Astro A50 vs. A40

[Tehterokkar]

Hey!

Going to buy a new headset in the next few days and would be nice to know what's the deal between these 2.

-I know they are basically the same one, but A50 is wireless
-How long does the battery last? I sometimes sit on my computer up to 12-14 hours per day if nothing else to do, would they last that long?
-Does the quality drop as the battery goes down?
-The Charging cable is 0.5m long, is there a way to get a longer one?
-MixAmp, the site I'm looking at advertises the MixAmp on the A40 page but no mention on A50(Do they have the same sound quality? Is the MixAmp built into the black box on A50s?)

Also overall opinions between the two are appreciated.

[phred754]

If you are going to spend that kind of money on a headset, you can do much better than Astro. Buy something from sennheiser or another reputable audio company.

[Biernot]

If you are going to spend that kind of money on a headset, you can do much better than Astro. Buy something from sennheiser or another reputable audio company.

This.
The Sennheiser PC360 costs about the same as the Astro A40 and is probably the best affordable Gaming Headset you will find.

I would stay away from wireless: The sound quality is either not as good, or it's very expensive.

[Tehterokkar]

Well my limit is about 300€. Can I get the PC360 + Soundcard for that amount?

[llDemonll]

I own both, here are my thoughts and answers to your questions

-A40's are open-back headphones. They will pick up ambient noise such as people talking. A50's are closed-back, but not noise cancelling. They will block out ambient noise to an extent, just like any other closed-back headphones
-A40's are lighter, but not much lighter. The wireless stuff in the A50's really didn't add a lot of weight to the headphones like I thought it would
-No, the sound quality does not degrade on the A50's as the battery goes down. They will start beeping at you once they recommend charging (with like 10-20 minutes of usage left depending on what you're doing) and will then die and need to be plugged in. Enough time you can plan accordingly
-They last probably 10 or so hours. I haven't ever sat with them long enough to kill them in a single gaming session
-Yes, you can get a longer cord. The included cord is just a short one

Regarding the mixamp:
-The A40's have a "true" mixamp. it has some sound processing built in, can be daily-chained with other mixamp at lans for direct mixamp-to-mixamp communication (no going through the computers first)
-The a50's have the wireless receiver which is what plugs into the computer, and the "mixamp" is built into the headphones. you can adjust game/voice balance there and also volume and choose between 3 different presets

I never had a mixamp hooked up to my computer with my a40's (i have a first gen mixamp) so i can't comment on the differences between the two

I have my A40's and A50's still. A40's are hooked up to my xbox (which is rarely used) and the A50's are on my computer and used all the time. If I had to buy one again, I'd probably pick A50's again. The wireless seems like a gimmick at first, but being able to stand up and grab something is nice. They get reception through about 2 walls before it starts to diminish, and it's a quick drop-off, not something that gets progressively worse. easily work up to 50 feet away, probably much further without walls but 50 feet is the furthest line-of-sight i can get in my house

[Tehterokkar]

Looked at some, is the Creative Sound Blaster Z PCI-E soundcard worth picking up?

I can pick it up for 99€ and main purpose is to use it for gaming.

[Deleted]

Headset:

Sennheiser PC 350 Gaming Headset Special Edition €190 (closed design)
Sennheiser PC 360 €185 (Open design)
Sennheiser PC 363D €250 (same as above but with a few tweaks and improvements)

Soundcard:

Asus Xonar DGX €39

alternative link/site:

http://www.multitronic.fi/

[Biernot]

The best sound card would be the Asus Xonar Essence STX, but that is a bit of overkill. ($160)

The Soundblaster Z is also a very good card ($100). Alternative from Asus would be the Xonar DX ($80)

If you don't want to spend as much, get an Asus Xonar DGX. It's a no-frills sound card in the cheaper segment ($40), but still has an integrated head phone amp.


All that said, even with a high-end headset like the Sennheiser 360, you won't hear much a difference between the $40 Asus and the $100 Soundblaster.