Current or upcoming best VR headset for DCS

[PKP_Cooler]

All,

I had a quest 2 but sold it because there was a bug with the controllers connecting to PC. I will never buy a quest 2 or the new quest pro. I am looking for a headset that works esp well with DCS. Of course like half life etc and zone caliber, but DCS is my primary. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. CYA in the skies!

[Thinder]

It would help if you added your PC specs in your signature, headsets also have minimum required specs.

I use a Pico4, it's not the best but it works well, 2K per eye, slightly less clear display than a G2 but the sweet spot is a lot larger, which comes very handy because you don't have to turn your head toward what you want to see with precision to put the sweet spot on it, you can just look at it without turning your head, clear enough to play PvP and see targets from far or cockpit eyes circuit.

Plus: Refresh rate is 90 Hz. Can work with Wi-Fi or USB4. Not too heavy and well balanced, integrated sound but you can fit a quality headphone on top of it and turn its sound off. Has its own version of Virtual Desktop (14.99 GBP), you need an additional app with it easy to download but no Steam compatibility with it (VR Desktop Oculus Rift / Rift S, HTC Vive / Vive Pro / Vive Cosmos/ Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality). Their tech support is reactive and willing, no such thing as "ask the other guy" and that goes from the headset to the cellphone software for purchasing games and apps to authorize payments (add payment method), it took them some time but they sorted it out after I called on them, so I was able to buy stuff from their library... I couldn't comment on the controllers simply because I haven't played any other game than DCS, and used them to navigate menus, all I can say is they work well.

Cons: USB cable doesn't recharge the battery. Software support is limited, at the moment we're fiddling with apps to get it to work with Steam, I use Steam VR Beta and got it to work but it's still touch and go, see the topic on the subject. You need the dog's b@ll@cks to get the best of it, 3080 minimum, see my specs, with higher DCS settings I'm marginal although ONCE I managed to get exceptional image quality and smooth play but with settings I was never able to reproduce. So it's not only the PC, software plays a really important role.

You can find them in the UK for £379 for the 128GB version and £449 for the 256GB, for connected VR, I don't think the capacity makes any difference.

Ultimately I'm looking at the Pimax Crystal but they seems to take the mickey, I paid a pre-order and never eared of them since, I think there are delays in the launch for some reason, in any case, perhaps best wait for the price to come down or something better to come out, for the time being, I don't regret my choice and with the money saved, I treated my family with loads of chocolate for X-Mass.

My tip: For tracking, playing in a dark room with a red lamp behind the screen works perfect, it provides the sensors with high contrast and I never had any tracking issues with it.

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by Thinder

[PKP_Cooler]

Thanks, great explanation. I have a 3080ti high end rig. I was thinking crystal as well. Be safe and thank again!

 

https://discord.com/channels/877670368960184380/877670368960184383

[72Stu]

The 'upcoming' Somnuim VR1 looks very nice on paper, open source to boot, allowing modding of the headset to some extent....

[Thinder]

On 1/30/2023 at 10:19 AM, 72Stu said:

The 'upcoming' Somnuim VR1 looks very nice on paper, open source to boot, allowing modding of the headset to some extent....

 

[72Stu]

That's the one, looks amazing.

It was behind a Perspex box at CES, but is a real thing. With this and the Pico4 (latter awesome with a good PC), sim VR is looking really good for 2023...

Edited January 31, 2023 by 72Stu

[Thinder]

On 1/31/2023 at 2:50 PM, 72Stu said:

That's the one, looks amazing.

It was behind a Perspex box at CES, but is a real thing. With this and the Pico4 (latter awesome with a good PC), sim VR is looking really good for 2023...

 

This  leaves us with the little matter of the price...

[Mr_sukebe]

My hope is that Pico release a Neo 4 “link”, or a Pico 5 with a DP connection.  For me, I’d be happy if they simplified it by removing its stand-alone capability.

better still if they gave the option of eye tracking

[Nightdare]

Personally thinking about upgrading my old Rift CV1

 

Thought about the quest 2 or Pico4, but I have no real desire or need for a standalone headset.

