Astro A40 + Mixamp M80 Xbox One Headset Review

Performance

Astro headsets have always blown me away with their exceptional performance and this time around was no exception. The A40 instantly impress with their overall sound quality, so much so that I grabbed a drink, kicked back in my chair and ended up “testing” this headset for far longer than I normally would any other headset. This may be a gaming headset, but I found that it really delivers everything I want from a headset in terms of music performance. Bass is rich and detailed, with plenty of low-end grunt, the mid tones are warm sounding, really powerful and full sounding and the treble is pin sharp without ever being harsh, even at maximum volume.

Gaming performance was also incredible, the sound is really well balanced, giving you all the detail you need to pick out the footsteps of enemies creeping up behind you, while also giving you the rich ambience and thumping bass from explosions; you would be fooled to thinking this was a fully native surround headset, as the channel separation is simply mind blowing.

Chat audio is as good as it gets, clear and distortion free, delivering natural tones throughout and the fact that you can adjust game and chat volume levels independently of each other is another welcome bonus.

Movie performance is, you guessed it, fantastic. Spinning through the Battle of Pelennor Fields from Lord of the Rings was thrilling and while I wouldn’t be giving up my home cinema setup for the headset just yet, it’s certainly the next best thing I’ve heard; perfect for when I don’t want to disturb the neighbors.

Without a doubt, this is one of the best sounding headsets I’ve ever tested and while it works great with the Xbox One, you’ll find it’s great on your mobile, PC or anything else you care to connect it to.