What headsets are linux gamers using?
8 months ago by PotatoesFall to c/linux_gaming
I made the mistake of believing some dumb guide online that recommended the Razer BlackShark v2 Pro for Linux. Literally the volume control is broken out of the box lol.
I just want a wireless headset. For listening to audio. And a mic. Don't care for fancy features. Apparently too much to ask for a linux user.
What are y'all using and how is it working for you?
Yeah lesson learned lol. I figured, I don't need the fancy features. Turns out volume control is a fancy feature. And I'm not even talking about the volume wheel on the headphones. I'm saying, adjusting my system volume barely affects the headphone volume.
How? Mine have worked fine. At least until today when part of the plastic snapped but they are over 5 years old. Going to try glue it tomorrow.
May look for a replacement sometime, always used wired so far.
Razer stuff is fine in Linux. I use several different Razer products on Linux and they all work fine, including Arch Linux on my Razer Blade 14 laptop. Their protocols are pretty well understood at this point on most of their devices.
Are you married to the idea of wireless? The old suggestion of decent headphones and a mic are imo the best way to do things. I've got an old blue yeti I use when I need a mic, but been considering getting a modmic to attach to my headphones. I ran with a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-880s for over a decade as my daily drivers with a FiiO DAC/amp combo, use a k5 pro now with some DT 1990s and found that to be a great combo.
I kinda am yeah :P I also want to use it for work, and I can't sit still so I am always getting up. I wanna be able to participate in a call while I'm in the kitchen for example :P
I used to own a HyperX Cloud Flight. It's the best wireless headset I've ever tried. It comes with a USB dongle, no Bluetooth. Worked out of the box on Arch. I bought mine before HP infested HyperX, but my sister uses a post-buyout one and she says it's perfect.
Pros:
Cons:
In general, avoid anything "Gamer". You're paying for the brand, not the quality. Even the cheapest "audiophile" headphones are better.
Wireless headsets will always be limited by their internal DAC. Another option is to get a decent wired headset and a dedicated wireless DAC. I currently use a modded Beyerdynamic DT770 and an AKG K-240, and if I need them to be wireless, I clip a Fiio BTR5 to the headstrap and connect it with a short cable.
I can second Hyper X for Linux. Using the USB dongle is perfect for wireless, as I dont like having Bluetooth enabled all the time. I only enable it when using my controller on my laptop. Headphones are great and not crazy expensive. I just wanted headphones that worked and they do exactly that.
Haven't had a single issue with my Hyper X Stinger headset across the distros I've tried (PopOS, Nobara, Cachy, Endeavor).
avoid anything "Gamer"
to be honest I'm looking for general purpose headset to also use for work, but looking for business headsets landed me in some crazy price ranges, so I've been looking for gaming headsets since. gonna look into HyperX, thanks!
It's less about the concept of a game-centric headset and more about the brands that sell themselves as "We Are Gamers" with angular shapes and RGB out the ass. Steelseries, Razer, Alienware, Aorus, ROG... I've had many bad experiences both personally and professionally. The only one I didn't end up regretting was Logitech G. The G502 mouse is a beast.
Razer is awful, they are about as proprietary as it is possible for a consumer electronics company to reasonably be. Avoid them at all costs.
Logitech is generally a better choice when available.
Steelseries, although I don't generally love their build quality, has worked well on Linux for me. I can't speak for their cheaper headsets but I specifically am using a Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless in Bluetooth mode with a magnetic-tip USB cable for charging (leaving the Micro-USB tip in the headphones at all times, because fuck Micro-USB).
I assume the non-Bluetooth USB dongle works fine as well but I'm too lazy to use it and have probably lost it somewhere along the way so I can't personally confirm that. Bluetooth is my jam though.
Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. They're excellent headphones, decent microphone. Comfy, long battery life. It's the swap-able batteries dock station type. So they're decently popular and this exists:
https://github.com/elegos/Linux-Arctis-Manager/
Edit: also has Bluetooth support. I use them with my phone too not just the 2.4Ghz Desktop dock.
these seem great but 300 bucks is... steep
Agreed, but you never specified price range :p
I consider these my upper limit but I think I can feasibly get over a decade of use out of this headset especially with the battery setup.
The one I use was discontinued years ago, so instead of recommending it, I'll offer a suggestion:
Don't look for "gaming" headsets. Look instead for well-regarded headphones and mic, or for a telephony (VoIP) headset from a brand that specializes in them, on sale. You'll be more likely to find something that sounds good in both directions and lasts a long time.
