On a recent visit to head-fi brand Audeze's headquarters in California, I had the chance to talk to the brand about the recent ReSkin feature it launched for its Maxwell 2 gaming headset.
This new feature for its excellent planar magnetic driver-powered gaming headset allows owners to customize their set by swapping in funky earcup designs to inject some colour, flair, and personality into their gaming accessory.
The earcups have been so popular that a bunch of the first designs have sold out, with marketing director, Peter James, telling me that "the one that's sold the most is the all-seeing eye. That one actually sold out of its first run."
Indeed, of the six designs or sets that Audeze launched in May, only one of them is available to buy as of right now on the brand's website, and two — the all-seeing eye and the very limited edition Dia De Los Muertos set — are not even listed at all.
However, there could be big things on the horizon with the PlayStation-owned Audeze having "some potential game studio collaborations" on the way in the future, according to James.
This could be an opportunity for a collaboration with a huge PlayStation series or two in the future, given Audeze is under Sony Interactive Entertainment's (SIE) roof now.
Could we see a spectacular God of War Laufey ReSkin featuring Faye? Could we, Maxwell 2 owners, be wearing some Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet artwork in the future? How about a profile shot of Wolverine adorning each earcup?
There are some truly exciting potential collaborations to consider given the relationship between Audeze and PlayStation.
And Audeze doesn't intend for the ReSkin designs to stop there: "We're really just getting started at this point.", James tells me.
"We're not intending this reskin program to be limited to Maxwell 2; that's just where it's starting."
I asked whether there might be a possibility of fans submitting their own designs in the future. "I don't think we're going to do 'design your own,' but we'll almost certainly be doing some things where people can submit designs and maybe run an online poll or competition to see what people vote on to select."
He went on to add that, as well as the exciting prospect of gaming collaborations, there are "more in-house designs that we'll be releasing on a monthly cadence."
Audeze has previous form with working with external collaborators from studio artists and musicians in relation to some headphones — when it comes to those super slick wooden rings that you can see on the likes of the LCD-2 and LCD-3 sets, for example — and it seems that the ReSkin program has the potential to unlock some big-hitting collaborations further down the line to continue that trend.
➡️ Read our opinion on the best audiophile gaming headsets going
1. Best overall:
Audeze Maxwell 2
2. The complete package
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite
3. Best wired headphones:
Sennheiser HD 550
4. Best value:
Drop + Epos PC38X
5. Best wired headset:
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro
6. A great open-backed option:
Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Pro
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