How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want to add inline volume control to headphones that don't have any, choose PChero 3.5mm; if you need a replacement cable for an Astro A10, A40, A40 TR, A50 or A30 gaming headset, choose Cypher.V Replacement Cable Cord. They both hang off a 3.5mm jack and both put a volume wheel within thumb's reach, but they solve two different problems — one extends and controls, the other replaces and connects.
• PChero 3.5mm — biggest strength: a male-to-female extension with an in-line volume wheel, so you can add volume adjustment to any 3.5mm headphone that lacks one, with no power required.
• PChero 3.5mm — biggest trade-off: at 3.3 ft it's a short extension, and it's a 3-pin stereo cable, so it won't carry a mic signal.
• Cypher.V Replacement Cable Cord — biggest strength: a 6.5 ft male-to-male cable with two different connector sizes (4-pole and 5-pole) built specifically as a drop-in replacement for Astro A10/A40/A40 TR/A50/A30 headsets.
• Cypher.V Replacement Cable Cord — biggest trade-off: it's a fit-first product — if you don't own one of those Astro headsets, the 5-pole end has nothing to plug into.
• Who each is for: PChero for anyone who wants a volume knob on headphones that don't have one; Cypher.V for Astro owners whose original cable died, frayed or went missing.
The PChero cable is, at heart, a simple idea done thoughtfully: a 3.3 ft 3.5mm male-to-female stereo extension with a small volume wheel sitting inline. Plug the male end into your source — phone, laptop, tablet, PC, MP3 player, car stereo, whatever has a 1/8-inch aux port — and the female end becomes a new, slightly more convenient headphone jack. The wheel then gives you analog volume adjustment right at your fingertips, and per the spec sheet it doesn't require any power to operate. That last point matters more than it sounds: no battery, no charging, no dying mid-session.
The build reads like it was designed for daily abuse. Bare copper conductors, gold-plated plugs, polished metal connectors and strain-relief rings at the joints — the parts that usually fail first on cheap aux cables. The jacket is soft PVC with a tangle-free design, so it coils up without turning into a knot in your bag. The connector is 3-pin and stereo, and the color is black.
Where this cable genuinely earns its place is gaming headphones with volume control — or rather, gaming headphones without it. Plenty of headsets and wired earphones ship with a fixed cable and no inline remote. If yours is one of them, and your console controller or laptop sits just out of arm's reach, this is the cheapest-feeling fix that actually works: you get a physical wheel instead of diving into software mixers mid-match. It's also handy for a car aux run where the head unit's volume knob is awkward, or for a tablet propped up in bed.
Who should skip it? Anyone who needs a microphone line back to their device — a 3-pin stereo cable won't do that. Anyone who needs serious reach, because 3.3 ft is an extension, not a run across a room. And anyone whose headset already has a working inline control, since you'd just be adding a second wheel for no reason.
The Cypher.V cable is a different animal entirely. This is a replacement cord for Astro A10, A40, A40 TR, A50 and A30 gaming headsets — a male-to-male aux cable, 2.0 m / 6.5 ft, black, with a built-in roller-wheel volume control. If your Astro's original cable has finally given up, this is aimed squarely at you.
The clever bit is the connector arrangement. There are two different connector sizes on the cable: a 3.5mm 4-pole and a 3.5mm 5-pole. The instruction is straightforward — the 5-pole goes into the headset, the 4-pole goes into the device. That's how it stays compatible with the Astro line's headset-side connection while still terminating in a standard plug for your Xbox, PS4, PC, tablet, laptop or phone. It also lists car stereo and general aux use, but realistically the 5-pole end is the tell: this cable exists for Astro owners first.
Materials look sensible for the job: gold-plated aux plugs and no-oxygen copper cord, which the spec sheet ties to clear, stable sound transmission during gaming and live chat. The outer material is plastic and the design is listed as tangle-free. It's plug-and-play — no drivers, no setup. One cable in the package.
The honest trade-off is focus. This is not a universal accessory. If you don't own one of the listed Astro headsets, the 5-pole connector has no home and the cable's main advantage evaporates. It's also male-to-male, so it can't extend an existing cable the way the PChero can. And if you want to add volume control to a non-Astro headset, there's no reason to go this route when a simpler extension does the job.
• Best for gaming headsets with volume control → both, but for different reasons: PChero adds control to a headset that lacks it, Cypher.V restores the control an Astro headset is designed around.
• Best for Astro A10/A40/A40 TR/A50/A30 owners → Cypher.V Replacement Cable Cord. The 5-pole headset-side connector is the deciding factor.
• Best for adding a volume wheel to any 3.5mm headphone → PChero 3.5mm. It's the only one of the two that's a male-to-female extension.
• Best for cable length → Cypher.V at 6.5 ft versus PChero at 3.3 ft. If you sit far from your console or PC, the longer cord wins.
• Best for cable management → a tie on paper — both list a tangle-free design — but PChero's shorter length coils into a smaller bundle.
• Best for microphone pass-through → neither, strictly speaking. PChero is 3-pin stereo; Cypher.V's 4-pole device end is built for the Astro ecosystem rather than generic headset mics.
• Best for no-power simplicity → PChero. Its in-line control needs no power at all.
• Best for travel and pocket carry → PChero. A 3.3 ft extension disappears into a bag pocket; a 6.5 ft replacement cord is a desk cable.
In my opinion, most people searching this comparison own an Astro headset and are trying to figure out whether a generic extension will do the job. If that's you, I'd buy the Cypher.V Replacement Cable Cord — the 5-pole headset connector is the whole point, and no generic cable replicates it. I'd pick the PChero 3.5mm instead if my headphones simply have no volume control and I want to add one without buying new gear, or if I want a short, cheap, no-power fix for a laptop, phone or car aux run. Two cables, two jobs — pick the one that matches your headset, not the one that sounds more versatile.
Partially. The 4-pole end is a standard 3.5mm plug, so it can feed many devices, but the 5-pole end is designed to seat in Astro A10/A40/A40 TR/A50/A30 headsets. Without that headset, the cable's main advantage is wasted.
If your headset uses a plain 3.5mm stereo jack and has no inline volume control, yes — that's exactly the scenario it's built for. If your headset needs a mic signal back to the device, a 3-pin stereo extension won't carry it.
No. The PChero's in-line volume control explicitly requires no power to operate, and the Cypher.V uses a passive roller wheel. Both are pure analog pass-through.
That depends on what you already own. For Astro owners, the Cypher.V replaces a specific, hard-to-substitute part. For everyone else, the PChero does more with a universal 3.5mm jack. Check the current price on Amazon for both before deciding.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
When you buy through links on this page, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon or its affiliates. This site is an independent third-party review and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon or the product brands mentioned.
See also: SOULWIT Cooling Earpads vs ANSHAWTIY Gaming Controller Holder, BASN Bsinger Pro vs Houlyn Sleep Earbuds, Coby Noise Cancelling Sleep vs BUGANI Sleep Earbuds, Wantek Cell Phone Headset vs PLT Poly Blackwire