The Audeze Maxwell 2, like their first iteration, are highly regarded as top of the line gaming headphones. It seems most reviewers have them as their top gaming headset pick1 currently in 2026.
After reading many of these reviews, I bit the bullet on the Audeze Maxwell 2.
The packaging looked premium. The headphones had a high quality feeling. But as I turned them on for the first time, I was disappointed. Not with the audio quality, as they sound great. But because there was a constant hissing sound, which I’ve detailed more about here: How I Fixed the Audeze Maxwell 2 Hissing Noise
I tried giving them a chance. Even while gaming, with constant audio playing, in my case the hissing is loud enough to be heard constantly in the background. After a few hours, I felt relief finally turning the headset off. Finally, silence.
There’s no way I could use the Audeze Maxwell 2 daily because of the hiss. So I ended up returning them, and continue my search for a good gaming headset.
Update, September 2026: the search ended back at Audeze. When the Maxwell 2 ANC came out in July I gave them another shot, and that unit has no hiss at all. Same drivers, same amp, dead quiet. The hiss post above has the details, and my read on why it varies from unit to unit.
Footnotes
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Or top high budget pick, as they cost $329. ↩
