Thinking of going with Quest 3

[Roosterfeet]

I'm considering purchasing a headset and I'm leaning toward Quest 3 over Pimax Crystal Light. What's pushing me towards Quest 3 is mainly the large sweet spot, one eye is a few mm higher than the other and I have a hard time adjusting the older headsets I've tried so that both eyes sit in the sweet spot. Also, I'm running a RTX 4070 with a Ryzen7 5800X3D so I know I'll have to make some visual compromises but I'm hoping that ASW will help keep the frame rate at an acceptable level. I have a few questions for those with experience.

What extra items do I need to get up and running, just the link cable so I'm not dependent on wifi signal quality? Will that also help with battery life?

Does Quest 3 hand tracking work well enough to actuate buttons and switches in DCS?

[Phantom711]

vor 8 Stunden schrieb Roosterfeet:

hat extra items do I need to get up and running, just the link cable so I'm not dependent on wifi signal quality? Will that also help with battery life?

I have a Quest Pro, but I guess the same is true for the Q3. So yes, the cable pretty much keeps it charged. I‘ve never seen mine lower than like 80% after about 3-4 hours of gameplay.

 

vor 8 Stunden schrieb Roosterfeet:

Does Quest 3 hand tracking work well enough to actuate buttons and switches in DCS?

The hand tracking itself works nicely, but I think it‘s just not good enough on the DCS side. I never got it to work consistantly and reliably. So rather don‘t count on that feature.

 

vor 8 Stunden schrieb Roosterfeet:

one eye is a few mm higher than the other and I have a hard time adjusting the older headsets I've tried so that both eyes sit in the sweet spot.

Now I only know the old fresnel lenses on the G2 and I don‘t know how the aspheric lenses of a Pimax Crystal Light would compare, but you will definitely be pleasantly surprised by the pancake lenses of the Q3.

[Mr_sukebe]

I have a Quest Pro (now out of production).

If I had a to replace it, it would be with a Quest 3.  Thoughts:

- Pimax units apparently have brilliant visuals, but I read far too many horror stories about issues and support

- Vive.  They have a new “Focus” coming soon.  Hi res, but uses fresnel lenses, which I personally wouldn’t go back to after using the pancakes within the Quest Pro

- Pico.  I had a 4.  Great headset, but I hated the software.  Just couldn’t get it to run reliably.  More to the point, the Q3 seems to do everything that the Pico does, but not only works, is cheaper

- Varjo.  They’ve basically refocused on the pro market and have stopped selling the Aero, which looked really cool

- Bigscreen.  I love the format, but it’s very expensive and apparently suffers from weird visuals

- Megane.  New to the market.  Again, looks very interesting and is very high res.  Issues being no eye tracking and the res being so high that I don’t know if we could really drive it.  Additionally, I’ve seen no reviews as yet on actual usage that I’d trust

 

in short, none are perfect.  However, the Q3 is cheap, I find the software reliable.  Visuals are good if not amazing.

[Ahogephilia]

I recommend a trackball mouse over handtracking, as lack of physical tactility is very awkward.
feel handtracking accurate enough, but I'd rather not use handtracking until "hand signal" are synchronized.
 

Edited November 30, 2024 by Ahogephilia

[Aapje]

9 hours ago, Roosterfeet said:

What's pushing me towards Quest 3 is mainly the large sweet spot, one eye is a few mm higher than the other and I have a hard time adjusting the older headsets I've tried so that both eyes sit in the sweet spot.

I would definitely get a Quest 3 in that case.

9 hours ago, Roosterfeet said:

What extra items do I need to get up and running, just the link cable so I'm not dependent on wifi signal quality? Will that also help with battery life?

You may want to get a power USB hub. If you plug it directly into the PC, then the power that is supplied to the headset may be limited. Especially if you also plug your other gear into the other USB ports.

[Nighthawk 117]

I have just got the AMVR v2 link cable and so far had no power drop from 100 % no Matter what I play cost was about £22 and no postage. Just connect usb 3 to pc and usb c to power brick that comes with quest 3 It has made a major improvement to my quest gameplay time

[diego999]

10 hours ago, Roosterfeet said:

What extra items do I need to get up and running, just the link cable so I'm not dependent on wifi signal quality? Will that also help with battery life?

Does Quest 3 hand tracking work well enough to actuate buttons and switches in DCS?

 

1 - Yes. Just the link cable. Mine never goes below 85% or so with a generic $15 USB 3.0 cable.

2 - Never used hand tracking in DCS so I can't help you, but Q3's hand tracking is solid in general.

