How to Fix Astro A10 Headset Only One Side Working

For serious online gamers, a good gaming headset is a must. However, if you are experiencing sound issues with your Astro A10 Headset, such as only one side receiving sound, that can have a serious impact on your performance. Thankfully, we’ve got several fixes to get you back in the game!

Fixing Astro A10 Headset with Only One Side Working

A sound issue with only one side working on your Astro Headset can be caused by a bad cable connection, bad cable, outdated drivers, or a system setting not set correctly. The good news is we’ve got fixes for all these causes.

Below you’ll find common fixes for the three major gaming platforms: PC, Playstation, and Xbox. 

PC Fixes

Here are a few common causes and fixes for unidirectional sound issues on Mac and Pcs.

Cable Connection Point Issue

One of the most common causes for sound coming out of one earpiece are issues related to your audio cable’s connection point on either end. For example, if you’re cable isn’t plugged in securely on either the PC or headset end, you may only receive sound from one side. 

Testing to make sure that the audio jack is plugged in all the way should be the first step in troubleshooting sound issues on the PC. 

Bad Cable

A bad cable could also be the cause of your sound problem. This can especially be the case if you have issues with animals, such as cats and dogs, chewing on your cables. However, as cables move around, the wires inside closer to the jack begin to wear and eventually break. This happens with even the most high-end headphones.

It’s always a good idea to have a brand new cable handy to test. If the problem happens with the new cable, then you know it’s another issue and not the cable. 

Check Your Sound Settings

To check your headset’s sound settings in Windows 10, here’s what you do.

Find the speakers icon (usually located in your taskbar near the clock) and select “open sound settings,” or you can type in your search bar “sound settings.” 

1. Once you’re in sound settings, you can choose your headphones from the “output devices” drop-down and troubleshoot any issues. 
2. You can also click on “manage sound devices” to pull up a list of all sound devices for your system. 
3. Once you’ve opened “manage sound devices,” select the A10 headset device listed and test the sound. 
4. If the test only comes through one ear, try disabling the device and restarting your PC. 
5. Once your computer restarts, check and see if the device was enabled. If not, enable it and test again. 

Update Driver 

An outdated or corrupted driver can also cause sound issues for your soundcard or integrated sound. Here’s how you can check this.

1. Type in “device manager” in your search bar.
2. Open device manager and look for “audio inputs and outputs” on the list of devices.
3. Identify the sound port your headset’s connected to, for example, “Speakers Realtec(R) Audio).”
4. Right-click on the correct audio port and select “update driver.”
5. Use windows to scan for a new driver or select the newest driver you downloaded from Astro.
6. Restart your PC

You can also download special software that will automatically update outdated drivers and scan for corrupted drivers. 

Faulty Sound Card

If the sound issue’s not fixed by now, try using another headset or headphones. If the same problem repeats, then it could be possible that there’s an issue with your hardware, such as a faulty sound card. 

Unfortunately, if you have integrated sound, this could mean you’ll need either an independent sound card or a new motherboard.

Sweet Spot Fix

Many gamers report that a common fix for headset sound issues is to partially remove the audio jack from where it’s plugged into the computer while playing sound. You might find the “sweet spot” by moving the jack around, where the sound comes through both earpieces. 

Of course, this isn’t the ideal solution, but for many, this workaround does the job as long as the cord’s long enough and they don’t make any sudden movements. 

Playstation (PS4/PS5) and Xbox One Fixes

Check Cable Connection

As with the PC version, it’s possible to have a loose connection between your Playstation and headset. There is an audible “click” sound when plugging in the cable to the headset. However, sometimes there’s still a bit of a gap that requires you to push the wire in a bit further to connect. 

Ensure the cables are pushed in as far as they can go on both ends.

Try A Different Cable

If you’ve bought a spare audio cable, try plugging that in to see if it fixes the problem. If so, then it would mean you have a faulty cable. It’s always a good idea to have at least one spare audio cable for this purpose. 

Adjust Sound Setting (PS4/PS5)

1. Select and press the “settings” icon.
2. Select and press the “devices” icon.
3. Select and press the “audio devices icon.
4. Move down to the “Output to Headphones” option. If this option is grayed out, this means your headphones are not connected.
5. Press the “Output to Headphones” option and change the setting to “All Audio.”

Adjust Sound Setting Xbox One

1. Click on the “Home” button and go to “Settings.”
2. Open settings and under “General” select “Volume & audio output.”
3. Select “Chat mixer” and ensure “Party chat output” shows “Headset.” 
4. Next, under the “Speaker audio” column, select “Optical audio,” and if you see “Bitstream out,” try turning it off. 
5. If you receive an error message and it won’t let you turn “Bitstream out” off, then just above “Optical audio,” select “HDMI audio.” 
6. If the setting is “Off,” change it to “Stereo uncompressed.”
7. You should now be able to change “Bitsstream out” to off.

If the sound doesn’t work after this, you can make three other adjustments.

Adjustment 1

1. Change “Stereo uncompressed under HDMI audio to 5.1 uncompressed.

Adjustment 2

1. Change “Stereo uncompressed under HDMI audio to 7.1 uncompressed.

Adjustment 3

1. Change HDMI audio setting to “Stereo Uncompressed.”
2. Change Optical audio to “Bitstream out.”
3. Change Bitstream format (located under “Optical audio) to “Dolby Digital.”

Test on your PC or another gaming console

Before contacting Astro customer service, you may want to try your headset out on your PC, laptop, or another gaming console to see if you experience the same sound issue. If the problem doesn’t repeat on these platforms, it’s possible there is a hardware issue within your Playstation that needs to be addressed. 

Try the Sweet Spot technique.

If all else fails, try the sweet spot technique mentioned above before contacting Astro customer support.

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