Second Chance ASTRO A40 TR Wired Gaming Headset for PS5, PS4, PC

I will have a long doubt about which headset I would buy because I was very happy with my previous astro A40 (2nd generation), but after 10 years it was worn out on several fronts and in need of an upgrade. Astro's are pricey but have already proven to me that they are worth their expensive price tag and especially if you are looking for top quality for a console! I was sure I wanted an Astro again, but wasn't sure which one?

I looked at this one, the Astro A50 and the Astro A40 with the older Mixamp (1-3rd generation). Because I wanted a new version anyway, the last one fell off. The wireless of the A50 really appealed to me, only the A50 does not have a mixamp but a gear wheel on the bottom of the headset. Here the sound is slightly less adjustable, especially mid-game. There are 2 buttons on this Mixamp where the sound can be set exactly how you want it. The big one is for the sound and the small one is for the balance between game and chat sound.

Because my previous astro lasted so long, I also expect that from this one and even though the A50 now lasts 15 hours, it will probably be slightly less after years of gaming. And a headset that cuts out midgame didn't really appeal to me. Hence my choice for this Astro. And what an upgrade; The sound is crystal clear! The mixamp is easy to connect to the xbox, but also to the PC/Mac for tweaking and updates! All necessary cables are included and are of better quality than my previous ones that came with it ... usually this is the other way around.

There are standard 4 sound profiles on the mixamp and you can adjust these or create something yourself. There are plenty of videos on youtube to tweak them even further for the type of game you play such as Warzone or Battlefield to be able to hear footsteps even better. But if you adjust the settings of your game for the headset and find the perfect balance in terms of level and balance game/chat, this is almost no longer necessary in the 1st profile!

It is also very nice that the cables can all be separated from the mixamp and especially from the headset itself. Many headsets have a cable attached to the headset itself. If this breaks, the entire headset is often no longer usable and not with this Astro.

The mixamp itself does not need a power cable, but gets its power via USB from your console. It is a pity that the mixamp itself does not have a power button, so in my case the mixamp does not turn off unless I remove the USB cable. My xbox always goes into sleep mode to get updates in the background, but this keeps the mixamp on. I'll have to check this out in the settings to see if the USB ports can be closed....

The rotary knobs of the mixamp have a small stripe that are illuminated. When you mute the mix, these lights will be red, making it easy to see if the mic is muted. The mute button is a slide on the cable instead of a real button and so it takes some getting used to and messing around to quickly mute/unmute without looking in the beginning.

The headset is quite tight and firm on your head, but it is becoming more comfortable and better on my head.
I find the cushions still a bit on the hard side, but I had my previous headset for so long that they were very soft. The earpads can also be detached and replaced. With my previous, these were not worn out but also very often dirty and dusty and therefore not easier to clean / replace.

I do have the headset on the largest setting and I don't have the largest size in terms of caps, so maybe the headset is a bit tight if you have a larger head.. however, the headset does stretch a bit after a while. I did see in the store that the Astro A50 was slightly larger with extension, just like the previous generations of Astro a40s.

I've been using it for a few weeks now and I'm very happy with it and I can recommend it to anyone! A must have if you play shooters!