Brand New Astro A50 for PS4 currently $97.50 at bestbuy.com. Possible Pricing Error

My order is 'ready for pickup', but I'm currently in a blizzard aftermath, so hopefully they don't mess with anything for a few days.

 
What an outstanding deal for those that got it purely on what the MSRP is suppose to be. Almost all wireless headsets are not very good though. These included. Just get a great pair of wired headphones and attach a v-moda boom mic for under $100 and it will smoke any wireless headset that is out there.

 
Not shipped yet. I may not even keep them as I use the hyperx cloud alpha wired and those are fine plugging into controller. Curious to see how sound quality is
 
Mine just shipped. I already have HD 598s + a modmic for PC but it'll be nice to have a wireless headset for PS4.

I've never tried wireless Astros but my experience with their wired headsets is that they have poor quality control, not so great build quality, and a shitty mic.

The sound quality is good though
 
I got in on an Amazon Sennheiser game one deal that is better. A similar deal for $109 is still live. I switched from a40 + mixamp and sound quality is night and day
 
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Electroplasm said:
I got in on an Amazon Sennheiser game one deal that is better. A similar deal for $109 is still live. I switched from a40 + mixamp and sound quality is night and day
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Do you have a link to the one you got? Does the Sennheiser require a mixamp to maximize performance?

 
Electroplasm said:
I got in on an Amazon Sennheiser game one deal that is better. A similar deal for $109 is still live. I switched from a40 + mixamp and sound quality is night and day
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Mixamp with another set of cans will be better than non mixamp

I actually use my old a40 Mixamp with my 598s
 
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Got my A50s today, had some time to try them out on PC. The dock is really nice, and I like how the headset goes into standby mode when you put them down. As for sound quality.. the surround sound is tinny as fuck. My Astro mixamp that I bought in 2012 sounds way better than the surround sound on the A50. I think if you have to have a wireless headset, these aren't bad for $99. If you can do with wired, you can get a mixamp (2013 version) + Sennheiser Game Ones or Sennheiser 598s for close to the same price with much better audio quality. I did need a wireless headset for my PS4, so these will do. It's just disappointing that Astro has gone downhill over the years.

I did some reading and it seems that they went with a shitty Dolby codec for the surround sound in the Gen 3 A50s which gives them the echo/tinny sound. I don't believe the Gen 1 or 2 A50s had this issue. There's no fix for it unfortunately.

 
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spoderman said:
Got my A50s today, had some time to try them out on PC. The dock is really nice, and I like how the headset goes into standby mode when you put them down. As for sound quality.. the surround sound is tinny as fuck. My Astro mixamp that I bought in 2012 sounds way better than the surround sound on the A50. I think if you have to have a wireless headset, these aren't bad for $99. If you can do with wired, you can get a mixamp (2013 version) + Sennheiser Game Ones or Sennheiser 598s for close to the same price with much better audio quality. I did need a wireless headset for my PS4, so these will do. It's just disappointing that Astro has gone downhill over the years.

I did some reading and it seems that they went with a shitty Dolby codec for the surround sound in the Gen 3 A50s which gives them the echo/tinny sound. I don't believe the Gen 1 or 2 A50s had this issue. There's no fix for it unfortunately.
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I’ve been so bummed I missed these as an upgrade for my gen 1s (the dock is so nice!) and you just made me feel better. :)
 
I was a little disappointed at first too. But then I remembered you need to break in new headphones. I also own a pair of gen 2's. After using them for a few days, they are improving and I actually prefer them now over my gen 2's.
 
Youngnoble said:
I was a little disappointed at first too. But then I remembered you need to break in new headphones. I also own a pair of gen 2's. After using them for a few days, they are improving and I actually prefer them now over my gen 2's.
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In my case it's not really something that can be broken in, it only affects dolby mode.
 
Figured I would check in again...

Anyone buy an extra pair of these or don't want theirs?  Looking for a new headset to replace my Sony's since they hurt my head.  Willing to work out a deal that benefits both parties involved.  Toss me a PM if you are interested.

 
SpraykwoN said:
Figured I would check in again...

Anyone buy an extra pair of these or don't want theirs? Looking for a new headset to replace my Sony's since they hurt my head. Willing to work out a deal that benefits both parties involved. Toss me a PM if you are interested.
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i’ll trade them to you for a ps4 pro lol


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I got these and was able to get an order in for the Xbox one base when it was $75 on Astro’s website. It took a long time to come back in stock but now I can use the same headset for both and boy let me tell you, this is an awesome headset. Way better than my elite 800’s.
 
SpraykwoN said:
I actually got Best Buy to price match a screenshot from when they were on sale lol. Got a pair for the same price. Love em haha
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giphy.gif
 
So since this thread keeps popping up...

Im looking to buy a new wireless headset. Zero wires connecting to either xbox or ps4 controller.
I have the Astro A50 and the Plantronics Rig 800 for xbox in mind, both on sale at Gamestop where i have like $30 credit still. I hear people bash Astros, and praise them.. i tried them on at Bestbuy and have to say they fit great but thats as far as i was able to “test” them cause their soundboard setup was broke.

Am i looking in the right direction? Or is there an alternative to those?

Remember no wires connecting to either controller, and im not too worried about loss of surround on either cause i dont run headphones all the time. When i do its mainly when in a party, and game sound is turned down to hear the the ball busting instead..
 
Thebacklash said:
So since this thread keeps popping up...

