Astro makes improvements to its dynamic duo
The Astro A40 and the Mixamp have endured the test of time. The iconic duo has been a staple of the esports scene since the early days of “Halo” tournaments, and based on its performance, the headset and peripheral have built a following among gamers.
Part of the reason for the A40 and Mixamp’s longevity is that Astro updates the technology while keeping the design mostly the same. Now in its fourth generation and upgraded to be “tournament ready,” the Astro A40 TR and Mixamp Pro TR have evolved into key components for anyone wanting to stream or compete online.
Keeping iconic form
The Astro A40 TR retains its classic design with its open back, customizable speaker tags and removable boom microphone. The headset can be modified to be closed back with a separate kit. That should improve the noise isolation, but the stock version does fine on its own with its cloth ear cups.
It’s a look that’s not only distinct to the brand, but also provides outstanding comfort. Similar to the HyperX Cloud, the A40 is the type of headset that players can wear for marathon sessions. The Astros sit atop the head snugly without putting much pressure around the ears or temples.
The one element that has held the A40 back has been the sound quality. Compared to its peers, the audio has been a little muddy. The company tries to fix this with an upgrade it calls the Astro Audio V2. The hardware was tuned in collaboration with pro gamers. The result is better audio that emphasizes bigger, booming bass.
The overall sound has a warmth to it that has always been a brand signature. The headset coupled with the Mixamp Pro TR produces sound that feels larger than what one would find in an ear cup. Although the audio isn’t crystal clear in the mids and highs, it excels at producing the lower-frequency audio without distortion. That means explosions will feel larger and gunfire will be punchier in shooters but fainter details like a fountain in the background may be lost. The audio seems to focus on the important sounds in esports gaming, it’s the alert tones or the sound cues that play big role in gameplay.
With the Mixamp Pro TR, the A40 does great job at reproducing the spatial audio. The device features Dolby Digital Surround sound processing and that’s useful in competitive shooters where knowing the position of shotgun blasts is important. Each channel is distinct and increases the immersion. It stands up with just about any other surround sound experience out there.
Improving a mainstay
Over the course of the past few years, many have tried to clone the Mixamp, but few have been able to capture its accessibility. What separates the Mixamp Pro TR from those other devices is its ease of use and versatility. For uninitiated, the Mixamp is a device that processes audio. Originally, it was used for competitive gaming, allowing squads to control the volume of team chat along with the sound of the game itself. It let squads communicate clearly while also hearing the audio cues from the game. The Mixamp let players adjust the two audio sources and combine them on the fly.
Since then, Astro has expanded and improved the device. It made it all digital to eliminate the communication lag when several are daisy-chained together. It added four presets in the latest version with a setting tuned by staff, one that balances the audio, one that produces a flat sound and another that lets players hear footsteps and other nuanced sound.
Players can alter these settings or add presets from professional gamers via the Astro Command Center. All the tweaks are fairly rudimentary with the option for fine-tuning. In addition, the Command Center app lets players adjust A40 settings such as the microphone sensitivity.
One of the bigger improvements is the emphasis on streaming. The Mixamp is one of the easier ways for players to adjust the audio from the game, chat, microphone and auxiliary sources. From there, they can feed it into the stream courtesy of a 3.5 mm jack in the Mixamp so they all work in harmony in the broadcast. It’s a way to make sure that one audio source doesn’t drown out the others or it also the audience hear a player chat with teammates during an online game.
This feature requires the Command Center, which sets up the audio mix, and streaming software that supports the line-in connection. The hardest part of getting the feature to work is adjusting the input and outputs on the computer along with the streaming software. If it’s not done correctly, players can have issues such as echoey voices on stream. It may take a few tests to figure out how to use the Mixamp Pro TR, but once they get it right, gamers have a powerful tool to make their streams sound more professional.
That new emphasis along with a revamped design makes the Mixamp Pro TR more forward-looking. The new layout makes it easier to use all the devices features: Everything from toggling between PC and console modes to balancing the game and voice audio is much simpler.
With the Astro TR headset and Mixamp Pro TR, the company doesn’t try to reinvent a classic duo. Astro knows it has an iconic pair, and with the fourth generation, it shores up some core weaknesses while maintaining that accessibility. It’s a delicate balancing act that the company gets right.