Audeze Mobius - Closed Planar magnetic headphone, gaming headset, head tracking, bluetooth and more!

[melmac]

Do you get any Hiss out of yours? Seems like most owners are happy with theirs but a few have complained about the hiss, others say it's there just that it doesn't bother them at all.

Still on the fence about purchasing a set. I can buy the Hifiman Sundara's for around the same price. What appealed to me about the Mobius was not having to buy an amp. I only have the Creative Z sound card in my computer. There are good gaming headphones out there from AKG, but they all require an amp. Was thinking of something from Beyerdynamics, but, the reviews on their models are very mixed and again, I would require an amp to get the best out of some of them.

The reason I liked the Mobius was because it was a one stop solution and would be pretty good for everything I would want them for. Movies, Gaming and Music. Not expecting them to be the best at all things. Just a big step from what I have already. Two concerns I have, one is that the build quality of the Mobius headset doesn't seem to be that good and second, that they wouldn't actually be better then what I have already for anything. If I spend £300 I want to be completely blown away when I compare them to the £50 Hyperx Cloud's that I have now.

 

[Woodsta888]

Hi,

I can hear a hiss when they are on but there is a firmware update if you request it from Audeze for the hiss. Doesnt bother me as it's only audible when your are listening to nothing.

But I did see some guy test 2 pairs, one his set with no hiss and someone sent theirs 'with' hiss and he measured them and the measurements were exactly the same. He tried the hissy pair and couldnt hear it. So there was a notion that sme people can hear certain frequencies of hiss and some cant.

Yes the Mobius does come with AMP and DAC built in and wll be specified specifically by Audeze so will be well matched from a company that only does Audiophile level products. Buying your own AMP and seperate cans some AMPS/DACS will compliment certain cans and certainly music types. I see the SCHITT stuff is well recmmended in the AMP/DAC world and used by PC enthusiasts. Buying your own AMP and seperate cans some AMPS/DACS will compliment certain cans and certainly music types. I see the SCHITT stuff is well recmmended in the AMP/DAC world and used by PC enthusiasts. These are popular https://schiit.eu.com/headphone-amps/fulla-2.

If you were an audiophile then yes you'd want own cans and AMP/DAC, and do all the reasearch over many choices for your budget. The Mobius have had their teams do make those decisions from their experience

But you do get Planar magnetic technology for a relatively cheap price - thats what some audiophiles like.

It's not nessessarily the sound quality that has be totally blown away, but it is very very good. They've had me listening to tracks I know very well as I've heard things in them (only subtle) that I hadnt heard before and I listen to tracks more intently, shuffling tracks to rehear bits I'd not heard before.

It is the 3D sound stage that really makes it especially in games and music. If I listen to music with 3D off it is very central and in the centre of the inside of your head like most headphones. Switch on 3D and it doesnt sound so much 'in your head' but around you. This is where the adjustable Inter Aural Arc in the software comes in and you can adjust this and put in yiour head measurements so the algorithms ensure that the refelction processing is correct for any head size. I prefer music with 3D on now. JUst sounds fuller and around you as the Mobius uses NX waves to create natural reflections that really do sound natural and give it that 3D sound. And you can adjust this Inter Aural Arc from 0 (off) to 100. And it doesnt make it sound like a stadium or anything just seems to spread the music out. HArd to explain.

The build quality is good. But the warranty I thought would be a bit more, but headphones will be thrown in bags and clunked on desks so mileage may vary. I did buy a stand for mine and treat them carefully as I want them to last.

Some say planar magnetic bass sounds different but people grow into it. They arent light or heavy and Bass is enhanced by using the music EQ and there have been requests to Audeze to allow in a firmware update or software to have a user customizable EQ. The bass is good I think and I listen to trance and progressive house so appreciate bass.

Should you buy them? I think they are good, very good. QUality wise in gaming headsets they wont be beaten. But as to how they stack up to a seperate AMP/DAC and headphones for the same money only audiophiles could answer it and at the end of the day what a trained/enthusiast may hear against a joe blogs like me is subjective.

I read the Head-fi thread (very long) as it has positive and negative commenst and many forum quality reviews. Blown away - maybe not as like sound that is subjective of what you maybe expecting. They are good.

One down side is that you cant turn off the head tracking whilst in surround sound so on the move listening to music is really annoying when you chgange direction. Another suggestion I've seen to Audeze to allow people to turn it off via a firmware update.

I pulled thr trigger, regretted it, now really like them. Not being fully wireless for gaming still annoys me though. If they fixed that then they'd be gamers perfection.

 

[melmac]

Thanks again for your reply. There is an update coming that allows you to turn off the head tracking.

Going to wait and see if there are any black Friday deals then make up my mind.

