Review on Enhance Gaming Experience with ASTRO Gaming MixAmp Pro TR - Dolby Audio for PS5, PS4, PC, Mac by Nichole Summers

both for PS4/PC. They've always worked well, but I've never been blown away by their sound. After reading a very positive MixAmp review 2019 on RTings dot com I decided to give it a try. For reference I use the following headphones with MixAmp: - HyperX Cloud PS4 (41 ohms) - AKG GHS-1 (32 ohms) - Sony MDR-V700DJ (24 ohms) - AKG K 518 LE (32 ohms) So nothing super high - End or particularly neutral ones, but all have excellent impedance matching and their sonic qualities are very favorable for gaming. I'm happy to report that this MixAmp generation sounds much better than the previous one and is on par with other audio gear I've used over the last few years (e.g. Sony WH1000XM3s, Sonos One, UE Boom 3 , JBL Charge 4 etc.) d.). It's definitely not audiophile quality, but it doesn't have to be. After all, it's meant for gaming. This leads to the best part: customizable equalizers! Astro Command Center software lets you load up to four custom EQs into MixAmp and switch between them on the fly. With a quick Google search you can find people offering their various EQs for download. Some great sources for top-notch equalizers are the ZaliaS Professional Collection (found on Reddit), and the Planet Potara and Astro Gaming Discord servers. You can find equalizers that work better for certain types of content like music and movies (and they actually improve the sound incredibly well), but the best equalizers are the ones designed for specific games. I was able to find an equalizer for Modern Warfare 2019 that significantly improves the audibility of enemy footsteps and also makes the sound of gunfire excellent and much more realistic. Another thing I like about this MixAmp compared to other gaming DAC/amp options is the flexibility. . It works seamlessly on PC and PS4, features an auxiliary input that can be mixed with game and chat audio, and a stream output that can be configured to play any combination of game, chat, and additional contains audio. I connected a Fiio BTR3 bluetooth adapter to the aux input. So when I'm gaming on my PS4 (connected to a PC monitor) at night, I can also send audio from my iPad Pro 12.9", my Samsung RU8000 TV and Xfinity .X1 DVR to MixAmp on my PC via Bluetooth if I on my PC, I connect MixAmp via USB and then listen to YouTube videos or podcasts from my iPad via Bluetooth It's really great to finally have all my sources in one set of headphones without having to use my cumbersome Yamaha mixer setup and Rat-Jack Cable Pros: - Significantly improved sound comparable to "professional" devices like Bose, Sonos, Sennheiser under $300, etc. - Significantly improved audio latency, measured as 2ms in RTings test, the lowest similar devices on the market have 12ms or more for wired interfaces and 50+ ms for i wireless headset. This is VERY noticeable when playing fast FPS games like Call of Duty. You can hear the enemy, before you see it and hear from it 10-50 ms earlier - a clear advantage. This is a real improvement over the previous models that you can feel immediately. - Excellent community support with customizable equalizers that greatly improve sound quality. - Easily mix multiple sources and adjust the volume of each independently. - High quality sound. and a chat set. The material is nice and they feel buttery smooth when rotated. They are very comfortable to use. Adjustable microphone monitoring (sidetone) that works well. Dolby decoding and that's the real reason I use these Astro products. In fact, the multi-channel separation in 2-channel headphones that MixAmps offers is better than similar products using DTS headphones, Dolby headphones, or various proprietary 7.1 processors from companies like HyperX and Sennheiser (trust me, I've got them all tried out). . Astro uses Dolby 5.1 Direct Decoding and works best to give you a surround sound experience in stereo headphones. In games I can always localize where enemy footsteps/shots are coming from and when I watch movies/tv shows all effects like a helicopter overhead or people screaming behind you are perfect. Listen to music. You can make them too loud when playing, especially when it comes to gunfire and explosions, but if you really like the SPL of your favorite songs, MixAmp will sound 10-15% below normal. The volume won't blow your mind when using low-impedance headphones. I can't imagine high impedance pairs would play well with the MixAmp. - No power switch - Lights on MixAmp cannot be dimmed. It's not absurdly bright, but it would be great to dim it really low if you're gaming at night with the lights off. My solution is to just put my iPhone on top of the MixAmp when the light bothers me and this works great to block it out completely. Overall I think this is the best option for connecting headphones to your PS4 and one of the best options for PC gaming. also because of the equipment.