Astro Gaming A50 wireless surround sound headset hands-on (video)

If you’re serious about your sound when it comes to gaming, chances are you’ve at least heard of Astro Gaming. Back in 2008, the company introduced its pro gaming-focused headset solution, the A40 audio system, and since then it’s been actively adding to its lineup with lifestyle headsets like the A30, and various improved refreshes of the A40 itself. In the lead-up to E3, the company announced the $300 A50 wireless audio system, marking its second major push away from the competitive gaming scene and into the living room. If you’ll recall, Astro first dabbled in specifically bringing its tournament headset chops to the living room last year with its first wireless solution, the MixAmp 5.8.

Although we were pleased with the 5.8’s performance and versatility — namely that it worked with any 3.5mm-equipped headsets across the Xbox, PS3 and PC like the wired MixAmp Pro — we worried some users would be put-off with having to deal with the three-piece setup. Basically, you had a wired headset that plugging into a belt pack, which wirelessly connected to a transmitter base. It appears that Astro took note as well, opting to get rid of the belt pack and cram its controls and radios inside of an A40, along with some other tweaks, including KleerNet lossless audio, to create the A50 — something we’d been hoping to see for a very long while. We spent some time with Astro’s Marketing Director, Aaron Drayer, to talk about the headset and try it for ourselves, and you’ll find it all detailed just past the break.

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Although this is Astro’s first embedded wireless gaming headset solution, it should be mostly familiar to anyone who has used the A40. The headsets are nearly identical from a distance, aside from the A50 having a red trim on its inner cabling and more matte accenting. The materials on both headsets are mostly the same as well, save for the headband which has extra padding. Naturally, it’s because the A50 is a bit heavier from now having all the MixAmp tech jammed inside of its earcups. Still, the headset pretty much has the tried-and-true comfort and fit that the A40 is known for — something that’s only rivaled by that of the Sennheiser PC 360 to our heads.

Among the main things that’ve changed, the earcups don’t support removable speaker tags and are now of the closed back variety, offering better isolation and bass response. Furthermore, the noise cancelling boom mic is nearly the same as the a40s, but it’s now non-removeable and affixed to the left earcup. This allows it to function like the PC 360’s boom mic, whereby muting is handled by simply flipping the boom upright instead of an inline mute switch like the A40’s. Moving along, the lower rear edge of the earcup houses a Xbox 360 chat cable port and Mini-USB for charging the unit’s battery. Estimated battery life is slated for 10-12 hours per charge, with an average lifespan of over three years. We’re told a service replacement program will be offered if the battery dies out, as it’s not user replaceable. The left earcup also packs its 5.8GHz KleerNet-equipped wireless radio, which is said to be compatible with newer HP Beats-enabled laptops out of the box.

The right earcup is where the MixAmp magic takes place. Rather than having the MixAmp’s balance dial for chat and game volume, the earcup is now a two-way rocker switch. Pressing forward gives you more game volume, while pushing back mixes in more voice volume. Thankfully, audio cues are given to inform you when you’ve maxed out in either direction or set the two to an even balance, however, we do wish there was a beep for every increment. If we had to nitpick, the rocker makes a bit of a hollow wom sound when pressed, but it does have a nice tactile click to it when pressed. The rear edge of this cup features a click-wheel for the overall volume, as well as a three-way audio preset switch (details in a bit). The wheel’s position made it lineup our thumb, making it easy to adjust volume quickly. Better yet, there was absolutely no static while adjusting it unlike previous MixAmps.

The three-way switch we mentioned is another first for Astro headsets. Out of the box, it has a Pro mode for shooters with toned down bass and enhanced highs, a Core mode mixed for a flat response and a Media mode that adds extra bass and mids for movies and music. Like Turtle Beach’s programmable headsets, Astro plans to offer software so that users can make custom presets down the line.

You’re might still be confused as to how sound gets to the headset itself. The unit has a transmitter base that’s functionally similar the MixAmp 5.8 TX, but it can only connect to A50 headsets because the 5.8 RX belt packs don’t use KleerNet lossless audio processing. It’s a bummer for those with A40 and A30 wireless systems, but understandable given that newer DSP is at play. The transmitter features an optical input with a pass-thru for your other home theater gear, a 3.5mm aux. input for chat connection to the PS3 or a music line-in with the Xbox 360, USB ports for charging and potential accessories, along with an input for a power cord. On it’s top there’s a button for power and Dolby Headphone switch for toggling between stereo and surround sound. By the way, the plastic stand shown is included to cradle headset for charging and storage while also holding the transmitter base. Conveniently enough, it can also hold a MixAmp Pro, but there’s no word on when it’ll be offered as a standalone accessory.

