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If you want a complete plug-and-play wired gaming headset with a built-in boom mic, choose Egghead Skylab; if you need a replacement cable to revive an Astro A10/A20/A30/A40/A50 headset or route audio through an Xbox One controller, choose Tobysome A50. These two products share the word "gaming" and a 3.5 mm plug, and that is roughly where the similarity ends. One is a headset. The other is a cord. Figuring out which one you actually need is the whole decision, so let's walk through it.
• Egghead Skylab's biggest strength: a full over-ear headset — 50 mm drivers, a passive noise-reducing leatherette design, an omni-directional noise-cancelling boom mic, and inline volume plus mic mute on a 6.5-foot anti-winding braided cord.
• Egghead Skylab's biggest trade-off: it's a wired 3.5 mm headset only, with passive (not active) noise cancellation, so it won't silence a loud room the way active ANC would.
• Tobysome A50's biggest strength: it's a purpose-built replacement cable with a volume wheel, inline mic, mute button, and call pickup/hangup button, plus an A/B switch that lets you choose between the headset's mic and the cable's own inline mic.
• Tobysome A50's biggest trade-off: it is not a headset and produces no sound on its own — without a compatible Astro headset or a device with a combined mic/headphone 3.5 mm jack, it does nothing.
• Choose Egghead Skylab if you need one complete headset for gaming, calls, and everyday listening out of the box.
• Choose Tobysome A50 if you already own a compatible Astro headset and only the cable is broken, lost, or too short.
The Egghead Skylab is a self-contained wired gaming headset. Everything you need is in the box: two 50 mm NdFeb dynamic drivers, a 32 Ohm impedance rating, and a frequency response of 20Hz–20kHz. That impedance figure matters in plain English — 32 Ohm is a low-impedance load, the kind of number that plays nicely with the weak headphone outputs you find on a phone, a laptop, or a console controller. You are not buying an amp to drive this thing.
The comfort story is spelled out in the design: over-ear, padded leatherette ear cups with a passive noise-reducing fit, plus an adjustable headband. Passive noise reduction here is about the seal the pads create against your head, which takes the edge off fan noise, keyboard clatter, or a TV in the next room. It is not active noise cancellation, and I would not describe it as such — it's a quieter background, not a silent one.
Who should buy it: someone who wants one wired headset for gaming and everyday use — chatting with friends, taking calls, watching video, listening on a laptop or controller. Who should skip it: anyone who needs wireless freedom, anyone who wants true active noise cancellation for flights or a noisy commute, and anyone who already owns a headset they're happy with and only needs a cable. In my opinion, this is a straightforward "buy once, plug in, done" headset, and its value case rests on the complete package rather than any single standout spec.
Tobysome A50: Who It's For
The Tobysome A50 is not a headset. It's a replacement audio cable, and it is very specifically aimed at Astro owners. The compatibility list is explicit: A10, A20, A30, A40, A40TR, and A50 gaming headsets, connecting to an Xbox One controller, a MixAmp, or a PC or Mac with a combined mic/headphone 3.5 mm jack. It's a male-to-male AUX cable with 7 pins, 2 meters long — about 6.6 feet — which is the same ballpark as the Skylab's cord and enough slack to sit back from your screen.
The interesting part is the inline module. You get a volume wheel, an inline microphone, a mute button, and a call pickup/hangup button. There's also an A/B switch, and this is the detail most people miss: position A enables your Astro headset's own microphone, while position B enables the microphone built into the cable itself. And here's the catch worth reading twice — if you want the cable's buttons to control your device, the switch has to be in the B position. Get that wrong and you'll assume the cable is faulty when it's just set to the wrong mode.
The build leans on what Tobysome calls Super Core wire and gold-plated connectors, aimed at clear, lossless stereo transmission. The cable also lists compatibility with several Amazon Fire tablet generations and "smartphones, specific models not listed." That last phrase is honest but vague, so if your phone isn't listed, treat phone compatibility as something to verify rather than assume.
Who should buy it: an Astro A10/A20/A30/A40/A50 owner whose original cable is damaged, lost, or being chewed by a pet — and who wants volume and mute control back on the wire. It's also for someone who wants to run their Astro headset through a phone or music device on the go, which the inline mic and call button support. Who should skip it: anyone without a compatible headset, and anyone expecting a headset to arrive. Buying this hoping for a complete audio solution is the single most common way to be disappointed here. In my opinion, it's a repair-and-extend part, and it's excellent at exactly that job.
• Best for a complete headset out of the box → Egghead Skylab. Drivers, mic, and controls are all built in.
• Best for replacing a broken Astro cable → Tobysome A50. That's its entire reason to exist.
• Best for a built-in boom mic → Egghead Skylab. The omni-directional noise-cancelling mic is part of the headset.
• Best for controlling calls from the wire → Tobysome A50, thanks to its call pickup/hangup button and inline mic.
• Best for plugging into a phone or laptop jack → Egghead Skylab, with its standard 3.5 mm plug and 32 Ohm impedance that suits weak outputs.
• Best for Xbox One controller or MixAmp setups → Tobysome A50 — but only paired with a compatible Astro headset.
• Best for passive noise reduction while you play → Egghead Skylab, via its over-ear leatherette seal.
• Best for a durable braided cord that resists tangling → Egghead Skylab, with its 6.5-foot fabric braided cable.
If I had to pick one, I'd buy the Egghead Skylab. It's the product that solves the problem most people actually have — wanting a working headset right now — and it arrives complete: 50 mm drivers, a boom mic, inline volume and mute, a braided 6.5-foot cord, and a 3-year limited warranty. The Tobysome A50 is genuinely good at what it does, and if you already love your Astro headset, it's the smarter, cheaper-feeling fix. But it only makes sense inside an ecosystem you already own. For everyone starting from zero, the Skylab is the safer, more complete purchase. Check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since that's the one variable that can tip a close call.
They do different jobs. The Skylab is a full headset with drivers and a built-in mic, so it's the one that actually plays game audio and lets you talk. The Tobysome A50 only carries audio to a compatible Astro headset you already own.
No. It's a cable, not a headset, and it's built for A10/A20/A30/A40/A40TR/A50 headsets plus devices with a combined mic/headphone 3.5 mm jack. Without a compatible headset, there's nothing for it to connect to.
No. Its noise control is passive, achieved through the over-ear padded leatherette ear cup seal, which reduces ambient noise rather than cancelling it electronically.
On the Egghead Skylab, volume and mic mute sit inline on the cord. On the Tobysome A50, you get a volume wheel, mute button, and call button — but remember the A/B switch must be in the B position for the cable's controls to work with your device.
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