Astro A40 Audio System quick impressions
(photo from Astro’s site)
I received my A40 yesterday! I was impressed right-away by the packaging. Both the headset and MixAmp came in large heavy black boxes with orange accent color inside. They sell you on the quality of the product before you even get into the product itself. The headset comes inside of a heavy duty travel case too (I’ll try to post photos later). The build quality of both the A40 headset and MixAmp feel great.
I gave the system a test run last night on my Xbox 360 with Borderlands co-op. I’m not sure if it’s the best 5.1 mixed game, but I was quite impressed with how easily I could pick-out the direction of my co-op friends and enemies just from the audio. The biggest plus over regular headphones was being able to voice chat while enjoying being enveloped by the in-game sound.
The only downside I can see so far is the amount of cable clutter, because these headphones are not wireless. If you don’t use batteries for the MixAmp it requires a USB cable for power, plus the optical audio cable from the console. You then plug the headset into the amp, and when on 360 you run another cable from the controller to the amp for voice chat (up to 4 cables to/from the amp). It’s not too bad though for the features you get. On PC you can run it through just USB if you want.
That’s my quick impressions so far. Overall I’m quite happy with the A40 Audio System. I just need to buy some longer optical cables and maybe some cable sleeving to cutdown on cable clutter from the console (combine the USB and optical).
Ordered: Astro A40 Audio System
I found that Dell.com has the best price for the Astro A40. I opted for the A40 instead of the new smaller A30 because I like the over ear style headphones, and from Dell they cost about the same.
To justify the price:
- I just got my tax return and I plan to save the rest of it.
- I was thinking about getting an extra $109 1.5 TB hard drive (that I don’t really need).
- I needed a new Xbox 360 headset anyway (at least $30 for a good one).
- I have a large backlog of games I need to play, so with some restraint I won’t be buying any other games for at least a month.
- Playing Borderlands co-op with my friends. Voice chat + 5.1 sound.
- I’ve been doing lots of PC gaming with headphones on. Upgrade!
Update: A few more justifications for my buying expensive headphones.
- It’s like 4+ headsets in 1; supports PC/Mac, 360, PS3 etc. It would get pricy if I needed different headsets for each.
- I can enjoy 5.1 sound in games without inflicting it on my neighbors or girlfriend.
- I have a thing for headphones, I find myself looking at them in stores when I don’t even need or want any.
Astro A40 Audio System - I really want this $250 gaming headset/amp. 5.1 Dolby and Dolby Surround Headphone, full voice chat support across Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. I think I may save-up and invest in a set.
