Astro Headphones Thread

[pilmat]

The Astro family gets a good bit of love here on GTPlanet, so I'll open the discussion on them.

After the many good reviews, I went and tried them for physical fit and was very pleased with the A40 headphones. I tried the A30s, and quite liked their light weight, but I'm not a fan of on-ear headphones and they were a bit flimsy in my opinion. The A40s are over ear and felt light and well seated.

So I picked up the A40s. I didn't try the A50s as I'm not a wireless fan (had a set of wireless go dead mid race once, I was through...) so I'm not sure about their fit.

The big feature of the Astro family seems to be their MixAmp, and the A30, A40 and A50 all come with the MixAmp Pro. It is the source of the sound imaging that will get you thinking that the headphones are actually a surround sound system connected to your ears.

The MixAmp plugs in to the PS3 via optical AND USB (it's Xbox 360, Xbox 1 and PS4 compatible too). I initially thought the USB was only for power, but it seems it is the voice channel too (makes sense now that I think about it...). I have mine plugged into a powered USB hub on my PS3 and everything works great. Then change your PS3 audio and device settings per the instructions and the sound comes pouring through!

Now about the sound:
My last set-up was the old square PS3 headphones (I prefer them over the newer, split-headband ones), which I always thought was quite good for the simple system it was. Note that I always had it plugged into power after the mid-race off...

The Astro A40 are quite impressive from new. The detail and location of the sound is very apparent. In GT6 the engine sounds as if it is behind you in a MR, the wind noise varies a lot with speed and the kerbs and tires sound truly fore or aft, depending on which tyre is on the kerb or sliding. The bass is a bit low at the moment, but I think that will open up as the drivers break in (my PSB M4U1 were like this, after a couple of hours of heavy bass music they opened up beautifully).

The Dolby button adds a LOT of space to the sounds, allowing the surround to be much more apparent, but cutting overall volume a bit.

The 4 mixer settings are quite different. I am finding setting 2, the Core Mode, provides the most satisfying GT6 experience, where the car and atmosphere sounds balance well. Setting 1, Pro Mode, has the best car sounds. Setting 3, Media Mode, has the most atmosphere sounds (wind noise is quite high here). I didn't like the Sport Mode, setting 4, as it felt that everything was too damped.

The big volume knob is very practical. I mounted it on the keyboard mount of my Human Racing GT Chassis, and it is just below my left hand for and easy tweak mid race. The mic/sound mix knob is just below it and is also quite accessible, and being a substantially different size, it is difficult to mix up the two knobs.

I haven't tried the mic yet, but I'll get into some rooms later and see what it's like. I'll get feedback from the others in the room as to their impression of what I sound like.

As for comfort, there is no sore point after a good 40 minute session. Normally I pick up on pressure points very quickly, so I'm thinking these are going to be great. The second gen PS3 headphones, the ones with the split-headband, give me a headache after 10 minutes...

So far so good

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I'm interested to hear how others are setting up their audio to get the most out of these headphones and mixer.

 

[MauroAC]

A40 +10

 

[Zero7159]

Here are my thoughts on my outstanding Astro A40 headset. I have struggled for years to find a long term solution to my headset issues. A headset is an absolute necessity for my sim racing and gaming generally, as I have a small house and do a lot of my racing and gaming before my wife and kids wake up and after they go to bed. My PS3 headset needs are met with the Sony Pulse Elite wireless headset, which is absolutely wonderful. My most recent purchase on the PC side is the Logitech G930 wireless headset. I got it last May and it worked fine until last Fall. I started to get frequent disconnects, where the headset would go silent, sometimes for a minute or longer. I also have had problems with it disconnecting from my computer, such that my computer would not detect it. It was the disconnect issues that caused me to seek a new headset solution.

At the beginning of my search, I started from the premise that I would go back to a wired headset. Wireless headsets are great, but my router sits near my computer, and I suspect that my disconnect issues are related to interference. I have a Turtle Beach Z6A wired headset, but the center channel in it has gone bad. Moreover, the amp for the headset is awfully close to the headset, making it uncomfortable to use, particularly during longer racing sessions. So, my search focused primarily on the Turtle Beach Seven series wired headset, which sits at the top end of Turtle Beach's headset line up. I tried it at Game Stop and Best Buy and absolutely loved it. The problem is that no store in my area had it in stock this weekend. That led me to the Astro A40 headset and mixamp system, which was in stock at Best Buy this weekend. I figured I would try it out and give it a chance. Lets just say that I am glad I did.

