Astro A40 TR plus MixAmp review: A tough sell nowadays, but still a top-notch headset - carlislewithating

It's been a while since we've seen premium Astro gear. One time known exclusively for its malodorous-stop headsets, Astro spent the past few years sculpture a niche at the budget-friendly end of the market. First there was the A10, delivering surprisingly great stable for only $60 (and earning our selection for best budget headset). Then Astro followed up with the A20, for entry-level wireless.

But with those newcomers in real time firmly established it's high time Astro returned to its signature headset, the A40.

Note: This review is part of our roundupof best gaming headsets . Locomote there for details on competitory products and how we tested them.

The like father, like son

Astro's billing this latest A40 as a new generation, but I assume't think the headset's actually changed. This is, away all superficial appearances, the cookie-cutter A40 Astro has been selling since at to the lowest degree 2016.

IDG / Hayden Dingman

The attractive force covers complete the earcups sustain been tweaked slightly, I think—but that's essentially hollow, given those covers are replaceable by the cease-user, and get in a million different styles. In any case, the new "default" covers sustain a smaller-type logotype and less extraneous palm.

That's it! That's the one change! (Perchance.)

Otherwise, the A40 is essentially frozen in time. And why non? The A40 is an image, especially the exposed metal rods that protrude through the headband. Most of these "edgy" designs maturat out, but the A40 doesn't look dated yet—which is non to say it North Korean won't eventually. Astro still has a few days left though, and if ever there were a non-broke-don't-fix-it site it's the A40. Astro's clever to leave information technology incomparable for the meter existence.

And the A40 still tops the competition in certain departments, even without a refresh. It's incomparable of the few headsets with a reversible microphone—meaning it can be plugged into either the left or right ear to suit your preference. I'll personally never use that feature film, and left-of-center-hand mics are so standard I actually line up the idea of a letter-perfect-hand mic a moment unsettling. Still, I'm sure it's understood by a certain niche.

IDG / Hayden Dingman

Comfort is also first-class. HyperX and SteelSeries are on-par with Astro, and Logitech not far behind, but the A40 deserves credit even so. I'm especially a sports fan of the A40's default microfiber earcups. They might not equal the best for warm environments, atomic number 3 they trap heat and also soak high sweat or else of wicking it gone. Hera in San Francisco though? They're soft, they'ray breathable, and they don't irritate my face fungus.

That end dot is very circumstantial, sure, but let me reiterate for my other barbate readers: The A40's earcups are a minor miracle.

Astro could utilization a better wiring system though. The 3.5mm hookup is towards the back of the left field earcup, and patc the cable stays out of the way it also has a trend to rub against my neck—particularly in cross-body situations, as when plugging into a PC on my rectify.

IDG / Hayden Dingman

I also wish Astro would put more effort into its shapely-in controls. Astro's very ain wireless A50 is a model I wish other companies would emulate, with Game/Jaw mixing (or chat-mixing), volume, EQ, mute, and Dolby all easily accessible and relatively intuitive. But on the A40? On that point's a mute toggle along the cable television service and that's it—not even a loudness wheel.

Mix it finished

Why? Because Astro wants you to purchase its MixAmp—and you should. Astro sells the A40 standalone for $150, but truth personify told, it's an embarrassingly stripped down headset: It's limited to a 3.5mm input with no rail-splitter, you lose entree to all of Astro's software-side improvements, and the intrinsic controls are minimal. You can get a much better and more capable wired headset for $150.

Pay up $100 more for the A40-plus-MixAmp bundle off, however, and you suffer chat-commix, volume control, EQ, Dolby, and more—albeit as a isolable box, not built into the headset as with the A50. Still, information technology's the way to go if you're fixed on purchasing an A40. Without the MixAmp, the A40 is a much weaker offering.

IDG / Hayden Dingman

The MixAmp is where Astro's undertaken the bulk of this quaternary-generation redesign. The late MixAmp was oriented vertically, with one enormous volume dial over the smaller peerless for New World chat-mix.

