On Paper, the Astro A50X should be a dream come true for those who game on multiple platforms. The upgraded version of its Bay Station charging stand is now an HDMI 2.1 Switcher, with enables you to switch between PC, PS5 and XBOX input and audio. The Bay Station connects to your PC via a powered outlet and usb c splitter cable. On PC you will be able to select from Game or Voice Output audio options, and these options work with Elgato WaveLink and OBS.
The Charging stand includes one HDMI out to your TV/Monitor with HDMI Ins to all of your respective consoles. The nature of the switch means that in theory you can use one HDMI port for all of your consoles. A switch on the side of the headset will enable you to switch between inputs. The right side of the headset also has a clicky button that will switch between voice and game audio modes. The headset has a solid build, using a mix of plastic and metal. The headband isnt as adustable as I would like, but still provides enough room for most, even for those who like to wearing a hat under their headset.
The sound is crisp and clear. While playing Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, foosteps and gun fire was very clean. This was especially apparant during the games' rougue like mode, NO RETURN. The high pithced whistles of the Scars as they stalked me in the grass could be heard evenly in each ear.
However, apon connecting it to my Elgato 4k X, issues started to appear. While the headset technically works with a capture card -- it doesnt natively support them, and that makes it a dealbreaker for me --and alot of other content creators. Firstly, the input switching no longer works via the baystation switch as it should. The audio does switch properly, but the input video signal is a bit iffy. You can easily switch from console back to PC, but the reverse simply doesnt work. And often times swtiching will disconnect you from Wave Link, or Windows sound settings. It requires you to know still manually switch between console video inputs manually, taking out the main fucntionality and selling point of this high priced headset.
Pull down options for the different audio output settings disappear when using PS5 or XBOX with no clear indicator as to why. This can sometimes be solved my unplugging the system and back in again -- but the Astro A50X simply doesnt work properly while connected to an Elgato product because the software wasnt properly inergrated with it correctly. The lack of feature support seems pretty inexcuseable for a headset that costs nearly $400.
It still funcutions as it should with a PC, but without being able to use the Switcher, that makes the over priced Bay Station a useless paper weight. There is still a market for those whose setup isnt dependant on those who record and stream content -- but its dissappointing that this feature was overlooked. Especially given its high price tag.
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