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?
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.
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 hope you aren’t playing any competitive games because wireless introduces extra latency and makes you play worse
- Bluetooth probably won’t be able to give you good quality audio and mic input at the same time. It doesn’t have enough bandwidth over a single channel, last time I tried. Of course that was probably like 5 years ago and things might’ve changed, like a theoretical workaround I thought about is the headset simply having two bluetooth reveivers and connecting twice. But yeah.
Edit: I suspect jgrffn’s comment in the thread refutes the above. I might test later.
- Most of the proprietary wireless 2.4 ghz usb adapters I have tried have worked fine and better than bluetooth since they can do good audio and mic at low latencies. I have used logitech and corsair but my logitechs died on me (one I bought had the left side die and the other the right side :/) and the corsair earmuffs fell apart after I made the mistake of not being perfectly dry once. So I can’t really recommend my most used headsets.
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
steel series arctis nova 7, working great
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.
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
Just got these recently they’re awesome. Wireless charging, Bluetooth support, flip mic to mute, really comfortable and sound great.
Same here, no issues so far!
Bookmarking this suggestion. I’ve used fractal cases before with great suggest. Didn’t know they got into headsets.
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
I also have a Blackshark v2 Pro (had it on windows before moving to Linux). While it works, it’s a shame the volume control on the headset itself is useless. Openrazer doesn’t support the model currently either.
interesting i have the opposite issue. The volume knob on the headset work, the system one gets ignored lol
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.
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.
Tbf, this holds true for any accessory, from chairs to computer cases: Anything branded as “gaming” is usually mid quality at a premium price.
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’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.
Razer anything is terrible for Linux. avoid in the future.
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.
I have this issue because I have the same one. I have to reseat the usb dongle if I ever boot into a different OS or the volume control on bazzite won’t work next time I use it. Like I turn the volume up and down but the headphones stay the same volume. Once I do that, I can control the volume properly and I won’t have to do it again until I boot into a different OS (dual booted with win 11). I have the profile in bazzite’s audio devices for the Blackshark set to “Pro Audio”. Seems to work for me, maybe it can help passing it along?
On the contrary, I have an old Razer Basalisk v3 mouse, and it works perfectly with linux. I installed openrazer to controll the rgb and everything works perfectly.
that’s a pretty basic mouse, but sure.
i’ll never recommend them. just not a Linux friendly company. one can do better
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.
i stopped using them years ago when everything sucked.
if it improved, good, tho clearly not enough for OP.
i’ll never recommend them. just not a Linux friendly company. one can do better






