I went from the Varjo Aero to the Pimax Crystal after Varjo announced the Aero end of support in 2025, and Varjo not addressing issues anymore - even today. My experience so far: Positives: - FOV is so much better, the feeling of looking into a box is gone - 120 FPS works well - needed some performance tweaks with iRacing, but there are some guides out there and it makes a difference - The battery limit can be addressed with the USB charger and USB-C cable connected to the USB-C firmare upgrade port. Acts like a laptop now connected to power supply, no issue. - Size/weight - ordered the comfort kit with the counterweight. Honestly a bit better than the Aero now, the Aero would always leave marks after longer wear. - Local dimming - black is now black. Great. - General setup - the Varjo Aero was incredible hard to setup. Very sensitive to RMI, and I had to do 3 RMAs to get one without dead pixels. The Crystal isn't easy either, but the QA seems to be better (or I got lucky). Negatives: - No built-in fan, fogging could occur. Got anti fog lense drops, hopefully that addresses it. - Chromatic Aberration - better than the Aero without the CA fix, but worse than the Aero with it. I tried to apply the CA Reshade Varjo filter to the Pimax. It helps with CA at short distance, but makes further distance worse. I think the filter was hard coded for the Aero lenses, I hope someone will apply it to the Crystal, and/or Pimax keeps optimizing it. For the FOV and 120fps, it's worth the switch to me. I wish Varjo would have continued with Aero 2 based on the XR-4 tech, but to me the Crystal is best next thing. XR-4 seems to be too expensive. Hopefully Pimax keeps getting on-going support/upgrades, appears to have an active community, and eventually it get a path to the 12k.
Damn. So that's both the Pimax and Varjo ruled out for all those with Reverb G2's that MS is about to kill with the next update. PC VR is taking a massive step backwards!
@ChrisM541 Pimax Crystal is a solid option and much higher res. If you don't care about Varjo's phasing out the Aero in '25 you can get for a really low price. Best equivalent (price/rest ) to the HP Reverb G2 IMO is the Quest 3 with much better lenses. The G2 was already dead 2 years ago :)
@@karloy123 Thanks for the info. I have a big VR collection that I play on my G2 (some via the Revive plugin to also allow my old Oculus Rift games to work on G2). Will the Pimax play most/all of these?
I've had my Crystal for over six months, and I love it. It is heavier than my G2, Pico4, or Rift-S - but with the Apache strap and counterweight I've gotten use to it. I don't own a Varjo Aero, but I can't imagine the visuals getting any better than what I'm currently seeing at the Crystal's price point.
The return policy makes me not want to buy it. To spend that kind of money and not be able to return it if its not up to what you expected is a deal breaker
This has been my concern too, even had a conversation with Emily from Pimax about it. She said if I can get the headset myself to the warehouse in Sweden (from Germany) they would waiver the $100 return costs. For a supposedly premium product that doesn't strike me as premium customer care. Amazon here it's €250-€300 more expensive.
UK distance selling laws override whatever 'company policies' Pimax think they can push onto purchasers. In the UK you can return any product you purchased online within 14 days, no reason needed. I quoted this to Pimax when I returned my Crystal, after they threatened to charge me for return shipping and replacement of the inner foam gasket. Jog on.
Running Crystal on i7-8086K (5ghz) and 3090. Not able to upgrade PC yet but very happy with the general clarity. Still playing with settings, 72hz or 90 hz locked 50% with PimaxXR but object edges finely jittering, still trying to chase that down. Settings roughly follow your recent 4090 video. Battery not too bad but remember to turn it OFF when done and it will recharge. Backstrap scratches my head if front is put to my face first so I put the backstrap on first and heave the front down. Settngs are a WIP. Inside out tracking is just fine after my 8K X and a station. Using VR_Rock prescription lenses and they are fine, I'd ordered them based on your earlier video just before you switched but all is ok. Thanks for all your good work, I'm a regular follower.
Damn. SO even with a 3090 getting a 4090+ is essential for this headset, right? I guess I got to wait for the 5090 when it comes out this year as I can't justify going from my 3080 Ti to a 4090 for the increase and cost doesn't make sense. 5000 series all the way. :)
Great video, Steve. My experience with the Crystal reflects yours to a tee, I've had mine for half a year now and couldn't possibly have been any happier with it. Absolutely NO issues EVER. Have a great weekend! Love from Norway ♥♥♥♥♥
Hey buddy I'm really glad you are continuing to enjoy the Crystal. It remains to be my favourite VR headset for flying despite some of its reported issues. I see the weather is extremely cold in Norway at the moment. Stay warm my friend!