Edited November 30, 2024 by diego999

[Tomcat388th]

quest pro here also have a cheap charging cable from amazon and use a trackball mouse.  I tried hand tracking but it was hit or miss for me and stuck with the trackball mouse

 

[slughead]

7 hours ago, Phantom711 said:

The hand tracking itself works nicely, but I think it‘s just not good enough on the DCS side. I never got it to work consistantly and reliably. So rather don‘t count on that feature.

 

7 hours ago, Ahogephilia said:

I recommend a trackball mouse over handtracking, as lack of physical tactility is very awkward.

 

16 hours ago, Roosterfeet said:

Does Quest 3 hand tracking work well enough to actuate buttons and switches in DCS?

When combined with a Slugmouse, it's great. Native DCS handcontrol is, meh. Fingers crumpled, flicking switches takes many attempts. It's just frustrating. That's why it's best to use HTCC (it's free) to control just the mouse cursor and a Slugmouse to perform mouse clicks. The Slugmouse is worn on each index finger. It's wireless and tactile, so there is no more fumbling around for the mouse, and you can reach the controls towards the rear of the cockpit without pulling a muscle.

Currently, they are on a Christmas sale: 25% off / £100 a pair, including a Slugcase, plus shipping and packing. They ship in a week or less.

Oh, and I use a Quest Pro. I'd not hesitate to buy a Quest 3.

Full details here: 

 

Edited November 30, 2024 by slughead

[Maddaawg]

With the Q3 you're going to want a new facial interface and head strap. The garbage that comes with the Q3 is so uncomfortable you should add that to the cost. I use a an AMVR Facial Interface and BOBOVR S3 Pro Battery Headset which may not be for you if your planning on USB power as this headset is designed to provide power with WiFi. But I have heard good things about the Kiwi K4 Head Strap

I don't think the sweet spot will matter on the Pimax Crystal Light as it is also edge to edge clarity, but the Quest 3 is a more stable product

[SnowTiger]

On 11/30/2024 at 7:02 AM, Nighthawk 117 said:

I have just got the AMVR v2 link cable and so far had no power drop from 100 % no Matter what I play cost was about £22 and no postage. Just connect usb 3 to pc and usb c to power brick that comes with quest 3 It has made a major improvement to my quest gameplay time

Pardon my ignorance because I have been away from DCS for a few years by which time my Reverb G2 become a paper weight and I only ever used it twice.
So now I am in the market for a replacement. I just went through a couple months of NIGHTMARE dealing Poomax's busted Crystal Light and Terrible Tech Support. I won't do that again. Really, there are only two choices remaining for me. The Somnium VR1, Titan or Ultimate Edition (the latter is a tad over $5k Canadian) OR a Quest 3 which is dirt cheap by comparison but it is only Battery Operated (i.e. Cordless) which I despise.
This "AMVR v2 link cable" you refer to is merely a Charging Cable for the headset right ?

Sadly, I built a PC specifically for VR and think it would be a crime to use a Cordless Headset when I have ample processing + a GTX 4090 Gaming Trio. Seems like an awful waste of processing but I'd settle for it as long as I can clearly read all of the cockpit instruments clearly ?

Of those here who have been on DCS for years and who use VR, I'm curious if I should shell out $5k or just wait another year (when I'll be almost 65) to see what's available ?
It really is too bad that Poomax is run by completely incompetent fools. I really had my heart set on the Xtal Light !

[Tensorial_Architect]

On 11/30/2024 at 3:10 AM, Phantom711 said:

I have a Quest Pro, but I guess the same is true for the Q3. So yes, the cable pretty much keeps it charged. I‘ve never seen mine lower than like 80% after about 3-4 hours of gameplay.

 

The hand tracking itself works nicely, but I think it‘s just not good enough on the DCS side. I never got it to work consistantly and reliably. So rather don‘t count on that feature.

 

Now I only know the old fresnel lenses on the G2 and I don‘t know how the aspheric lenses of a Pimax Crystal Light would compare, but you will definitely be pleasantly surprised by the pancake lenses of the Q3.

In order to get next-gen hand-tracking, you need to enable "Developer Mode" on your Quest 3 or Quest Pro (and Meta does not make it easy to enable developer mode), then you need to look for the AI hand-tracking package. It has been awhile since I installed mine but it took the hand-tracking feature from, ... mehh, ... to about 99% accurate. It works in the same manner as speech recognition software. You need to train it and it will get significantly better by the time you have 20 to 30 hours into it.

I own the Crystal Light. Generally speaking, the pancake lenses of the Quest 3 and Pro beat the aspheric lenses of the Crystal Light. Particularly with the Quest Pro and its QLED screens, I was very much surprised how much better I was spotting enemy aircraft in dogfights (always a weakness of DCS imo).

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@Roosterfeet

Yes, you want the Quest 3. After almost five years with Pimax stuff, .... when it works, ... it can be amazing. Sadly, ... there are so many snafus and software issues and build quality problems that I only retain their models for comparison purposes, ... not for daily use. I often think of most of their products as being late Beta builds.

