astro a40 tr plus mixamp pro review

However, these headphones are open-backs, which means they won’t isolate any noise and will leak quite a lot. There’s a noticeable lack of detail and presence on vocals and leads before the 6kHz mark and the response throughout the range is fairly uneven. They have a normal 1/8” analog connector that will offer audio and microphone on all consoles when plugged into the controllers. These headphones are advertised as Xbox One or PS4 compatible, but we managed to get both audio and microphone support on our Xbox One model for both consoles.

Hooking the MixAmp up to your console is slightly trickier. We purchase our own headphones and As I said, Astro sells the A40 without the MixAmp, but it’s hard to imagine why. These headphones are open-back, so they are designed to be used in a quiet room alone so to not bother others and they won’t be suitable for loud environments. Their bulky design also sways a lot with head movement, so the headphones could easily slip off your head.

However, there’s no real notch around the 10kHz region, which means the soundstage will sound inside the listeners head rather than in front.

On the upside, they are a decent option for watching TV as they have a good cable length range and will offer a delay-free experience, thanks to the wired connection. However, not everyone hears treble frequencies the same way, so your experience may vary.

It indicates that this mic will be able to isolate speech from noise even in the noisiest and demanding environments.

The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag.

The open-back design allows for very pronounced stereo imaging, a far better experience for certain music tracks than a simulated surround mix.

You get a volume knob and a channel mixing one, which has a notch in the middle for an equal 50/50 mix between game and chat audio. PCWorld helps you navigate the PC ecosystem to find the products you want and the advice you need to get the job done. Two small buttons between the knobs toggle Dolby audio processing and switch between four different EQ settings (Astro's custom EQ, a sculpted Balanced EQ, a flat EQ, and a Tournament EQ preset that emphasizes certain frequency bands specifically for accurate imaging in esports). 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.

However, we don't expect you to be able to use the PS4 model variant on the Xbox One. Test recordings were clean and warm, neither sounding fuzzy nor overly sibilant. These panels, which Astro calls speaker tags, leave a gap above the earcups, giving the open-back 40mm drivers plenty of space to breathe and provide better spatial imaging (and plenty of sound leakage, so be aware when you're using the headset around other people). The A40 connects to your preferred device with an included 6.5-foot cable with an inline mic mute switch. That answer is complicated. Over USB, you can have audio and mic on PS4 by using the PC mode of the amp, while you’ll need to switch to console mode for Xbox One. For the microphone, you then need to connect the MixAmp to a free USB port on your console with the included cable. It's worth your attention if you're looking for a tournament-level wired gaming headset, even if it doesn't stand out as the absolute best in its field. The ASTRO A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro TR for PC and Mac is the premier audio solution for esports athletes, content creators and streamers.

Our bass test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," sounds full and deep at maximum (and unsafe) volume levels, without any noticeable distortion.
The leakage averaged 56dB SPL and peaked at 80dB SPL, which is significantly higher than the noise of an average office. See our recommendations for the best gaming headsets, the best PC headsets, the best headsets for Xbox One, and the best headsets for PS4. Here you can vote for our next review, Compare frequency and distortion of headphones to make a clearer and more informed decision. A neat touch: The wheels are RGB backlit, and the lighting turns red when the A40 is muted. However, the overall difference in temperature is not too drastic and won’t be too warm. Good for neutral listening.

This is a very good headset microphone for voice chat, commentary, and even.

I’m especially a fan of the A40’s default microfiber earcups. They aren’t very portable, but thankfully, you don’t need the MixAmp to make them work, like how you would need the Astro A50's base to use the wireless-only headset. That said, I’ll raise the same caveat I raised with the A50s a few years back: The A40s cost a lot, and should sound good out of the box, before EQ. Sub-par for the office.

In general, the new MixAmp simply looks more professional, like a legitimate piece of audio mixing equipment, where the previous version felt sort-of toylike. Its wireless A50 headset offers excellent build quality and performance, and its A10 remains one of our top picks for budget wired headsets.

Ante up $100 more for the A40-plus-MixAmp bundle, however, and you get chat-mix, volume control, EQ, Dolby, and more—albeit as a separate box, not built into the headset as with the A50. The Astro are designed with streaming in mind, while the Beyerdynamic are studio headphones.

The open-back Astro have a better mic and reproduce audio more consistently across users, but are a bit boomy in the bass. They have a newly designed MixAmp, but it still offers the same multiple inputs and controls, just on a horizontal design. The Astro A40 Command Center is an easy-to-use and efficient support software that's missing a couple of features. However, they won’t have the same amount of customization as other gaming headsets on the market.

Read our, Learn more about PCWorld's Digital Editions, MixAmp handles a sizable number of inputs with ease, Microphone is one of the best on the market, Expensive, especially for a wired headset, Cable is long and tends to rub against the neck. They keep the same comfortable and sturdy build of the previous Astro A40 model. The Astro A40 do not come with a case or a pouch. Four pin-prick lights down the center indicate which EQ preset you have active, and there’s a button to swap 7.1 or Stereo modes as well.

The back panels of the earcups are made of glossy black plastic with silver accents, and stay attached to the headset with magnets.

The MixAmp is where Astro’s undertaken the bulk of this fourth-generation redesign. Inputs all feed into the back, and then there’s a single 3.5mm jack on the front that goes to the A40. The isolation performance is bad, but it is by design since they are open-back headphones.

In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts and A/C noise, they achieve about 16dB of isolation, which is sub-par. The imaging is excellent. They’re soft, they’re breathable, and they don’t irritate my beard.

Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were very well-matched in amplitude and phase response, but there was some room for improvement in terms of frequency matching.

Absolutely not, but it does sound pretty damn good and hides some of the flaws in Astro’s tuning.

They are also a bit less tight than the A50 and feel fairly similar to the previous model.

The Astro A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro 2019 are better wired gaming headphones than the HyperX Cloud Revolver. They can sound a bit sharp or piercing, though, and the Astro are more comfortable for long gaming sessions. If that’s you... if you’re a streamer or some other content producer type... great. The latest version of Astro's wired A40 TR headset with MixAmp Pro TR faces some very stiff competition in the high-end wired headset field, though.

However, the Razer have an adjustable surround sound feature. The fabric is also soft and feels nice on the skin. They come with an in-line remote that only has a mic-mute button.