Write a commentI’m writing this from a restaurant in Paris. That’s not boasting. I’m at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, and the restaurant is actually part of the food court. Also, I hate Las Vegas. This is my 20-somethingth Consumer Electronics Show, and this place never gets any more pleasant to visit. Oh well. There are worse places to be. Here’s my curated and collated list of news from the CES 2026 trade show that you, dear SoundStage! Solo reader, might be curious about.
Audeze Maxwell 2
It seems like only yesterday I reviewed Audeze’s Maxwell gaming headset. “Yesterday” in this context being October. The Maxwell 2 doesn’t look much different from the original, but Audeze promises an “inside-and-out upgrade.” Part of that is new drivers and an improved mike with better noise rejection. The price stays the same, and from what I’ve been reading online, so does the weight. Audeze has said they’re sending a pair to review, so look for that soon.
Bluetooth
I met with Bluetooth SIG at the show, or as my friends exclaimed, “You met Mr. Bluetooth?” Which is nonsense, of course. Anyway, Mr. Bluetooth and I discussed a bunch of topics, which I’ll dive into more in next month’s column. The short version is the company is hoping the “Bluetooth for groups” Auracast will finally catch on in 2026 (me too; it’s an awesome technology), and we’ll have more details about lossless, high-resolution audio over Bluetooth later in the year. The brand is building on a “well-known and established” codec to make implementation easier. Since part of that is additional bandwidth between devices, this could be the year of real hi-rez over Bluetooth. We shall see.
MEMS
Last year I met with xMEMS, makers of a variety of high-tech drivers that have found their way into several earbuds, including the Creative Aurvana Ace Mimis. The company certainly didn’t take the year off. It showed single-MEMS driver over-ear headphones, replacing 40mm dynamic drivers. These make for some ultra-lightweight and thin headphones. They sounded quite decent, though it’s impossible to determine real audio quality from a show demo. I’m all for light and thin options in this era of ever-heavier headphones (ahem, the Maxwells and the Fosi i5s I just reviewed). Also, the clever flat fans I talked about in last year’s story have expanded laterally, offering cooling for smart glasses, which all have difficult heat-dissipation issues.
Fender headphones
A few years ago, Marshall made a big splash by stepping into the consumer audio space. They did it right, with products that not only paid homage to that storied brand’s iconic guitar speakers, but also by making products that, for the most part, sounded really good. Fender’s getting into the mix with the Mix and some other products. These headphones have a “modular, mix-and-match design, making them easily serviceable and customizable for a truly personal listening experience.” Serviceability is a fascinating feature to highlight, not least because most modern electronics are very difficult to service at all. The Mix headphones have noise cancelling, Auracast, and 52 hours of claimed battery life with the NC on. They also include a USB‑C transmitter dongle to connect to computers for wireless 96kHz/24‑bit audio or low‑latency audio while gaming. They’ll come in a variety of colors. Unlike many Bluetooth headphones, they’ll work when the battery is dead via a 3.5mm analog input.
On paper, these look really interesting, and I’ll certainly be getting a pair to try out. Hopefully, their sound lives up to the hype. For US$300, it had better.
. . . Geoffrey Morrison
