This is the comparison between the Astro A40 and the A50 headsets. Both the headsets are nice in gaming and also the sound quality is amazing. There are some different features that make these headsets unique. So here, you can get a clear idea about these headsets.

Astro A40	Astro A50
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Comfortable fit. Great gaming audio. Good microphone. Wired and wireless support.	Looks good. Good, balanced sound quality. Immersive surround sound. Comfortable.
CONS	CONS
Fiddly controls. Below-average battery life. Surround sound limited to PC users. No extra earpads in the box.	Tight fit can squeeze head with prolonged use. Connection issues in base station. Expensive.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Expert Reviews of Astro A40:

By Armchair Empire
The king of customization among all headphones we have reviewed thus far, the Astro Gaming A40 TR is indeed a gamer’s dream. It has infinite levels of customization and not to mention add-ons too. From the speaker tags that you can customize to the way…

By gadgetynews.com
The Astro A40 TR headset is brilliant for its designed purpose – gaming. The thing is that it’s also at the upper end of the price range. Aimed squarely at the more serious end of the gaming community, the Astro A40 TR is kitted out as such. The design…

By PC Mag
Astro Gaming’s pricey A40 TR + MixAmp Pro TR wired gaming headset is packed with features designed for serious competitive players, including a separate amp/mixer for controlling your audio…

By GameZone
For someone who isn’t a huge audiophile, I end up using a variety of headsets any given year. I mean, sure, at full disclosure, most of them are sent to me for review purposes, so therefore it is my job to wear them and then write about them, but out of…

By Trusted Reviews
If you want a wired gaming headset that delivers top-notch audio quality then the Astro A40 TR should be very high up your…

Expert Reviews of Astro A50:

By TrustedReviews
A remarkable gaming headset – but you certainly pay for it.

By Tom’s Guide
The Astro A50 delivers excellent comfort and rich wireless surround sound for serious gamers. While many gamers prefer wired headsets that avoid issues like low battery life and interference, the Astro A50 ( $299 on Amazon ) proves that a…

By PCWorld
The Astro A50 packs phenomenal sound and wireless convenience, if you’re willing to throw down $300.

By Kitguru.net
Today we will be taking a closer look at the Astro Gaming A50 Wireless Headset. ASTRO is a well-known name in gaming circles, having their A40 headset deemed the official PC headset of Major League Gaming. Boasting such features as KleerNet 5.8GHz…

By HardwareHeaven
and Rating Shown above we have the headset on its stand and overall it is a nice addition to the bundle and a good place to store the MIXAMP TX so Astro are already off to a good start on the basics and continue that by including all the cables we…

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Astro A40

The Astro A40 is Astro’s flagship wired headset and it comes in a similar design as the previous-gen with a new version of the mix amp which will set you back $250. You can purchase the headset for $150 and the mixed amp for $130 separately if you do not need both. There are also a lot of features for gaming and also for flexibility.

Astro A50

This headset is a high-end model of the Astro Gaming headsets. This also offers you many features and the sound quality is also amazing. Obviously, you expect these all for this price range.

DESIGN:

Astro A40

Astro has modernized the new A40 with metallic accents and small notes that give you the headset a more mature look than before. The Xbox version of this headset comes with red accents while the PlayStation version sports blue ones. Now, like the previous gen, the A40 is still highly customizable. All the current mod kits that are out there right now or mod kits that you’ve had before are compatible with this headset.

They do give you a variety of colors and designs to choose from but I feel like I would definitely see that price of $60 cut in half just cuz it doesn’t make sense to spend that kind of money just for some customizable speaker plates. However, the overall design does look exactly the same as the previous-gen Astro A40.

Astro A50

Whether you like the design or not, the A50 appearance is unmistakable as a gaming headset. It’s big, chunky and the microphone is anything but discreet. I actually think that the mostly black design is a bit more understated than the earlier models but if you rock these outsides then they’ll probably draw a bit more attention than a conventional pair of headphones. I don’t really think the design is a big deal with gaming headsets though because it’s not like you’re going to be cruising around town with these on.

COMFORT:

Astro A40

The fabric times on this headset can get pretty warm after wearing them for a while. If money really isn’t an issue for you then you can get the kit with the leather ear cups. Otherwise, it will be just suitable for cool temperatures. Overall, the headset is very comfortable and well built with the ability to be customized and fitted to suit any head shape or size.

One of the negative points of this headset is they do kind of feel bulky or they feel kind of chunky when you’re wearing them for a long time but you do get used to it and accustomed to it over time.