Im looking to buy a new wireless headset. Zero wires connecting to either xbox or ps4 controller.
I have the Astro A50 and the Plantronics Rig 800 for xbox in mind, both on sale at Gamestop where i have like $30 credit still. I hear people bash Astros, and praise them.. i tried them on at Bestbuy and have to say they fit great but thats as far as i was able to “test” them cause their soundboard setup was broke.

Am i looking in the right direction? Or is there an alternative to those?

Remember no wires connecting to either controller, and im not too worried about loss of surround on either cause i dont run headphones all the time. When i do its mainly when in a party, and game sound is turned down to hear the the ball busting instead..
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Not sure about the Plantronics. I looked at the sale price on Gamestop.. $240? That's way overpriced for the A50. Can't recommend them for that. For the glitch price of $97 I think they're worth it for console gaming. Still far from perfect, they have too much reverb in surround sound mode and it's definitely noticeable coming from my old Astro mixamp + Sennheiser 598 setup. But I guess if you don't care about surround sound (which is the point of getting the A50 imo) it's not that much of an issue. For console gaming they're fine, but not $240 fine. Worth maybe $150 max.

 
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On sale for $240 and i have some credit.
Would have to spend near that anyway for each console to have their own headset..

And again WIRELESS only... Sennheiser 598 may be good but that WIRE coming out, nope done looking at them.
 
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Thebacklash said:
On sale for $240 and i have some credit.
Would have to spend near that anyway for each console to have their own headset..

And again WIRELESS only... Sennheiser 598 may be good but that WIRE coming out, nope done looking at them.
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I wasn't suggesting you get the 598. I was just giving an example of how bad the quality is with the A50s surround mode. Problem with the A50 is you need to have a base station for each console. So you'd need to buy another base for the other console. I think the base alone is $50+. EDIT: $99.99 full price

 
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Thebacklash said:
On sale for $240 and i have some credit.
Would have to spend near that anyway for each console to have their own headset..

And again WIRELESS only... Sennheiser 598 may be good but that WIRE coming out, nope done looking at them.
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You realize that it is wire to the controller, not the console. Similar to networking, wired > wireless for performance. Wireless > wired for convenience - and I'm talking with the same set of cans.

 
And you realize i have a dog that insists that she be in my lap when i sit in the couch? That cord is 10000000000000000000% in the way and easily pulled out, or controller yanked out of hand.
Or the fact that when using a xim4 the mic passthrough on ps4 will not work, does on xbox however.

99.9% of the time im not using any headset. When i do... it *must* be 100% wireless or its not going to be considered.

If i wanted any wired solution id just keep the cheap wired $20 headsets ive been using. But i would rather have 1 wireless headset that works for both, both the ones i listed do work.

The a50 base in PC mode does work on the ps4, its been discussed in this thread and can be verified all over the place.

I have 3 options:
Keep the cheap headsets and deal with them being in the way.
Buy one of the above, works with both but may have some limitations on the ps4 side.
Or buy 2 headsets, one for each console. (Which wnds up being close to the a50 price in the end)
 
Thebacklash said:
The a50 base in PC mode does work on the ps4, its been discussed in this thread and can be verified all over the place.
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You need the Xbox One base for Xbox, otherwise you won't be able to use the mic. That's why you need 2 base stations if you wanna use all of the features for both consoles. If you don't care about the mic though then it shouldn't matter

 
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Thebacklash said:
The a50 base in PC mode does work on the ps4, its been discussed in this thread and can be verified all over the place.
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It'll work for audio, but not the mic. I could be wrong, but my PS4 base doesn't let me use the mic on a PS4 if it's in PC mode, so I assume it's the same for Xbox. If you don't care about the mic then it shouldn't matter though

 
Ended up grabbing the plantronics rig 800lx. Full xbox support, and stereo *with* mic support on the PS4 when in PC mode. Zero wires connected to controller.

$129 at Gamestop and with my credit it was $80 👍🏻


According to the internet... the A50 will work on the ps4, but you do need the other base. Pc mode on the xbox base does need the mic wired to controller.
 
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Thebacklash said:
So since this thread keeps popping up...

Im looking to buy a new wireless headset. Zero wires connecting to either xbox or ps4 controller.
I have the Astro A50 and the Plantronics Rig 800 for xbox in mind, both on sale at Gamestop where i have like $30 credit still. I hear people bash Astros, and praise them.. i tried them on at Bestbuy and have to say they fit great but thats as far as i was able to “test” them cause their soundboard setup was broke.

Am i looking in the right direction? Or is there an alternative to those?

Remember no wires connecting to either controller, and im not too worried about loss of surround on either cause i dont run headphones all the time. When i do its mainly when in a party, and game sound is turned down to hear the the ball busting instead..
Click to expand...
I was in the same boat like you. Ironically, the a50 is the ONLY set that doesn't hurt my ears for extended gaming session. Second reason (besides comfort) was the ease of switching from my PS4, Xbox One X and PC. Third reason, wireless baby!!

That being said, it might not be for some ppl but for what I look for (extreme comfort, convenience, and wireless capability), a50 serves my purpose

 
Thebacklash said:
Ended up grabbing the plantronics rig 800lx. Full xbox support, and stereo *with* mic support on the PS4 when in PC mode. Zero wires connected to controller.

$129 at Gamestop and with my credit it was $80


According to the internet... the A50 will work on the ps4, but you do need the other base. Pc mode on the xbox base does need the mic wired to controller.
Click to expand...
Good headset. Best Buy had them for sale for $75 in January and i picked up a pair. They are great.

 
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