Astro A50 (Gaming)

by Beorn , <End of Failed Timeline>, Wednesday, July 22, 2015, 23:25 (3223 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Does anyone here run either setup, have any opinions, able to steer me in the right direction here?

I run with Astro A50s (Gen2) and they usually work great. With come caveats. The default controller adapter that comes with the A50s is completely awful. I don’t know how the thing even got off the development floor because I’ve never had it function properly and neither has anybody else I’ve talked to or read about. When using that connector, the chat audio levels, both in- and out-bound are way too low and the mic is generally unresonsive.

The actual game sound, when piped through the wireless MixAmp via the optical connection, is absolutely superb and has full surround-sound. The headphones themselves are very comfortable for long gaming sessions, which is very nice, and the battery life is pretty darn impressive (as long as I keep them charged, they’ll run for 10+ hours without a problem).

To fix the chat issue you need:

• An Xbox Stereo Headset Adapter ($25) - this also comes with a 360-XB1, 2.5mm-3.5mm adapter cable that you’ll need)
  
• An Xbox 360 “talkback” chat cable (about $8)*

*I actually got my chat cable for free when I emailed Astro customer support about the chat adapter issue. They shipped out a cable at no cost and I had it a couple days later.

PlayStation 4 is a lot easier because the PS4 recognizes the Astro MixAmp as a standard USB mic, so I don’t even need cables for the PS4… super nice.

Anyway, the whole setup took a while to nail down after the simplicity of the 360, but now it’s working great.

Good luck!