VR Discussions, Questions & Feedback

So with the Varjo Aero price drop I'm thinking about moving from my Reverb G2.
Has anyone done similar, and is it worth it? GPU is a 4090. I usually run AMS2 on the G2 @ 3100x3100 with game super-sampling set to 2x.

 

I went from G2/3080ti to aero/3080ti and now 4090. As a yardstick, you will be able to get slightly more efficiency with the aero. With 4090, you can max out ams2. In lowlight conditions, I have to lower the settings.

 

thanks, but what's the image quality like between them, is it night and day or subtle at best?
I also play Elite Dangerous so black levels , how do they compare?

 

Has anyone noticed when running openxr that the ai cars seem to stutter?
I've now switched to vrperfkit and the ai are smooth as silk although overall performance isn't quite as good (G2).

 

I went back to the Reverb G2 after trying the Aero. I had many issues:

- Unsolvable motion blur while moving your head.

- Terrible edge distortion, even with the experimental profile it's still visible/distracting all the time.

- Terrible stereo overlap. I saw a black spot between my eyes/at my nose because of it! This made the device unusable for me.

- Impossible to use the Aero with multiple people because of the insane CA. Had to use manual IPD in their software and adjust all the 4 knobs constantly to get the CA stable, but it's always to much. This process takes 10-15 minutes and everytime that I switch from person to person I have to do all the adjustments AGAIN. This was the worst part of the device, as worst as the stereo overlap.

- Dead pixels, way to many people seem to have them(some returned the Aero 4 times and gave up after that). I had one too.

- The red color is shifted compared to other colors.

- Mura(especially visible in skies)

- No possibility for manual IPD adjustment on the device itself, since I cannot use auto-IPD its a huge flaw.

- Terrible vertical FoV which makes it impossible to play pinball on it.

The Aero was for my the biggest disappointment ever in tech because I was super hyped for it because of all the insanely positive reviews. Which I all still don't understand. I was more happy with my Reverb G2, even if the Aero was the same price, then I still would have preferred the G2. The black levels of the Aero were also not good.

So I waited for an better upgrade. Now I have the Pimax Crystal and that's absolutely next-gen.

All the Aero-issues from above don't apply to the Crystal(I only have a slight shift of color blue, that's all) and the black levels/colors are just amazing compared to the Aero and the G2. It's a massive upgrade.

The black levels of the Crystal are near oled levels(especially with tweak 0.01 in the json, no blooming and super black blacks) and the colors are about the same as oled. The lenses are the clearest that I've seen(glass) and got zero distortions/warping going on (opposite of Aero lenses) and have a much wider sweetspot than the G2+better FoV/Stereo overlap. Where the G2 is about 20-25% sharp in terms of the sweetspot, the Crystal is about 80% sharp in the sweetspot. The PPD/resolution/sharpness is about 60% better than the G2 so you can imagine how it looks in AMS2 combined with a 4090. I can run it's native resolution of 4315x5100px+2xMSAA with some fixed foveated rendering applied (at 71%+200% horizontal+10% up, almost invisible) and keep 90fps/hz locked at daytime racing.

 

That's interesting. Thank you. A lot of your negatives seem to be ignored or glossed over by reviews. I was already a little unsure due to the online requirement for the headset software to work but you've just removed it completely from my curiosity.

I was similar with a Quest Pro. It felt like a huge step in the wrong direction and I actually felt scammed and lied to by youtube reviewers.

Not sure I want to go the Pimax Crystal direction though. The battery and clown size of the thing put me right off. I don't know anyone with one so can't demo it.

It's looking like a Somnium VR1 if it's priced similar.

 

Yes nice and day between the G2 and the aero. I have had it for two years/1400hrs and no issues whatsoever. I don't even use the CA fix de lopped by Varjo. It seems as though people with lower ipd are more sensitive. But maybe the pimax works better for you . I had it preordered because of local dimming and a slightly better FOV but when I saw that it was shipped without eye tracking, I wasn't interested. And now, with more interesting headsets around the corner, it doesn't make sense to have it for me. Had they designed a purely pcvr hmd without the awkward design, battery, etc, I would probably have it. And then, pimax customer support is far from stellar.

