PS4 Link: https://www.harveynorman.com.au/astro-a50-ps4-wireless-heads…
Xbox One link: https://www.harveynorman.com.au/astro-a50-xbox-one-wireless-…
I've been looking for a top range gaming headset for ps4 and this one came up. I don't know if the quality is excellent for the price but I think the price is pretty decent compare to jbhifi and ebgames. End tomorrow so you have less than one day to decide to grab one.
I always see people bagging on these gaming headsets saying that non-gaming ones are a lot better and cheaper, however I see good reviews on this a lot. Is there truth to those claims? Is there a reason I shouldn't get a gaming headset like this?
I use the a50s gen 2 on x1.
Sound quality decent but def not as good as a lot of other headphones including the hyperX clouds I have.
In game the 5.1 isn't that obvious and not a huge difference between it and stereo.
Mic quality bad
Often drops out - need to make sure youre xbox is on a different WiFi band if you don't have ether net plugged directly.
Mind you haven't really fooled around with the custom sound options when connecting to pc
I had one and returned it. This thing is heavy. It wasn't super comfortable for me but YMMV.
It also sounded bad. And the battery is not user replaceable so it will have a limited shelf life.
You need to keep in perspective who is reviewing these. An audiophile will say it is garbage like most gaming headsets. They are used to enthusiast grade products. A gamer will say these are perfectly good, but they probably have no experience with enthusiast gear and lack the perspective to compare.
Gaming headsets don't have the audio quality or the comfort of audiophile grade headphones but are expensive due to "gamer tax" which gamers are used to paying extra for the privilege of.
What audiophiles do is use open back headphones and a separate mic.
I think that you're overpaying if you buy products like these.
Sennheiser and Audiotechnica do make their own version of a gaming headset and so does Beyerdynamic but I don't remember the model name. They will sound better. But I don't have prices off the top of my head.
It's called target market. I have an ad900x paired with a mod mic, plugged into a matrix mini i pro headphone amp. My speakers are a pair of jbl 305 using xlr cables. You could call that entry level audiophile stuff. I've had a history of decent quality audio gear.
In the end, I don't care anymore. I hate wires. I want wireless for gaming and that's an important criterion. So, this is the next best thing. I think people who bag on "gamer" products lack some perspective. Yes, they tend to be subject to price discrimination, but they do have features that are important which may be absent on non gamer products, which could be a big factor during the purchase decision. Besides, not everyone who buys this cares about audio fidelity as if it was the only priority. They have other priorities, and just because it doesn't match someone's definition of value for money doesn't make them an idiot for buying it.
Edit: sorry if this comes off as a criticism to you, I'm responding to people who blanket gamer products as bad.
He was asking if the criticism of these products was valid and if the claims that non-gaming products are better and cheaper is true. I was merely confirming it and explaining why. He did not mention that wireless would be an imperative requirement. To every audiophile who criticises gaming gear, wires are assumed to not be a deal breaker, otherwise they wouldn't be an audiophile. He is asking the perspective of those people. Therefore wires not being a deal breaker is assumed given the audience.
if wireless is your only requirement or most important requirement, then yes this is what you will have to put up with. It's an expensive price and big compromise for that one feature though.
And if you are gaming on PC, you have other options such as Senn Momentums. Even on console, you can buy some wireless dongles that will allow you to connect any wireless headphone/headset to it, though I can't comment on whether you will get any quality loss.
but they do have features that are important which may be absent on non gamer products
This is actually not even true. If you are referring to wireless, plenty of non-gaming products are available in wireless. The problem is with the consoles. They don't allow you to just connect any wireless headphones to the console unless they have a dongle or use some form of mix amp connected by wire. This is the fault of Sony and MS, not the headphones themselves. They will work perfectly fine with Windows, iOS and Android.
Besides, not everyone who buys this cares about audio fidelity as if it was the only priority.
If you're buying Audio equipment and don't care how it sounds or how comfortable it is, what can I say? May as well get the Gold wireless headset from Sony that's often going for $69. It will do the job and it's wireless. The bigger deal than audio fidelity for me is the comfort, and these A50s were not comfortable to me at all.
Could you recommend me a wireless gaming headset (budget friendly). Thanks.
