DCS tested with the Pimax Crystal

[Willie Nelson]

10 hours ago, winghunter said:

 

Sheesh...! Seems like he's given them a fair shake. I do remember a lot of us that bought the original HP Reverb G1 and had cable problems at the time, in fact i had a HMD itself fail. I called them and I kid you not, within 24 hours another HMD landed on the doorstep as a replacement. Then a cable failed, same 24 hours later another one arrived. My dad now uses that 3 year old G1 with no problems at all.

Perhaps that's just too expensive to make money but that sort of after sales support is just unheard of with Pimax unless you're a Tuber. 

I sooo want to give this headset a go but I will have to hold fire for now.

[sze5003]

Sheesh...! Seems like he's given them a fair shake. I do remember a lot of us that bought the original HP Reverb G1 and had cable problems at the time, in fact i had a HMD itself fail. I called them and I kid you not, within 24 hours another HMD landed on the doorstep as a replacement. Then a cable failed, same 24 hours later another one arrived. My dad now uses that 3 year old G1 with no problems at all.
Perhaps that's just too expensive to make money but that sort of after sales support is just unheard of with Pimax unless you're a Tuber. 
I sooo want to give this headset a go but I will have to hold fire for now.

I remember the G1 issues. I had to have my headset replaced twice. Each time they did an advanced RMA and I had a headset before I had to send mine back in.

Then I got the G2 and the first one had a dead pixel on the left side of the view. I called them and they didn't ask me for a video or picture because that would have been very difficult but we ran through basic troubleshooting on the headset and my PC and they sent out another one.

Second G2 was perfect until the cable went bad. Replaced the cable form HP and that lasted until it went bad a second time but by that time they had manufactured a new cable with a power switch and I called in and asked to buy one but they sent it to me free of charge. No issues since then luckily.

Basically I don't have the best of luck anytime I buy electronics.

[dburne]

5 hours ago, sze5003 said:

I'm leaning more towards a quest pro to replace my G2.

 

Definitely get the Quest Pro if you get a Quest. You will have eye tracked DFR with DCS and it makes a big difference in performance for most. 

I would take that over resolution increase of Quest 3 any day to have the eye tracked feature. You can always SS the resolution some if your rig can handle it ok.

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by dburne

[sze5003]

 
Definitely get the Quest Pro if you get a Quest. You will have eye tracked DFR with DCS and it makes a big difference in performance for most. 
I would take that over resolution increase of Quest 3 any day to have the eye tracked feature. You can always SS the resolution some if your rig can handle it ok.
 

I should be able to super sample to 1.5 with the 4090, 13900k and 32gb of ram. The quest 3 optics should be better with the same clarity around the sides due to the pancake lenses. But without eye tracking then there's no DFR to help performance. Still I'll wait for some quest 3 reviews and comparisons.

But I understand they had to keep the price down. I'd get the crystal if honestly I felt better about their customer support and process but it's not convincing enough with my luck.

[hsth]

I find it always remarkable how negative reviews are seen as 'brutal honest' and positive reviews seen as 'oh well, free product of course'.

Why don't I see such negative experiences here on flightsim forums from simmers that actually use them. I mean, 2 sets of the same product and they both fail soo bad.

I myself own a Crystal. And yes, I use the Apache head strap and it makes the headset really comfortable to wear. The same head strap I used for wearing the Valve Index for exactly the same reason, comfort. It took me some time to find the sweetspot with the Crystal as it also took with the Index. And no, I don't have the physical condition of a real fighter pilot. But to experience the same problems as in the video?

From day one, buying, shipping, installing and updating all went smooth. Followed the Pimax instructions as you do with any other device and I did not get any problem.

Do I have remarks about the Crystal. You bet. The software still needs developing. For example, to control the base station so I can switch it to standby when I stop in VR. If you used the Index you will know that you can control this in SteamVR. I want the same option in the Crystal.

And yes, I hope that the capacity of customer service will grow. Because they are more then helpful enough but it is not ask & answer in 5 minutes…..

If you don't like Pimax and or the Crystal, fair enough. Everybody has his/her opinion. But when it, in my opinion, develops into 'bashing' it has nothing to do anymore in being honest but just being biased.

So far, Pimax is delivering what they promised. Not all ready from day one but it is coming.

Before you call me a ‘fanboy’, read my other post about my findings with the Crystal and Pimax.

Enjoy your headset and VR whatever make it is.

 

[Tshark]

Well said.  I too have had my Crystal for several months.  Coming from a Rift then G2, the Crystal has delivered the best VR DCS experience I have ever had.  I convinced a close friend to get a Crystal and his experience mirrors mine.  Does the comfort of the headset need to be adjusted for the user...you bet!  So did every other VR headset I have owned.  With any VR headset read ALL the reviews you can, then buy from a retailer that has a 30-day "no reason" refund policy, like Amazon.  Really play with the headset for the 30-days then make up your mind if it is for you or not.  PCVR is NOT console playing and a "plug and play" VR headset has never existed upon initial release.

