Astro Gaming might have a name synonymous with serious pro-gaming headsets, but more and more the company is branching out to the personal audio space. The Astro A38 represents the gaming audiophile company's biggest departure yet as a bluetooth headset you won't want to hookup with your PC rig or gaming consoles. Instead the A38 is completely wireless, Bluetooth-connected headset for the PlayStation Vita and iPhones as well as iPad Airs, or other mobile devices.
On the PAX East show floor I got a chance to try out a pair of A38s. Without a single audio connector or a microphone jack, the A38s fairly plain and simple compared to Astro's past headsets. If anything the A38 headphones look like a miniaturized version of Astro's A30s as they both share the same offset design with the ear cup angled behind the headband.
Soft muffs
The A38s also features a soft, pleather material that sits on the ear like a cushion. Despite the soft touch of the headphone's cups, they still clung tight because the material conformed to my ears like memory foam. The top of the headset is also lined with the same cushioning, which could come in handy for long listening sessions.
The similarities between the two headsets end here. Since there are no wires, there also isn't any mixamp to plug into. Instead, the headphones pair the device to an iPhone or tablet as a regular bluetooth device after pressing the power button on the headphone's left side.
While these Astro headphones can also pair with the Bluetooth in a PC or laptop, an Astro representative explained that any games which require voice chat would turn the A38s into a pair of mono headphones. This, however, is due to a limitation of Bluetooth rather than the headphones.
Below the power button there's also a multifunction button, which pauses playback when pressed once, tracks forward when hit twice, and jumps a track back when simply held for a second.
This same multifunction button is also used to answer call when connected to a smartphone. While there might not be any visible microphone, there's a small gap near the bottom of the ear cups. This isn't a flaw in the headphones but a space that hides the A38's noise canceling microphone. We didn't get a chance to test out the voice quality of the microphone due to network issues on the PAX East show floor.
Noise (partially) canceling
Speaking of drowning out outside noise, the headphones also have noise canceling tweeters. Unlike some other headphones, the noise canceling factor on the Astro A38s is too overwhelming or obnoxious. On the PAX East floor, the A38s drowned out most of the drumming beat from the convention, but I was still able to hold a conversation with the Astro representative as she told me about the product.
These are not headphones that will completely block out outside background noise. Users looking for complete auditory isolation should consider the Bose QuietComfort headphones. The A38s are also not very noise isolating as they've been designed as open-ear headphones, where the ear muff does not cover your ears completely.
That said, the audio quality on the Astro A38 is staggeringly amazing. The Astro A38's produce a wonderfully clear full tonal range of highs and lows for music. Meanwhile, there's also bit of punchy base that mobile gamers and movie watchers can enjoy.
Early verdict
The Astro A38 headphones are an extremely luxurious pair of headphones for their $229 (about £ 136/AU$ 243) price. However, for the most part, the price tag is well worth. The A38s have an extremely comfortable fit and topnotch audio quality. It might not have the best noise canceling and isolating qualities, but that's to be expected with the open-ear design.
From a far, people will still almost immediately recognize the A38s as a pair of Astro headphones and that's part of the appeal. The gaming audio giant has taken its years of experience and made a great pair of regular headphones, but we'll have to wait until we can put some serious listening hours in before we can deliver our final judgment on the Astro A38.
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