I know both can be tethered, but this is via USB, and I simply prefer a HDMI/DP signal.

Another possible problem is that the CV1 has the lenses set at its widest for my IPD, so at 72mm, that probably kills about all the recent Oculus/Meta offerings

[cercata]

On 4/12/2023 at 3:55 AM, Nightdare said:

I know both can be tethered, but this is via USB, and I simply prefer a HDMI/DP signal.

Me too, but since my Reverb G1 broke out of waranty, I'm flying with Quest 2, hopping someone will release a PCVR headset not too expensive ...

[derneuemann]

with all the bad opinions about the USB connection of a Pico or a Quest 2, I hope that everyone has optimized the link settings for themselves.

Because I personally don't see any real disadvantages anymore with the USB connection. Also in comparison to other headsets that are also often recommended.

The difference between the out of the Box settings and the optimized ones was big.

[ironhard]

I'd rather see wireless optimizations if I am ever to buy a standalone headset.

 

[Nightdare]

18 hours ago, derneuemann said:

with all the bad opinions about the USB connection of a Pico or a Quest 2, I hope that everyone has optimized the link settings for themselves.

Because I personally don't see any real disadvantages anymore with the USB connection. Also in comparison to other headsets that are also often recommended.

The difference between the out of the Box settings and the optimized ones was big.

 

I sincerely doubt that USB link performance is as good as direct GPU feed

[derneuemann]

Am 15.4.2023 um 02:30 schrieb Nightdare:

 

I sincerely doubt that USB link performance is as good as direct GPU feed

You can doubt everything at first, I can tell you that manually adjusting the link settings has brought the optical quality very close to other VR headsets that are connected with Displayport.

Rather, the difference is only a little that of the display as such.

With the Quest 2, the possibilities of USB were not really exhausted.

A Quest 2 and a Pico 4 still represent a solid alternative today, even if some people would like to doubt it.

With the Quest 3, I think a new USB standard will be used, provided that it will even out the issue even more. So no problem at all.

As things stand today and the best headset is available, there are no high-end VR headsets with USB for all signals anyway, but that too will change. USB4 will definitely become the standard

[Hillman]

On 4/14/2023 at 8:18 AM, derneuemann said:

with all the bad opinions about the USB connection of a Pico or a Quest 2, I hope that everyone has optimized the link settings for themselves.

Because I personally don't see any real disadvantages anymore with the USB connection. Also in comparison to other headsets that are also often recommended.

The difference between the out of the Box settings and the optimized ones was big.

Are you using Streaming Assistant? Tried it several month ago with not the best results, but will test again - I see there is a newer version of SA now.
Any tips on settings? Do you need to download any specific drivers etc?

I'm using Wifi6 now, but do you think USB gives better bandwith?

[derneuemann]

vor einer Stunde schrieb Hillman:

Are you using Streaming Assistant? Tried it several month ago with not the best results, but will test again - I see there is a newer version of SA now.
Any tips on settings? Do you need to download any specific drivers etc?

I'm using Wifi6 now, but do you think USB gives better bandwith?

I can't complain in Half Life Alyx either, via WiFi, but DCS looked much worse on me via WiFi.

So rather USB.

Then simply increase the encoding bit rate, bandwidth, etc. until errors occur. Depending on the cable, the maximum is possible.

I would definitely try it again, it doesn't cost anything to try it

[Nightdare]

On 4/17/2023 at 8:16 AM, derneuemann said:

You can doubt everything at first, I can tell you that manually adjusting the link settings has brought the optical quality very close to other VR headsets that are connected with Displayport.

Aren't that more the limitations of your GPU?