 

[melmac]

Good advice.

Thanks again for your replies. I decided to buy a pair of the Mobius headphones today. Will get them Wednesday, will let you know how I get on.

 

[Woodsta888]

Thanks again for your replies. I decided to buy a pair of the Mobius headphones today. Will get them Wednesday, will let you know how I get on.

Really hope you like 'em.

 

[melmac]

Really hope you like 'em.

The headphones arrived today at 4pm and I have been using them non stop ever since!! Haven't got around to testing them in games yet, too busy listening to music and watching some of my favourite movie scenes. I read a lot about the Mobius on various forums but was basically confusing myself with the widely differing opinions. That's when I posted in this thread and your posts helped to give me a better idea of what to expect. But, of course, nothing can compare to actually putting the headphones on and listening.

They arrived, I put them on and played some music. I was blown away. Going by various posts, I was expecting a complicated mess of controls, but, the reality is that they are all pretty simple and it's easy to switch between all the various options to get the sound you prefer. I was also expecting them to become hot and uncomfortable after an hour or so of use. Been using them for 6 hours and haven't noticed them getting much warmer and I haven't got any ear fatigue, very impressed with the comfort levels.

Like you, I am finding listening to music with 3D on is very addictive. Strictly speaking, High Res does sound better, but, 3D brings real life to the music. I am still experimenting with the best settings for movies, I think it's going to depend on the movie. What I love so far is how clear dialogue is even in the middle of the loudest action scenes.

The head tracking doesn't annoy me at all. Maybe after a week or two it will. At the moment I love the way it mimics having real speakers.

Initial impressions, Overwhelmingly positive. They are streets ahead of my current headset. Going to try some gaming tomorrow and see how they get on. Even if they are useless at gaming, I would still be happy with them. Which is funny because gaming was my first priority when looking for new headphones and the features that made me buy the Mobius for gaming are the ones that have won me over when using those features in music and movies.

 

[melmac]

MY adventures with my headphones continued today. Had to take the day off work, terrible flu going around you know Since I had nothing to do all day I decided to give these a proper go over. I am still unsure should I call them headphones or a headset? Headset seems to cheapen the quality of these though.

I tried gaming today. Recently got back into playing Counter Strike Source. I found a great source server while looking for a good CS:GO server. In game set the speaker to 7.1 and set the Mobius to 7.1 with 3D manual on. Started the game, SOUND EXPLOSION!! Quit game while frantically pawing at the volume controls Restarted game, much better lol. Sounds were coming from everywhere, I was turning every which way trying to work out which sounds were which. They are almost too good for positional sound. At the start I was also getting really confused with the added dimension that the head tracking brings. But, I stuck with it and after a few rounds I got used to it and the whole map opened up, literally. I could hear other players everywhere on the map. It's crazy. I can see why the head tracking would annoy people and also why people would call it a gimmick, but, once I got used to it I really liked the difference it made. It helped me judge the distance to a sneaking enemy much quicker. Just a slight tilt of my head in the direction of the sound and I was able to work out exactly where the guy was.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to try much more today as I spent hours playing CS:Source, it was just so good.

 

[Doug2507]

Good to read all the feedback here. I've moved from 712/mod mic to gsp600+1000 but still not settled. The 600's are so so but not really comfortable for me.

Was hoping these would be The winning ticket but having already tried steel series with super sensitive mic, the mic on these puts me off. USB I can live with though.

Did the mic sock eliminate breathing / case noise or still quite audible? Some games I've got push to talk disabled so could be a deal breaker for me...

Might end up back where I started with pc360 and modded zxr!

 

[Woodsta888]

Really pleased you like them fella. Didnt want to say you'd be 'blown away' as if you say that then people expect it and are disappointed in their experience of 'blown away'. They are very good aren't they?

Quote; "What I love so far is how clear dialogue is even in the middle of the loudest action scenes." <<< This, in music as well, you can pick out the most delicate of sounds still against a heavy bassline.

They go loud don't they! FAr louder than my soundcard can drive my other headset.

Positional sound - I find the same, sometimes you over compensate for he accuracy for positional sounds almost confusing yourself from the many sources. Like you, I got used to that also.

I was never annoyed at the 3D tracking I just didnt know how to turn it off. It was only for music I fancied that as sometimes I wear them in bed (other room if I do that) and I want 3D but If I move my head for comfort then I'd need to re centre the headset.

Really pleased you like them Mel

Hi Doug,

The mic sensitivity is definnately eliminated by using a sock. Also in some of the reviews caning the mic like HArdOCP, they set it up wrong. I had issues till I read how to set them up for VOIP. Definately use the link above for the Audeze Blog to tell you how to set up the Mic for the various VOIP apps like Teamspeak, Discord etc.