@akula: Depends on your budget, but the RIGS800s are great. I had a set of first gen (maybe second? Can't remember) A50s and replaced them with the RIGs and they're vastly better.
In the case of the PS4 you require an external surround mixer to have virtual surround (or Sony's headphones alone allow the PS4 to mix virtual surround to headphone out … very scummy move by Sony).
So the "base station" here is the mixer. And then you can plug any headphones into it.
You can also use your AV reciever to mix to virtual surround if it has this feature.
If you do not have these things then you will get a stereo output -> stereo rather than surround sound -> stereo virtual surround.
If you have a PC with optical in ($40 or so?) you can mix PS4 (or Switch) surround to any virtual surround you want using HeSuVi and Equalizer APO and play it to your headphones.
Bear in mind that of the many different virtual surround algorithms some work better than others and it may not work at all - this is because virtual surround depends on ear shape and head circumference … so doing the PC method is best in the sense that you can find one that works best for you.
I have owned and used both A40 (wired) and A50 (wireless) for about 3 years now.
My advice, if you're looking for wireless, you can get better and cheaper headsets.
What do you recommend? I am sick of my current wired solution, and use it exclusively for gaming.
Steelseries Arctis 7 and HyperX Cloud Flight (latest version). I'm also going to buy a new pair later this year, will be waiting for a sale on either.
At what price do you think the a50 with mixer is competitive? I might look into 2nd hand. Just getting a feel of how much people think they're actually worth.
Like Death I used the A50s until after 3 hack batteries replacements it stopped working. Went with the Arctis 7 about 6 months ago and loved it. Best part is the 'digital' duel headset inputs. Basically as a Windows gamer I can have Discord go to one output and Games (or just windows as a whole) to another.. and quickly balance the two with a dial on the headset as I need to when I need to head the game over chatter.. nice. Only thing i don't like - I miss swinging the boom mic up on the A50s to mute rather then trying to find the button on the Arctis.
I find the playstation stereo 2.0 is very comfortable and good. It has 7.1 vss.
But the Astro works on pc and for watching TV as well, since it's support optical audio. But it doesn't support 3d sound or 7.1 vss on ps4.
They’re good with shipping replacement cables. I contacted them a few years back whether they still have any cables in stock for my A30’s and they just asked for my address and sent one no charge. This was years after my warranty would have expired as well..
First Gen A50s used a Kleernet wireless chip to acheive sub 20ms latency. Blutooth 'APTX Low Latency' is ~40ms.
I think they've dropped Kleernet from their line up but it was the only reason I bought them.
Now that I'm older saving 20ms makes no difference & the lactency bottleneck is me.
Update: rtings are suggesting ~17ms latency.
Good practical info. Thanks for that.
Try to check these out in the shops before buying, they are too heavy in opinion…
I had A50 Gen 2s and they were garbage.
Terrible support, the drivers wouldn't work half the time and I ended up having to mix and match the drivers for the base station and the headset till I found one that worked without issues. Then there was the hum that you could hear in the headset that wouldn't go away. Then the thing just died on me for no reason.
They are also heavy, don't sound crash hot, and are overpriced.
For Xbox, I ended up with Rig 800LX ( https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/plantronics-rig-800lx-wir… ) and they are the best balance of fully wireless with XBOX, PC and PS4 (though PS4, you can't use the dials on the headset, but it works wirelessly). The sound is good, not amazing, but I rate them as the best bang for buck out there. For $199, you can't go wrong.
I feel that way about the rig 800. Total crap, struggled to get them to connect, drop out during chat and couldn't get a balance between chat and game.
I have a gen 4 of these and don't mind them. I never use them for more than 2 hours at a time so don't really notice the weight. My biggest issue is with the Mic and it doesn't come with a wind shield. I had to fashion one myself as I sit in front of a fan or aircon unit. Sound aren't as good as my turtle beach xo7's but I find they are more directional. Would i get them again? Possibly depending on what else was around and what I could try out first.
These are Gen4
Was about to buy these, but I decided to get the Steel Series Arctis 7 off amazon for $195. Seemed like a better buy according to reviews and comparisons.
for people who missed out, can see mighty ape selling it for $378 at the moment, not sure about shipping:
https://www.mightyape.com.au/product/astro-a50-wireless-gami…
Great price I got them for $349 in December. Unreal quality and comfort