Audeze Mobius, A Premium 3D Audio Gaming Headset Review - Elevate Your Gaming Experience
by Samuel Kalenga on Oct 02, 2024
A gamer needs more than neat stereo reproduction. Instead, gamers demand a sensory experience, where an enjoyable play requires them to be transported into the imagery on the screen. The Audeze Mobius, a premium 3D spatial audio gaming headset, opens this gateway into a multidimensional alternative where immersive audio transcends the edges of the screen. A Headset That Doesn’t Just Play Sounds It’s a headset that transports players. Upon wearing the Mobius, I was already taken on a journey into new dimensions of gaming; a realm where the world around you comes alive with unprecedented depth and realism.
This excellent piece is from the latest issue of Kotaku Australia – you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with Australia’s premier pop-culture and technology publication. This review of the Mobius was made possible thanks to the kind support of Audeze. The Audeze Mobius wants to kick-start a new phase in gaming, as it humbly and boldly declares: ‘Experience gaming headphones like never before. Transformative audio experience with simulated 3D surround sound creates a multidimensional alternative. Geared for gaming enthusiasts and live immersive VR content. Defy time and space as dynamic head tracking illuminates your surroundings – take cover from projectiles and keep an ear out for approaching enemies.
Tracks peripheral noise from behind you as your body physically turns to locate the source. Go beyond the boundaries of sound. Sound conjures visions.’ I first met Sankar Thiagasamudram, Audeze’s co-founder and head of technology, at his Redondo Beach offices in southern California. Located in clear view of the Los Angeles skyline across the bay, Sankar and his team had built their offices inside the wreckage of an ancient cinema. The space was filled with spontaneous din, devoid of much furniture – there were only desks, chairs and lab equipment.
Unveiling the Auditory Innovation: A Closer Look at the Audeze Mobius
Audeze Mobius’ unique selling point is its use of 3D spatial audio and, in particular, the excellent Waves Nx technology that powers it. This advance tech is what makes the Mobius attack market, as far as I’m concerned, because the default audio in anything from the most expensive of consoles to mundane PC speakers and budget-range headsets is underwhelming at best. Waves Nx isn’t trying to emulate surround sound – it’s nothing like it – it’s designed to create a synthetic soundscape that reacts to your movements and mimics real-world sensory perception.
If you’re walking along, a Gatling gun will sound like it’s coming from increasingly unfamiliar places – as if you were being tracked I found myself in a firefight that comingled conflicting explosions with the scattered reports of gunfire and footsteps – now close, now coming from the left, then cascading from above. That cacophonous onslaught was perfectly rendered by the Mobius. You could hear the sound of gunfire come from one place, the footsteps of your enemy from elsewhere and the rustle of vegetation from yet another. You could then turn to face them – with devastating effect. Gaming is often a competition of perception and reaction.
Delving Deeper: Key Features of the Audeze Mobius
Beyond its innovative 3D audio technology, however, the Mobius incorporates a range of quality-of-life features tailor-made for the discerning gamer, comprising a complete package of audiophile excellence and comfort: * Planar Magnetic Drivers: A Momentous Musical Musings At the heart of the Mobius is a pair of planar magnetic drivers. Why are they aptly named planar magnetic drivers, you might ask? Statistics tell us that 95 per cent of the population is francophone, meaning that they use French as a daily language. Right damn quick, we’re going to be looking into more content that delves into music, fashion, history, sensual pleasures, and all facets of human life, but expressed in French.
The ‘thingness’ of a sound has to do with how musically accurate and aesthetically pleasing it is, and planar magnetic drivers are hailed for excelling in these two aspects – hence, their great musicality. Like all other capable audio drivers, wide frequency response is key to making your music sound the way you intend it to. Planar magnetic drivers are great at delivering bass, midrange, and treble with a reasonable degree of purity, fidelity, and accuracy. So, what you get when you use the Mobius’s planar magnetic drivers for gaming is a very delicious taste of what Planar Magic sounds like.
You’ll get a more natural-sounding, less accountable bass element, as well as an airier, more vibrant treble. This will result in lower undesirable noise levels and a more aesthetically gratifying midrange – which can easily be translated into ‘musicality’. * Waves Nx 3D Audio: Constructing A Virtual Exoskeleton Around Your Head Attention-gatherer number two! It’s a game changer, a paradigm shifter 101 – ladies and gentlemen, the Mobius’s 3D audio technology (powered by Waves Nx) will rock your socks off in more ways than one and for more than one reason.
In every game there are important audio cues your character generates: footsteps, the whoosh of a sword being drawn from its scabbard, the sound of arrowheads hitting torsos, doors opening and closing, doors creaking, drawing bows, cocking revolvers… the list goes on and on. If these cues aren’t spatially in sync with certain points in 3D space in relation to you, they won’t seem real. It’s as simple as that. The reason that Waves Nx becomes a game changer – a paradigm shifter 101, all of a sudden – is because it tracks the movement of your head at 1,000 times per second, meaning that you can turn your head to the left and hear the sounds on the left fill the space around your head, just like they would in real life.
