The Official Gaming Headphone & Headset Review/Discussion Thread

Astro A40 Review (Part1)
(I'm gonna break this review down into two parts, the actual system for part 1 and then I'll provide feedback on the actual unit in part 2.)

Sorry about the rotated images, they were fine before I uploaded them and I'm too lazy to fix right now

First off I'll start off with the price of the set since the price will likely keep a lot of people away immediately on these. These are NOT cheap at all:

Price:
Wireless Mixamp 5.8 $99.95 (promo price til 1/1/11, afterwards price goes up to $129.95)
A40 headphones $199.95
USB Chat Cable $9.95
Rechargeable battery pack for Mixamp RX unit $19.95
You can also purchase the Mixamp + Headphones at a $50 discount, so in my case I paid $249.95 for the headset + mixamp. As you can see, I also bought two accessories as well the USB chat cable and rechargeable battery pack. I'll go into more detail about those later. So base price for me was $280. Add in tax and shipping and the price ballooned to a wallet hurting $315.31 and that is with the promo pricing.

Note: Astro also sells a wired mixamp that has a few more capabilities than the wireless but I won't be covering the wired mixamp since I haven't owned one and only read about the differences.

What you get:
As you can see, the box I received from FedEx was quite large:



Mixamp:
I'll start with the wireless mixamp set. The mixamp comes in a sturdy white box with a black slip cover. Once you slide out the white box, the box folds out from the center. You will be greeted by the two main pieces of the mixamp.





The larger piece (on the left) is the TX (transmitter) that accepts your audio input and will be transmitting the wireless signal. The TX has two buttons on it, the left button is the power button and the right button is the surround sound signal processing.
TX Ports (located on the top):
1 AC input - The TX is powered by plugging it into an outlet
1 optical input - The TX can ONLY receive audio input via optical. No component/composite/3.5mm. If you can't run optical to this thing, forget it.
1 optical output - Pass-through feature of the TX. Useful so you can run say PS3 audio into the TX and then also through to your sound system.
2 USB ports - Currently unused. Astro is being mysterious about these and say they are for so far unannounced accessories
Aux jack - This is where the USB chat cable comes in that I bought as an extra. If you want to connect the mixamp to your PS3 or PC for chat, you need this USB chat cable. Aux connects to the TX and the other USB end connects to your PC /PS3. This is unneeded if you only use the A40s to chat on the 360

The smaller piece on the right is the RX (receiver). This also has two buttons a power button on the left and a bass boost button on the right. There are also two dials. The top large dial controls master volume. The bottom dial is the game vs voice balancer. Turning this all the way left (game) will mute out incoming voice chat and all the way right eliminates game sound in favor of pure incoming chat.
RX Ports (located on the bottom):
3.5 mm jack - Where any headset can be plugged in. In my case, the A40 headset.
mini-USB - To recharge the rechargeable battery pack if you choose to go that route. Otherwise, its powered by 3 AAA batteries.
360 chat input - This is not needed for PS3/PC users. If you are chatting on the 360 though, you need to run an included 360 chat cable from this port on the RX to your 360 controller.





Going further in the unboxing of the mixamp, the left side opens up to give you the AC adapter and a really short optical cable. On the right hand side, you get a mini USB to USB cable, 3 AAA batteries, an optional belt clip accessory for the RX, the 360 chat cable, and a double female 3.5mm to 3.5 mm. The last accessory is if you want to use a PC headset that uses the pink/green connectors with the mixamp. As you can see, the mixamp comes with quite a few things in the box.


A40 Headset:
The A40 headset comes in a hefty black box, the size of a large shoebox.

Opening up the box reveals a sturdy molded black case for the A40s with a zipper.

Opening it up, inside rests:
A40 headset with short cord that ends in a quick disconnect (QD) that has a mute switch built-in
Boom mic
QD to 3.5mm male
QD to dual 3.5mm male (pink & green for PC folk)
3.5mm to 1/4"









The Astro website has pictures of all the versions you can purchase the A40s in. However, they are all cosmetic. They come in different colors (black, white, red, green, and blue) as well as having different tags that attach to the side of your A40s.
As you can see, I purchased the Military Green BXR editions. Each headset comes with a set of 3 tags.



There are two solid tags and one tag with a hole in it. The tags attach to the headset via 4 magnets and the tags are held securely by the magnets. There are also two optional foam inserts that you can stick in between the headset and the speaker tags to drown out external noise. The tag with a hole in it is to allow the boom mic to plug into the headset. So if you aren't using the mic, you can just use the two solid tags. The headset has a mic input on either side, so you can configure whether you want your mic on your left or right hand side. It also freely swivels up and down to get out of your way if need be.

So as you can see, there is a whole mess of stuff I got in my package. I'm sure connectivity is a question for everyone so this is how it boils down. Each set-up is assuming you want to be able to both listen AND chat.