Edited October 1, 2023 by Tshark

[winghunter]

Wide FOV prototype lenses seem disappointing

 

[TAIPAN_]

19 hours ago, winghunter said:

Wide FOV prototype lenses seem disappointing

 

It's crazy how the crystal is so polarised in experiences.

Exactly the same as the initial reviews, some loved it, others absolutely hated it. 

Maybe comes down to bad QC? 

This other video seems to like the new lenses 

https://youtu.be/O2iJfNfeG-0?si=_HCHboNoGK0HJL-i

 

[jteves]

I just got my Crystal the other day. Set up seemed simple enough, I downloaded and set up the Pimax Open XR software as well as the Open XR Toolkit and Quad Views. Jumped right into DCS and really enjoyed the experience! I am coming from the Quest 2 and I am quite happy with the increase in image quality and overall performance. The only thing I did do right away was replace the powered USB hub with an actual Powered HUB that does not create connectivity issues due to a loose and funky cable set up. I am getting no stuttering, or any other issues and I am slowly adjusting everything to get the most performance/image quality I can get, but as of right now I dont have much more to adjust since everything is practically maxed out. My set up is an Intel 13700K, 128 GB DDR5 Ram, and an MSI Gaming X Trio RTX 4090 all with a custom water loop. The only real negative thing I can say is that I hate the included USB hub and think it sucks that you need to come up with a workaround to extend battery life, and limit connectivity issues, especially at this price point! But other than that this headset rocks! I cant wait to see where it goes as things mature!

 

Happy Gaming!

[MichaelJWP15]

7 hours ago, jteves said:

... replace the powered USB hub with an actual Powered HUB that does not create connectivity issues due to a loose and funky cable set up...

Glad your Crystal is working well, I'm very pleased with mine now the DFR is working. Can I ask you what you bought as a USB hub? I need to do the same, the cable is too loose and causes issues - thanks

[eFirehawk]

Do you guys need to calibrate the eye-tracking every single time you turn it on? I do and it gets annoying after a while.

If I calibrate it, take it out and leave it on the desk powered on, calibration is always fine. I can take it out of my head dozens of times and whenever I put it back on, eye-tracking still works just fine. But if I turn it off, when I power it on again either right away or next day, eye tracking calibration is completely thrown off.

[Dentedend10]

7 hours ago, eFirehawk said:

Do you guys need to calibrate the eye-tracking every single time you turn it on? I do and it gets annoying after a while.

If I calibrate it, take it out and leave it on the desk powered on, calibration is always fine. I can take it out of my head dozens of times and whenever I put it back on, eye-tracking still works just fine. But if I turn it off, when I power it on again either right away or next day, eye tracking calibration is completely thrown off.

Yea I had the same issue, and wondered too. It also asked to calibrate the room every time, which I then just skipped and headset worked just fine

[jteves]

For those wondering this is the Powered USB HUB that I purchased to replace the hup provided by Pimax. This completely eliminated any connectivity issues that I was having with the Headset. 

 

Amazon.com: Powered USB 3.0 Hub, Wenter 11-Port Hub Splitter (7 Faster Data Transfer Ports+ 4 Smart Charging Ports) with Individual LED On/Off Switches, Power Adapter for Mac, PC : Electronics

Edited November 27, 2023 by jteves

[TAIPAN_]

Crystal users - Quadviews support is inactive going forward. It will only work if ED doesn't break anything during DCS updates: https://imgur.com/a/2mLPQSy

I've posted a request on Pimax's reddit asking if they can support the feature going forward: 

 

Please upvote or contribute if you can, Quadviews is VERY  critical to our DCS usage.

I've also asked for it as a DCS wishlist item, though I don't know if it should be  internal or external to DCS:

 

 

[Dentedend10]

Is anyone using Ultraleap software for handtracking along the Pimax?

I've been trying to set it up. It worked once. Ever since anytime I install Ultraleap software, it break quadviews. The eyetracker is not sending info anymore according to the log files. Now with no PimaxXR support available it's hard to figure it out. I emailed ultraleap software support but I doubt they would be able to sort it since so many components are involved (Pimax eyetracking, PimaxXR, Ultraleap, HTCC).

Has anyone run the two successfully alongside?

[j9murphy]

I've used them together. I had to enable openxr in the ultraleap control panel and copy the leap dll into the dcs bin directories. That made everything work. There is also an app that verifies your openxr api stack is correct. I'm not at my computer, but if you need the link for that let me know.

[Dentedend10]

1 minute ago, j9murphy said:

I've used them together. I had to enable openxr in the ultraleap control panel and copy the leap dll into the dcs bin directories. That made everything work. There is also an app that verifies your openxr api stack is correct. I'm not at my computer, but if you need the link for that let me know.