 

"When it worked, it was superb, but that was rare".
I have lots of sim racing gear and several friends had constant disconnects. But if your setup is simple, maybe you'll be fine. Hopefully they fixed most of those issues, though.

 

Yes I also had connection issues with the earlier Pimax Play software versions and firmwares(same kind of issues as in these video's). They simply released the Crystal to fast, so those issues are all solved now. It's been rock stable ever since. But yes Pimax is not a professional company despite the fact that they have the headset with the best visuals now.

So yes as they both said in those same video's: "When it worked, it was superb" and now that it's all solved; "it's superb" as they all say.

I have no issues with the weight. It's the most comfortable hmd that I've used until now. But only with the big foam, the comfort was horrible with the small foam that was installed on default(but both foams were in the box). The battery charges automatically even when it's off. I never have to replace it anymore(since it works for ~7-8 hours). The battery gives a good balance to the Crystal, I bought a studioformcreative counterweight for the Reverb G2 which did actually the same. But yes it's strange that the device needs a battery, it shouldn't be needed and over the years the battery quality will be worse, but it came with two and I can probably buy a new one if both don't last long enough anymore.

The VR1 is going to be more expensive, it's rumoured to be almost 2 times the price of the Crystal, but it's still unsure. It also comes with a double design poly lenses instead single design glass lenses(Crystal has glass lenses now, I got poly lenses from Pimax at first, they were unusable, the worst lenses that I've ever had). I hope that they can get their distortion profile right and that it won't cause any glare or warping. Yes, the 130 hFoV looks promising and the rest of the specs are about the same as the Crystal. But the Crystal also gets a bigger wide FoV lens soon which add's about 10 extra horizontal FoV. It's still unsure if they will be as good as the current 35PPD glass lenses. But having said that, everything from Somnium is unsure since it's their first hmd.

 

I don't know where you are in the world but I've just gone through the Pimax store to see the final price. Once the import tax to UK and delivery is added it comes to double the price of an Aero, then I have to deal with Pimax and overseas shipping costs should anything go wrong.
Or I could get direct from Amazon, which is worse again at 3x more expensive than the Aero.
Until it's available in the UK it's just not worth it.

 

Sounds like they just wanted to find a way of getting rid of a bunch of face plates they bought - especially given the "limited edition" nature of it.

As the guy says there's no significant changes to improve it for sim racing.

It might have made more sense if they'd worked with at least one or more developers to get the eye tracking working perhaps and sold it with that game included or something along those lines. But really it seems just a completely flawed design and product that, at the price, really needed to be the best VR headset for sim racing by a country mile - otherwise get the Reverb and save the rest of your money for when a better headset without all the flaws and foibles exists.

 

I agree that the design is just clunky and that they should have focused on the PCVR option. That could have been a really sleek and elegant design with excellent visuals at a lower price. Maybe around $1000. Instead you are stuck with a headset that looks like an industrial Iron, that weights a ton, with batteries that you have to recharge, etc for a standalone mode that allows you to play ten games, from what I heard? A real shame and missed opportunity imo.
Now to be fair, those visuals are going to be a generational leap above the G2. No fresnel lenses and 50% more pixels really make a difference. If I had a G2, I'd either go for aero or crystal.

 

What is the "LFE Extra Volume" setting?

 

"Low Frequency Effect" I think it's to do with boosting the subwoofer output effects in a 5.1 system?
If it boosts the stereo audio bass frequencies in game I don't notice it.

 

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anyone having trouble with open composite? mine asked me too update to the latest version and now all i get is errors as it tries to download the latest dll files,i even went to github and downloaded the latest version ,and the same thing happens

 

If you go to the oc discord #general channel and check the pinned messages you'll find a workaround.

 

hi mick what is it called cannot seem to find it