The A40 headset is far and away the best sounding surround sound headset I have ever used. It is rivaled only by my Bose Noise Canceling headset that I use primarily for travel, although the Bose is not surround sound compatible. I tested the A40 with iRacing, F1 2013, Game Stock Car 2013, Call of Duty Black Ops II, Bioshock Infinite and rFactor 2. I also watched the first 15 minutes of Gladiator on Flixster, and several YouTube videos. The bass just sounds deeper and more powerful, no doubt due to the wired connection and superb Astro mix amp. I also could hear more surround sound effects, including foreign language race crew chatter and truck engine starting in rFactor 2. Very cool. Chat via iRacing and Teamspeak was crystal clear. Folks on the other end had no complaints. The A40 is also quite comfortable. The Turtle Beach Seven headset has faux leather for the ear cups. The A40 has cloth, soft material within the ear cups, which is more comfortable in my opinion than the faux leather. The wire that comes out of the left ear cup does not get in the way. It just sits on my lap. When I am ready to get out of my cockpit, I just place the headset on the shifter bar of my Obutto Ozone on the right side of my cockpit.

The mix amp is a separate high end plastic box with a volume dial, as well as a separate dial that controls game and voice chat mix. The mix amp also has an on/off button for surround sound and a button that controls which of four sound modes the headset will use. The mix amp connects to the computer via optical or 3.5 mm cable. Optical is preferred since it is the best sound connection and it supports surround sound. But, if your motherboard or sound card lack optical, you can use the 3.5 mm connection, you just will miss surround sound. The mix amp also includes a USB connection for power, not sound. The headset has one high quality cable that connects to the front of the mix amp. Please note that the A40 headset is not the only headset that you can connect to the mix amp. Other kinds of headsets with the same standard connection will work, although surround sound obviously is more limited, since not every headset supports it.

Once everything is connected, the A40 is easy to use in Windows and in game. I use the onboard RealTek sound, which includes an optical connection. iRacing is particularly easy, I did not even need to make the A40 the "default" sound device, as iRacing will detect any sound device connected to the computer, including my speakers.

The build quality of the A40 headset and mixamp are excellent. They look and feel high end. There is nothing about the build quality that feels cheap.

As to price, the A40 headset and mix amp are not cheap. Total cost at Best Buy ran me $250. But, if you race and game on your PC a lot, then this is one of your best options in what I will call the mid range price point. Yes, there are Sennheiser headphones that probably have better sound, but they cost far more, some over $1000.

 

[pilmat]

@Zero7159 Thanks for your review. What EQ setting are you using for GT6? And do you find other settings better for other games?

 

[Zero7159]

@Zero7159 Thanks for your review. What EQ setting are you using for GT6? And do you find other settings better for other games?

I have used only the Pro setting. Here is the description of each. I don't play sports games on my PC and so I didn't think any of the settings, other than Pro, would apply to me on PC.

Q: How do I use the 4 EQ settings properly?

The following are the four EQ settings, starting with the top left going clockwise.

1. Pro (top left)- It mimics the audio that pro gamers like to use when competing. A little less bass and a little more high end to make those footsteps really pop.
2. Core (top right)- Gives a flatter response that will provide a nice, solid sound.
3. Media (bottom right)- Is tuned for listening to music or movies on your console or computer. A bit more bass, mid-range, and high end for that theatre feel in your headphones.
4. 4. Sports (bottom left)- A bit more bass and mid range to make playing your sports oriented games a bit more intense and immersive.

 

[LeMansAid]

Settings were changed with a firmware update:

Top Left
Pro - ASTRO’s pro gaming mode, created with our pro teams and players to provide the best sound profile for competitive gaming, accentuating details like footsteps and respawns in an immersive surround sound experience.

Top Right
Core – Hear your games just as the developer’s intended with no extra processing or balancing.

Bottom Right
Media – Best for watching movies or listening to music, accentuating vocals and bass.

Bottom Left
LAN - Same as EQ 1 (Pro) although the microphone has been adjusted to work better in louder environments such as eSports and LAN Tournaments.

Personally, I think that the 2013 mixamp was a little bit botched, eq wise. I don't believe for a moment that Core mode is what it claims to be. The previous two versions of the mixamp had a much flatter and purer output in my opinion. Media is also quite flawed, but most suits my headphones for driving/racing. Despite it's gaudiness, Core mode is the most commonly used setting for me though on the 2013.

If listening to music, I definitely use the older version of the mixamp. For those seeking purity, the second version of the mixamp is the best in my view.

 

[Mayaman]

Yeah, I've been an Astro user since the very first day and they are the best system for playing games easily. I've gone through several Turtle Beach and Trittons as well. Always end up back with the Astro Mixamp and A40s or my Grado headphones. Well worth the money.