A Symphony of Sound: Performance and Sound Quality
The Audeze Mobius is no mere gaming headset. It’s a sonic showcase that highlights the power of planar magnetic technology As for the source of this stunning sound, Audeze’s planar magnetic technology is the silent hero. The planar magnetic drivers offer powerful lows, detailed mid-tones and perfectly balanced highs that combine to deliver nuanced audio with incredible depth. The low end features tight-as-hell bass that adds weight and depth to explosions and other low-frequency sounds. The mid-tones are nothing short of crystal clear, offering a balanced and nuanced tone to the soundscape that allows you to hear everything in front of you. Finally, the highs are cold and clinical in a manner that offers true detail and adds a sense of spaciousness to the sound cues.
All of this comes together to create an incredibly emotive and immersive sonic landscape that feels as though it should be reserved for higher end audiophile products instead of a consumer headset. Audeze smartly includes a 3D audio engine with the Mobius as well. While other headsets offer similar technology, Audeze’s 3D audio landscape is one of the most realistic-sounding headsets I’ve used. Part of this splendour is related to the soundstage itself but, thanks to a built-in head tracking feature, all sounds shift as you turn your noggin. Hearing footsteps move, for example, helps quickly assess spatial awareness to determine if enemies are near or far from your current location.
A Balanced Perspective: Pros and Cons
Like with any high-end product, though, there are benefits to be had along with the drawbacks. Weighing these up will help you ease any doubts before you come to your decision. Here’s a rundown on the pros and cons so you can make a better-informed decision:
Pros:
***Mind-blowing 3D Audio experience***: With Waves Nx technology at its core, the Mobius perfectly immerses you into the world of gaming, making you feel like you inhabit the game’s natural soundscape. Everything, from footsteps and explosions to voice notes and music, instills a the gaming experience, immersing you inside it, making it feel a ***High quality planar magnetic and natural-sounding audio***: The planar magnetic drivers inherent to the unit have high dynamics in their audio quality, fairly accurate, featuring pleasing bass response, detailed mids and clear highs. This renders an especially immersive, dynamic and enjoyable audio experience.
***Easy to use and comfortable for long gaming sessions***: The earcups are plush, and the headset is fairly lightweight, meaning you can easily find a position with it on your head, and you are free to be comfortable with it over long gaming sessions, which are often quite long.
***Perfect head tracking experience***: The head rolling and tracking feature gives you an extra layer of immersion. With your head movements being tracked, the game could naturally follow the direction of your head-turning, blurring the line between the virtual reality and a real-life experience.
***Fully one-sided detachable microphone***: The built-in microphone also gives you an equally clear line of communications with your team in online gaming sessions, so you are able to devise strategies and tactics at the same time. ***Many connection options***: The headset can be connected to PCs and consoles both via a USB cable, and a 3.5mm jack cable, making the Mobius a versatile product, suited for diverse gaming scenarios and devices.
Cons:
***High-end headset price tag***: The Audeze Mobius comes with a bit of a hefty price tag which might be too costly for many gamers, especially the budget crowd.
***Headband sizing might take you some time to get perfected***: Although the adjustable headband is a welcome feature, with many people having heads of different sizes and shapes, it might take you some time to perfect this, and get it to fit you perfectly.
***The cable can be somewhat thick, and somewhat bulky***: The comparatively thick cable of the Mobius can be somewhat bulky and can be a bit annoying if you prefer moving around while gaming.
Navigating the Landscape: Audeze Mobius vs. Other Premium Headsets
Although the Mobius is among the costliest gaming headsets on the premium market, face-off against the mega-dollar jerks like the HyperX Cloud Orbit S and the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, Mobius’s immersive presence and its sonic exquisiteness separates it from competitors. Technically, the HyperX Cloud Orbit S caters the same 3D audio tech as the Mobius but with a different approach by hooking up head tracking with binaural audio. As for the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, it is more of classic surround sound affair (read: DTS Headphone:X 2.0).
They sound good but Mobius takes the crown with sonic modes ranging from 3D Audio or Waves Nx sound technology. Mobius’s sound fidelity melody is unprecedented for a gamer. And that’s from its planar as exquisitely delivered by its planar magnetic drivers that resonate pop, movie, spoken word, and game sounds in more detail and tonal. Now, the caveat here: the Mobius is tremendously costly; three times the vanilla base model from Audeze, in fact. In my personal opinion, Mobius has all the cards – unrivaled audio oomph, convenience, and comfort. However, it’d be a stretch for me to recommend the Mobius for every gamer.