PS3:
PS3 optical out <---optical---> TX
PS3 USB <--USB/aux--> TX
TX [wireless] RX
A40 headset <--QD/3.5mm--> RX

360:
360 optical out <---optical---> TX
TX [wireless] RX
A40 headset <--QD/3.5mm--> RX
360 controller <--360 chat cable--> RX

PC: (Wireless using mixamp)
PC optical out <---optical---> TX
PC USB <--USB/aux--> TX
TX [wireless] RX
A40 headset <--QD/3.5mm--> RX

PC: (Wired without mixamp)
A40 headset <--QD/ dual 3.5mm--> pink/green female inputs on PC

Other: (Wired, I tested with a Nexus One and iPhone but you could also listen to your iPod if you want )
A40 headset <--QD/3.5mm--> device
For the wireless set-ups above, you don't need to use the A40s. You can use any headset with 3.5mm or a PC headset with dual 3.5mm using the adapter I mentioned previously.

can't justify a week of AT pay for a pair of headphones!

I'm ordering the Logitech G930's as soon as they're in stock (I can wait a few weeks if that means paying $135 instead of newegg's $170... I missed out on newegg's $140 price) simply because they seem to be the best wireless headsets on the market that are reasonably priced. I'd normally go with a wired headset, but after having two wires broken on me (by other people mind you!) I think wireless is the best solution for me.

Quote from anticommon : I'm ordering the Logitech G930's as soon as they're in stock (I can wait a few weeks if that means paying $135 instead of newegg's $170... I missed out on newegg's $140 price) simply because they seem to be the best wireless headsets on the market that are reasonably priced. I'd normally go with a wired headset, but after having two wires broken on me (by other people mind you!) I think wireless is the best solution for me.

they are $130 [amazon.com] at amazon right now...

Thanks for the in-depth review. I am thinking about ditching my Turtle Beach X1's and buying some nice headphones and a clip-on mic. I only use a headset for PC anyways. Can't decide what to do.

Quote from anticommon : I'm ordering the Logitech G930's as soon as they're in stock (I can wait a few weeks if that means paying $135 instead of newegg's $170... I missed out on newegg's $140 price) simply because they seem to be the best wireless headsets on the market that are reasonably priced. I'd normally go with a wired headset, but after having two wires broken on me (by other people mind you!) I think wireless is the best solution for me.

I have the G35's and have been impressed, it looks like the only difference is wireless? I could be wrong. I'm no audiophile, but they've been great so far.

I use the Turtle Beach X41's.

Highlights:
RF wireless
7.1 surround
Compensated chat volume (can still hear loud sound effects but not screaming chat.)
Price: $100 off craigslist


The surround is very accurate while playing MP COD and Battlefield. I was amazed they could accomplish good surround with two headphones, but they did.

i have the logitech usb surround sound g35. got it here on SD for $64 final after cali tax and ship. i love them and would recommend them. but, there is a slight annoyance: sometimes the headset will not be recognized and you need to unplug and replug (but you only have to do this once after your computer boots up). there are some extra features like voice changing but it's limited and gets old fast. the sound is not bad, the mic can swivel and is AWESOME, the cord length is ridiculously long and shielded, and the quality is very good. it's usb so you can use it on your junky laptop with integrated sound card and graphics and it won't matter.

I have the Plantronics .Audio 995 Wireless headset. http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics...255&sr=8-4

Pros:
* Cheaper
* Pretty high quality
* Easy access buttons

Cons:
* Can't charge and play at the same time - the biggest flaw!!!
* No game sound via PS3 (can do this via PC)
* Battery life is deteriorating (or at least it seems) after about a year of owning them
* Power button is clunking and I've owned it for a year and still don't understand the rhyme or reason behind it shutting off after it has been turned on

Quote from mikemcclain8 : I use the Turtle Beach X41's. Highlights: RF wireless 7.1 surround Compensated chat volume (can still hear loud sound effects but not screaming chat.) Price: $100 off craigslist The surround is very accurate while playing MP COD and Battlefield. I was amazed they could accomplish good surround with two headphones, but they did.

The x41s was what I used before buying the A40s. I wasn't a big fan of them. I thought the build quality felt cheap, they were uncomfortable, and the wireless sound quality was extremely prone to interference. On top of that it ate batteries and made REALLY loud popping noises when batteries were running low.

Quote from cantbeyou : they are $130 [amazon.com] at amazon right now...

I've been poching these things for a while, and just saw the same price at best buy for $130 as well (just the other day they were $160 at both sites/stores). I may go pick them up, or just order them via BB or Amazon. Depends if the 20 minute drive is worth it for me.

So I'm looking for some headphones, and the Logitech G35's caught my attention until someone said that they don't work with the PS3, as in, you get voice audio but not game audio... Is that true?

EDIT: Quick google tells me it won't... Damn.