Astro A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro 2019  Headphones Review

The style of the Astro A40 headset is practically identical to the previous model but comes in different color schemes. These headphones now have an all-black frame, while the color accent indicates the console variant. The biggest difference in style is the remodeled MixAmp that now sits horizontally and has a more premium finished look. The speaker tags can be swapped out to customize the look of the headphones, and the manufacturer sells them in plenty of different colors. The boom mic is also detachable for a more casual look.

The Astro A40 headset is very comfortable to wear during long gaming sessions. Similar to the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017 and the previous-generation Astro A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro 2017, these headphones have soft padding and very large and spacious cups that should fit comfortably on most ears. The headphones are a bit bulky, but the headband does a good job of distributing the weight.

The Astro A40 headset has mediocre controls. These headphones are designed for gaming and don't include any call or music management controls. They come with an in-line remote that only has a mic-mute button. That said, their audio cable is connected to the MixAmp, which offers additional controls. You get a volume knob and a channel mixing knob, which has a notch in the middle to indicate an equal 50/50 mix between game and chat audio. The MixAmp also has buttons that allow you to cycle through the EQ presets and enable/disable Dolby Surround Sound. There's also a switch at the back to toggle between console and PC mode. The buttons are easy to use and offer good feedback, but the volume knob doesn’t feel as nice as the Turtle Beach Elite Pro 2 SuperAmp.

The Astro A40 headset is passably breathable. Although they're open-back headphones, they trap a little more heat than the closed-back Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019. The overall difference in temperature isn't too drastic and shouldn't be much of an issue if you're sitting and gaming, though. However, they aren't intended for sports use and aren't an ideal option for working out as they may make you sweat more.

The Astro A40 headset has disappointing portability. These headphones are quite bulky, like most gaming headphones, and aren't intended for use when you're out and about. The headband doesn't fold into a more compact format, but the earcups swivel to lay flat, and the mic can be detached, which makes it a bit easier to slide the headphones into a bag. Also, unlike the Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019, you can use them with their 1/8" TRRS cable without the MixAmp.

The Astro A40 headset has an impressive build quality. These headphones are practically identical to the previous model and feel well-built and sturdy. The earcups are dense and should survive a few accidental drops without much damage. However, like the Astro A50 Gen 3 Wireless 2017, the headband is somewhat open and a little hollow with only the plastic midsection resting on the head. It's flexible but doesn't feel as resistant as a regular headband, especially ones with a metal frame. Although we don't currently test for it, they also lack an IP rating for water resistance, which is to be expected for gaming headphones.

The Astro A40 headset has acceptable stability. These headphones should stay in place with no issue when you're sitting and gaming. However, they aren't intended for sports use. They don't fit very tightly on your head and have bulky, heavy earcups, so they sway around a lot during any kind of physical activity. Because they're wired, their audio cable could snag on something and pull the headphones off your head, but luckily the cable is detachable.

• Astro A40 TR headphones
• MixAmp Pro
• USB to micro-USB cable
• 1/8" TRRS cable
• Optical cable
• Daisy chain cable
• Manuals

Using the 'Natural Bass' EQ preset, the Astro A40 has a warm sound profile. Like a lot of open-back headphones, the lowest bass frequencies roll off, imparting a more analytical sound profile in the low-end. This de-emphasis in the lowest frequencies translates to more boominess, rather than rumble during explosive action scenes. Still, footsteps and speech sound full-bodied, thanks to the slightly mid-forward tuning. The treble region is uneven, with a dip that softens harsh voice articulation, but it can also make voices sound veiled. However, brighter effects sound piercing and overly sharp.

Their companion software offers a graphic equalizer and EQ presets to help you customize their sound considerably if you want more low-end oomph, for instance. However, users have encountered issues with it, and you can read more in the App Support box. We also found that the frequency response is nearly identical whether you connect via USB or using the analog cable to our testing rig.

Some users have reported that, after a firmware update, their headphones' sound profile changed when they're used wired via USB on the Xbox Series X|S. We first ran a frequency response sweep with the new firmware update, but there wasn't much of a change. You can see the comparative results, which are on a previous test bench, so it's meant as a relative comparison only. While we don't run sound testing on consoles, we also did a subjective sweep to compare audio quality between PC via USB and Xbox Series X via USB. We noticed that audio sounded tighter and sharper on the PC, while audio from the Xbox was more bass-heavy. Unfortunately, we don't have a measurement of the Xbox's audio pre-firmware update to compare it to.

The Astro A40 headset has decent frequency response consistency. These headphones have consistent mid-range delivery, but you may experience a drop in bass if the headphones don't fit flush with your head, which may happen if you wear glasses or have thick hair. Their treble delivery also varies depending on the fit, seal, and positioning of the headphones. However, if you can achieve a good fit, you should get a fairly consistent response each time you use them.

The headset's bass profile's target compliance is excellent. The high-bass is slightly emphasized, resulting in more boom than rumble without overpowering other frequencies. This tuning is broadly more in line with other open-backs like the HiFiMan Edition XS rather than one that's sure to please bassheads. However, people who wear glasses or who have thick hair may experience a slight drop in bass.

The Astro A40 headset has a great mid-range target compliance. Most of the range mirrors our target well, with a hint of emphasis in the low-mids that somewhat tapers off in the high-mids. On the whole, voices and lead instruments sound natural, though.

