The headband doesn't fold into a more compact format, but the earcups swivel to lay flat, and the mic can be detached, which makes it a bit easier to slide the headphones into a bag.
The Astro A40 headset has an impressive build quality. These headphones are practically identical to the previous model and feel well-built and sturdy.
The earcups are dense and should survive a few accidental drops without much damage. However, like the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless , the headband is somewhat open and a little hollow with only the plastic midsection resting on the head. It's flexible but doesn't feel as resistant as a regular headband, especially ones with a metal frame.
Although we don't currently test for it, they also lack an IP rating for water resistance, which is to be expected for gaming headphones. The Astro A40 headset has acceptable stability. These headphones should stay in place with no issue when you're sitting and gaming. However, they aren't intended for sports use. They don't fit very tightly on your head and have bulky, heavy earcups, so they sway around a lot during any kind of physical activity.
Because they're wired, their audio cable could snag on something and pull the headphones off your head, but luckily the cable is detachable. We first ran a frequency response sweep with the new firmware update, but there wasn't much of a change. You can see the comparative results here. We noticed that audio sounded tighter and sharper on the PC while audio from the Xbox was more bass-heavy.
Unfortunately, we don't have a measurement of the Xbox's audio pre-firmware update to compare it to. The Astro A40 has a warm sound profile. These headphones deliver a bit of extra boom, which can help emphasize sound effects in action games.
That said, they have a balanced mid-range, so dialogue sounds clear, although a bit dark and veiled. If you prefer a different sound, they can be customized using their graphic EQ and presets. The Astro A40 headset has decent frequency response consistency. These headphones have consistent mid-range delivery, but you may experience a drop in bass if the headphones don't fit flush with your head, which may happen if you wear glasses or have thick hair.
Their treble delivery also varies depending on the fit, seal, and positioning of the headphones. However, if you can achieve a good fit, you should get a fairly consistent response each time you use them.
The Astro A40 has great bass accuracy. Most of the range is quite flat and well-balanced, so audio has the right amount of thump, rumble, and punch. There's some extra high bass, which adds boominess to music and emphasizes sound effects in games. However, people who wear glasses or who have thick hair may experience a slight drop in bass.
The Astro A40 headset has excellent mid-range accuracy. The low-mid range is somewhat overemphasized, which is a continuation of the bump in high-bass. This makes vocals and instruments sound a bit muddy or cluttered. The rest of the response is flat, so instruments and voices are mostly clear and accurate.
The treble accuracy of the Astro A40 headset is mediocre. The low-treble range is underemphasized, so lead vocals and instruments lack detail and sound veiled. However, sibilants like cymbals and S and T sounds should be bright and present. The treble delivery depends on the fit and positioning of the headphones, so your experience may vary. The peaks and dips performance of the Astro A40 headset is satisfactory.
There's a low peak in the high-bass range, which adds boominess, while dips in the low-treble veil lead instruments and vocals. A bigger peak in the mid-treble range makes sibilants like S and T sounds piercing. The Astro A40 headset has a great imaging performance. The weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent audio reproduction.
However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently. These headphones have a great passive soundstage. It's very open and spacious, thanks to their open-back design. The Astro A40 have a decent weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's a minor peak in the low-treble at normal volumes, but it shouldn't be very noticeable to most.
Otherwise, most frequencies fall within good limits, which results in fairly clear and pure audio reproduction. We originally reported that we tested 'PCM, bit, 48kHz'. However, this is incorrect, and we can confirm that bit is the maximum you can receive. We have updated our review accordingly. These are the settings used to test the Astro A Our results are only valid when the headphones are used in this configuration. The Astro A40 headset has a bad noise isolation performance, which is expected from open-back headphones.
These headphones isolate you from virtually no ambient sound, including bus and plane engines and background conversations. They do a little better with high-pitched noises like humming from an AC unit, but it's not a very noticeable reduction, and overall they aren't really suitable for use in noisy environments. The Astro A40 headset has a poor leakage performance.
Because of their open-back design, these headphones leak a lot of audio from a broad range of frequencies. Someone in the room with you is likely to hear your audio, and it sounds full-bodied compared with the more thin-sounding leakage from in-ears or earbuds. The Astro A40 headset's boom mic has a great recording quality. Your voice sounds deep and full as well as clear and easy to understand.
However, it does lack some airiness, and your voice can sound slightly muffled. The Astro A40 headset has an excellent noise handling performance. Even in a loud environment, the mic can effectively separate your voice from background sounds. This microphone uses a noise gate, which you can't disable, but you can choose between a few different sensitivity options. The Astro A40 headset has good app support. The Astro Command Center is an easy-to-use and efficient support software.
It provides a great graphic EQ that you can assign to the EQ button on the MixAmp so you can cycle between different saved presets. You can also create your own custom EQ presets. The microphone tab gives you control over the mic level and the noise gate.
However, the EQ only offers five bands, so these headphones aren't as customizable as the Logitech G Gaming Headset. Note that for this headset, you need to use the Astro Command Center for Windows 10, which can be found inside the Microsoft Store. The Astro A40 headset has no Bluetooth compatibility. The Astro A40 headset can be used with or without the MixAmp.
We noticed that audio sounded tighter and sharper on the PC, while audio from the Xbox was more bass-heavy. You can find more information about that here. These headphones have a regular line-in audio jack, an optical input, and audio via the USB cable when plugged into your PC or console. They're advertised as either Xbox One or PS4 compatible, but we managed to get both audio and microphone support on our Xbox One model for both consoles.
