I'm not an audiophile. I'm just a budget minded poor who tries to find the best bang for the buck

So I search for "budget (headphone/mic/whatever) (current year here)" and read a bunch of reviews. Then I try to order whatever I'm interested on amazon, simply because its easier to return to amazon if i dont like how it is.

Personally, for headphones, I use OneOdio A71's. Which are fantastic headphones that only cost 30ish dollars, and legitimately sound better and are more comfortable to wear than 200 dollar sennheisers I had previously.

And they use a standard cord with 3/4 inch plug on the headphone side, and 3.5mm on the computer side (and if your 3.5mm port on your PC supports combo Mic/Stereo, You can get a cord that has a built in mic, but I've never used that so I have no comment on the quality)

as for the rest of my audio hardware, my mic is just my webcam, and my audio hardware is whatevers built into the AMD chipset on my motherboard.

Headphones work anywhere that has a 3.5mm plug. most anything thats AMD will work with linux without issue, and i simply got lucky that my webcam was a very popular model that resulted in built in linux support.

This is what worked for me: Abandon 'Gaming' and start looking at 'Audiophile'. Those guys and gals know EVERYTHING about sound and can probably tell you exactly which headphones and what mic are worth it for you.

None of my audio gear has an app (I think), so compatibility with Linux hasn't been an issue.

And I use headphones with a separate mic (on a long-ish arm) as I felt that the audio quality on all headsets I looked at was terrible.

I prefer an aux cable headset. No charging, no connection issues, and the quality is always 100%. You will also never have compatibility issues.

Might not be for you, but just a thought.

Honestly if it needs an app it's probably overpriced garbage anyway. High quality analog headphones have been made for decades without any apps. As others have said ditch the "gaming" headphones, they almost always suck and are overpriced for what they offer.

You should ideally look for headphones with a frequency range of 20Hz to 40kHz (the full range of human hearing) but even a 40Hz to 20kHz range would be decent. This is the biggest quality factor for headphones.

If you're gonna plug it straight into your computer or audio card via aux or usb you want something with low ohms (either 2Ω or 6Ω) but if you're gonna use an audio interface or mixing board you want something with around 200 ohms. In laymans terms, low ohm headphones with powerful audio device = blowing out the headphones. High ohm headphones with tiny device (like a phone) = quiet muffled audio.

For microphones, range doesnt matter as much because most people talk around 200Hz and don't really go too high or low. Also look for "condenser" mics which capture voice much better than dynamic mics.

For connection, best quality is probably gonna be an audio interface. The mic connects via XLR cable, the headphones over aux, and it usually has a USB-A connection to the pc. If you're running Linux, Pulseaudio has great support and is much better than default ALSA.

My favorite mic brands are Shure and Rhode, and my favorite headphones are made by a German company called Beyerdynamic. Mackie also makes some cheap and quality mixing boards. Probably more info than you needed but the audio rabbit hole is very fun to explore!

You don't want Bluetooth headphones. Get wireless headphones that use an RF dongle instead. Better range, sounds quality etc. Just plug in the dongle and go.

If the stuff I've used has an app on windows, I don't know about it. All my audio gear has been plug and play in Linux without issues. I'm going to guess that if you have Bluetooth working in general on your device, the headphones won't be a problem themselves.

Based on what you are looking for, the only thing I can recommend specifically is ModMics from Antlion Audio - they specialize in good^1^ mics as an addon for a good set of headphones, I believe using an adhesive pad to attach it where you want it. Basically, instead of paying extra for lower quality stuff "for gamers", find a good pair of headphones from a reputable audio brand, and then slap a mic on the side.

For reference - I gave up on "gaming" options a while ago. I have a Scarlet Solo audio interface with an AudioTechnica XLR mic, AudioTechnica ATH-AD700X headphones, and then Edifier studio monitors for speakers with a Mackie Subwoofer. It all runs off the Scarlet box though, so that is the only thing plugged directed to the PC. I do still have a Steel Series headset that I take with me travelling, since the rest of it would be a lot to drag along and it has served me quite well without any need of software either. I run Garuda Linux (an arch derivative) with KDE, if that matters - I would hope that wouldn't make a difference but included it for complete info (not just because "I use Arch, BTW (sort of)".

