Astro A40 + Mixamp

Astro Gaming's A40s are the best gaming headset I've ever tested. The A40s feature an over-the-ear design that remained comfortable even after hours of testing. The A40s are a very capable PC gaming headset out of the box, but require Astro's Mixamp accessory to work with the Xbox 360 or PS3.

In my listening tests, the A40s sounded great when plugged directly into my PC's soundcard, delivering the best sound of headsets I've tested for this roundup. They're not audiophile or headphone-nerd quality, but they sounded crisp and clear with slightly weak, but still acceptable bass in all the applications I tested. They're comfortable for long gaming sessions, and I appreciate how customizable they are--you can mount the microphone on either side of the headset, or remove it entirely thanks to the removable plates on the outside of the ear cups--Astro calls them tags. The A40s are leakier than a fully closed design, even with a gasket between the headphones and the tags, but I like having the choice between ventilation and noise.

The Mixamp accessory adds Dolby Headphone support, a decent USB soundcard (for PC or PS3 use), and the necessary hardware to mix Xbox 360 and PS3 voice comms with in-game audio. It's a USB-powered device, so there's no need to add another wall wart behind your entertainment center, and there are plenty of input options so you won't need to swap cables too much, even if you want to use the A40s with multiple analog and digital sources. The USB soundcard performed well in my listening tests.

In case you haven't picked it up yet, I'm not enamored with any of the psychoacoustic nonsense that people use in headsets, but the Dolby Headphone solution is the least offensive one I've tested. It's still the first thing I turn off, but it doesn't make your games sound worse, it just doesn't make them sound better. It's worth mentioning that the Mixamp comes with all the cables you'd need to to use it with pretty much any analog headset, although Astro doesn't actively support third-party headsets.

I'm not crazy about using the A40 + Mixamp combo in the living room. It requires trailing a fair number of cords across the room, especially if you need to connect the Mixamp to your Xbox 360 controller for voice chat. It's much more desk-friendly, so if you happen to have your consoles near your gaming PC, this is an ideal sound solution.

The big problem with the A40s is price. This is a crazy-expensive headset at $200, and it only gets worse if you need to buy a Mixamp ($150) to hook up to consoles. Astro offers a $250 package deal, if you purchase both the A40 and the Mixamp at the same time.


To read the original review, click here!