I love the Astro A50; there, I said it. Astro is a brand that really cares about the needs of gamers when it comes to audio, and that’s very evident in their products. Simply put, the A50 is the whole package, especially for those looking for a great solution that provides both 7.1 surround sound and no wires attached.
Let’s start with the design. It’s the tried and true headset design of the A40 and older A50. It’s big and bulky, and it even might look like it would be heavy on your head, but it’s not. It’s very light and comfortable, and a big part of that is thanks to the padding that resembles Tempur-Pedic material. The headband helps distribute weight and is a nice squishy cushion atop your noggin. While the earcups are deep (so your ears never scrape the inside) and fit nicely around your ears (instead of against them), ensuring sound doesn’t leak out and you’re getting optimal sound quality. At times it could feel a little loose, and it took some adjusting for me since I’m used to tighter headsets. The ear cups also adjust up and down the metal rails, while the cups can also fold flat downward to rest on you when you want to take a break. The whole design comes together for extreme comfort during long gaming sessions.
The sound quality is also phenomenal, as the A50 can handle anything you throw at it. There’s a closed back design and the headset uses 40mm drivers. I used it primarily for gaming (League of Legends, Battlefield 4, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel) and Netflix, while mixing in some music on Spotify — it handled everything brilliantly. There was no distortion at the highest volumes, and it packed punch while staying clear. In general, the A50 handled bass amazingly. The different EQ presets on the mixamp definitely helped with that. The 7.1 isn’t a pure 7.1 surround sound. The A50 is a stereo headset that gives the effect of surround sound. Still, it sounds phenomenal and I could locate the direction of sound with no problem. The unidirectional microphone is also very clear — good for everything from in-game chat to whatever podcast or call you’re on.
The whole package and setup is very sleek and easy too. It comes with a stand, mixamp, and all the required wires. Both the mixamp (which is the transmitter, receiver and charger for the A50) sits at the base of the stand, while the A50 rests on top, allowing easing charging and taking up less space than it should.
It becomes a bit of a hassle when switching your A50 between your consoles and PC, though. That’s where the Astro Gaming USB TX comes in. The USB TX lets you wirelessly connect to your PC while you leave your mixamp plugged into your console. Just a little larger than a USB stick, the TX plugs into a USB port on your PC or laptop, allowing 7.1 surround sound with a driver download. It didn’t suffer in sound quality at all and allowed me up to 45 feet in wireless range before suffering problems. There’s no buttons on the TX, which isn’t a problem since all of the controls are on the A50 headset itself. For $50, you get convenience and all of the sound quality you want out of a USB instead of the receiver. It really pays off if you want to use your A50 with multiple devices.
Overall, the entire package the A50 delivers is impressive and one of the best you can find on the market. It’s not cheap, but for what you’re getting, it shouldn’t be. It delivers the highest quality sound and is the perfect wireless option for serious gamers that are looking for a wireless audio solution without compromising audio fidelity. The USB TX, for another $50, makes the A50 easily used between multiple devices without sacrificing range and sound.
