» Product Review

By Charly SHELTON

It’s rare that we do product reviews at CV Weekly. Often when I receive a product for review, I feel compelled to find the good in it, no matter what, because I was sent an expensive product. But if there isn’t enough good for me to justify recommending it to our readers, it goes unreviewed rather than me writing untruths about it. So when, after two weeks of playing with it, I had the chance to review the Astro Gaming A10 Headset in its full glory, you can be sure I am happy to recommend it.

I bought a pair of expensive headsets once. Big drivers, attachable mic, PC splitter adapter, super comfy band – the works. I spent way more than I should have at the time, but I wanted a nice pair of headphones for gaming, editing, music and anything else it could adapt to. I was taking the bus back and forth from UCLA at the time and had just opened the set at school for my walk back to the bus stop. As I stepped onto the bus, I caught the cord with my foot and ripped it from the headset. I got to enjoy that expensive headset for all of about 20 minutes and haven’t had a pair like it since.
So when I was at E3, the video game convention back in June, I saw a demo of the Astro Gaming line and expected good headphones that were super-expensive and super-delicate. The press rep picked up the headset, threw it against the wall and then stood on it. He twisted the band almost 360 degrees around and whacked it on the table. I told him my expensive headset story and he ripped the cord out of the Astro Gaming base, only to plug it back in again and hand it over to me so I could hear the perfectly working, crisp sound of the game I was playing. And the price point was a manageable $60. That’s the economy version. It only gets better from there.
I’ll take a moment to let you process. I promise you that this is all true.
The A10s have 40 mm drivers, a frequency response of 20Hz – 20kHz, fabric cushioned ear cups and headband, a flip-to-mute uni-directional mic bar and an inline volume control embedded in the removable 3.5 mm jack cord. As long as I have been playing games and watching TV, I’ve had one nice pair of over-the-ear headphones that were good for music through the cellphone, but that’s about it. The sound goes so much deeper with a really good set of headphones. For example, while playing Call of Duty with the A10s on, you can hear people moving through the grass around you, giving direction to teammates wherever they are or catching a sneaky enemy. Or when playing something like Far Cry 4, which takes place in the Himalayan foothills, you get the vibrating rush of a storm blowing through, which makes it much more immersive. One wouldn’t think that deep layers of good sound would affect a game like that so much, but it really does.

Taking it out of the gaming world, it’s a well-balanced speaker system to watch favorite programs. Like “Game of Thrones,” which has some amazing sound design (good sound choices) but often spotty sound mixing (whispered dialogue and explosive loud battles) that cause viewers to adjust the volume every other scene. Watching the show with these headsets make the experience much better because you get the little sound details – like the paper fluttering sounds as the opening sequence model clicks into place – without being blown out by larger sound effects, like Drogon’s fiery breath and explosions.

And the headsets can be thrown when a player is frustrated by a game, and they won’t be damaged. I think that’s the best selling point for me because many people, like me, want to keep the things they buy. They don’t like it when the brand new toy they just got breaks because it’s so fragile. And, granted, the headphone destruction on the bus was my fault, but these A10s have built-in safeguards against my own stupidity. Being affordable, purchasing them won’t break the bank, so when you’re frustrated and throw them and they go out the window, you can afford another pair.

I highly recommend having a good pair of headphones for all your gaming, TV and movie watching, computer stuff and music listening needs. As far as headphones go, the Astro Gaming A10s are the best ones I’ve had so far. For more information, visit AstroGaming.com/A10-Gaming-Headset.

  Charly Shelton