Razer anything is terrible for Linux. avoid in the future.

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 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:

• Audio quality is great for fun (games and films), decent for music and critical listening. The frequency response has a common V shape, but the bass doesn't blow out the top ends (eat a dick, Raycon).
• Eight-hour battery life, can be used while charge cable is connected.
• Aux input that bypasses the internal DAC.
• Signal can penetrate several solid brick walls.
• Comfortable even on my melon head.
• Mic is detachable. Quality is as good as an Aussie wanker can expect.

Cons:

• Micro-USB charger port.
• Volume control is a click wheel that sends volume up/down keystrokes to the PC. I had to remove it from mine because it wore out and would "bounce" and send several keystrokes every time I touched it.
• The earpads are covered in shitty leatherette that will fall off in a few months.

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.

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.

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

I have always used SteelSeries. It might not be the best (because it’s a gaming headset), but it has always worked on Linux and it's Danish 😁

steel series arctis nova 7, working great

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.

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.

Audio Technica M50X's with a Fiio K5 Pro DAC/amp

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.

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)

I got a sennheiser something640 on special for almost half price. Definitely worth it. Most expensive I've ever bought and they were less than 200. Mic quality is great too

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.

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 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!

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

https://www.amazon.com/Soundcore-Cancelling-Headphones-Comfortable-Bluetooth/dp/B08HMWZBXC

https://www.amazon.com/Soundcore-Adaptive-Active-Cancelling-Headphones/dp/B0B5VHRX7F

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

https://www.amazon.com/EarFun-Canceling-Snapdragon-Bluetooth-Detection/dp/B0D5M9SH1X

https://www.amazon.com/Moondrop-Space-Travel-Noise-Canceling-Low-Latency/dp/B0FGDBP2ZZ

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

I hope you aren't playing any competitive games because wireless introduces extra latency and makes you play worse

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.

My Sony XM3 headset works really well

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).

1. why wireless?

2. what budget?

3. music?

3a) what genres are your favorites?

3b) what genres you don't listen to?

4. how old are you

5. environment?

6. what games are your favorites in the past?

6a) what games are your favorites now?

6b) what games are you looking forwards to?

Bookmark worthy thread. Really good info here.

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 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 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'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

When I dual booted Kubuntu, my DAC and standalone mic were detected and worked in CS2.

Discrete / seperate wired hardware. Not wireless. Sorry.