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A50 Wireless Gaming Headset
Score: 96%
Developer: Astro Gaming
Device Type: Audio
Compatible With:


Function:

Astro Gaming has made a name for themselves with their gaming headsets. However, some people don't like to be tied down with wires. The A50s are Astro Gaming's answer to those people who were looking for something with no strings attached.

Performance:

The A50 Wireless Headset utilizes KleerNet 5.8GHz wireless technology, providing a high-quality, clear and higher fidelity sound signal with less chance of interference. (Nice.) The sound quality is amazing, especially with the very convincing 7.1 Dolby surround in effect. I was even noticing spacial effects in certain songs I listened to on my PC. Crazy.

I found the A50 Wireless Headset to be best used with the PC, and, unless you have an amazing sound card that you want to use the optical audio out from, you can simply plug the USB connection into your PC and use the A50 transmitter's internal audio device as your sound card. For 360 or PS3, however, you'll need to plug in the included TOSLINK optical audio cable in addition to the USB connection for powering the transmitter. The transmitter features both an "Optical In" and an "Optical Out" port for passing the audio along to other devices, should you want to do that. If you don't use the optical audio cables, you can substitute a standard mini audio cable in the "Aux In" port, but there isn't a pass-through port for that.

Also, although on the PC you can use the A50's MixAmp transmitter as an audio device (instead of using your own sound card or mainboard-embedded sound), the EQ settings don't seem to have any effect on the sound if it is generated by the MixAmp. Sound that is piped in via the optical audio, however, is affected by the EQ - and to good effect. The three settings are numbered 1, 2 and 3 and seem to be, essentially, 'straight', 'fuller' and 'fullest / theatrical' - although the names used by Astro Gaming are 'Native', 'Astro' and 'Media', respectively. (The 'Astro' setting is tuned with the intention of being used with games.) Reportedly, a future firmware upgrade will allow for customizable EQ settings to be assigned to these three EQ positions, so perhaps mine is simply set to flat-lined for all three. I am contacting Astro Gaming about this issue and will follow up with their response and any resolution.

The A50 Wireless Headset is easy to hook up and use - especially if you read the instructions fully before trying things. For example, the headset and the transmitter are shipped pre-paired to each other. Unless you have a problem with them, you shouldn't have to pair them at all. Personally, I read the instructions on how to pair them (and followed them) before I read the part that I didn't have to do that.

One obvious point of consideration is the price: the A50 Wireless Headset is at the $300 price point - putting it in the "high end" market. The A50s generally live up to the price, with high quality, comfort and nice features, but their value will also depend on your personal preferences. For example, the A50 Wireless Headphones are some of the most comfortable full-sized headphones I've ever used, being light-weight, nicely padded and sitting quite comfortably on the head. However, I prefer ear cups that sit on the ears, rather than around the ears, so I, personally prefer the feel of my trusty A30 wired headphones (link below). (I have one pair at home and one pair at work, in fact.) Over time, the A50s tended to get a little warm (not hot), whereas my A30s stay cool even during all-day usage. The upside of the over-the-ear construction is that, although the A50s don't feature active noise cancellation, the ear cups do an excellent job of cutting out ambient sounds around you. This is good when you want to remain immersed in a game. This is not so good when your wife is trying to get your attention. Just sayin'.

Astro Gaming claims that the internal battery is supposed to get around ten hours of use when charged for five hours. In my personal experience, it seemed to be closer to eight hours of usage, but I rarely would charge my headphones for five hours straight. The auto cutoff feature helps your charge last longer when you're not actively using your headphones and, of course, the volume you use them at will affect how long your charge actually lasts. The biggest problem with this internal battery is not its battery life, but its service life. Batteries lose potency over time and, given that the battery is internal (and not easily removable), when your A50s get on up in age, you're going to be looking at getting them serviced by Astro Gaming to replace your battery. Something that might be worth considering.

For those familiar with the previous Astro Gaming headphone products, you're likely aware of their MixAmp (link below). This device adds flexibility and control to your audio by allowing you to control the mix of Game and Voice Chat feeds, as well as piping in an auxiliary feed and tweaking the sound quality. The A50 Wireless features a version of the MixAmp built-in to the headphones, themselves. This makes for a nice package with controls for tweaking you sound right on your headphones, but since it's wireless, it limits the functionality of the MixAmp feature a bit. For example, you can't output your mixed sound to share with another device, as you could with a standalone MixAmp. This may or may not be an issue for you. Given that the standalone MixAmp is upwards of $250 on its own, this helps to make up for the high cost of the A50 Wireless Headphones.

