There is a pretty good deal atm on this headset and been thinking about getting my first wireless headset for a while. Am curious about how it runs on Linux, as I've seen some controversy on this headset on website that shall not be named, but that was 3 years ago now. I dont expect to be running their propriety software for equalizing sound - but would like to know if the headset performs as it should out of the box and if the additional sound system works well. If anyone has any experience with this i'd be more than happy to hear about it. Other headset recommendations welcome to (wireless though) :)
No.
Do not buy steelseries. Ever.
I bought one of their controllers, once. I really liked it, but it broke. When I RMAd it, they didn't have replacements in stock. I said fine, I'll wait.
They said no. Here's a 60 euro certificate to buy something else you don't want. Also it expires in 30 days, just to make sure you can't wait for something you actually want to buy, like the controller, to be in stock.
All complaints ignored.
They effectively stole my controller with zero compensation. Their warranty policies are literally just "fuck you, eat shit". Everything else I've ever used from them has only barely outlasted the warranty.
I recommend Epos headsets. My GSP 370 have now lasted four times longer than the Steelseries Arctis I had before. The battery is finally dying, but you can literally undo just 3 screws and replace it.
When new, the battery lasts 100 hours per charge, and when you finally do get the low battery warning, you don't need the swappable battery bullshit because "low battery" still means they'll last two more days. Which means you can just ignore the infrequent low battery sound until you're done gaming, and then plug them in.
They function flawlessly on linux, and have excellent audio quality for both input and output. Since, you know, they're by Sennheiser, not a "gaming" peripheral company.
To add to this: I currently have the Arctis Pro pictured and while the battery swap system is great, that's the only thing I see going for it. From an audio quality perspective Sennheiser blows it out of the water. Honestly wish I had gotten another one instead of going Steelseries. Especially for the pricetag they're charging. Audio quality bass-wise is just not there.
I am regularly the first to identify the presence and location of enemies in multiplayer games with friends, purely based on audio. Using audio to outplay opponents on my 370s has been easier and more intuitive than on anything I've used before.
The excuse that "gaming" headsets are "optimized" for footsteps or are improved by the "virtual surround" software they often come with, is bs.
I completely agree. My game go to for this is Tarkov. Audio is so crucial in that game and I could not name the amount of times I could place exactly where someone was approaching from. Can't say the same since I switched to the Steelseries. This convo is making me want to go buy another Sennheiser lmfao.
I'm not trying to complain, but I have these as well and also agree for the price i paid I feel like it wasn't worth it from the audio quality side. Don't get me wrong, they sound good enough, but for the price I was let down. I love the battery swap, and I love being able to use Bluetooth with my phone while also in game chat and game sound all at once.
I have had them for about 3 years now and wish I could a few more years out of them, but my kids got to them a few times and basically destroyed the clip on the left headphone so it just moves around on its own and people keep telling me my mic is in and out and choppy all the time. Not the products fault, but if I do go higher end price again I will probably pass on these and try someone else.
With that said, I also purchased their keyboard and a mouse from them. Keyboard also feels overpriced but I've had it about 4 years and is solid and going strong with zero issues. The mouse is by far my favorite purchase from them. It's the only one I felt was worth the price and is super light but feels great in your hand. I love the mesh shell and never a huge fan of lights, but it is a nice touch here. Bluetooth and 2.4g options make it perfect for any scenario, but I keep it wired if I am home due to the lower than expected battery life, which would be my only complaint. It lasts just under a week with full work hours usage.
thanks for sharing your experience, this is something I'm always afraid of when it comes to these companies.
The GSP 370 looks like something for me, as I am currently rocking the Game One From Sennheiser/EPOS(before they split i believe). These have been wonders for me, but want to move to the wireless space. Battery and comfort are my two main concerns and the GSP 370 seem to be good on this front. I'll do some more digging - but at first glance they seem more difficult to get hold of due being discontinued in most stores in my country. I'll have a look around to see what I can find.
The 370 is their best model, IMO, simply due to the bonkers battery life and sleep behavior. The other models require more frequent charging. I hope you can find a pair.
I literally haven't used the power switch on mine, except to turn them off and on to reset the connection sometimes.
I do not turn them off, they automatically sleep when audio isn't being played, and they will instantly wake when receiving an audio signal. Like you can't tell they aren't just on 24/7, I just put em on like a wired set and don't think about it, and they will last WEEKS when used this way.
