Officially announced today, Australian and New Zelanders can be excited that ASTRO are bringing their award-winning headsets and gaming accessories to our shores. The A40 is by far one of, if not the best gaming headset on the market right now, which you can read in our featured review, but the A30's are an excellent headset in their own right.
Check out our video below, the specs and then read on to see if these could be your next headset.
| Ships With: |
A30 Headset, ASTRO Speaker Tags, Astro MixAmp |
| Headset Cables: |
6' 3.5mm Quick Disconnect; 6' Dual Jack PC Quick Disconnect, 3' Mobile Quick Disconnect, PC Splitter/Adapter |
| MixAmp Cables: |
12' RCA-RCA Piggyback, 12' USB-USB Mini, 6' Xbox Live Chat Cable, 6' 3.5mm Audio Cable, PC Headset Y-Adapter, Daisy Chain Connector |
| Transducer Principle: |
Dynamic, Open |
| Frequency Response: |
15 - 28,000 Hz |
| Nominal Impendance: |
32 ohm |
| Weight: |
188 grams (without Cable) |
| Characterisic SPL: |
97 +/-3dB |
| Ear Coupling: |
On-Ear |
| Headband Pressure: |
2.0 N |
| Distortion: |
Less than 0.1% |
| Microphone: |
6.0mm uni-directional noice canceling + 4.0mm omni-directional in-line mic |
Design
The A30's are extremely light and slender, which makes them extremely portable. Despite the smaller form factor, the design feels weighted and sturdy, allowing full adjustment of the ear cups and headband height. You can wear then around the back of your neck, which will suit a lot of people on their morning commute to work, or you can wear them like a regular headset for extended gaming sessions. It all comes down to personal preference, but the ability to wear the headset however you feel is certainly a great design choice.
Sound Clarity
Despite being a smaller unit when compared to the A40's, the ASRO A30's still pack some amazing sound quality. The low end is still deep and clear, but lacks a little punch when compared to its bigger brother. What it lacks in the bass it makes up for with crystal clear high and mid-ranges, which really shine when listening to a wide variety of music.
While the A40's are designed with the hardcore gamer in mind, the A30's are a little more versatile for those who like to get out and about. We used the A30's with our 3DS and we were blown away by the clarity when playing Ocarina of Time. It was almost as each blade of grass we cut could be heard as we swung out swords.
It performs well on other platforms too. We used it during a round of Starhawk and thanks to the excellend MixAmp we were able to perfectly balance the game sound with voice chat so we could command our team to victory (or failure as it was in our case), which is a welcome feature for those who game online quite regularly.
Ultimately the A30 lacks in the low end when compared to the A40's, but when compared to other headsets in the similar range, it blows them away.
VOIP Functionality
The 30 includes a removeable, noise canceling microphone that shows great results despite which platform you may use it on. During our session with Starhawk friends could hear me loud and clear, and with the ability to mix the game sound and chat volumes independently, VOIP has never been so good.
In addition to the removeable mic, the A30 includes an in-line mic for those with mobile devices. I made a few calls using my iPhone and was amazed with the results. Family could hear me fine as I walked the always busy Toorak Road in Melbourne, and thanks to the sheltered ear cups I was able to hear them despite background noise. Great feature for mobile gamers who want to make calls while on the train or in between meetings.
Comparisons?
Currently I use a set of Beats by Dre while out and about on my 3DS or iPhone, and in comparison the Astro A30's are far superior. While the Beats have a deeper low end, their mid and high range cannot compete with ASTRO's effort with the A30's. While the Beats also feature an in-line mic, after numerous tests all four of my call subjects reported that the A30 sounded far superior.
Would I use the A30 for extended gaming sessions. Sure. The sound quality and comfort level is fantastic and it would suit most gamers as their primary headset. Ultimately it is up to personal preference. I found the A40's to be a better fit for my playing style, so I would go with those as my primary headset as I don't game while out and about too often.
However if you tend to game on your portable devices, make phone calls and want a headset that will fill all of those roles with ease, the ASTRO A30's should be on your radar!
By Stephen Heller - Bio