However, the manufacturer has just recently released a new model that is called Astro A40 TR. It has been widely regarded as one of the best gaming headsets available for the money. If you have read some review articles on several popular gaming websites, chances are you are already familiar with the original Astro A40. Thus, with the numerous options available, choosing the right gaming headset can be confusing.
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However, since the rise of professional and dedicated gaming, there have been lots of products specially designed for gaming released into the market. One of the essential parts of a complete gaming gear is a good headset. You certainly want to enjoy the most vivid and immersive experience, besides having the most accurate and responsive control, when diving into your favorite game. It's made multiplayer gaming that much better, particularly for my comrades in arms who can actually hear me with clarity now.Choosing the right gear is a no-joke task for a dedicated gamer. Using the optical out means game sound and game chat are both delivered in stereo. When you're just plugged into the DualShock 4, Sony only outputs to mono in my experience.
![astro a40 accessories speaker tags astro a40 accessories speaker tags](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Nx0AAOSwJntffkMj/s-l400.jpg)
What's even better is switching to the MixAmp for sound meant chat from friends was output into more than one side of my headphones. Being able to converse is more of an afterthought for sets catered to listening to music. The clarity was miles above what I'd experienced with any wired mic previously, but again, most headphones aren't designed for talking.
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The slight inconvenience of not being 100% wireless is more than worth the end result though, particularly compared to the default options I'd been using before.Īs to chat quality, both the standard mic included and the mod kit's voice isolating mic worked great. To get the best quality sound though you do need to use the MixAmp. Still, it makes an awkward arrangement when others are around and need to step over cables that would otherwise not be in the way.
![astro a40 accessories speaker tags astro a40 accessories speaker tags](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/spsAAOSw1u9e~5u5/s-l640.jpg)
![astro a40 accessories speaker tags astro a40 accessories speaker tags](https://images.milledcdn.com/2017-01-18/eaWbUIWgfMhss6ZT/c@2x.jpg)
Thankfully the included cables (the optical cable and a USB power cable) were long enough to span the distance from my gaming center to my couch. With all first-party controllers being wireless these days, having to run extra cords across my living space to use a headset was a bit tedious. That said, using the MixAmp is one of the disadvantages such a high-end headset runs into on consoles. The shootouts there just felt that much more alive and real because I was so closed off from the outside world. Seriously, the difference in playing a game like Battlefront without headphones on was staggering. With every single sound pumping directly to my ears versus across my whole living room, I was able to appreciate a bit more of the virtual world around me. Having spent hours playing through Star Wars Battlefront, Madden 16 and Metal Gear Solid V with the A40 TRs, I heard much more subtlety and nuance with the headset on than I did from my speakers. Tournament mode and Balanced mode didn't make much difference compared to Astro for in-house gaming, but there are those of you that will find those modes handy at some point.Īs nice as it is to have my home speaker system blaring to capture all the in-game sound, the headset provides a much intimate and clear version of a given game's sound design. I preferred to leave it on the Astro mode (the default), but the Bass boost mode was nice when the stadium was rocking in Madden NFL 16. That cord is then run to the MixAmp, which controls game volume, voice-to-game ratio for streaming, and comes with equalizer presets for consoles (on PC, you can use Astro's built-in tools to craft your own EQ or copy someone else's mix online). Rather than connecting through the headphone jack on the PlayStation 4 controller, the A40 TRs offer Dolby 5.1 and 7.1 surround through the digital optical port in the back of the console. Modded or not, that sound that comes through is vastly superior to any headset I've used previously. I didn't test these in a raucous tournament setting, but there is a slight drop in the amount of ambient noise and chatter you can hear from those outside your little game world when you've got the headsets modded out with the noise-cancelling additions. In a quiet home at night, there's hardly any discernible difference to the sound output of the out-of-the-box A40 TRs and the modded version. The open back speaker tags (the outer shell of the earphone) prevent this standard model from being completely noise-cancelling, but with the mod kit, you can closed back tags and leather cushions to make that adjustment. They're comfortable and don't feel like they're applying too much pressure to the temple, which is sometimes a problem for me with headphones since I wear glasses.
![astro a40 accessories speaker tags astro a40 accessories speaker tags](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e6/d6/11/e6d611cd24a770597f839d3e97df2398--playstation--videogames.jpg)
The default A40 TR headset comes with cloth ear cushions, which cup around your ear completely.