Xbox Addict

Astro A40 Audio System

If you play online games and the Xbox 360 as much I do, hell as much as most of the staff here on XboxAddict.com.   A decent pair of headphones is a crucial element for communicating online with your allies, and ultimately to have the best online gaming experience.

Personally, I'd go through a pair of headphones a year. These cheap plastic things just didn't last my rough gamer environment. Plus, having the kids step on them didn't help.

I was sent a pair of Astro Gaming headphones and MixAmp, the kit is called the A40 Audio System. I immediately thought to myself, "How much better can these headphones really be?" ... Well folks, it's simply a night and day difference to say the least. The overall quality or these two items blew my mind.

The headphones are incredibly well built, plus a few of the parts are completely replaceable.   Then I hooked these up on my Xbox 360 in the proper Dolby 5.1 configuration, the sound quality exceeded my expectations. Let me just say that you're in for a real treat. Shortly after, I decided to hook this up to my PC, same great quality.

The MixAmp module is probably the smartest thing in the package. Most times, headphones are not built by video game players. They are built by manufactures that only listen to classical music, and that sip on Champaign, and no kids in their homes. Astro has built a compact amplifier that draws its power from the USB port, and you can cross fade to have the game louder of the other players voices louder. That is just smart engineering, by people that either watch gamers behind a glass window or actually play games.

At the rear of the unit it has the USB port, an optical, and coaxial digital audio jacks, RCA left and right, and pc microphone jack, and another jack to plug an Mp3 player. It also comes with every cables you'll ever need to hook this thing up to your PC or your console.

Although, I haven't owned the headphones nor used them for a complete year.  I'm confident that they will outlast my old pair.

All, I can say, this kit is the perfect audio combo that I've ever put on my head and ears to date. If you play games online in any fashion, do your ears a favor and buy these.

Hopefully we'll get to take a peek at other quality Astro products in the near future.  Checl them out at www.astrogaming.com