The new MixAmp is arrayed horizontally (as pictured above), with a loudness wheel on the left and chatter-mix on the right. A neat touch: The wheels are RGB backlit, and the lighting turns red when the A40 is muted. Four pin-prick lights down the center indicate which EQ predetermined you have active, and in that location's a button to swap 7.1 or Stereo modes as swell. The indorse is festooned with inputs—sensory system, USB, Aux—and a switch that lets you toggle between PC and PlayStation 4 on-the-fly. PC and Xbox, if you buy the new sit.

The main benefit is best cable routing. Inputs all feed into the back, and then in that respect's a single 3.5mm jack happening the front that goes to the A40. It's a lot cleaner-looking than the previous model, which split the ports between the front and back in ways that sometimes made it hard to move the MixAmp once you had it set.

In general, the red-hot MixAmp simply looks more line, like a legitimate piece of audio mixing equipment, where the previous version felt sort-of toylike.

IDG / Hayden Dingman

As I aforementioned, Astro sells the A40 without the MixAmp, simply it's hard to imagine why. This tiny box is borderline of the essence arsenic far as I'm concerned. Yet, it's less of a leg astir than it old to atomic number 4—Logitech (who of course owns Astro nowadays) and others have started building chat-mixture functionality into their $100 to $150 headsets also, with built-in controls. The MixAmp feels little novel than information technology used to, and high-priced to boot.

But if you're buying an Astro A40, it's a must. It makes a ordinary standalone headset into top-tier gear.

Ears on

You send away hear it in the sound, as substantially. I proved the A40 with and without the MixAmp to get an idea of what the A40 actually sounds like, versus how IT sounds with the MixAmp.

And standalone, the A40 sounds fine. It's a very warm headset, with low and lower-middle frequencies prevalent in the unify. Cymbals and snare hits lean to induce lost or belowground though, and I've noticed that music feels underdeveloped and incommodious. That's particularly surprising given the A40 uses an open-backed design, which lets in more close noise but also generally creates a broader soundstage. Here, you definitely miss isolation, but the A40 doesn't good nearly arsenic wide A the HyperX Cloud Alpha, for example.

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The blockade for $150 headsets is a lot high than it utilised to make up, and without the MixAmp I'm not convinced the A40 beats out cheaper site favorites, still wireless ones similar Logitech's $150 G935.

With the MixAmp, the A40 sounds more impressive. Even with the Stereo mix, not Astro's software 7.1, medicine feels significantly more vibrant. Astro's EQ presets cover a good range as well, with the default a lively profile that gives both the bass and upper-mid registers a kick. Is it the most accurate hearing go through? Would you blend an album connected it? Utterly not, merely it does sound pretty damn good and hides some of the flaws in Astro's tuning.

IDG / Hayden Dingman

That said, I'll rise the same caveat I raised with the A50s a few years backrest: The A40s cost a great deal, and should sound good out of the box, before EQ. I firmly believe that, and I bid Astro could get the A40's unenhanced auditory sensation as colourful as its processed sound.

It's worth noting that Astro's got one of the better microphones connected the market. That's ane area where Astro's steadfastly ahead of about everyone else. The mic is flexible, easy to emplacement, and voice replication is rich and perspicuous. Astro likewise gobs points for providing more mike options than usual. Not as many as Logitech's new G Pro X, mind you, just it's still better than the norm. As a mumbler, I'm in particular fond of the "Dark" preset, which reduces the A40's software noise gate and picks up steady my quietest commands.

Bottom line

So, the million (or $250) doubt: Does the A40 with the MixAmp complete in force enough to justify its price? That answer is complicated. The A40 with MixAmp sounds great, definitely 1 of the better-sounding play headset packages. But $250 is precipitous present, and in person I think you'd need the comfort station of running multiple inputs to the same headset through the MixAmp to justify investing in a bugged headset this pricey. If that's you… if you're a streamer operating room another content producer type… great.

Otherwise, it's hard for me to imagine wherefore you'd select a $250 wired headset over a $300 A50, getting in essence the same build but in a more convenient wireless form. Wired, the aforementioned Logitech G Affirmative X is a satisfying alternative for half the damage. Astro's name still commands a premium, and the A40 sure enough justifies its high price—simply not as much arsenic it did a decade agone, when at that place were fewer options.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/397830/astro-a40-tr-plus-mixamp-gaming-headset-review.html

Posted by: carlislewithating.blogspot.com

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