Astro A50

There is a mod kit you can buy which will give you different ear cushions that help isolate the noise. It’s an option if you really want this headset and leakage is an issue.

The fabrics they’ve used for the ear cups and headband are also nice and comfortable. There is also enough padding to let you comfortable. 

FEATURES:

Astro A40

In the box, you will get the headset, the mix amp, a 2.0 A40 inline cable, an optical cable, a micro USB cable, and a daisy link chain cable if you guys do plan on playing competitive or if you guys just want to have fun with your friends and just connect your mix amps. Now, like the previous-gen version, you do get tons of functionality with this headset and solid sound.

Instead of the headset, they made all the new changes to the new mix amp that they have. A new mix amp has a horizontal design instead of a vertical one. Side by side, you have the dials for the volume along with the game chat sound mix. The previous-gen mix amp will not sit still, it would slide off your desk with the slightest of tugs whereas the new mix amp does feel like it is a lot heavier. I feel like Astro will try to fix that problem by making the mix amp heavier which doesn’t really help. Astro could have added some rubber feet to the bottom of this mix amp and that probably would have been a much better idea instead of making it heavier than this one.

On the back of the new mix amp, we have multiple ports for functionality. We have a 3.5 millimeter port for the aux, a stream port for extracting the sound, and the same digital connector that you had any previous-gen mix amp. You can also still daisy chain multiple mix amps together to make it perfect for those lanes tournaments and gaming parties. There is also an spdif optical port for audio coming from your Xbox, ps4, or, sound card or you can connect them via USB straight to your computer. There is a switch on the mix amp, now that lets you toggle the mix amp between PC and console modes which on the old mix amp it doesn’t have that option.

Overall, aesthetically the new mix amp looks awesome. The dials have LED notches on them that light up red when your headsets muted and controlling the mix amp is done through the Astro command center which gives you a broad range of customization. If you guys do not know what you’re doing, please do not mess with the advanced settings in the customization with the Astro software.

Astro A50

You can just use these straight off the box and they sound fine but I’d recommend having a look at the command center software first. It’s a free download for both PC and Mac and it allows you to customize both the sound of the headset as well as the performance of the microphone. There’s a bunch of different options in the software to experiment with. You can select from different presets to load into the headset or you can create your own if you know what all these sliders do.

The options for the microphone are nice too, you’ve got control over the noise gate which is what helps cut out the background noise and you can modify the sidetone. Sidetone adjusts the volume of your voice being fed back into the headset. This was something that annoyed me about the gen 2 because I found it really hard to hear myself. So, being able to monitor the sound of my voice means that I don’t need to talk as loudly as I used to.

In addition to the quality of the audio, there have been improvements made elsewhere too. Pairing for example has been simplified so much so that I haven’t needed to pair them once since I’ve had them. I wouldn’t say that this was something I was doing all the time with my older A50 but not having to do it at all. A huge improvement over previous versions is the strength and range of the wireless signal. The gen 4 now uses the 2.4 gigahertz wireless frequency.

The range on these things is frankly ridiculous but this probably isn’t something that most people will take advantage of. If you live in an apartment building with a lot of wireless interference though or you move around a lot such as when you’re streaming then the boost in performance is a marked improvement over the older models. Latency has also been reduced, I can’t say that this was something I thought the old A50 struggled with but there are no improvements in this area.

You have a master volume dial on the base of the headset. There are two buttons either side that let you mix the game and chat audio, a button to toggle the Dolby Surround, a power button, and a button to switch between the different presets. On the front of the base station, you have four lights that indicate how much charge the headset has. It has an icon to show if Dolby is enabled, an icon to indicate if it’s in ps4 or PC mode as well as a display for the active preset. I don’t like the way that the presets are displayed because you have to remember what each number is but seeing as you can customize them I guess this solution makes sense.

Using them is incredibly straightforward, you simply plug them into your ps4, PC, or Mac and make sure it’s set to the right mode on the back and you’re good to go. Along with the USB and optical in, you’ve also got an optical pass-through if you need to run the audio into something else such as for recording purposes. You’ve got an auxiliary in if you want to run another source of audio into the headset and there’s also a USB charge port. This will actually charge the headset roughly fast.

There are some positive points are the quality of life improvements over the previous models, from how easily they charge to how plug-and-play they are. There’s not much you need to fiddle with to get the most out of this headset.

