Astro Gaming Wireless MixAmp 5.8

The Aux port is not for a stereo input! - It's for the PS3 USB Chat Cable (4 ring 1/8" jack to USB A) The chat cable will work on the pc but it is MONO ONLY and will ignore anything on the right channel, and mix the left channel to both L and R.My advice is to just get a  Turtle Beach Micro II  and connect the toslink optical to the MixAmp 5.8. Alternatively you can use the larger  Sabrent USB-SND8  that is similarly priced, but has optical in/out, mic in (L and R 1/8" stereo), line in (1/8"), and 5 channel out (1/8").Set your output to Stereo; 5.1 Digitial, 7.1 Digital, or DTS won't work.

if you're buying this for somewhat wireless surround sound viewing with your consoles/home theater/PC/anything with an optical out port, then this is a good working system. The sound quality is great for wireless, the system looks nice, and it can turn any set of stereo headphones into surround sound headphones.Although this requires the wire from the RX to the headphones, other than that it is a wireless connection to the transmitter. The receiver has a volume knob, power button, bass boost button, and a knob to control in game chat but I'll get to chat functionality a little later.The power seemed to get me around 6 hours using three eneloops going back and forth with bass boost on and off. I used it primarily with the 2.5mm to 3.5mm chat cable from my controller to the RX. The battery life seemed to match up with what I've read considering the setup however I didn't notice any indication that my batteries were drained until the RX blinked a few times and then just died.Regarding the chat. IF YOU ARE BUYING THIS FOR A CHAT HEADSET YOU WILL NEED EXTRA CABLES THAT ATE NOT INCLUDED. There are two routes you can take in using this system for in-game chat. The first option is to buy a turtle beach chat cable that is 3.5mm to 2.5mm. Using this method you must plug this chat cable from the receiver to the controller in addition to the RX to the headset. This option makes the setup much more cumbersome and yet is the more available option.Your second and least likely yet ideal option is to use the proprietary PS3/PC chat cable from Astro. It is a USB to 3.5mm cable that plugs into the front USB on your console(PS4) and the rear aux port on the transmitter. This option gives you surround audio with chat capabilities with only one wire from your headset to the receiver(RX). Great right? Wrong! Astro has discontinued the 5.8 wireless mixamp and all support for this product in hopes that people will buy their new wireless system, the A50. What this means is that Astro support will not help you and if you don't already have their proprietary cable, chances are you won't get it, throwing the best wireless chat option for the 5.8 mixamp out the door.You could buy the A50 but considering the battery is not user replaceable and Astro's support for their 5.8 mixamp is no more; should you invest into this company and their pricy products? That's up to you. I will say that the A40 is a great headset and the 5.8 mixamp is good for semi-wireless surround sound but for me it stops there. 4 stars for wireless surround sound but minus 1 star for short lived support of their products in pushing for newer products.

Thinking of Upgrading to legit headset setup? Well look no further than 5.8 Rx. I purchased this equipment to pair up with my Sennheiser 555, and zalman mic. Currently hooked up to Xbox 360 Elite and a HDTV 55". I am more than impressed with this toy, not only does it give you proper amplification in your headphones, but the features are outstanding. I had a little trouble with a dead optical cable being shipped (apparently not an un-common problem, See 8:28: [...]) but Astro's Customer service had me another shipped PROMPTLY.This unit has amazing distance using the 5.8Ghz channel, had no issues walking around my entire house and never losing signal. Due to the fact that I decided to purchase the Senn's to pair up with this mix-amp instead of the A-40's left me with a bit of a cable issue. If you dont use the A-40's headset with the quick connect for voice and game sound, you are left with a bit of a wire mess. However I just clip the Rx unit to my shorts and stuff all the cables in my pocket. Be aware that if you do choose to not go the Astro route, you will have a Y-splittler dangling from the unit attached to 3.5mm from the headphones and a mic plugged in as well, add that to the Xbox 360 2.5mm to 2.5mm Chat cable, and your left with quite a mess.On to the sound, This amp is truly amazing, having used but never owned a Wired 5.8 amp, the quality seemed to match up, This amp does it's job increasing the mid's and high's of the headphones. The Dolby 7.1 surround sound is very impressive, and bass boost feature on the Rx unit does it job quite well. The Voice and game sound can be controlled on the Rx unit and works flawlessly. Its great for turning down game volume to hear your team, then tuning out your team and getting solid game noise. Crank up game noise to hear anyones position in any FPS.Battery Life: If you are considering purchasing this, Do yourself a favor and go ahead and purchase the rechargeable battery pack. Average life on batteries is 18 hours.Also be aware that to hook up with a PS3 or a PC(if your PC does not have optical audio out) you will need to purchase the Chat cable that can be found on here or Astro's Website.If you are considering upgrading to a legit gaming setup, have pesky neighbors, or just wanna tune out your girlfriend. This mixamp is ABSOLUTELY worth the purchase.