I got a pair of Fractal Scapes. The software to modify them is just a website so it's easy to EQ them on Linux (I run bazzite). The EQ profiles are also saved locally so once it's set you never have to look at the website again. The works dick worked straight away and volume control+ play/pause work massively on Linux which is great
Same here, no issues so far!
It's their first one and so far I'm quite happy with it! The dock is especially nice and one of the main selling points to me from a convenience perspective and it works great. I'm lazier than ever XD
Just got these recently they're awesome. Wireless charging, Bluetooth support, flip mic to mute, really comfortable and sound great.
No chat mix is what kills it for me. I'm spoiled with independent volume control between chat and game output. If I can find a solution for this it would open up a world of headsets for me. Steelseries used to do it on headset, now you need their shitty app on newer sets.
Audio Technica M50X's with a Fiio K5 Pro DAC/amp
Sennheiser HD 280 pro
Main difference beetween that and most other monitoring stuff is the plastic build, but it.only costs like 80€ vs 120-150€, and it has lower impedance if you don't want a separate audio setup for it or want to buy it later
I love my Steelseries Arctis 7. It doesn't need any software to configure at all, works out of the box in Linux. Has a nice hardware mixer right on the headphone so you can lower game sounds to hear voice chat better and vice versa.
Is it corded? I think I have a 3, and got the one with 3.5mm plug. Never had an issue.
How does this dial work which lowers game volume so you can hear voices?
The headset presents 2 separate audio devices to your computer, so you direct your games to use the headset game output and Discord or whatever to use headset voice. It's pretty magical honestly, no tabbing out when you can't hear a dude.
I have the same, an old arctis 7, and it's plug-and-play on Linux mint. It's wireless with a USB-c dongle, but 3.5mm jack is an option.
Once upon a time, I was worried I had to buy another headphones, but I used an aux cord to plug it into a headphone-amp for my electric guitar, and it just works. It turns on & off automatically with the aux cord. I suspect it has to be charged to still work, but I haven't tested that.
I had an old Arctis 7 that finally fell apart last month after 8 years of heavy use.
I got a new Arctis 7. It is complete garbage. Cheap materials, smaller to the point that it just doesn't fit my head, my ears don't fit in the cups.
And instead of having it register two devices for chat and game you get a single device and then have to use their software to mix the chat, which is a nonstarter for me on Linux. SteelSeries has enshittified hard.
Sony wh xm4. Remember that Bluetooth audio will suck if you are using vocal chat.
It's not a wireless setup, but in case someone else is looking: Audio-Technia ath-m20x headphones driven by a Fosi Audio Q4 DAC (because your headphones will only sound as good as their source).
Sounds great for a ~$100 budget. And the DAC has worked right out of the box with no driver issues on the few (fedora based) distros I've tried.
I Have a hyperx cloud flight (the first ones), very light, in arch based distros the range is pretty big (in mint and pop, for whatever reason, the range is abysmal), they work with no caveats on linux (though no battery report, there's a script or two floating on the internet to have it with no hassle). I'm sure there are better options these days (better battery and sound quality), but these are the ones I have experience with.
They're not my first choice in audio, but they did so much for me when I had my kid, you can drop in and out of your pc without needing to remove your headphones, they don't block much so you can even listen to the baby crying if you're at a low volume (or you can just have one ear out), you can hang out in calls while holding the bb, etc.
For any new parents out there, can't tell you how much they did for me, in particular the combination of
Are you using the mic on that as well? When I use the mic + audio, the audio quality suffers a lot. I've attached a mod mic to mine and got the best of both worlds.
Yes, same problem on windows. Using headset mode (audio + mic) changes the headphone audio to shit on top of the mic sucking. So to all reading this, it's not good as a headset. Just as headphones, it's fantastic.
why wireless?
what budget?
music?
3a) what genres are your favorites?
3b) what genres you don't listen to?
how old are you
environment?
what games are your favorites in the past?
6a) what games are your favorites now?
6b) what games are you looking forwards to?
Do you mind if I hijack, asking for a friend
Are you just looking for headphones, or do you need a mic on it, too? Because you get get away with a pair of sony mdr-7506's and a modmic for that. I generally think a boom arm and a real mic is better than 2-in-1 headsets in a lot of cases, but I also recognize the utility that committing to a microphone attached brings to the table. Those headphones are 80-90 bucks msrp, but everything's been going up in price so ymmv. And if you attach a modmic to them, your options, value, and repairability open way up. Those headphones are great all rounders and punch way above their weight, don't require an amp to get 90% of the oomph from them, but still have options later down the line if you so choose. And they're closed back.
