The Audeze Maxwell 2. A top of the line gaming headset with amazing potential, hampered by quality control issues. The most glaring problem is a constant hissing sound when the headset is turned on. It sits under everything you listen to, like a thin layer of white noise, and it never goes away.
Update, September 2026: I finally got rid of the hiss. Not with a setting. Skip to what actually fixed it if that’s all you’re here for.
I’ve tried everything. First, updating to the latest software. Hissing still audible. Double checked that sidetone was off, still hissing. Tried different devices, different ports, nothing helped. The hissing starts immediately when powered on (even when not connected to anything), and only stops once powered off.
And it seems I’m not alone with this problem. Audeze forums are full of complaints about similar problems, and nothing has been found to help.
What Audeze support said
The final nail in the coffin seems to be this response from Audeze customer support:
Based on your description, what you’re hearing is most likely the inherent noise floor of the internal DAC and amplifier.
Maxwell is a fully active headset, meaning the internal DAC and amplifier are always powered while the unit is on. Because of this design, there is a very low baseline noise floor present. Our planar magnetic drivers are extremely resolving, which can make that noise floor more noticeable in very quiet environments or at lower listening volumes.
This behavior is similar to what you mentioned with active speakers, though headphones can make it more apparent since the drivers are directly next to your ears.
Our engineering team continues to evaluate potential firmware optimizations to further minimize this where possible. However, at this time, we do not have a confirmed update or timeline for changes.
In other words: it’s by design, and don’t hold your breath for firmware. That was in April, three months after launch. As I write this in September, still no update that changes anything.
What actually fixed it
I returned the unit. That’s the whole fix. I wrote up the return itself in Audeze Maxwell 2 - Why I returned them.
Then in July, Audeze put out the Maxwell 2 ANC. Same headset with active noise cancelling bolted on, at $429 for the PlayStation version and $449 for Xbox. I bought one. Powered it on in a quiet room, held it to my ear, and heard nothing. No hiss on this unit. Not faintly, not at low volume, nothing.
That matters, because it’s the same always-on DAC and amp that support blamed. If the hiss were baked into the design, my second pair would have it too. It doesn’t. So I’m fairly sure this is a unit-to-unit thing, not a Maxwell 2 thing.
I don’t think buying the ANC version is the fix either. Owners are still posting about hissing Maxwell 2 ANC units, and at least one review of the ANC model mentions a faint noise floor in quiet scenes. Some units hiss. Some don’t. Mine happened to be one of the good ones. I’ve written up the second pair in a full Maxwell 2 ANC review.
So here’s my honest advice if yours hisses:
- Don’t wait for firmware. Audeze has had since January and their own support email says there’s no timeline.
- Return it while you’re still in the return window. Don’t let the window close hoping for a patch.
- Test the replacement the second it powers on, before pairing it with anything. Quiet room, volume low. If you hear the white noise under the silence, that one goes back too.
It’s not a satisfying answer. But it’s the only thing that worked for me, and I’ve since been using the headset daily without wanting to rip it off after a few hours.
