The Astro A50 headset is an all-around favorite for gamers and podcasters who need something with high-def sound and a mic for communication. Having one with a malfunctioning mic is a situation no user wants to be in as the mic is not replaceable.
Over the years there have been multiple complaints where users claim that their A50’s mic is only producing a muffled sound. While the issue is not exactly peculiar to Astro headsets, it’s one that a lot of Astro 50 users hope to solve.
In this article, we will be discussing how to fix your Astro 50 Mic when it’s producing a muffled sound. Before we dive deep into some guides to fix, let’s talk about some possible causes so it’s easier for you to pick the troubleshooting procedure you’d like to try.
Astro A50 Mic Sounds Muffled: Possible Causes
Although not as portable as other gaming headsets, the Astro A50 is still a headset that’s sealed – taking it apart to fix is usually only possible by an experienced technician.
This makes it a device that’ll more or less need a complete replacement if something was to damage its hardware. Luckily, all the potential problems you may encounter with the mic don’t involve hardware failure.
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Low Battery
A low battery is one of the most common reasons why your A50 may be producing a muffled sound, or any other malfunction in general.
Usually, as the battery level of your device gets depleted, you get reduced performance – in this case, muffled sounds from the mic. You want to always make sure that the headset is charged before exploring other causes and solutions.
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Incorrect Microphone Device Settings
It’s so often the case when using external mics on PCs, your OS will want to give priority to the system’s mic, as such, your headset’s mic won’t be as effective. In some cases, you may not even have access to the headset’s mic until you make it the default microphone in the recording settings.
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PC Operating on Wrong Audio Drivers
This is a common issue when trying to use a third-party/external device on a Windows PC. When the currently installed audio driver isn’t compatible with your headset, you may not get the best performance when using the mic.
In most cases, the mic won’t work at all. You can usually guess this is the problem when you’re not able to use the headset speakers either.
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Wrong Positioning of Mic
As funny as it may sound, your muffled mic issue may just be a result of the mic’s positioning. The A50 is attached to a boom arm that can be moved to whichever position that suits the user.
Perhaps it’s not as close to your mouth to pick the correct sounds as it should be. More so, this device has a flip-to-mut feature that can easily be activated.
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Wrong Astro Command Center Settings
When you’re plugging in your Astro A50 for the first time, the Astro Command Center software which allows you to make customizations to your headset is automatically installed.
By default, you’re going to be set to use settings that are optimal for system performance, however, this setting is usually not the best especially when trying to use the mic that comes along with the headset.
Astro A50 Mic Sounds Muffled: How to Fix
There are many troubleshooting guides that you can implement to make the mic on your Astro A50 function effectively. While the solutions to some of the causes outlined above are easily inferable, others may need some extra tutorials to work with – we’ll be giving that in this section.
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Check your PC’s Microphone Settings
After checking things like battery level, making you’re your audio device drivers are updated, and your mic is correctly placed, this is the next step to take if the muffling sound is still troubling you.
To do this, simply press the Windows logo key, and search for “Control Panel.” Open the app, and set the View by to “Large icons.” Now, you want to look for Sounds, click it and go to the Recording settings.
On your headset, enable it, and set it as the Default Device. If you’re not already seeing your headset, right-click anywhere and tick “Show Disabled Devices” then repeat the previous step.
Next, go back and double-click on your headset to open its properties/settings. Increase the Line In volume to 100, and while on Balance. Click on Apply, and then OK to save. If you weren’t audible before, this should do the trick.
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Check your ASTRO Command Center Settings
The ASTRO Command Center has several features that allow you to customize the settings of your A5 headset. Before proceeding to check the mic settings on your headset, you’ll want to see if the firmware of your headset is up to date, if updated, you can then proceed to adjust the mic settings till you get the best sound playback.
The mic features like Game: Voice Balance, Noise Gate, Sidetone, Stream Port Volume, and Output Device which lets you choose which device the audio from your headset is output to.
Tinker with these settings till you get the best fit for your PC. A setting we recommend is lowering the noise gate, and making sure the microphone volume is at the max so it can pick the faintest of sounds.
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Troubleshoot your Audio Driver to Work with the Headset
There are times (depending on your PC model and OS) when a simple auto-update of the driver through the Device Manager in the Control Panel won’t cut it. You may have to contact your hardware manufacturer to reinstall a different driver which is more compatible with third-party audio devices.
Say you have an HP laptop; you’ll want to browse the HP website for drivers download manually and then overwrite the existing audio driver you have running. Although it’s a little complex to manually install drivers, it’s the more effective option than using tools like Driver Easy which considers the OS version first, before the PC’s hardware.
The solutions covered in this article are all software-based. If your headset’s mic happens to have become defective from hardware damage, it’s most likely not reparable as the device comes sealed – there’s no knot opening, so you can’t take it apart for a quick fix.