IF you want open back, buy a pair of massdrop 6xx for 200$. Those have even higher value:price ratio. But those generally do require an amp to open up. Not a great amp, but an extra 200$ to step into a schiit stack would be minimum imo. I've bought too many little dac+amp combos and I just don't like them; the initial value is by far higher, but there's no upgrade path, they're usually shitty and don't have the wattage to drive authoritatively, and are aimed at basically kids and are questionably robust at best. Keep in mind, this option is both more expensive and doesn't net you a mic - but, it is a proper path if you want great quality stuff that you won't buy and soon after consider regretting. The sony mdr 7506 is great, but it is a cheap pair of headphones.
Friendly neighbor headphones that you might want to take a look at are the audio technica m40x. I don't like beyerdynamic because they have pretty high distortion. Counter strike players like them because they're bright as shit to hear footsteps, but I got that you like listening to music more and play rpgs; Deadlock is still too much of a wildcard at this point.
Also, Stray was really good but relatively short with basically no replayability.
Thanks for the detailed answer ! I think close back would be better to block the surrounding noise. I'll take a look at your suggestions, and I understand the need of an extra amp, but that might be over budget. Thanks again for your answer, it helps me choose
I own several pairs of much nicer headphones and have used many different headphones and amps for all kinds of different purposes and genres and sources of music and audio and stuff. I daily drive those sony's (with software eq) directly out from my interface headphone monitor out, and it's more than fine. I really like the audeze tech and what they output, but for whatever reason, these relatively cheaper 7506's just... They hit that midground for me where I have zero guilt using them and leaving them out and all that, and also like the sound signature. Nothing about them is perfect and nothing about them is deeply flawed. Honestly, the closest things I can come up with to be serious flaws are that their earcups aren't very big or deep, and that they have about an inch of (tiny) very exposed wires on either side that run from the band to the actual earcup, but somehow they never seem to fail.
I use SoundID Reference (software eq program in Windows) to eq them, but you can easily use an oratory1990 eq preset https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/ on whatever eq might be available on Linux. EQ isn't perfect and doesn't really solve problems, but it can make appreciable and remarkable differences.
Actually, and this question is to anybody who might know: is there a good Equalizer APO equivalent (with a good gui) on Linux?
Are there dedicated desktop wireless headsets with noticeable latency? My shitty hyperx cloud flight have no noticeable latency and I even played around with some audio settings (on linux, windows audio drivers are very limited) and got it to the point where I could use them to monitor my usb mic in real time (which, for anyone who knows, is a very latency sensitive use case).
Afaik the latency thing is a problem with bluetooth.
Naw, and all the competitive games I've played in the past, trust me audio was not the bottleneck for my skill lol
I've also been on the search for the perfect headset. I have 3 requirements :
Checking all these boxes has been near impossible. I currently have an older steel series arctis and it does it. Newer models tho and almost every OEM out there has some shit software that's windows only. Newer steel series for instance only has the chat mix as a virtual output in software. I know I can achieve similar with Pipewire. The only headset I found that was close was the audeze gaming headset but the sidetone was awful, static and crackle.
If someone has a rec that can check all those boxes for me let me know.
I know you specifically want a hardware solution, but if you use pipewire I have something for you that took forever to figure out from the docs and does just what you want with a single static config file: https://pastebin.com/XigrzvfD
Put this in ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/10-virtual-sinks.conf and restart pipewire once. It is safe to try this. Once you remove the file and restart pipewire everything is back to normal.
This creates virtual output devices that you can assign applications to and control with e.g. pavucontrol. It's mapped to use my specific output devices, if you uncomment the lines and remove the node name expressions then all USB/PCIe devices are used.
It creates a setup of:
virtual:[Games, Media, Comms] -> virtual:Main -> virtual:All Physical Outputs -> [output devices]
I wanted all audio to always play on all devices. You can of course adapt it to your use case. In my case the virtual Main is my global mute for everything. I never touch volumes or mute of the actual output devices.
I have the volume of these output nodes mapped to physical knobs to control games/voice/media independently globally.
EDIT: To control the nodes I use this script: https://pastebin.com/pANNDvup
Mute toggle: volume.sh set-mute virtual:Games toggle
Volume: volume.sh set-volume virtual:Games %d
You will have to adapt that slightly as I use it with OpenDeck and a stream deck clone for control. OpenDeck outputs [-]10 but wpctl needs 10-/10+. There is currently no way to set an absolute volume with that script since I didn't have the need.
This is dope thanks man. I knew I could do it with Pipewire virtual devices, just hadn't fully researched it yet. I been using the StreamController app for my elgato deck. It's been solid, I'm wondering if I can adapt this to their knobs or I should look at open deck.