The Astro A40 headset's treble profile's target compliance is awful. Because the range is uneven, voices can sound dull and lack presence, while sibilants like cymbals and S and T sounds are overly bright and sharp by comparison. This difference can feel fatiguing to listen to over extended gaming sessions. The treble delivery depends on the fit and positioning of the headphones, so your experience may vary.

The peaks and dips performance of the Astro A40 headset is satisfactory, indicating it controls its own sound profile somewhat. There are bumps and valleys in the bass and mids and a slight L/R driver mismatch, but on the whole, there's a bit more boom in the bass than thump and a slightly cluttered mid-range. Most notable, though, is the narrow peak in the low-treble, adding a relatively harsh emphasis on voices. A dramatic dip dulls a narrow band of harmonic details considerably, too. The larger extended peak in the mid-treble makes S and T sounds comparatively sharp and shrill, which can hurt over a longer session.

The Astro A40 headset has a great imaging performance. The weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent audio reproduction. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our unit are very well-matched in terms of amplitude, frequency, and phase response, so objects (like footsteps) and instruments are accurately located in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

These headphones have a great passive soundstage with their side-plates on. It's very open and spacious, thanks to their open-back design. In addition, sound is perceived as coming from speakers in the room around you and not from inside your head, which is an improvement over the Astro A40 TR Headset + MixAmp Pro 2017.

If you remove the side-plates, you'll experience a similar passive soundstage experience. Sound is able to activate your outer ear a bit more, but the effect is subtle. You can see a comparison between the side-plates on (in blue) and side-plates off (in green) here.

The Astro A40 have a Dolby 7.1 virtual surround sound feature, but we don't currently test it.

The Astro A40 have a decent weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's a minor peak in the low-treble at normal volumes, but it shouldn't be very noticeable to most. Otherwise, most frequencies fall within good limits, which results in fairly clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Astro A40. Our results are only valid when the headphones are used in this configuration.

The Astro A40 headset has a bad noise isolation performance, which is expected from an open-back design. The cans slightly tame the brightness of transients, but not enough to help you focus and ignore your environment. You'll likely prefer to wear these in a room by yourself without loud distractions. If you want gaming headphones with better noise isolation thanks to their ANC feature, check out the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal.

The headset's noise isolation is terrible in common scenarios. Given the open-back design, this is normal. These headphones isolate you from virtually no ambient sound, including bus noise, ambient airplane cabins, and background conversations.

The Astro A40 headset has a poor leakage performance. Because of their open-back design, these headphones leak a lot of audio from a broad range of frequencies. Someone in the room with you is likely to hear your audio, and it sounds full-bodied compared with the more thin-sounding leakage from in-ears or earbuds.

The Astro A40 headset's boom mic has a great recording quality. Your voice sounds deep and full as well as clear and easy to understand. However, it does lack some airiness, and your voice can sound slightly muffled.

The Astro A40 headset has an excellent noise handling performance. Even in a loud environment, the mic can effectively separate your voice from background sounds. This microphone uses a noise gate, which you can't disable, but you can choose between a few different sensitivity options.

We tested the microphone with the noise gate set to 'Night' mode.

These headphones are compatible with Astro Command Center. However, some users have reported severe issues when using the software, which may be due to Astro moving the software download from their site to the Microsoft Store. Users can't update the headphones' firmware, which is necessary if you want to connect them via USB to newer consoles like the PS5. Users are unable to access any of the software's features too. Unfortunately, these issues can be a dealbreaker if you're looking to pick up these headphones.

When working correctly, the Astro Command Center provides a great graphic EQ that you can assign to the EQ button on the MixAmp so you can cycle between different saved presets. You can also create your own custom EQ presets. The microphone tab gives you control over the mic level and the noise gate. However, the EQ only offers five bands, so these headphones aren't as customizable as the Logitech G635.

The Astro A40 headset can be used with or without the MixAmp. These headphones have a typical 1/8” TRRS analog cable that provides audio and microphone support on all consoles when plugged into a controller.

The Astro A40 headset has no Bluetooth compatibility. If you want a Bluetooth-capable gaming headset, check out the Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless, the HyperX Cloud Mix Wireless, or the SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless.

Update 02/23/2021: Some users have reported that their headphones' sound profile changed when used wired via USB on the Xbox Series X|S after firmware update 36797. While we don't run sound testing on consoles, we did a subjective sweep to compare audio quality when connected to a PC via USB and the Xbox Series X via USB. We noticed that audio sounded tighter and sharper on the PC, while audio from the Xbox was more bass-heavy. Unfortunately, we don't have a measurement of the Xbox's audio pre-firmware update to compare it to.

The Astro A40 headset is fully compatible with both the Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles with either the 1/8" TRRS cable plugged into the controller or the MixAmp connected to the console. Since the Xbox Series X doesn't have an optical port, you have to connect it to the MixAmp via USB. You can find more information about that here. Astro also offers an alternative pre-amp, the MixAmp M80, which connects directly to your Xbox Controller and allows you to connect the headset via a 1/8" TRRS jack.

The Astro A40 headset has a very good USB dock with plenty of inputs and controls. These headphones have a regular line-in audio jack, an optical input, and audio via the USB cable when plugged into your PC or console. The manufacturer advertises them as either Xbox One or PS4 compatible, but we managed to get both audio and microphone support on our Xbox One model for both consoles. Xbox users also have the option to use the MixAmp M80, which plugs directly into your Xbox controller but has fewer controls and inputs. We used the PC Mode of the amp for the PS4 and the console mode for the Xbox One. However, we don't expect you to be able to use the PS4 model variant on the Xbox One. You can also daisy-chain multiple amps together in a tournament setting.