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Astro a50 wireless12/11/2023 ![]() Fortunately, the dial is not very sensitive, so you have to be really deliberate about deafening yourself. If you keep spinning the dial, these things get loud. Astro says it’s to keep you from deafening yourself, and I can believe it. ![]() The right headphone has a free-spinning volume dial that resets itself to a low level every time the headset is turned on. Headphone features The controls on the right earpiece are easy to operate without looking. This is a firmware problem that Astro has acknowledged it says an update is on the way soon to address the issue. It’s not all that distracting when playing a game, but obvious and annoying when listening to music or watching a movie. The little blip occurs once every few minutes. On occasion, the audio will sipmly cut out for a split-second. This may be the best wireless audio technology I’ve ever used, save for one little snag… In my experience, they needed recharging every 8-10 hours, depending on how loud I cranked them up, which is reasonable. Astro says the battery should last 12 hours or more, but I found this optimistic. There is absolutely no perceptible latency or delay in the sound, either. I found the wireless connection extremely robust, with a nice long range (at least 25 feet in my small apartment) and absolutely no interference from other wireless devices, bad wiring in my old building, running the microwave…you name it. A handful of wireless audio products already use KleerNet, with others on the way, and the A50s can be easily synced to any of them. The base transmits audio to the headset using the KleerNet 5.8GHz wireless audio technology. There’s optical and USB, and an auxiliary analog input. You don’t get a lot of connection options. ![]() The headphones translate 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound into Dolby Headphone, which does a remarkably good job of “faking” directional audio with just a pair of headphones. On the top of the base unit is a power button and a button to enable/disable Dobly 7.1 audio. (If your PC/Mac has no optical output, the unit functions as a generic USB headset, with audio input and output through USB.) There’s an auxilliary 1/8-inch plug for analog audio, too. It’s powered via USB, and on a PC or Mac that USB connection serves as the mic input, too. It all starts with the base unit: a simple, lightweight black box with a TOSLink optical input and output so the sound can come from your PC or console system and continue on to your home theater system or TV. Wireless tech The base unit couldn’t be simpler: power button, Dolby button, and that’s it.
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