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?
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When I dual booted Kubuntu, my DAC and standalone mic were detected and worked in CS2.
Discrete / seperate wired hardware. Not wireless. Sorry.
I’ve also been on the search for the perfect headset. I have 3 requirements :
- I want two independent output devices to show up natively without software, 1 for main output and 1 for voice chat output
- I want on the fly mixing between the 2 outputs, preferably without additonal software, with a physical knob
- I want good sidetone, preferably with volume knob
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.confand 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 toggleVolume:
volume.sh set-volume virtual:Games %dYou will have to adapt that slightly as I use it with OpenDeck and a stream deck clone for control. OpenDeck outputs
[-]10but 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.
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.
Bookmark worthy thread. Really good info here.
For real. I was hoping for like a handful of responses, and I got a plethora hahah
Corsair Virtuoso XT ! Best microphone on a wireless headset I’ve ever heard !
Remember to use JamesDSP and make a profile with the proper AutoEQ data no matter which headset you buy ! Makes it sound instantly much better and less muddled. I can’t live without it x)
Ohh I’ve been using Easy Effects for a quick bass boost but James DSP looks much more advanced!
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.
I use a shitty broken Razer barracuda x, and some Sony when I want music
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why wireless?
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what budget?
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music?
3a) what genres are your favorites?
3b) what genres you don’t listen to?
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how old are you
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environment?
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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
- Wired please
- 200 USD max
- Oh yeah 3.1 thrash metal, reggae, electro, rap, 60s 3.2 classic, pop, rock
- 42 !
- Home, but quite noisy near the road
- Apex Legend, cyberpunk 2077, baldurs gate, civilisation… 6.1 Gloomheaven, door kickers 6.2 Stray, Deadlock
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?
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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
- being for PC (no latency, being able to get in and out of your gaming sessions or whatever you do without even having to take them off)
- having a decent quality microphone next to your mouth (you don’t need to raise your voice and can be heard easily despite background noise, good signal to noise ratio)
- not being that good at blocking sound, this is crucial when you can’t compromise your full attention but can have most of it.
- being light weight (I know there are some wireless headphones that are bulky and not that light).
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
This is by far the best headset you can get for that amount of money. Easily repaired, great sound quality, sturdy build. Love this model. I have had mine for almost a decade now.
My Sony XM3 headset works really well
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.
Quality-wise, the mic on that headset is bad, but it’s not the fault of Linux.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This was my experience exactly. Luckily my old arctis still works I’m just terrified of the day when it doesn’t
Do you know about HeadsetControl? It supports various headsets. I added support for the parametric eq for my Arctis Nova 5 a while ago.
Not sure how chat mix works on Linux though.
Wireless with a USB dongle. Analog will never have issues, but this fancy wireless one doesn’t either :)
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.
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.
Ewww, I mute people that talk. Wtf.
Even if they tell you cool dinosaur facts? :3