Thank you yes I’ve done those. I have the explorer, but not sure what the correct stack is. For me, Ultraleap API shows at the bottom of the stack

[Mashmallow]

i recently switched up from HP Reverd G2v2 to Pimax Crystal. overall the graphic clarity is really good.

I on the one hand need lens correction too. My experience with 2 brands is different. i know for sure the centre sweet spot is almost near full screen all the clarity is almost across the view. It was the edge that i tend to pick the fight. esp, when you are having the NVG and the instruments, tend to get distorted with one of the bigger brands and make the night flying impossible. 

Overall i crank up all the setting to max and on a 4090 it runs at full stream easily to 90FPS those with DLSS i do get some artifacts when performing F3 view when the object is approaching you tends to see artifacts lines bleed off the wing span.

I wonder if any of you have seen this.

Also, i run the OpenXR on Custom resolution upwards of 4320 for the supersampling purpose. 

[TEMPEST.114]

On 10/1/2023 at 1:39 PM, Tshark said:

Well said.  I too have had my Crystal for several months.  Coming from a Rift then G2, the Crystal has delivered the best VR DCS experience I have ever had.  I convinced a close friend to get a Crystal and his experience mirrors mine.  Does the comfort of the headset need to be adjusted for the user...you bet!  So did every other VR headset I have owned.  With any VR headset read ALL the reviews you can, then buy from a retailer that has a 30-day "no reason" refund policy, like Amazon.  Really play with the headset for the 30-days then make up your mind if it is for you or not.  PCVR is NOT console playing and a "plug and play" VR headset has never existed upon initial release.

 

Do you have a slight light leakage on the left side that if you put your hand near where the bracket hinges on the headset you can block out all light? 

I'm just trying them out (from Amazon) right now and I'm quite concerned about this and the discomfort (esp with long hair). 

Nevermind; I'm returning it. It's very uncomfortable, rips my hair, is very inconsistent in keeping my virtual head inside the cockpit esp in BFM and the slight improvement in visuals and FOV isn't worth $1800. 

Edited February 7, 2024 by Elphaba

[Rufuz64]

It's not just the FOV (which will hopefully soon be significantly larger thanks to the new lenses, ~120°-125°). The clarity and the performance gain through eye tracking in combination with Quad Views are what make the difference. Only the Crystal and the Aero (discontinued) have that.
Comfort is of course an issue, but this is very individual. For some (like me) the Crystal fits perfectly, others say they can't wear them at all.
The key is to try them out.

[TAIPAN_]

I did the comfort mod from the Pimax Discord thread. Very good now. 

It's the only headset I can play DCS with high resolution at 90fps. Took some work on tweaking and modifications to get it perfect but it was worth it. Without this I would've stayed trackir as I'm not interested in blurry 50fps etc. 

[yogipol]

6 hours ago, TAIPAN_ said:

I did the comfort mod from the Pimax Discord thread. Very good now. 

It's the only headset I can play DCS with high resolution at 90fps. Took some work on tweaking and modifications to get it perfect but it was worth it. Without this I would've stayed trackir as I'm not interested in blurry 50fps etc. 

Can you post your settings in any app you are using for VR flying?

[TAIPAN_]

On 2/10/2024 at 7:22 PM, yogipol said:

Can you post your settings in any app you are using for VR flying?

nullnullnullnull

[yogipol]

I’m getting my Cristal today. Will try the settings out for sure. Thanks.

[Sorata]

Just got my crystal yesterday February 12th and have to say its a piece of junk.

I think mine arrived broke. Its very uncomfortable, the eye trackers don't work (the IR lights wont come on and wont calibrate) My lenses are on so tight they cant be removed even following the step by step instructions from pimax, I have audio only in the left DMAS speaker and the FOV is I swear less than 50! and its giving me warnings in the app that it has mix matched lenses. Its nothing like my older 8KX, not even 1/4 its FOV so something is definitely wrong as it should be half the 8KX's FOV. Its like looking through a very small tube and I can see lost of distortion to the edges. My 8KX is a lot more comfortable, only used the 8KX for a few days and the screen effect was so bad I just put it up awaiting the 12k for trade in but finally broke down and got a crystal after everyone talked about how clear it was. It seems they changed the face fitment for wider faced people which in turn made the thing un wearable for me even with aftermarket face pads and comfort straps to help.

Oh all this is even after they marked my order shipped back on Feb 5th and never did ship it for over a week and I had to reach out to them many times to get it shipped finally by letting them know I could get it on their amazon store next day yet the one I ordered from the officail store never shipped despite saying on the site it did.

Oh and they did not send me my voucher for the top strap like they were supposed too.

Absolute waste of money and so far no response from Pimax.

Edited February 14, 2024 by Sorata