justsomedude101 yeah, I want it too. Especially with the trade in deal. Let's hope they deliver soon
Pimax Crystal order
a month later
justsomedude101 It took a minute for it to ship and get here, but I have had it for about a week now. I can only compare to my previous HMD's so mileage may vary depending on what you are already used to. So far I have had Rift DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2. On Q2 my choice of playback in terms of picture quality is Pigasus, and on the Crystal I am using HereSphere (damn that player is NICE!! once you learn the controls)
The clarity on it is unreal, obviously. In fact, so good that it now shows limits/flaws in videos that were otherwise considered exceptional on the Q2 since the Oculus is not able to resolve the finest of details due to screen resolution. I am using the 35ppd lens, and they will be shipping the 42ppd lens (hopefully soon) to everyone that has purchased the headset. Also these are glass lenses which seem to further add to the clarity. 8KX was the current 'god mode' HMD in terms of resolution, and it sits right around 21ppd... that increase is pretty crazy to consider, albeit Crystal trades massive clarity for the ultrawide FOV. My opinions of 'top studio' for picture quality/clarity have changed slightly this last week, and that brand new 190 degree 8K Breakfast In Bed scene from SLRO is fucking insane. Speaking purely from a clarity/color perspective, it is 100% a benchmark. A noticeable step up from the previous best of the best from any studio, including SLR's own work. I hope that becomes the new standard rig for all of their scenes from here on out. I was not a fan of 190 fisheye originally due to the scale problems, I would rather have perfect scale a less clarity than ultra sharp clarity with whack scale. Now that they were able to work the Canon Mod magic, that is a non issue and the 190 fisheye is incredible.
The POV for me is not bad, coming from a Q2. It is definitely a bigger "window". I have seen many numbers thrown around and on paper it doesnt sound like it is bigger than Q2, but I feel it is taller/wider. With all Oculus hmd's I have felt like I'm looking through a periscope, in that the viewport is sort of round shaped. The Crystal has a square viewport. That may not sound like much but not having the corners cut off adds quite a bit of picture without adding extra horizontal FOV. It makes it so that the entire left/right edge of the viewport is very close to being in my peripheral vision where as Q2 FOV is quite distracting to me. Also the vertical FOV of Crystal is noticeably bigger. I think vertical FOV is under-rated and not mentioned enough in the context of our hobby. I do know some here are B/G/G/G/G/G/G/G enjoyers, and in those cases ultra wide horizontal FOV is a game changer. But in the case of B/G or B/G/G, I feel the vertical adds more than horizontal once you get to a certain FOV width. Not having to move your head up/down as much and just moving your eyes feels much more natural.
The sound is excellent, you absolutely can not tell sound is coming from L/R speakers, it has a very nice and natural "soundstage". This is something that all Index, and similar users already know, but this is the first time I have had off ear speakers.
Inside out tracking works great (better than Q2 in my opinion), controllers are acceptable (but short battery life) and I was a bit surprised at the run time of the headset battery, it was better than expected and they give you 2 of them so you can swap if needed. I have not ran one out in a single sitting though. It is heavy, but surprisingly balanced and comfortable with the stock face pads. I am wanting to get a thicker pad that moves the lenses just a very little bit further from my eyes.
Downsides-- At the extreme edge of the view port border there is some chromatic aberration. the very edge of the border has a slight bluish color. However, there is ZERO distortion. Also, you need to have it positioned in the sweet spot, you can get some slight off axis color shift, but nothing too horrible (its not like a TN panel pc monitor or anything) and the headset is easily adjustable to get it right. Color accuracy wont blow your mind, but HereSphere gives a shitload of tools to adjust that, and to save it as a different profile per video. The thicker face pad mentioned earlier I believe will help color shift/accuracy as well, just by pulling from my face a bit and seeing the difference. I would also say that with having Mini LED QLED screens it sounds like you're about to strap on a super high end LG TV or something in terms of color and contrast, I don't think it is quite as good as I expected but is still certainly very good. Coming from the simple, untethered set up of a Quest 2, I think it feels clunky getting everything set up. The software works fine, but you have to start up Pimax software, wait for the headset to connect, then Steam VR software, then mess with Steam library...I just think there is something to be said about the simplicity and untethered nature of Q2.
So those are my thoughts. If you're on the fence with a 12K I guess it depends on how patient you are, and what HMD you're already working with as they are notorious for late late late product delivery. But after seeing the Crystals clarity, the thought of having that mixed with ultra wide FOV......holy shit.... (or should I say, holy grail)..... I would imagine I'll eventually sell the Crystal to put towards a 12K when they release.
