Is the Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC worth the upgrade from the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro?
Verdict
Meaningful upgrade
The Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC scores 5.6 points above the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro. That's a real improvement, though not the kind you'd notice on every track. The gains are concentrated in sound (8.6 to 9.3). You do give up ground on value (7.4 to 6.5). On paper: active noise cancelling, driver size 38 mm to 90 mm and usb-c. Worth checking: weight goes 260 g to 560 g. One caution: this steps down a line tier (HD 490 Pro to Maxwell 2 ANC), and base models usually trade away tier features - check the codec and ANC rows above before trusting the score gap alone. The two sit at effectively the same price. Worth doing if you're replacing anyway; harder to justify as a pure upgrade if what you have still works.
What actually changes
Sub-scores both products have, on the same 0-10 scale. Bars extend right for a gain, left for a loss.
- Sound8.69.3
- Value7.46.5
Spec differences
Only where the two genuinely differ - everything they share is omitted.
| Spec | HD 490 Pro | Maxwell 2 ANC | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active noise cancelling | No | Yes | |
| Weight | 260 g | 560 g | |
| Driver size | 38 mm | 90 mm | |
| USB-C | No | Yes | |
| Controls | none | both | |
| Driver | 38 mm dynamic | 90 mm planar magnetic | |
| Frequency response | 5 Hz - 36.1 kHz | 10 Hz - 50 kHz |
About this verdict
Direction matters here: this page answers "HD 490 Pro to Maxwell 2 ANC". The other direction is a separate question with a different answer. Scores blend published review verdicts across over-ear and shift as new reviews land, so a marginal call today may not be one next quarter.