Whenever they notify me that the battery is low, which they do infrequently enough to ignore without getting annoyed for the rest of a gaming session, I plug em in when I'm done playing for the day. After which they'll be ready for another week (or more) of use without any thought beyond what you'd give a wired set.
Yeah, that aspect of the headset + the comfort seem very good! However, from the digging I've done now it seems the microphone quite subpar, not sure what your experiences are with this. In addition, the charging port is not USB-C, which is a slight turn-off as I am trying to keep everything to USB-C these days. Not a massive negative, and fair considering its an older model, but a notable thing for me at least.
I've found a pair for $162.76, not a bad price, though from a second hand market but completely unused, box still sealed.
Edit: Watched more videos about the mic now, doesn't sound as bad as I initially thought...
The mic sounds fine. You can find samples online, ofc, but people have never complained that I'm unclear or quiet. It's not as good as the wired sets, and I think that's down to the wireless connection, but it serves the purpose of communication, and doesn't pick up on too much background noise, either.
The charge port not being USB C is unfortunate, but my G915 keyboard is also still micro usb.
Unfortunately neither peripheral has a newer equivalent that is as good.
Yeah, comes at a cost - I still might get these though, seem exactly what I need, and I really just want something that works out of the box with no additional software needed.
Got myself a pair! Insanely found a pair for only 50buck :) Very happy so far, only one quirk and that is that the volume control wheel on the headset doesn't seem to registered by my Linux desktop pc.
Also, like I said, battery replacement is VERY easy.
There is literally an official PDF for how to access it.
The part number for the battery is AHB732038TPCT (found out by opening mine) which is like a cheat code you can put into google to find one :D
Even better, Sennheiser seems to use standardized batteries for all their wireless stuff. There is actually a lot of empty space inside these, so I kinda wanna try replacing the "proper" battery with part number AHB622540N01, which is the battery for Sennheisers Momentum bluetooth headphones.
Single cell batteries all put out the exact same voltage, and are charged the same way regardless of capacity, which makes small ones interchangeable with big ones (unless the circuitry is unnecessarily smart). This other battery is 1000mAh (original is 530mAh), which should net these babies 200 hours!!
Also new pads can be found by looking for part numbers GSA371 or GSA301, but these are getting harder to find, so probably gonna need to find some generic ones that work.
This is verryyyyy cool information! Thanks for doing the digging and sharing. Putting this in my notebook 📔
Also, easyeffects can be used to apply audio processing, if you want to. (Should be in basically any distros default repos)
I don't use any effects on the output, as they sound great, but I do use dynamic range compression on the mic for the benefit of my friends.
It levels out the loudness, so whether you whisper or shout, you sound the same level of loud. That way they can hear you even if you speak quetly, or don't get their ears blown off if you loudly swear in frustration.
Doing the same on windows was way too much work to ever bother with, on linux, easy peasy.
You're a goldmine of information MentalEdge :))))
Applying all of these changes now!
That is a STEAL.
The volume wheel definitely works on mine, so something is wrong. I encountered the developer that added driver support for GSP headsets back in a conversation abut them on reddit, so I can say for a fact they are explicitly supported.
It's probably just a driver thats missing - ill have a play around :)
Linux drivers are usually part of the kernel nowadays, or sometimes get loaded as kernel modules.
Either way, most distros should just come with the audio drivers that implements the support for these. Generally, being open source, linux drivers implement support for everything the devs can figure out, rather than making a separate one for each piece of hardware that's out there.
If you're on an older kernel, that might be it. I remember when I got a DS5 controller I had to use a kernel newer than 5.15 because that's when support for it was added to the game controller driver.
Hmm im on Bazzite with latest kernel so it should be working fine then I guess.
Endeavour OS, here. I didn't have do anything in particular to get mine working.
You might need to use a windows system to verify that it's working at all, could simply be broken.
The other option is that they're on an old firmware that works differently for some reason. You'd need the EPOS software on a windows install to do an update.
I see i see, thanks again - i'll see if i can get that running with Wine otherwise i'll go the windows route.
Wine unfortunately can't be used for that kind of stuff. Programs run in wine cannot communicate directly with hardware in the way they can on windows.
Not yet, at least, but the implementation is in very, very, very early stages. As in, people have just about started figuring out how it could theoretically be done.
Good to know, I'll go the windows route then to make it quick and painless 😅
I went googling for the Epos GSP headsets after this comment, only to learn they are discontinued. What a bummer, they seem nice.
Is it possible to detach the microphone?
Not on this one. It folds up and turns off when in that position. There are other models that apparently allow complete removal.