Hand-tracking does not by itself work well enough with the Quest 3 to be really useful. That said, if you enable developer mode and locate the AI hand-tracking package on Github, it can become incredibly accurate. (The author or co-author (unsure) seems to have the AI part of the package down at the moment though.)

For a daily, go-to product, the Quest 3 will be far less frustrating and the build quality is higher than the Crystal or Crystal Light (and I DO NOT like Meta or Zuckerberg or their policies). If you fall into the terminally unemployed, living-off-the-wife, or retired categories, ... by all means, ... have a go at the Crystal or Crystal Light (en cuyo caso, ... Dios este contigo).

 

Edited January 13 by Tensorial_Architect

[Tensorial_Architect]

@Snowtiger

Folks who are using the Quest 3 for pcvr flight simming with DCS (IL2, MSFS, etc ... ) are doing so with a separate datalink cable (USB 3.0 Gen 2 to C is the best). Without some special mods and a Wifi 6E router, you can't even begin to get good wireless DCS simming with the Quest 3. You also don't need the vastly overpriced $78 official Meta Link cable. You can buy one like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Syntech-Compatible-Transfer-Charging-Headset/dp/B098399X91/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2LAG472QHDTMZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uSQwi9iYQJfMo-m2o-VKHY8NOIFnlrDFodmvgCZ5Tt69lxXMsqZjO61hZVxDqgUl27AtmAjc9Yx4KIMpFQgXirjcRl4OkTYPenoc1t8xyLNQ9aTC1rv_QMAA3JTYwzeOOuPCnY622C8i3y91-BilQCoeHZfpvV_K7UWW8ZiODbgnrrke5g8QhUVHWWBIrmw05i9R_qtdUY2KqHh0Od_1wcfxc5UtyRbTbsfdvlRboHg.QiGHXMYNiemHOFf8W_XXZzNef1amEksXIsiedRwM7V8&dib_tag=se&keywords=meta%2Bquest%2B3%2Blink%2Bcable&qid=1736785119&sprefix=meta%2Bquest%2B3%2Blink%2Bcable%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Edited January 13 by Tensorial_Architect

[Qcumber]

1 hour ago, SnowTiger said:

Sadly, I built a PC specifically for VR and think it would be a crime to use a Cordless Headset when I have ample processing + a GTX 4090 Gaming Trio

Are you referring to using a headset with a display port cable? Unfortunately this is where the cost is as they are now only on high end headsets.

The Q3 is a good option but relies on a usb tether and compression/decompression of the signal. Meta link cable allows up to 960mbps so is a pretty good solution and you can use a powered cable, such as the one mentioned by Tensorial_Architect. 

I use a QP which is still a good option as it has eye tracking. It has been discontinued but software support remains and will for a while as it's the same software as the Q3. You can get one for a good price. 

[Aapje]

1 hour ago, Tensorial_Architect said:

In order to get next-gen hand-tracking, you need to enable "Developer Mode" on your Quest 3 or Quest Pro (and Meta does not make it easy to enable developer mode), then you need to look for the AI hand-tracking package.

I can find no other mention of this. Perhaps they only published it very briefly and you got lucky?

@SnowTiger

You can use the USB cable for both power and signal. You will need a relatively high speed USB cable. Not one of the ultra-cheap ones that are primarily for charging and send data at one bit per second.

Edited January 13 by Aapje

[slughead]

1 hour ago, Tensorial_Architect said:

then you need to look for the AI hand-tracking package

I have never heard of this and have hand-tracking running well on a Quest headset. Could you share a screenshot of it / link?

[Tensorial_Architect]

I believe it was by this developer (along with another guy if I recall), Aapje/Slughead:

https://github.com/handzlikchris/Unity.QuestRemoteHandTracking

(He does not seem to have it listed at the moment though. Contact him and see.)

The package took my hand tracking from not very responsive to almost 99% as good as real life. The only problem is that the model works like speech recognition, ... you have to train it. It took me roughly 20 hours before it recognized my particular hands with almost no error. Now that it has though, ... wow! I can turn all the dials and activate every cockpit function in say, the F-18 with almost lifelike precision. (For reference, this is with the Quest Pro)

Edited January 13 by Tensorial_Architect

[slughead]

Ok, thanks.

[Aapje]

17 hours ago, slughead said:

I have never heard of this and have hand-tracking running well on a Quest headset. Could you share a screenshot of it / link?

The standard handtracking is trained on a large range of users and environments, so it is not going to as accurate as handtracking trained for a specific user and environment.

Of course, it makes sense for Meta to focus all their effort on the far more user friendly version, since few people will want to train a model for 20 hours. However, it would be nice to have that option.