The A50 Headsets are wireless - on the PC or PS3. The Xbox 360's LIVE Chat has that annoying little wire connected between the controller and the headset, but - even then - you're not playing across the room from your television with a wire leading from your head all the way across the room. And, when you're not using them, the included headphone stand provides a nice and safe place to store your headphones - and show them off. This is one of those extra touches that Astro Gaming has built its reputation on. Why, even their packaging is archival quality; I keep the boxes in case I ever need to ship or store their products.


Features:
  • 5.8 GHz KLEERNet Wireless (Comes Pre-Paired)
  • Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound
  • Built-In MixAmp 5.8
  • Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery
  • Display Stand
  • Optical Audio Cable Included
  • Includes 2 USB Cables (Transmitter and Headset Charging Cable)
  • 3 Built-In Equalizer Settings
  • Game / Voice Balance Control
  • 30' Range
  • Easy-to-Reach Controls on Right Ear Cup
  • Boom Mic that Self-Mutes When Pointed Upwards

Drawbacks & Problems::

In general, the construction is sturdy. However, the construction is primarily plastic. While it is a sturdy plastic, it's still plastic, and with a price of around three hundred dollars, there's a certain amount of longevity expected.

On my review unit, I found that something in the right ear cup would rattle if I tilted my head to an extreme angle to one side or the other. Eventually, I isolated the problem: the three-position slider for the EQ settings has a little bit of play and it shifts with gravity when I move my head side-to-side. It's a rarity that I move my head like this while wearing the A50s, but it's worth mentioning, as it's fairly loud-sounding in my right ear. I talked with someone else who had a pair and they had never experienced this rattle, so it might be a defect with my review unit. I also tried out another unit and found that it wasn't nearly as noticeable as on my review unit, but it did have a slight bit of play in it.

There's another sound that is loud and annoying - the beeps that the A50s make to inform you that they're turning on or off. When you turn them on, you want to wait until you hear them beep before you put them on, so the beep doesn't hurt your ear. However, there's a different three-tone beep that occurs when the A50s power off. This will happen if the A50's battery runs out of power or if there's been an extended period of silence. This three-tone sound is at whatever volume you've set your A50s to, which can be quite alarming and even painful if you've been listening to something with the volume up and then there is extended silence. Similarly rude sounds occur when you have changed the Game / Voice mix all the way to one extreme or the other.

One feature of the previous Astro Gaming headsets was their magnetic, customizable "tags" - essentially cover-plates on the outside of the ear cups. While a bit superficial, they were a nice way to show clan or team affiliation or add a bit of personality without permanently modifying your headset, such as with a paint you shouldn't have tried yourself. The A50 Wireless Headset does not have this feature, probably due to a non-removable boom mic on one side and the fact that pushing on the other side is used to control Game / Voice mixture. Still, for fans of previous Astro Gaming products, it's worth mentioning.

Right-handers of the world, rejoice - the A50 Wireless Headset is designed for us. However, left-handed gamers will have a tough time of using the controls mounted on the right ear while wearing them. Further, the boom mic only lowers on one side, so you can't simply flip the headset around to put the controls on the left ear cup.

One thing that I read elsewhere but did not experience was an issue where the audio would briefly drop out every few minutes. This has been resolved in the most recent version of the firmware and the audio quality was consistent in my experience.

So, the final word? There are a lot of little things mentioned above that might be detractors to some, but they pale beside the sheer audio quality and very convincing surround sound. When I was testing it out on my consoles with my surround sound speakers and my headset on and turned down the surround sound speakers, the surround sound got a little quieter, but never lost its feeling of spaciousness; I didn't realize the surround sound was turned all the way down until I removed the headphones. If you're looking for a headset that is wireless, supports optical audio, is comfortable enough to wear for several hours at a time and can work with PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 with all the needed cables provided in the box... and the $300 USD is within your budget... the A50 Wireless Headset might be just what you're looking for.


-Geck0, GameVortex Communications
AKA Robert Perkins

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