^1^ - I have not used these personally, but they were recommended to me several years ago by someone whose judgement I trust. I hope they have not gotten shitting since then.

If a piece of hardware is marketed for "gaming" and isn't a mouse or a GPU, I'm taking my money elsewhere. Works for chairs, mics, headphones, earplugs, keyboards, monitors, everything. Gaming brands are such a scam.

I'm just here to echo that for audio equipment, look for whatever the audiophiles recommend, especially the non-gatekeeping ones and those that can respect a budget.

Headset (as is, headphones and mic in one device) that is decent is really hard to find, if possible. You will most likely have to pay more, but it's much easier to have both the output and input be good this way.

I have a Shure SM58 on a stand running though a focusrite scarlett and akg k371s. I got the the mic and interface used on eBay. I previously used a behringer xm8500 and a behringer usb audio interface which honestly gets you most of the way there in terms of audio quality. The headphones have a replaceable cable via mini XLR, which is the failure point on most wired headphones.

I've never had audio problems on Linux, these days everything uses a generic driver.

If you're playing games where directional audio matters, I would strongly recommend monitor headphones. It makes it much easier to figure out exactly where sound is coming from. I have Sony MDRs and I love them.

For a mic, there are some great options out there that are reasonably inexpensive. I have a Blue Snowball that's lasted the better part of a decade and still works great, and I know that there are others at a similar price point that might even be better by now. Check out reviews from humans, whether text or video. Boom arms go a long way toward minimizing background noise from desk vibration, and also make it easier to adjust the placement of the mic.

Senny

When I moved 100% to Linux, I could still use all my hardware. There are plenty of vendor-agnostic projects for major brands, like Logitech and Razer. But for me, it was all plug and use.

Most software are just gimmick for lights and equalizers. I have a DAC from soundblaster like that. You can get vendor-agnostic on Linux, like EasyEffects, that offers the same equalizing features, and I can get profiles from other people.

As others said, don't buy "gamming" branded garbage, you can often find the same product cheaper from an audio company, like those Razer microphones (they were good, I have 2 I got from goodwill and both are plug and play).

If you insist on getting gamming junk, some you just need to configure once with their app, and then you can plug it anywere. You might find vendor-agnostic for those.

Audio is very important for gaming, but not all game is made equal. While you can get low latency for visuals, a lot of games use codecs that adds a huge delay in audio. Bluetooth will just make it worse.

A bluetooth headphone, is just a headphone with some extra electronics jammed in there, adding weight and making it harder to fix, and usually more expensive than buying those components apart.

My checklist depends on the hardware and use (gaming, relaxing, production), I am more worried about internal components, how often they break and how easy to fix, but in general:

Headphones:

• Light, for gaming I like extra light. I also prefer open. Both helps with heat/fatigue, and the last to pinpoint things happening in the game.
• Detachable cables, easier to fix. Preferable not proprietary, just because they are cheaper to find extra.

Some people decide on the sound signature based on the games they play most.

I like audio-technica and hifiman entry level headphones, I read some people complaining about recent hifiman. Also, notable IEM : Sennheiser IE 200 (maybe with tape mod).

Mic:

Really depends on what you are recording.

If it is just for gaming, while you are playing and talking with people, do not use a mic on top of your table.
You will just annoy people while typing.

Either use an arm, a headphone mod, or a lavelier.

DAC:

Most motherboards nowadays come with chipset better than entry level DACs. Just make sure they are not branded as "USB interface" as those have huge problems.

Issues like electronic interference are a thing from the past. If you find, avoid that motherboard brand.

If you really need a DAC, check their chipset.

For your case:

If after reading everyone's suggestion, you are still leaning on bluetooth.

Get a wireless DAC with mic, and plug the headphones/IEMs to it.

If the timing is important, do not use bluetooth. If you require bluetooth, do not use other bluetooth equipment nearby, the more devices you add the more latency and loss you have. Also, look into IEM bluetooth, they come with mic, are lighter. Or if you need a headphone, look into wireless DAC.

As a LATAM hardware enthusiast I get what I can when I can, most of the time is outdated and/or used, also don't forget overpriced.

Buy audio equipment and not a dongle.

First, get a condenser microphone with an XLR plug and one of those adjustable arm stands:

Second, get an XLR->USB audio interface (or just a converter cable) to go with it.