A quick round of Call of Duty let us test out the sound inPro mode, and unsurprisingly, it essentially sounds like an A40 with more isolation and added warmth. The Dolby Headphone-enabled virtual 7.1 gave us a good sense of the battlefield around us, and we didn’t feel as though the soundstage was drastically affected by the closed back earcup design. If anything, we felt more immersed since we were fairly isolated from everything around us. We didn’t notice any crackling or distortion either cranking the headset’s volume up, which is notable as Astro claims this headset is its loudest yet. Overall, the A50’s smooth and punchy voicing seemed very suited for the task at hand. As far as the microphone is concerned, we couldn’t gauge how it would sound to others, but the MixAmp-supplied voice monitoring is actually useable this time around. In past MixAmps the feature was distorted and barely audible, but now it’s clear enough that would could talk without shouting despite all the noise-isolation from the ear cups.

The A50 audio system is set to hit pre-order status in about two weeks, priced at 300 bones, with the first shipments set to hit doors in July. Rest assured that we’ll bring you our in-depth impressions once we get a unit in for review in the coming weeks.

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Sony PlayStation Pulse Wireless Stereo Headset Elite Edition hands-on

Aside from the PlayStation Move Racing Wheel and Wonderbook, Sony has one more accessory to show off at E3 — the Pulse Wireless Stereo Headset Elite Edition. Naturally, we hunted down this peripheral aimed at all-things audio to check it out for ourselves. The PWSHEE is the company’s second full-on PS3 headset to date, expanding on what it offered with its Wireless Stereo Headset from last year. As we’re told, the headset is also ushering in a new Pulse moniker for its PlayStation oriented ear-blasters, although there’s no word on what we can expect down the line. For now, this unit packs a lot on paper for its $150 price, touting key features like 7.1 virtual surround sound, PS Vita and cellphone compatibility (thanks to a detachable cable with inline remote / mic), BassImpact technology for massive low-end pulse (get it?), audio profiles, higher-fidelity drivers than the WSH and hidden noise-cancelling microphones for chatting. Does it have the potential to live up to its hype and one-up its $80 predecessor? Join us past the break for our initial impressions.

Visually speaking, the PWSHEE is less futuristic looking than the Wireless Stereo headset and it’s not a bad thing either — we wouldn’t feel dorky wearing it in public. The back of the earcups are finished in a deep glossy black with chrome circles on the yokes, while the the rest of the headset has a textured matte finish like the PS3. Although the drivers are new, the the size, shape and even the cups, and even the fauxe-leather earpads felt exactly the same to our ears as what’s on the WSH — not surprising, as the PWSHEE uses that headset as its foundation. Those pads had our head sweating in the past, so it’s shame that cloth versions are, again, not on offer. The headband and yokes are completely redesigned here, featuring two points of contact and more traditional adjustment rails, but the earcups still don’t fold flat and padding is sparse under the headband. Despite these minor quirks, the headset fit our noggin very comfortably, and we don’t feel as though it would be a burden to wear these during a gaming marathon.

So that’s the design. Let’s dig into those features. One major complaint we had the WSH was its retractable boom mic — namely that it felt flimsy and put an annoying light in our line of vision. This time around the noise-cancelling microphones are hidden in the earcups, and although we had no means to test their quality, not having any glare in eyes is a welcome improvement. As far as controls go, you’ll find sliders for voice, game and “pulse” conveniently placed along the edges (perfect for for quick thumb access), along with a Mini-USB port for charging, a 3.5mm input for the detachable cable, a power switch and and a toggle for Virtual Surround Sound. The wireless connection is handled by an included USB dongle like the WSH, but this unit has its own 3.5mm input. Our Sony rep wasn’t aware of what it’s for, but we’d imagine it’ll let you get wired into the console. About the only thing we couldn’t view on the headset were its onscreen status popups, although it’s likely similar to the what we experienced with the WSH.

The Sony booth was very loud, but the cans isolated noise well enough that we were able to gauge the sound quality a little bit. While we’ve generally placed vibrating earcups in the “gimmick” category, we actually came away quite impressed by the sound demo Sony had looping. The vibrations felt like a subwoofer on our head, rather than the buzzing of a cellphone. You can dial-in your preferred level of wub (or disable it) thanks to the volume control, and it’ll get intense enough to please the most demanding bass heads. The surround sound emulation was also pleasing, with a good sense of directionality from the front to rear channels.

We’ll be sure to give this headset a full run through our review gauntlet when it ships later this fall, but as it stands, $150 for this versatile, feature-packed headset is looking like a more-than-fair deal.

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