Astro A40 TR Pro Gaming Headset Review

Peter Donnell / 9 years ago

Final Thoughts

Price

The Astro A40 TR Headset with Mix Amp Pro is available from the Astro store for £200, while the optional A40 TR Mod Kit is available in BLOPS3 and Green formats for £48 on its own, that’s a total of £248, which isn’t cheap I know, but you’re not going to find anything better for less and certainly get a level of quality and features that justify the price.

Overview

Once again I’m blown away with the quality and performance that Astro can deliver. The Astro A40 is one of my all time favourite headsets, but the TR upgrade, as well as the addition of the Mod Kit accessories, have taken an already fantastic product to new heights. I will always buy a headset for the best sound quality before I pay any attention to its design, but Astro has mastered both beautifully. The overall design is certainly appealing, Astro make some of the best-looking headsets on the market. Add to that the huge range of backplates, including custom-made ones, as well as the Mod Kits, and you’re sure to find something you love.

The drivers are loud, powerful, detailed and distortion free no matter what you through at them. The advanced EQ features are certainly something to commend, but the stock out-of-the-box settings are good enough that I doubt many would even want to look at the more advanced features. Movies sound amazing, especially with the Dolby enabled, music sound rich and detailed and gaming is given new life that will help you get even more involved with your favourite digital universe.

The microphone performance is fantastic, natural tones and good noise cancellation are standard, making it great for team chat when gaming on any compatible device, but just as adept for Skype calls, Twitch streaming and more. The Mod Kit headphone performs even better in a noisy environment, but since you can unplug and attach whichever one you need, it’s easy to tailor it in seconds.

Mix Amp Pro is a huge advantage over most other headsets, giving you great control over sound mixing and EQ with relative ease. What really stands out, however, is the connectivity options. You can hook up audio from AUX, optical and USB, making it widely compatible with Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and desktop systems with minimal fuss in terms of setup and configuration. Add to that the fact that you can daisy-chain multiple Astro Mix Amp Pros for lag-free, high-quality audio, all individually EQ’d and mixed and ready for team gameplay and streaming.

Overall, the Astro A40 TR, the Mix Amp Pro and the Mod Kit, are examples of why the retail price is almost £250. You get so many features and lots of customisation for your money that I can’t help but feel this package is still excellent value for money.

Pros

Exceptional sound quality
Advanced streaming features
Multi-format support
Easy to set up and use
High-quality and lag free link for multiple headsets
Custom EQ settings
Dolby surround that actually works
Customisable design
Excellent
Excellent build quality and design

Cons

None

“Astro continues to dominate the high-end gaming headset market and the A40 TR is one of their best yet. If you need features and performance than can not only make your own gaming experience more enjoyable, but also bring tangible benefits for steaming and team play, then you’ll want this setup at the top of your shopping list.”