I own the gear pictured, but I can't recommend those specific things because I bought them 8 years ago and they've been discontinued since. I started out with the box-shaped interface, but eventually realized I didn't need its features and swapped it for the XLR->USB cable to save space/complexity. If I were using wired headphones (studio monitors) instead of speakers I might have kept using the box.

Also (and perhaps most importantly): the mic itself is analog and the USB converter is just doing generic analog->digital conversion. There is zero reason for it to need any software other than the kernel's built-in USB audio driver.

Most of my hardware is from before I switched to Linux and I don't see the need to switch anything that's still working. I have a pair of Sennheiser 6xx's that I use at my desk (my usage is occasional enough that I haven't been able to justify buying a dedicated DAC/ Amp) and a pair of Sony WH-1000XM6's that live in my backpack for when I'm outside the house.

For mic I usually use the mic built into my webcam (Logitech c920) at my desk, it's nothing fancy, but it works well enough for the occasional voice/ video call. I don't think I've had reason to need to use my mic while away from my desk, but I'd probably fall back to the one built into my laptop or use the XM6's mic.

The only thing that might need software is the XM6's, but those can always fallback to using a wired connection in a pinch. Plus, since they can be paired to both my phone and laptop at the same time, I can use the android app to handle settings tweaks (usually just adjusting the noise canceling mode).

A FiiO E10 and your choice of decent analog headphones should work fine. As for the mic situation, a decent lapel mic going to the analog mic input on your PC should also work fine.

Just to counter all of the (totally justified) corded propaganda, if you do want gamery Bluetooth headphones, Razer peripherals work very well with openrazer (backend) and polychromatic (front end) which are fairly easy to set up as long as you’re not using secure boot. Just make sure if you go this route you check the openrazer site for the list of supported devices before you buy.

Wired HD 6XX, Fiio K1 r2r since my desktop dac is garbage, and Shure Mv7+. Obviously you don’t need anything as expensive as that but I think separate stuff will always be better. It is less convenient though for sure

Any analog headset and microphone will work. Avoid bluetooth, it has terrible latency issues and two way audio sounds like crap.

I'd find stuff I am interested in for the hardware, and then do a search to see if any of those work with what I intend to use it with.

I have a really simple setup since I don't really do content creation or music or anything really needing a quality microphone. I use the Drop/EPOS pc38x with the velour ear pads. As far as gaming headsets or just headsets in general, the sound quality is really good. Actually pretty decent mic for a headset, comfortable, braided cable, volume knob. Can't complain.

If I had more money I'd look at proper headphones and a standalone mic, but for 200 (160 when I bought them) it's solid. I personally don't like Bluetooth peripherals, wired gives the lowest latency and don't have to bother charging or having the batteries eventually needing replaced if they're even user replaceable. And not to mention not needing any bloatware to use. Just plug n play

I'm using a setup that i already had when i was still on windows, but it's pretty much a driverless setup so it worked on linux just fine.

I use a JDS Labs dac and amp that i bought years ago and they still work great, the dac is plug and play. I paired it with a sennheiser HD660S that i'm still very happy with. Unless wireless is really important to you i'd recommend wired because they offer the best quality in terms of bitrate. With my sennheisers the nice thing is that the cable is easily replacable because they're just plugs that you can pull out of the earcups.

For discord i'm using an old usb mic that i bought years ago that seems to work fine.

Basically what i'm saying is don't bother with the gaming headsets. The one thing i miss on linux is dolby atmos tbh. On windows i used it for virtual surround sound as a replacement for the gaming headset software, but last time i checked you can't use it on linux. Some games have virtual surround sound baked into their settings, which works without OS-level software, but for the games that don't i miss it. I'll probably keep using this audio setup until something dies cause i'm just really happy with it.

Edit: you could also pair good wired headphones with something like a Fiio BTR15, which also supports bluetooth. That way you can still walk around with the dac/amp in your pocket. There's still going to be wire between the headphones and the amp of course, so it depends on how allergic you are to wires. I bought a Fiio mainly as a more portable wired setup for my phone/laptop.

I use cables, batteries are for ewaste.

I use a Motu M4 audio interface with headphones wired to it, as well as a Shure mic. Since I do music I already had it setup.