However, we don't expect you to be able to use the PS4 model variant on the Xbox One. You can also daisy-chain multiple amps together in a tournament setting. There are a few different variants of the Astro A We tested the variant advertised as being compatible with Xbox One and PCs, but Astro also sells a variant advertised as being compatible with PlayStation consoles and PCs. We expect our test results to be valid for that variant as well, except that it may not work with Xbox consoles. These headphones are also available in two colors: 'Black' or 'Blue'.
While being almost identical to their previous generation, the Astro A40 set themselves apart with their unique design and great amp. For other options, check out our recommendations for the best gaming headsets , the best PC headsets , the best headsets for Xbox One , and the best headsets for PS4. The A50 are wireless-only while the A40 are wired only and have an open-back design. The A50 have a well-balanced sound profile, but their soundstage isn't as spacious as that of the open-back A The Astro are more comfortable gaming headphones, have a virtual soundstage feature, and their boom mic offers better overall performance.
Their companion software also has a graphic EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking. Conversely, the Beats are better for casual use. They have a wireless design, have a more neutral sound profile that some users may prefer, and have an ANC system that can block out more ambient noise around you.
The open-back Astro have a better mic and reproduce audio more consistently across users, but are a bit boomy in the bass. They also feature a useful dual-battery system that makes it near impossible to run out of power, and they can also be used via Bluetooth as well. The Astro, on the other hand, reproduce sound more accurately across different users and are slightly more comfortable. Both have a comfortable design, but the open-back design of the Astro yields a more spacious, immersive soundstage.
The Logitech are much more customizable thanks to their companion software, but the Astro come with an excellent base station that allows for live channel mixing and more connectivity options. The newer model has a less bass-heavy default sound profile than the model, and they deliver sound much more consistently.
Other differences are mainly aesthetic, like the Amp design or the color schemes of different model variants. While both headphones are comfortable, the Astro have better controls, are better built, and are compatible with Astro Command Center software, which allows you to customize their sound using a graphic EQ and presets.
They also have a virtual soundstage feature, although we don't currently test its performance. The Astro are more comfortable and have companion software that offers sound customization features. They also have a mic with a great performance and a better passive soundstage.
On the other hand, the Beyerdynamic have a somewhat more neutral sound profile, with much better treble accuracy than the Astro's default sound profile. The Astro have more controls and better customization support via their app, which the Sennheiser are lacking. The Astro feel better built and have a great bass performance despite their open-back design. The A40 are open-back and their microphone is better than the wireless A Both can be used with PCs, Xbox One, and PS4, but you might have to play around with settings to get audio and mic support.
If you prefer the freedom of a wireless headset, go with the A The Astro are open-back headphones with a better soundstage, and they come with companion software that has a graphic EQ so you can customize their sound. They're also more comfortable, with a more neutral default sound profile and better frequency response consistency. That said, the closed-back EPOS have better noise isolation and leakage performances, and they're more stable.
The Astro's open-back design also provides a far more immersive listening experience. However, that design philosophy means that the JBL are slightly more versatile, as they a much better job of blocking out ambient noise and don't leak nearly as much audio. The Astro have a noticeably better dock that offers more inputs and more controls like channel mixing, on top of having a more spacious soundstage as well thanks to their open-back design.
The Astro also have a better companion app with more customization options. The Astro are more comfortable, have better controls that you can tweak on-the-fly, and they have a slightly better build. Their sound profile is also better balanced, they have a more consistent frequency response, and their detachable boom microphone has a better overall performance. However, the Razer have an adjustable surround sound feature. The Astro are more comfortable, and their MixAmp remote gives much better control options than the basic control scheme found on the ear cups of the Corsair.
The Astro also have a more neutral default sound profile, more consistent audio delivery, a much better-performing microphone, and slightly better companion software. On the other hand, the Corsair have better noise isolation thanks to their closed-back design, as opposed to the open-back style of the Astro. The Astro have a more comfortable design for long gaming sessions, and their open-back design reproduces audio more consistently across different users.
They're also customizable through their companion software, unlike the HyperX. On the other hand, the HyperX's mic has a somewhat better recording quality, and their closed-back design means they leak a little less audio. The Astro are more comfortable and have a mixamp that allows you to adjust their sound on-the-fly. They also have a more neutral sound profile out-of-the-box and a better boom mic.
However, the Corsair support Bluetooth and have around 24 hours of playback time. Also, you can use them wirelessly via Bluetooth or Xbox Wireless. However, the Astro are better for wired gaming, as they're more comfortable, have a more neutral sound profile, and better microphone performance.
Also, their open-back design helps create a better passive soundstage. This Gaming A40 inline mute cable is compatible with This A40 cable cord replacement will allow you to use The 6. Check price on Amazon Sale Bestseller No. Fully Immersive in-Game Audio - 50mm directional Exceptional Wearing Comfort -Fitted with high-quality Sound Built for Immersive Gaming: Outfitted with All-day Comfort: Oval, cooling gel-infused cushions Retractable Noise Cancelling Microphone: An improved In-line Audio Controls: Includes an analog volume HyperX signature memory foam provides maximum comfort Adjustable steel slider for a solid and long lasting Mod Kit Ready - Features synthetic leather Dolby Audio: Dolby Audio delivers a cinematic, high Battery life: 15 plus hour rechargeable lithium ion Game: Voice balance: Gives the user total control over Astro command center software: The free Astro command Our patented magnetic Speaker Tag system lets you personalize your headset - purchase special editions or design your own using our online Speaker Tag Customizer.
Features synthetic leather noise-cancelling ear cushions, voice isolating mic, padded headband and closed back Speaker Tags. Browse the sections covering different levels of resources such as quick start guides and set up videos for all ASTRO Gaming products.
A40 TR Headset. Created with Snap. Previous Next. Primary Specifications Connector: 3. Requirements 3.