VRgina thanks for the review. In all, I'd say the crystal seems like a very interesting headset for porn, still, personally I'll stick with the 8kx as I suspect that the current resolution limit of video makes the tradeoff between fov and clarity not really worth it to me. I'm curious though, did you ever had the chance to compare both?
BTW, what's actually interesting is that the crystal and the 8kx have the exact same amount of total pixels. The fov is just very different and of course the lenses on the crystal are just better.
One more thing, how's the battery at the back of your head when lying down / leaning against something? The thing I hate most about my 8kx is the back part (all other headsets I had where so much more comfortable in this regard). The reason I'm asking is that the crystal seems worse due to the battery.
fenderwq No, I have never had a chance to see any of PiMax's other headsets. I wanted to get in on the Kickstarter many years ago for 8KX during the 8K / 8KX campaign, but I couldn't afford that at the time.
as far as the battery, if you have ever worn a Quest 2 with the non-battery Elite strap, I would say the Crystal is not quite as bad as that. I'm looking at them side by side, and from the inside face of the pad that rests against the back of your head, to the outside of the back part of the head strap, the Q2 Elite strap is thicker and protrudes out the back more than the Crystal.
VRgina Thanks for the awesome recap! Super interesting to hear some of this, especially interesting to hear about the sound quality since (for me) the sound on the 8Kx was...distinctly not good.
justsomedude101 I have those Bose quiet comfort II ear buts with good noise cancellation. Great when using a handy to drown out the noise. Just screwed of the earphones of the 8kx.
But yeah the sound was crap. I heard in the reviews the crystal is much better there though.
18 days later
mebejoe There have certainly been quirks, but if you're patient with setup and stuff, the clarity is pretty crazy. To me it does feel like the Crystal is one step ahead of the best content, so I think that is a good thing. As the studios keep making better rigs, I think the Crystal will be able to resolve the next step up of higher resolution/bitrate without feeling limited or held back. "Future proofing", if you will. I really need to dig in and see how to set brightness/contrast at the hardware level. I feel like the color is not quite as good as it could be, and to me it seems like a white/black level ordeal. It just has a very slight wash out look to it that seems easily fixable with some proper tuning. There are settings for it in the Pimax software, I just haven't taken time to mess with it. I'm actually wondering if I do not have the qled local dimming enabled. But, the headset is large, freaking expensive, it has multiple layers of software that you're having to fuck with just to watch a video, and worst of all it has a cord. But, NOTHING game breaking, and no flagrant quality issues. When they release the firmware to enable standalone mode, it will be a different story for sure. I do miss that with the Quest. When you finally do get through all of the setup rigmarole and are strapped in for a session though, I'd say that I'm not disappointed.
VRgina Just got mine about a week ago. I agree with pretty much everything you said.
The 7K and 8K videos look better than the Quest Pro IMO (which still has a great picture), although the sweet spot seems slightly smaller (yet larger FOV). Closeups look so close to human vision. As things get further away, there is still some lost detail but better than any headset I’ve used, including the Varjo and Quest Pro.
I also feel like it has much more capability for higher resolutions as the tech catches up.
I don’t find the software too bad to mess with but had a few issues with initial setup. Most of my issues were simple things that could have been avoided if their instructions were a little clearer. I still have more tinkering to do with settings.
Despite size and weight, I find it comfortable. Have used it for about 4-5 hours in one sitting and never had to swap the battery.
Overall, I really like it. Quest 2 and Quest Pro are still good headsets, and I’m sure Quest 3 will be too. I agree that being able to slip a headset on and be in a video within about 30 seconds is a major plus. I’m also excited to see what the Apple brings to the table.
Whether you are looking to get the Crystal or not, be excited for the next wave of VR!
9 days later
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blaze466 Yep with all of the downsides noted, I still go to it every time over the Q2. I have only used the Q2 one time since getting the Crystal and it was just to go back to it after using the Crystal for several weeks just to see the difference. Absolutely right about the closeups, they are damn near regular vision from a clarity perspective. The far away detail being lost I'm betting is a limit of the rigs, but I am confident that is going to clear up sooner than later from the studios pushing the tech. Also, try setting the brightness/contrast through the Pimax software and then tweak it accordingly in the playback software. Just curious if you feel like that helps with overly bright, overly exposed scenes? I started messing with it last weekend and I do think setting those in the headset as your "base" bright/contrast seems like it may give better results than trying to do it all in the playback software. Going to play with it some more this weekend with some scenes across a few different studios.
VRgina I’ll have to try testing it in the Pimax software. I haven’t really found any improvements changing those settings in the headsets.