My CV1 is running my 3060ti at full blast, I have no doubt a newer gen VR set on whatever link, whether this be DP/HDMI, WIFI, USB, will do the same,

without giving me much more of a visual improvement 

[MADLOU1]

4 minutes ago, Nightdare said:

Aren't that more the limitations of your GPU?

My CV1 is running my 3060ti at full blast, I have no doubt a newer gen VR set on whatever link, whether this be DP/HDMI, WIFI, USB, will do the same,

without giving me much more of a visual improvement 

I have a 3060ti and i5-12600k.  I have both the G2 (version 2) and the Quest 2.  The Quest 2 looks every bit as good as the G2 in DCS on my system and alot easier to use so I use it over the G2.  

I agree that getting a new gen headset will probably not give much more visual improvement and that the answer is either a better GPU and/or CPU.

[Thinder]

On 4/15/2023 at 1:30 AM, Nightdare said:

 

I sincerely doubt that USB link performance is as good as direct GPU feed

Frankly, It is as good when you play than a G2 (Pico4), it's not like USB 3.2 Gen 2 with 10Gbps bandwidth is slow enough for you to notice.

Up to now I have been rather happy with my Pico4 despite the little "DCS VR Support" update that resulted with so many issues, nobody did come with a viable solution until the next one.

I have done all my GPU testing with this combo, mainly tree-top flying at high speed and noticed no lag, you can play at Ultra Resolution, 150Mbps bitrate, 90Hz Refresh Rate, it will reach the limit of the GPU before you can complain about USB link performance.

The only problem I have with it is that the USB isn't recharging the battery when in use so you need to take regular breaks, other than that it's OK, with a resolution of 4,320 X 2 (2,160 X 2,160 per eye), it would take a Pimax Crystal to need a different connection, but that's a $1599 starter vs $599 for the 256GB version.

While my GPU was tested by Overclockers, I used the Pico internet connection, watched a lot of movies, downloaded more than a few, played Pico-native games etc, for the price, I wouldn't swap for a G2, the Crystal can wait...

 

[Nightdare]

2 hours ago, MADLOU1 said:

I have a 3060ti and i5-12600k.  I have both the G2 (version 2) and the Quest 2.  The Quest 2 looks every bit as good as the G2 in DCS on my system and alot easier to use so I use it over the G2.  

I agree that getting a new gen headset will probably not give much more visual improvement and that the answer is either a better GPU and/or CPU.

 

So then the question stands: what happens when the GPU isn't the qualitive bottleneck anymore, which connection has more bandwidth to push more fidelity?

DP does 80 Gbs, USB 3.2 does 20 Gbs, (and Thunderbolt 40 Gbs) ...and that's disregarding the measly 10 Gbs current Wifi does

All fine and dandy that USB 4.0 is coming, but I sincerely doubt we'll stop at DP 2.0 for GPU output

[kerlcat]

Was waiting for Crystal while it's delayed way too long. And Aero is way too expensive and out of my budget.

After saw many positive feedback on Pico4, decided to get one to replace my Rift S which I have been using since it's launched in early 2019.

Doughted it as lack of DP output while it 's proven so much better than Rift S (probabally the benchmark is too low  ). Plus it's so cheap given the decent spec w/ pancake. Great deal for now, until a new next gen PCVR become available.

[kerlcat]

22 hours ago, Thinder said:

Frankly, It is as good when you play than a G2 (Pico4), it's not like USB 3.2 Gen 2 with 10Gbps bandwidth is slow enough for you to notice.

Up to now I have been rather happy with my Pico4 despite the little "DCS VR Support" update that resulted with so many issues, nobody did come with a viable solution until the next one.

I have done all my GPU testing with this combo, mainly tree-top flying at high speed and noticed no lag, you can play at Ultra Resolution, 150Mbps bitrate, 90Hz Refresh Rate, it will reach the limit of the GPU before you can complain about USB link performance.

The only problem I have with it is that the USB isn't recharging the battery when in use so you need to take regular breaks, other than that it's OK, with a resolution of 4,320 X 2 (2,160 X 2,160 per eye), it would take a Pimax Crystal to need a different connection, but that's a $1599 starter vs $599 for the 256GB version.