I've wanted to work out Pipewire for the specific case of threading music directly into a "Microphone" device to play into game voice comms for memetic moments. But, the extensive commandline setup and duplicative terminology has made it feel like a barrier.
I want to first say that if it was 2005, hi-fi was expensive. Today hi-fi is cheap and you quickly run into diminishing returns at like ~$300 for around ear headphones but IEMs are cost effective and you get good quality starting at like $20. The gist of the history is that ChiFi changed the whole audio market for quality at affordable prices
Any bluetooth headset will work from what I've tried. You don't have to spend a lot. You can use the Anker brand Soundcore bluetooth noise cancelling headsets
Not sure if anything beats the Q30 at its price point but bumping up to the Q45 is an increase in build quality so even though my Q30 are multiple years old, I've heard from others who are more abusive of their gear it breaking. You can also use wireless TWS earphones. Like I have moondrop and earfun brand TWS (category of earphones that Airpods are). They're cheap and are adequate at low prices though you can jump to the higher priced ones they have and get better mic quality. Examples such as
The IEM market is insanely competitive. You can google best IEM's for $30 and see dozens of brands you've never heard of but if you aren't deep in the placebo, you'll probably find any of them pretty good
This is linux_gaming, any recommendation of Bluetooth headsets needs to account for latency. There's huge variance between models and the headset is only half of the equation, the transmitting Bluetooth device can have a big impact on the latency too.
I use the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3
I really like them. You can connect 2 different RF sources (USB dongle) as well as bluetooth and can even use RF + bluetooth simultaneously. This is great for example when gaming on my PS5 with them (using the USB dongle) while they're also paired to my phone over bluetooth. Call comes in and I can answer directly (mic will switch over to BT) and hear both the game and the call at the same time. Hang up the call and the mic switches back to the RF source.
Anyway, I have one RF dongle in the PS5, the other RF dongle in my gaming desktop, and bluetooth connections to both my Linux laptop and my phone, so I can use any or all of them with the same set of headphones without changing anything.
I'm using the cheapest wireless Hyper-X Cloud something for gaming and calls and watching stuff.
It worked immediately with no effort in Tumbleweed.
Ohh I've been using Easy Effects for a quick bass boost but James DSP looks much more advanced!
Bookmark worthy thread. Really good info here.
For real. I was hoping for like a handful of responses, and I got a plethora hahah
I got the $28 Nubwo headset and honestly have no complaints. Sound quality both in and out is decent. No connection issues. Has a mute button on the headset itself. Hasn't degraded at all. Battery lasts months. It's comfortable. The earcups breathe and don't make my head all sweaty. It comes with a tactile analog volume wheel, which I love so much!
wow now that is CHEAP. gonna check these out, thx.
How is the bass quality in your experience? I do also listen to music and would like at least decent quality
+1 sennheizer. Have to restart bt service once to create a pairing profile though.
So, I have 4 kids, and they're not very considerate with my tech. They don't actively throw or destroy anything, but they do frequently drop stuff.
It's no audiophile's wet dream, but they're not bad for $25. The audio lag is minimal, sound quality is better than expected, and they're pretty light and comfortable for long gaming sessions.
I have a Logitech G533 headset that I've owned for close to ten years now and I've never had any issues with it in Linux. The USB dongle just plugs in and it works.
If you need a good wireless headset that can do audio and microphone at the same time, you’re forced to get a WiFi (2.4Ghz) dongle enabled headset, or get an aftermarket dongle. Bluetooth cannot support high quality audio and microphone use at the same time due to the intrinsic limitations of Bluetooth (which may change in the future)
yeah plus I hate the UX of bluetooth, the pairing and auto-connecting to other devices is annoying
I'm running on Astro A50 - used to have it before Linux and reaaaaally liked the Gaming/Communication Hardware adjustable mix. Got it working after hacking some udev rules thanks to this gist.
Years later I am now aware of the above named arctix headset and would probably take this, since the new G-Suite for logitech headsets is shit on phone (phone bc not working on linux).
I have never liked headsets. I wear glasses so over the ear headsets aren't comfortable for me. Not to mention, headsets are often overpriced and dont sound as good as a dedicated mic with headphones IMO, but I also make music so audio is a bit more important to me. I also just like having separate devices so that if something breaks, I don't have to throw out a whole device.
xlr mic paired with audio interface and whatever flavor of headphones you want is my go to.
I use a mxl 770 mic with a focusrite 2i2 interface and I use shure se215-K in ear monitors for headphones. I also use this setup for making music or for talking with friends over discord.
Focusrite works great on Linux on I haven't had any issues with this setup. This is a more expensive upfront but I haven't bought a new mic or headphones in years so I think it works out to be more cost effective over time.
For a wireless setup, if you're OK with your mic being wired, you could get a decent USB mic and pair that with a pair of wireless headphones.
I'm just using a turtle beach headset, one of the stealth models that mute when you flip the mic up.
Occasionally need to unplug the receiver but otherwise works well
I recently bought a pair of "sony CH-520" and they work great.
Work well with the Steam Deck, good battery life and sound. I've actually heard myself back in other people's speakers and the mic sounds great lol. There wasn't any additional software needed, so they get my recommendation.
I use an older pair of G35's and they're just fine. No where near the best at anything but they consistently connect, stay connected and sound decent on both ends. Will probably keep using them for a very long time.
I'm using Sennheiser Momentum 4's with no issues that I've noticed. Sound great, paired easily, mic quality seems no better or worse than on my phone (though I use a dedicated mic so that's not something I've spent much time thinking about). They also have the ability to be either wired or wireless - both have been a "it just works" experience for me.
Ploopy headphones have software that's Linux native. The downside is that a kit is ~$200 and that they aren't wireless. But apparently they're high quality.
I know it's not exactly what you're looking for, but figured I'd toss it out there as an option to look into
interesting i have the opposite issue. The volume knob on the headset work, the system one gets ignored lol
I use Sony's Pulse 3D wireless headset with my PS4, PS5, Windows and Linux machines, and my Android devices. It has a USB dongle and works in everything I've tried so far. I got it second hand, brand new and have used it quite a bit.
I used a NUBWUO wireless headset with a USB dongle before that and it was also seamless, and I use it at work now. It's super bulky but sounds good enough.
I have a Corsair HS55 Wireless. I needed it to be low latency and this one comes with a USB for wireless 2.4GHz. It's overall pretty good.
The only issue is that I'm very sweaty and the climate here is wet and hot. The skin of the headphones foam started to fall off after a year.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xSTS (https://www.audio-technica.com/...) . Works great, looks normal, no RGB, no BS. Used with external sound card.
Sony XM5 earbuds. The most annoying part of them is their feature that connects to multiple devices at once, so I end up fighting my phone (Graphene) or gaming PC (Bazzite) midway through a business call on my work laptop (believe it or not, also Bazzite).
So yeah, their only problem is they work with everything and can prioritize sounds from other devices mid-call. You can just not connect them to everything at the same time, or turn off Bluetooth on the phone n stuff while not in use.
I'm pretty sure you can just buy any device like that (so not Razer, and generally not gaming) and it'll just work on Linux. Gaming stuff in general usually has a hard time working even on Windows due to absolute dog-shit firmware & software implementations.
Edit: I suspect jgrffn's comment in the thread refutes the above. I might test later.
Don't buy a wireless headset if you care about things like accurate audio positioning, sound quality, and latency. Get a good pair of over ear headphones and use a good condenser mic along with it (like what YouTubers and streamers use). If you don't care about mic quality (or just don't want a big bulky mic), they sell mics that can attach to your headphones.
For most people on a $20-500 budget (so 99% of people), I recommend the Superlux HD681-AIR. The build quality is poor but it makes up for it in every other department.
It has a mostly flat frequency response curve. There is some siblance in the highs—but it can be EQed out—or remedied with a piece of foam to muffle the sound a bit.
The bass is deep and full without being muddy, and extends to around ~10hz, which is incredibly impressive for semi-open back headphones.
Speaking of which, the semi-open back configuration gives you a wide, realistic soundstage and great imaging, which helps with pinpointing where sounds are coming from. If you want realistic 3D audio for things like movies, games, and music, it's hard to find a headphone under $300 that can accurately activate your pinna just right (which is what you want if you want your audio to sound like it's coming from all around you rather than inside your head). The Superlux cans are only $25. You cannot get better sound quality at this price point. The HD681-AIR gives you audiophile-quality sound for entry-level prices.
Like I said, the only catch is the build quality of the headphones themselves. All plastic and feels very cheap, but none of that matters the moment you put them on and hear how amazing they sound (no joke, you have to step up to the $500+ price point to get better audio from a pair of headphones). Get a nice pair of velour earpads to replace the sub-par stock leather ones, and then beat the crap out of them until you break them. Then buy another pair.
If you like music, you might want to check your selected model(s) on the AutoEQ site for how close they are to the ideal response. I've had some headphones that had way too loud high frequences.
Anything from Sennheiser or Audio-Technica should be great, but their Bluetooth stuff is pricey.
Even if they tell you cool dinosaur facts? :3
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