Astrogaming A50 Headset Review

[Solitude]

This thing is awesome.

After listening to a buddy of mine talk it up, and going thru a few relatively expensive ($100) corded headsets, I bit the bullet and bought this expensive motherfucker.

Astrogaming A50

This is my first experience with wireless audio stuff, and so far it has been pretty goddamn pleasing. With the Best Buy(I am impatient and was pissed about another failed headset) 2-year replacement plan on top of the 1-year factory warranty with astrogaming, I feel comfortable not handling these things with kid gloves.

The first time I used it, I was standing up to go take a leak during some gaming or whatever and started to set these down when I realised I could leave the mofo on my head. Not having a cord in the way or leashing me near my desk is pretty great. The ear cup thingys are superbly comfrotable. The audio quality is easily better than my steelseries siberia v2. Rumbling bass and perfect treble. Nice and loud, too.

I managed to walk all the way to the other side of my house on both floors(two-story) and only had a little signal interruption on my stairs and in my kitchen near my microwave and fridge for some reason. Otherwise, it was as if I was seated at my PC in my office. Since this is the first time I have used optical-out (from sound blaster ZX) I can't be too sure, but it seems more clear, especially music.

The "dolby digital" virtual surround is spectacular. I have used it so far in ARMA 3, F.E.A.R., and Metro 2033. In F.E.A.R. and Metro 2033 the effect was not as perfect as it was in ARMA 3, but it was still very effective. Metro 2033 was a pleasure to play through for the first time with these. I am looking forward to playing many other first-person games with this, especially DayZ Stand-Alone and Metro: Last Light. I am a big fan of horror/creep games and this will make them that much better.

The headset has moderate weight, not too heavy though. I think the plastic construction is necessary to keep that down a bit. I had read/heard in reviews that this made it feel cheap, but the construction feels superb if you ask me. Solid. The mic boom swivels up and you can feel lit lock in the up position. When this happens, it is auto-muted. Neat!

With voice communication, the right "ear panel" serves as a switch that allows you to adjust the volume balance between your game and skype/etc. What you do, is gently press the front of the panel to make the balance more towards your game, and the rear of it to make your voice chat louder and your game more quiet. I love this function. Especially if you have a talkative teammate and you are trying to hear someone sneaking up on you or something. I don't understand how this works, but it just does.

So far I have gotten about 10 hours of pretty much continual use on a charge. (family out of town, so I can indulge a bit...)

I really cannot say enough good things about this headset and I highly recommend it for games, music, voice chat on anything with an optical-out.

I do have a couple (minor) complaints, though.

-Price! I have never spent so much on what equates to convenient headphones, but I really feel I got my monies' worth.

-Charging USB cable is like 2 feet long. This isnt an issue for most of us gamers I suspect, since we probably have a longer one around the house somewhere anyways, but a bit of a nit-pick. It would be nice to have something longer so we can play while it charges if we choose.

===TLDR===
-Fantastic wireless headset
-Highly recommended
-Kinda freakin' pricey

 

[bpizzle1]

LOL I did the same thing when I first got my Vengeance 2000 headset a few weeks ago. As awesome as these things sound --literally and figuratively--, I simply can't justify paying an extra $200+ on a headset (I bought my Corsair set for ~$55, so nearly $250 in my case). Then again, I'm not a huge audiophile, so what do I know? I'm the type that rather put the $200 toward making my game look/run better. Glad you're enjoying your headset though.

 

[Solitude]

what made me go for it was how the mixamp is $130 and the headset is worth at least $150, so I went for it. I was so impressed by these things that I bought my 14 year old brother a set as well!

 

[DPI]

The product website shows a guy with a diamond stud in his nose, like the kind strippers wear.
http://www.astrogaming.com/a50-wireless-system

I want to know if the headset comes with this stick-on stud. I want to convey to the ladies that - yes, i'm wearing apollo 13 cans. but the nose stud means I'm mysterious. I'm dark and brooding.

Thank you for the profanity laced review and have a very pleasant and enriching evening.

 

[Solitude]

nah, i got a bitchin' mullet hairpiece though. you are goddamn welcome.

 

[Deleted whining member 223597]

LOL I did the same thing when I first got my Vengeance 2000 headset a few weeks ago. As awesome as these things sound --literally and figuratively--, I simply can't justify paying an extra $200+ on a headset (I bought my Corsair set for ~$55, so nearly $250 in my case). Then again, I'm not a huge audiophile, so what do I know? I'm the type that rather put the $200 toward making my game look/run better. Glad you're enjoying your headset though.

I'm pretty sure these would never be on an audiophiles list


The main problem with Astros is they seem to have that tinny sound(or something like that) and are way overpriced due to MLG certification and whatnot.

 

[Solitude]

I am no audiophile, but I thought my steelseries sounded good. These sound incredible compared to those.

 

[Deleted member 232162]

These do look pretty cool, but having been introduced to amps and high quality headphones, I just can't go back. Though I do miss having a mic on my headphones, may get the antlion mic...

 

[Porter_]

glad you like your new headset, i got sticker shock when i looked them up on best buy's website and saw $300. since you're just using optical out on your Sound Blaster ZX, maybe sell it to recoup some of the cost? you can use optical out from your mobo (assuming it has it) and get the same results.

 

[mystupidmouth]

Decent Headset, I upgraded from my Gamecom 780's but ended up returning them as it just couldn't tell that much of a difference for the price.

 

[spaceman]

glad you like your new headset, i got sticker shock when i looked them up on best buy's website and saw $300. since you're just using optical out on your Sound Blaster ZX, maybe sell it to recoup some of the cost? you can use optical out from your mobo (assuming it has it) and get the same results.

Not really. There is something about either the drivers or the hardware that makes the Zx optical sound better than onboard. Of course, people will say bullshit it measures the same and blah blah blah but in my experience, a sound card digital out does sound cleaner than onboard. Especially the Zx.

I would suggest my combo of a 558 and a Zx in stereo without any dolby or other effects over the astro combo.

The A40 is still a very good sounding headset but is a bit pricey for what you get.

 

[Porter_]

Not really. There is something about either the drivers or the hardware that makes the Zx optical sound better than onboard. Of course, people will say bullshit it measures the same and blah blah blah but in my experience, a sound card digital out does sound cleaner than onboard. Especially the Zx.

sounds like some sort of digital EQ or processing being applied.