While my GPU was tested by Overclockers, I used the Pico internet connection, watched a lot of movies, downloaded more than a few, played Pico-native games etc, for the price, I wouldn't swap for a G2, the Crystal can wait...

 

I thought wireless connection for VD could not deliver decent clarity of DCS image at all.

But it looks great, after I replaced dual-band router with tri-band and assign one of 5Ghz bands to VR dedicatedly. I won't bother with tethering any more. 

If Quest 3 or Pico 5 could support native DP tethering w/ higher resolution, I would pay $1000. 

Edited April 22, 2023 by kerlcat

[Thinder]

20 hours ago, Nightdare said:

 

So then the question stands: what happens when the GPU isn't the qualitive bottleneck anymore, which connection has more bandwidth to push more fidelity?

DP does 80 Gbs, USB 3.2 does 20 Gbs, (and Thunderbolt 40 Gbs) ...and that's disregarding the measly 10 Gbs current Wifi does

All fine and dandy that USB 4.0 is coming, but I sincerely doubt we'll stop at DP 2.0 for GPU output

To get to this point we need GPUs let free to perform by the OS:

I've lost <> 10% raw performance in benchmarks without explanation, one of the culprits is Microsoft Multi-Plane Overlay which prevent the GPU to boost, I've tried several different drivers (thanks to a link to a pool of AMD drivers provided by Overclockers) with no improvements since I noticed the loss.

For those interested, there is a file disabling Multi-Plane Overlay in the Registry Editor, at least I can O.C the card up to boost values and it goes there, my card was tested by Overclockers who didn't find any hardware fault with it, same conclusion than mine before I shipped it to them for testing.

The file was originally designed for NVIDIA but it works for AMD as it prevents Driver Time outs and random crashes if you try to boost the card, after testing I'm only a few % (1.855) from where I was before I noticed this drop in performances.

Having said that, the card perform as it should (as advertised) without OC/Boost,  it's only that I have to boost it to 3050MHz and 2650MHz RAM to get similar test results in 3DMark Pro than what I had out of the box, for info, even at those frequencies it runs cool and stable.

The video I posted was recorded before those 10% loss on stock settings, since I had a fresh Windows 11 Pro install and complete update, there are more than a few things that messes up AMD GPU drivers in Windows...

MPO-Dislable

Now I can try to play DCS MT in VR, I'll see how it goes.

 

  

Quote

kerlcat

Was waiting for Crystal while it's delayed way too long. And Aero is way too expensive and out of my budget.

After saw many positive feedback on Pico4, decided to get one to replace my Rift S which I have been using since it's launched in early 2019.

Doughted it as lack of DP output while it 's proven so much better than Rift S (probabally the benchmark is too low  ). Plus it's so cheap given the decent spec w/ pancake. Great deal for now, until a new next gen PCVR become available.

I've done the exact same thing for the exact same reason, I thought Pimax was taking the mickey, chances are, cost of top VR headsets will go down anyway and I don't regret my choice...

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Thinder

[kawamike]

Hey there, Anyone try /seen the Varjo headsets yet, more specifically the Aero, I don't mind spending the dough, just looking for something a lot better than my rift s, which does look good, in iRacing as well, with my pc specs I run the rift s at max res on both DCS and iRacing as well, I bet I can run the Varjo good, I can always go up in the gpu, Currenly running 9900k i9 up to almost 5gigs on water, 12gig 2080ti (on water as well) 64 gigs of G.Skill, 1000watts of power Any thoughts Gents ???

I know a bit off topic but any thoughts on a collective/throttle?? don't wanta do the purpose built one for the AH64, more universal, like a Winwing or a Virpil , to pair up with my A-10 hotas, any Heli guys in here??

thx for your time,,,,

[Baldrick33]

Pretty long thread on the Aero here: