Arch Linux

battlegarden

Member

Registered: 2010-10-31

Posts: 5

Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

I couldn't find anything on failure or success on using this headset on Linux. Razer support obviously points to the system requirements so I don't know whether I should buy this headset or not. The alternative here is of course to buy a USB soundcard with a microphone and get a Kraken Pro. Does anyone have experience with this?

Ville

Member

From: Espoo, Finland

Registered: 2014-02-03

Posts: 13

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

Well generally I would advice not to buy those crappy gaming headsets. Especially those 7.1 and 5.1 ones.

Regular headset has 2  elements for sound and gaming headset 6+. The price of the headset is the same. Then think about the quality of one element. Which headset has better sound?

battlegarden

Member

Registered: 2010-10-31

Posts: 5

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

Ah, of course! I very much agree. The Kraken 7.1 appealed to me because it is not hideously ugly, because the microphone is retractable and because it is a USB headset. Is there a USB headset that is recommended on Linux?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,231

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

It should just work(TM) as long as it adheres to the usb audio standard IIRC (which it really should at least for basic functionality, would be weird if not), no idea if you can get all channels with that though, but I don't have the hardware myself

Ville

Member

From: Espoo, Finland

Registered: 2014-02-03

Posts: 13

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

Sennheiser has some decent headsets. I recommend checking them out.

Maosn

Member

Registered: 2014-03-19

Posts: 9

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

I can say from experience that the Kraken 7.1 works fine with Linux, just as well as it does with windows. It's not a bad headset but the software that comes with it, which is required for a lot of the features (like the 7.1 surround sound), is absolutely terrible. I'm not sure if it would run at all in Linux, but in Windows it crashes practically every time i try to open it (though it runs fine in the background). so the Kraken works fine in Linux as a normal headset, but since you probably don't want the software it will lack a lot of the features that it should have.

Last edited by Maosn (2014-03-19 20:26:25)

battlegarden

Member

Registered: 2010-10-31

Posts: 5

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

Well, that is good news then! I don't care about the Razer software or any of the "advanced" features. If there's stereo sound and the mic works, that's all I ask for. Did you use the mic as well, Maosn?

Maosn

Member

Registered: 2014-03-19

Posts: 9

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

Yeah, the mic works fine. if you don't want all of the features then it might not be the best choice though. i haven't looked, but you can probably find a different headset that will work as well/better for a lower price, just without the surround sound and other software stuff. so you might want to look into that, but if you don't find anything or really like the Kraken 7.1 for some reason then it will work fine.

battlegarden

Member

Registered: 2010-10-31

Posts: 5

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

Ok! So I went ahead and bought it - works fine. I added

load-module module-switch-on-connect

to /etc/pulse/default.pa as per https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pu … SB_headset so it gets default automatically. Thanks for the comments!

gcala

Member

Registered: 2010-06-03

Posts: 9

Re: Does anyone use a Razer Kraken 7.1 USB headset?

Hi battlegarden, the same headset is now on sale on amazon.it and I'm considering to buy it. Since from last post of this discussion passed a bunch of months can you share your experience? I'm considering this headset for gaming, so surround audio is necessary. Have you had the opportunity to test it with games? Does it work like a simple stereo headset or better?

Thanks