Dont forget, Audeze hasnt left the AMP or DAC down to a poor choice. They are audiophile specialists and have produced a headset (has a mic) with a set of 'phones' that really are, for the money very very good. As a gamer, needing to get up for making tea in map changes etc, it would be nice to break from USB and be fully wireless, or nip for a pee whilst remaining in the VOIP banter. (Been gaming with my lot for 25years+. I bought a set of braided USB leads and like the 3 metre one I have.

If they did this headset that was fully wireless, handsdown it would be far the best gaming headset available. As they are, if you dont mind being wired for full functionality and need a MIC, AMP & DAC built in, all of audiophile quality, then...look no further.

I need to review my own review I left where I bought them from and write a more balanced and add some 'had some time to use'. Audeze had done a wonderful job.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Going to give these a try and send back when i'm done. I'm just curious as to what they've created for the price.

 

[Woodsta888]

You wont be able to send them back................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ you might like em.

 

[Yaayuh!]

You wont be able to send them back................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ you might like em.

Unlikely, but I'm willing to give them a go.

What concerns me is if you stack up the functions and components to the price, it doesn't add up, something's going to give and I'm intrigued to find out what it is. It's likely build quality, that's almost certain, but there'll be something else.

 

[Doug2507]

Think I'll pick up a pair of these. Just noticed they're also LDAC so be able to run them off my btr3 and see how they fair against xm3's. If they can rock games and music then that's home life sorted!

 

[Woodsta888]

Unlikely, but I'm willing to give them a go.

What concerns me is if you stack up the functions and components to the price, it doesn't add up, something's going to give and I'm intrigued to find out what it is. It's likely build quality, that's almost certain, but there'll be something else.

I look forward to hearing what you think. I've never had a set of high quality headphones in my hands so not seen the quality of those for comparison. But the quality of these are good.

Think I'll pick up a pair of these. Just noticed they're also LDAC so be able to run them off my btr3 and see how they fair against xm3's. If they can rock games and music then that's home life sorted!

Again, be interested to hear your thoughts too.

 

[Doug2507]

I'll post here when they arrive. Should get some listening time next week.

 

[melmac]

Unlikely, but I'm willing to give them a go.

What concerns me is if you stack up the functions and components to the price, it doesn't add up, something's going to give and I'm intrigued to find out what it is. It's likely build quality, that's almost certain, but there'll be something else.

If you are buying them just to see what's wrong with them and have already decided that you won't like them, then it's a pretty safe bet that you won't like them. It's practically self fulfilling. So I am really not sure it's worth your while as you have already decided and the Mobius would have to be out of this world to change your mind.

I can save you a little time and money too. If you are wondering where the savings were made. It is the build, not the quality but more the location. Unlike the rest of the Audeze headphones, only the drivers of the Mobius were manufactured in the States, the rest was outsourced to China. If you watch the Z review he reckons that the headphones would have cost over $800 if they were completely made in the USA.

When you get them make sure you get in contact with Audeze support to get the latest firmware. They have been constantly improving the headphones through firmware upgrades. At the moment they are working on the ability to turn the head tracking off when you use 3d mode. It's a feature that I would have wanted to be able to turn off when I first got the headphones, but, now, It's a gimmicky feature that I can't live without. It's kind of amazing listening to some music and tilting your head towards the instrument that you are listening to and to hear it become centered in your head.

 

[melmac]

I'll post here when they arrive. Should get some listening time next week.

Look forward to your reading your review

 

[melmac]

Did a few more tests today with the Mobius. I don't really use Bluetooth at all, but wanted to give it a try. I only have a cheap android phone so no LDAC. The range is pretty impressive. Can get signal from two rooms away. YMMV of course, but, it should be suitable for most cases. The sound quality was better than I expected. Now I want to try LDAC and see if that's much better.

And I wanted to test gaming while using the Creative Z paired with the Mobius to see what the sound would be like and to see would the gaming features of the Z sound good with the Mobius. Connected using the 3.5mm jack and turned off the 3D settings on the Mobius to just use the SBX on the Creative Z. It sounded terrible. They don't play nice together at all. I wasn't getting some directional queues but the sound was muddy and hard to hear. It was also very tiring on the ears. I don't know why.

 

[Woodsta888]

Never used the 3.5mm. WHat about turning off the SBX surround on the Z so the mobius does surround? You'll prolly never use the 3.5mm again.

Doug above has an LDAC player so will be good to hear what he says.

 

[melmac]

I tried it both ways and it just didn't sound good at all. I use the 3.5mm for the Xbox and it's fine but didn't work with the Z for some reason.

Am waiting on Doug's review with interest