So, I’ve started getting these flickers on the screen. It happens in videos, menus, even in the steam environment. I’m hoping it doesn’t last, or get worse. Has this happened to you?
10 days later
Did you get your problem fixed? Happy with the Pimax? I just broke the plastic head strap thing on my HP Reverb 2, which has been my go-to headset over all the ones I own. I can still use it, but if I break the other side, it won't stay on.
So, I'm planning ahead,
I just want to make sure that if I'm spending $1,600 that it is very good and fairly easy to use.
I'm reading so many mixed reviews.
- Edited
mebejoe Man, it’s hard to say honestly. The flickering seems to have subsided. I don’t know if it was a software thing or what. The controllers are horrible. They go to sleep constantly while watching videos, sometimes within a few seconds of activity. They also drift a lot from your hand, although it seems like the last few software upgrades have made this somewhat better. I’m hoping they continue to get better with software updates.
The picture quality is really great, but I did an a/b test with my Quest Pro, and it is only a slight difference. Resolution wise, it definitely feels like it will be able to handle future increases in video quality. Here is the kicker though. Heresphere won’t play all of the videos. Some give me a message saying that I need the H265 codec installed. I have it installed. DEOVR works just fine. I don’t know if that is an issue with my computer or if the Heresphere just isn’t working with the headset for some reason.
So, I’m on the fence about recommending it. If I had to make the choice again, I probably wouldn’t get it. I do expect it to get better with software upgrades though. And for what it is worth, my gpu is only a 3070 TI. But, if you want the best picture right now, it’s the Crystal, I believe. Just know it has its flaws. I’ll still give it plenty of use though.
Btw, I did have a Reverb G2 for a short time before returning it. I will say that the sweet spot on that is tiny compared to the Crystal. The Crystal’s sweet spot is basically 90% of the FOV (much like the Quest Pro). This makes a significant difference to me.
blaze466 Btw, I did have a Reverb G2 for a short time before returning it. I will say that the sweet spot on that is tiny compared to the Crystal. The Crystal’s sweet spot is basically 90% of the FOV (much like the Quest Pro).
Thank you.
So, maybe I should wait for the Quest 3? But then I can't use Steam, right? I'll need to sign into the Metaverse or whatever they call it, no?
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blaze466 So, I’ve started getting these flickers on the screen. It happens in videos, menus, even in the steam environment. I’m hoping it doesn’t last, or get worse. Has this happened to you?
I had an issue on day 1 and it turned out to be that the displayport cable was not fully inserted. The headset side of the plug on mine is pretty tight and is not the easiest to push the plug all the way in. I guess this is a good thing once it is fully in, since it will not easily be pulled out during use. I hope the best for you and that it isn't an actual hardware problem.
blaze466 The controllers are horrible. They go to sleep constantly while watching videos, sometimes within a few seconds of activity. They also drift a lot from your hand,
This one I haven't experienced yet (the drift or the sleep). I haven't looked, but is there a sleep timer in the PiMax software? Also do you have enough light in the room fort the cameras to work well?
blaze466 Here is the kicker though. Heresphere won’t play all of the videos. Some give me a message saying that I need the H265 codec installed. I have it installed. DEOVR works just fine. I don’t know if that is an issue with my computer or if the Heresphere just isn’t working with the headset for some reason.
My Heresphere did not play H265 either, I had to buy the codec pack from the Microsoft store for $0.99 (which is completely ridiculous that it is not included with a damn $100 OS). But now it plays everything with no problems. My complaint about it is that when you are trying to adjust a slider, Heresphere is trying to "help" you by auto-snapping the aim dot to the slider that it thinks you are trying to choose. It is annoying as fuck because it is usually not picking the correct one.
Man, I really hope you get those issues sorted. I don't mean in any way to sound like I'm downplaying them just because I haven't had the same hardware issues, the things you listed sound like the most basic QC issues that PiMax should have had squashed long before release. Honestly though, these are the reasons why I did not jump on the 4K or 8K headsets, I just felt like they were in perpetual 'beta' testing and not a fully fleshed out consumer product. I took a chance on the Crystal based on a few of the reviewers all agreeing on the amazing resolution with no distortion, the ability to eventually use it standalone with no tether, and the swappable lenses (again, someday). I know some also had bad things to say about it, but I felt like a lot of those complaints were based on using the headset for its "intended" uses and not so much for our hobby.
I agree on waiting unless you are ok with the trade offs. If the cost is giving you any pause, I would also say wait. I don't regret the purchase, but at the same time I do not see this being an endgame headset. I'll be selling it once something of equal picture quality and better usability is available. I have high hopes for the Q3.