MeganeX 8K Superlight

[Habu_69]

Had my MGX8K for a day, coming from BsB v1, and flown some in DCS. The unit has lots of user adjustable components: eye relief, IPD, diopter, brightness, chroma, color, contrast, HDR/SDR, gamma, to name a few. Compared to BsB: FOV about the same, e2e clarity better, much better binocular overlap, practically NO glare, mic about the same, less comfortable than BsB audio headstrap, currently lacks OpenXR support and an audio solution. Brightness, contrast, color accuracy, resolution are somewhat improved, but not overwhelmingly so. Major customer complaints: time consuming (hours) to iteratively perform all the software and hardware adjustments necessary to achieve the best visuals; headset USB-c connector is inconveniently located at the top center of the unit, which interferes with the flip-up feature; Shiftall policy is not to refund customers if the product has been opened.

So long as the new tariffs apply, they will add significantly to the cost of all headsets, I guess. A few customers apparently received defective headsets, so naturally (and justifiably) those folks are generating the vast majority of highly negative posts. Shiftall seems to be responding with alacrity. IMO the MGX is a measurable improvement over the BsB, but not 1,000 USD worth.

[Tensorial_Architect]

One of the grad students in my lab brought in his MeganeX 8K about ten days ago for some of us to sample. It was, ... ehh, ... okay. I will be sticking with my Quest Pro for everyday uses and my Varjo Aero when I want that last little bit of resolution.

[Habu_69]

Played around with MGNX8K for many hours over 2.5 days now, mainly flying in DCS and tweaking all the adjustments. Transitioning from BsBv1. I was initially underwhelmed, but gotta say the more I use and tweak it, the more I like it. I have SteamVR settings at 4084x4084 and vid card is 4090. What I am liking is near photo-realism with total absence of SDE, hi res, brightness, vivid colors. Afghanistan map really sold it. Finally have it pretty comfortable on my face. This device requires much patient tweaking/adjusting to obtain a great video experience and I am probably not totally there yet. Guess I will sell my Beyond.

[oqvist]

On 4/7/2025 at 1:30 AM, Habu_69 said:

Played around with MGNX8K for many hours over 2.5 days now, mainly flying in DCS and tweaking all the adjustments. Transitioning from BsBv1. I was initially underwhelmed, but gotta say the more I use and tweak it, the more I like it. I have SteamVR settings at 4084x4084 and vid card is 4090. What I am liking is near photo-realism with total absence of SDE, hi res, brightness, vivid colors. Afghanistan map really sold it. Finally have it pretty comfortable on my face. This device requires much patient tweaking/adjusting to obtain a great video experience and I am probably not totally there yet. Guess I will sell my Beyond.

Have you tried the supersampling patch?

I am waiting on mine. There is the new beyond 2 but in europe the price difference is like half of that in the us and I have been on a life long mission of war against sde and wanting my personal home cinema I just couldn´t trust the beyonds resolution was fully enough to get the fillrate though it seems to be a superb improvement over the original. 

Havent run DCS for years planning a combat what is the best maps you feel for VR? 

 

[Habu_69]

Total absence of SDE, in contrast to BsBv1 for example, is a major feature of MeganeX8K. My experience: no unusual device or setup issues; no SDE; ultra clarity over about 50% of FOV, then increasing blur towards edges; bright screen; high binocular overlap; high color saturation and fidelity; average FOV; light, comfortable fit; little glare. In DCS the baro pressure setting on the Hornet altimeter is very clear. A few have experienced dead pixels, stability problems. A few complain of edge distortion, and some have buyer's remorse over choosing a device with a difficult return/no cancellation policy. For me several hours of iterative adjustments of the 6 or so fit and optical controls were required to achieve optimum visuals; but I am pleased with the upgrade over the BsBv1. The current state of VR devices requires compromises among form factor, optical qualities, personalization, and cost. Not an easy decision.

Best VR maps depends on flying preferences. I like Syria, Afghanistan and Sinai. Normandy is best for WWII and many are praising the new Fulda Gap map. I think Kola has potential but is too immature now.

