The Maxwell mic was co-designed with Shure, and offers excellent recording fidelity and clarity. Our microphone is tuned to be a more lifelike, neutral response, which may sound different from microphones tuned to highlight specific frequencies, which can in comparison sound compressed and artificial.
Mic issues can have several causes, so the next step in any troubleshooting would be to try the mic on multiple chat programs to see if there's a consistent issue or if it's software related. These tests should preferably be on another source device (like your phone if you're normally using it on PC), and, if possible, another connection method (Bluetooth, AUX, wired USB). This helps eliminate the source device itself as the culprit, or confirm that the issue is with the headset if it appears on multiple sources.
If you feel like your mic isn't performing up to snuff and you've already tried in on multiple devices, here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:
The first step to try is to use Maxwell's own Noise Suppression by setting it at least to LOW (can be done by pressing the AI Noise Reduction button on the front of the left earcup), which will reduce input noise, as well as raising the total volume output.
If the issue is independent of the connection method used, use the USB wired or USB dongle connection method to help rule out issues like poor Bluetooth connection strength or ground loop issues if using AUX.
Make sure you've installed the latest audio drivers for your system. These can be installed via Windows Update (sometimes as an optional update), or through your device manufacturer's website if you search your model number. If you've built your own PC, your Motherboard (or sound card) manufacturer should have the latest available audio drivers.
Some software can interfere with recording quality if it's running in the background like Xbox Game Bar or Nvidia Shadowplay. These should be disabled before testing. If you use these programs and can isolate the issue to that software, there are a few extra steps you can take:
Windows:
Go to sound settings (either via Windows search bar, or right clicking the sound icon on the bottom right of the taskbar).
Go to the sound properties (on Windows 10 it'll bring you to the classic sound panel window as mentioned below. On Windows 11, you'll find it by clicking on more sound settings at the bottom of the sound settings window, which opens up a classic style sound panel.
Here you'll find your list of sound devices and tabs for Playback, Recording, and a few others which aren't important here):
Click on the Recording tab, and set 'Chat - Audeze Maxwell' as your microphone, this will ensure your both Maxwell microphones (internal and boom mic) are the main microphone device on the system.
Afterwards, click on the Recording tab, single click on the Chat-Audeze Maxwell Microphone to highlight, and click Properties.
Next, we recommend going into the Advanced tab and unchecking Exclusive Mode options. Exclusive mode can cause other programs to periodically affect Maxwell's peak microphone volume levels and even mute the mic without your input.
"Enable Audio Enhancements" may improve both clarity and mic output, however some users report degraded performance instead, so we recommend testing both options to see which sounds best for your setup.
Afterwards, go to the "Levels" tab in the Microphone Properties, and adjust the max output mic level without fear of it randomly adjusting/muting by other programs. We recommend setting it to a high number (90+) for the most mic output volume headroom, and checking that the speaker icon is not muted, then clicking OK.
Setting Maxwell Chat Channel For Chat Programs (i.e. Discord/Skype/Etc)
Setting up Maxwell's Game as the main audio device is just one part of the equation, and doing this will make all audio be piped through the main Maxwell Game audio channel, which you do not want for chatting purposes. Depending on your chat program of preference, you will have to go into the program's sound settings (on a per program basis) and enable "Chat - Audeze Maxwell" as the sound output device, as well as their input device (the microphone). Here are some examples below:
Discord:
On the main Discord windows, you'll want to click on the cog 'User Settings', go down Voice & Video, and change the Voice Settings Input and Output Devices as Chat - Audeze Maxwell.
This will make Discord audio be fully piped through the Chat side of the Game/Chat Balance on Maxwell. Note that as you made the Game - Audeze Maxwell the main audio device, everything except Discord (in this instance) will be piped through the Game side of the Game/Chat balance. So you'll be able to balance out the volume between Discord (Chat), and the other sounds in your PC (Game).
A note on Discord mic quality:
Here are some quick suggestions on what settings to enable/disable on Discord, along with some comments as to their effect. Any setting that mentions "OFF" is due to either having no effect, or causing negative effects.
Input Sensitivity: You can either manually adjust, or set it to automatically determine input sensitivity. We prefer leaving it set to automatically adjust.
Echo Cancellation: Turning it on slightly benefits clarity and volume. It is a minor change, and leaving it off is also a valid option.
Noise Suppression: The "Krisp" option slightly boost treble clarity, but otherwise None is fine. Standard option may add some compression artifacts, so we recommend staying away from this option.
Advanced Voice Activity: OFF
Automatic Gain Control: ON. Boosts clarity and mic volume
Quality of Service - High Packet Priority: OFF
Global Attenuation settings: OFF
Stream Attenuation: OFF
Audio Subsystem: Use Standard. Legacy may add a low bitrate type of compression artifact to the output. Experimental yields similar quality to Standard, so to play it safe, we recommend the Standard option instead.
If you're still having trouble with your mic, you can make recordings directly from the app by going to settings > Voice & Video and scrolling to the bottom of that page. Enable the "Diagnostic Audio Recording" setting and try talking with some friends. This function will automatically record the last 5 minutes of audio you speak directly from Discord.
You can then click the "Show Folder" button near the diagnostic audio recording and open the "discord_voice" folder and upload the file called "capture0" (or capture1, capture2, etc. depending on how many recordings you made, we only need 1).
If you're not using Discord, you can record audio samples using a free third party program like OBS or Audacity.
Xbox Game Bar:
We have received some reports that Xbox Game bar's Echo Cancellation feature can cause some issues on specific setups. Unfortunately this cannot be disabled through Xbox game bar settings, but can be disabled via the Windows Registry Editor:
WARNING: Editing Registry values is an advanced Windows function and can cause system instability if done incorrectly. Proceed at your own risk.
1. Press Windows key + R and type in "regedit". Click okay.
2. From the top bar, copy and paste the following value in the window:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameDVR
3. Find the value "EchoCancellationEnabled" and double click it. Change the "Value data" field from 1 to 0 and click okay.
4. Restart your PC
Further troubleshooting:
Beyond this, the easiest way to determine mic quality is to record a samples and share them with our support team. Email us at support@audeze.com with recordings following the guidelines below so we can help.
Here are a couple things we'd like to hear in the recording:
1. Cycle between the three noise reduction settings of your Maxwell (low, high, off). Noise reduction settings will block outside noise, but will also change the audio fidelity of your recordings slightly.
2. Physically flip the mic capsule around and speak into the back (the "A" logo side instead of the wire mesh side if you remove the foam pop filter). Speaking into the mic backwards should give you a more muffled sound, as it has a physical mic filter that helps with noise reduction.
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