I got the HD650 in my hands I was confused about its overall feeling. It felt… cheap (for a 400+€
product I mean), I guess the light weight + plastic is to blame.
I got used to it really quickly and loved using it since then, the sound stage is really its main highlight to me.
Maxwell
On the other hand, I was positively surprised by the Maxwell, it feels premium, not too heavy and the padding around the ears is nice and soft.
The IO is decent (keep in mind that I do not use the microphone and handles the volume with my keyboard, so I almost exclusively use the on/off button) and the USB-C connector is mandatory these days.
Conclusion
The Maxwell is what I expected, a small (to my random guy ears) downgrade in audio quality, but you get the freedom and cleanness of going wireless.
Still the HD650 is a wonderful headset and I would recommend it to anyone not using it in a loud environment (I used to ear almost nothing during rounds in Counter-Strike when my girlfriend was boiling water).
After 2 months
To be honest I really though I would want to go back to the HD650 from time to time, just to listen to some music. I
almost always cannot live without the upgrade I acquire, whether it is 2k resolution (HD now seems fuzzy to me) or 120hz+
(60hz really seems laggy).
But the Maxwell fit that role good enough that I didn’t feel the need to do so and I clearly do not regret my choice.