Edited Monday at 12:50 PM by Habu_69

[oqvist]

6 hours ago, Habu_69 said:

Total absence of SDE, in contrast to BsBv1 for example, is a major feature of MeganeX8K. My experience: no unusual device or setup issues; no SDE; ultra clarity over about 50% of FOV, then increasing blur towards edges; bright screen; high binocular overlap; high color saturation and fidelity; average FOV; light, comfortable fit; little glare. In DCS the baro pressure setting on the Hornet altimeter is very clear. A few have experienced dead pixels, stability problems. A few complain of edge distortion, and some have buyer's remorse over choosing a device with a difficult return/no cancellation policy. For me several hours of iterative adjustments of the 6 or so fit and optical controls were required to achieve optimum visuals; but I am pleased with the upgrade over the BsBv1. The current state of VR devices requires compromises among form factor, optical qualities, personalization, and cost. Not an easy decision.

Best VR maps depends on flying preferences. I like Syria, Afghanistan and Sinai. Normandy is best for WWII and many are praising the new Fulda Gap map. I think Kola has potential but is too immature now.

Wow the war against SDE has finally come to it´s conclusion. I have heard it on every single headset since cv1 believe it or not so I believe it when I hopefully don´t see it. I have a personal vendetta against SDE because I want it for cinema as well. 

You are not the first saying the amazing rituals needed to find the sweetspot.  Several hours is totally nuts. Never owned a headset that was more then 15 minutes to find the sweetspot but of course such small panels make it exponentially harder so perhaps not that surprising. Not sure I like to read that only 50 % is sharp. I would have hoped as they don´t cheat on the overlap it would mean more of the image is sharp with the smaller fov. That is one of the main thing I expect with less fov higher pixel density and thus better sharpness. Also a bit better performance too because you show less... 

But yes as always compromises small form factor certainly have their drawbacks. 

Have you done any dogfighting. Do the neck movement mean you constantly have to rearrange it because it moves a macro millimetre? 

 

[Habu_69]

I have done some dogfighting and had no issues with headset movement. Some users have fitted 3rd party headstraps, like Globular Cluster, to good effect. I estimate that center 50% of fov is ultra-sharp and Hornet instruments/MFD's readable about to about 75%. Circular FOV (about 97D in vertical) helps in dogfighting. Every individual adjustment  affects the other adjustment options, so takes awhile to find optimum comfort and image. I set image res to 4084x4084 in SteamVR, use no MSAA or other supersampling and perceive no aliasing in DCS Hornet cockpit. Best compromise for me between quality and performance. 4090 GPU.

[oqvist]

On 4/21/2025 at 9:29 PM, Habu_69 said:

I have done some dogfighting and had no issues with headset movement. Some users have fitted 3rd party headstraps, like Globular Cluster, to good effect. I estimate that center 50% of fov is ultra-sharp and Hornet instruments/MFD's readable about to about 75%. Circular FOV (about 97D in vertical) helps in dogfighting. Every individual adjustment  affects the other adjustment options, so takes awhile to find optimum comfort and image. I set image res to 4084x4084 in SteamVR, use no MSAA or other supersampling and perceive no aliasing in DCS Hornet cockpit. Best compromise for me between quality and performance. 4090 GPU.

Nice. Some manage to get sharpness to 95 % but will see how it goes. 

I dont want any adjustment knob on the back and want to use fullsized headphones think the original might be perfect just as long its secure enough.

Would love to see any kind of shipping schedule. Been zero updates since I ordered. April/may for mine.

 

 

[Habu_69]

MeganeX8K update: New software is substantially improving the visuals.  VRFlightSimGuy Experience

[oqvist]

40 minutes ago, Habu_69 said:

MeganeX8K update: New software is substantially improving the visuals.  VRFlightSimGuy Experience

Sounds cool have you attempted it? 

[Habu_69]

I have and I am quite impressed with improved video: brightness, colors, sharpness, distortion, e2e clarity, etc. This is a native SteamVR driver now and although motion smoothing is available, I find it degrades apparent performance. 4090 and 7800x3d with res set to 5Kx5K DCS is very smooth.

[Habu_69]

SteamVR driver was developed by a talented community member using a software device Shiftall was unaware of. To their credit Shiftall has recognized and praised this person's work and will be incorporating it into an official upgrade.