One of the most impressive conveniences it has over the competition is how it saves power. Most quality wireless headsets will automatically turn off after a short period of time when there isn’t any audio playing through them. The A50 though uses internal gyros that detect movement to determine if they’re being used or not, this means they powered down if they don’t sense any movement. You can simply take them off and set them down to quickly save power and they’ll power back on when you pick them up again.

I’ve never found the 15 hours of battery life to be insufficient. So, I haven’t made great use of this feature but I can definitely say that in the long term this could come in handy when the battery life shortens. By the way, this is something that happens to all batteries, it’s not a problem strictly limited to the A50.

MICROPHONE:

Astro A40

There are some adjustability features for the microphone. I mean, you can put the mic wherever you want to like left or right. You can remove the magnetic panel from the back of the ear cups and the mic can be put in and used. 

The sound quality of the mic is also rich and clear. It’s worth noting that this mic is one of the better microphone out of the gaming headsets mics. It will be great for gaming and any other informal works.

Astro A50

Actually, I have a complaint about the microphone on the older models and even many people had the same complaint. Thankfully, it’s been addressed. While it still doesn’t rival a dedicated microphone like the one that I use for voiceovers. It’s a colossal improvement over the gen 2.

The improved quality of the mic combined with being able to hear myself more clearly has meant that I’ve been able to communicate better with people online.

SOUND:

Astro A40

Connecting the headset directly to your ps4 controller sounds decent, nothing crazy for a $150 headset. It sounds almost the same as the previous headset aside from some minor improvements to the bass. Aside from that, you also have the Dolby Audio 7.1 preset and equalizer preset and a better frequency response from the mix amp which provides you awesome unique gaming experience. It produces a nice rich sound across the entire frequency range which also makes this a great headset if you are listening to music and watching movies.

Now, all in all, I feel like this is a decent gaming headset. The mix amp makes this a great headset. I feel like that just completes the whole package which is obviously why they sell it together.

Astro A50

Something I try as much as possible to anyone who enjoys playing video games is that sound is every bit as important as the visuals. Regardless of the types of games, you play quality audio is essential for getting the most out of your favorite game. Whether it’s being transported to another world or gaining an edge on the competition, you can’t ignore how important good sound is. In a perfect world with all the gaming with professionally tuned 7.2 home theater systems but the reality is that for many of us these systems are either too expensive or simply not practical. That’s why a good headset makes a lot of sense because even the top of the range equipment is generally pretty affordable.

The Astro A50 provides a simulated 7.1 surround sound that has been specifically designed with gaming. Astro describes them as being designed and professionally tuned to deliver audiophile-grade performance and while you can buy headphones that deliver superior sound as far as dedicated gaming headsets go, these are considered to be top-shelf.

The Astro A50 gen 3 and the gen 4 appear to be very similar but there’s actually quite a lot that’s new with a gen 4. The drivers are new, the wireless technology is new, and if you get the Xbox version it supports Dolby Atmos. The sound quality is excellent and regardless of the EQ setting you use, there is a clear separation of the lows, mids, and highs. I’ve never heard any distortion or clipping either and although some people might find the low-end a bit lacking compared to other headsets, it’s hard to argue that the mix isn’t well balanced and clean.

Out of the box, there’s three audio presets to choose from. The Astro setting is kind of an all-purpose gaming mode with a focus on deep bass and crispy high-end. Pro is more suited to competitive games like Call of Duty where being able to hear other players is important and the studio is the best setting for music and film as it has a warmer sound. I also found the studio to be a good option for cinematic games like God of War in The Last of Us. Overall, the sound quality probably leans a bit more towards the clinical side which makes them less suited for music but as a gaming headset, there isn’t anything I’ve thrown at them that didn’t sound great.

One complaint I’ve heard a few times from other reviews is the amount of audio leakage from the headset. Now, for those who don’t know this basically means how much people nearby can hear what you’re listening to. The A50 is an open-ear or an open back design which is what allows them to have such an impressive soundstage.

This is a pretty common design with high-end headphones and along with providing superior audio, the open-ear design also prevents your head from getting too hot as heat is able to dissipate more easily. Now, you can buy gaming headsets with a closed-back design like the inexpensive Sennheiser GSP 300 but I think unless you really need to eliminate noise that might disrupt other people, the sound leakage from the A50 shouldn’t be an issue.

WHICH TO BUY?

Both the headsets are high-end model headsets. Both the headsets are fantastic in audio quality and both have amazing features. The difference is whether you want a control box or not and which one you like the most as per their features but the A40 is much cheaper than the A50. The A50 is always my favorite headset for its convenience of use, comfort, and all the features.