@@VRFlightSimGuy Thanks! Yeah, I had 24 below zero at the depot this morning. But I kinda like it tbh. It's too cold to be slippery, which is a big plus for a driver like myself. And when it gets cold, you can always add another layer of clothes. Hard to strip off any more when you're naked in the summer and you actually play with the thought of taking a little siesta in the freezer🤣 You stay warm as well !
Mine has been amazing since I got it. Been very happy with it. Takes a bit to setup, but once you get it right, it’s amazing. I modded it a bit and made it comfortable for me. I use my nova pro wireless headphones with it, and it’s very immersive.
I will say that i really like my Crystal when it works, i just sent back my second one and still awaiting for my third one, both of them ended up with a very bad permanent horizontal lines in the display. Hard to explain, kind of like a bad VHS tape recording. Also the controllers are garbage, which would be an issue for flight simmers.
No real issues at this end. I went from a Reverb G2 to the Crystal. Definitely need additional comfort kit. I have the soft strap comfort kit with counter weight, I also went for the 14mm face cushion. The latter made a real difference, not just for comfort but also provided the additional stand off between my eyes and the lenses, perfect. IL2 looks absolutely stunning. I will go for the OEM top strap once they are back in stock at Pimax. The soft strap is absolutely fine, but the official strap is neater and will be easier to adjust when wearing the headset. I've had a couple of disconnect issues when I've turned the PC on. Battery life hasn't been a problem this far, although I rarely fly for longer than 90 mins at a time. Well worth the upgrade from the Reverb. Just awaiting my i9-14900k with 64GB of fast DDR5 RAM to arrive....
I’ve got one. The visuals are astonishing, especially after coming from a Quest 2. I wouldn’t want to wear it for something like Half Life Alyx as does feel heavy but for sedentary flight simming I wouldn’t swap it for anything else. Clarity between the Quest and Crystal are night and day. Haven’t had any quality issues. Looking forward to it becoming cable-free as they annoy me on any headset; has a tendency to drag the headset to one side
I find mine very comfortable and balanced. I wear wireless audio headset under the Crystal. I use the finer cable so I used a second usb cable to a QC3 charger and the battery never dies.
Well, my Crystal just works, no big issues. Beautiful clarity. The battery is no issue, I just charge it between sessions. I don’t mind the weight, no problem for me. The sound is great, and Pimax Play is easy to use. A few problems with the hub they give us, so I don’t use it anymore, I just connect the headset directly into the PC. But overall I am very happy. Running it at 80% resolution. When the 5000-series arrive I might be able to run it on a 100%.
I've had the Pimax Crystal for about a week now. I LOVE and HATE this VR headset. I am extremely impressed with the resolution, brightness, and colors of the display. Nothing that I have ever tried comes even close. I very much want to use this headset for all of my VR gaming, but mine has serious issues that is preventing me from doing so. Is it normal for the Pimax Crystal to have very noticeable barrel distortion? Mine is particularly bad in normal VR games (not simulators) and it feels like I am wearing really bad eyeglasses or I am on some drugs. Things in the center of my vision are enlarged, but things near the edges are shrunken. Not to mention my eyes are always converging looking at things in the distance which really messes with my sense of distance (mountains feel like they are 20ft in front of me). It seems my left lens is faulty because if I set the horizontal IPD offset to -0.8, it mostly fixes the sense of distance issue. Is this an issue that you all are having as well? Should I RMA my lenses?
Well count me in on the ‘love’ side with Pimax. Got mine for Xmas and so far I’m spending more on accessories 😂. Got the Apache head strap and got my office chair going with HOTAS for DCS. Waiting on the Honeycomb’s. The only issue I had out of the box was I had no audio output. Per Pimax’s website, I turned on AIO, heard audio, then turned it back to PCVR. Go figure ! I would like to see you review hand tracking - I see Pimax has a module and there are others. I think that would set them apart if they can make it work well. Jamie
I've got a Quest 3 and think it's very good especially at that price point. However since that last update I've noticed that in VR all major airports like Gatwick Heathrow etc are not possible in VR But go north Edinburgh Glasgow etc are perfect. They broke my sim with that update.
For battery, I use a Quest 3 link cable that has a charge port and a 49w usb charger and the battery never runs out. Only bad thing is you have 2 cables but battery doesn't drain at all
Hi Steve - great commentary (and flying) as always. I would like to hear your thoughts about Amalence. I have had it implemented and the clarity that it creates truly makes the Crystal closely resemble a 4K monitor as if in 2D mode. The trial expires on 3/15 so hopefully this tehnology will be incorporated in the headset right away permanently.
I think you may have inadvertently fixed the issue I’ve had with my Crystal since getting it a month ago. Following your throw away remark re not using the supplied hub, I plugged my headset straight into my PC and the horrible head tracking and jumping issues I had, seems to have gone away! So many thanks! Hopefully I can actually enjoy the headset a bit more now. Talking of build quality mine came with a sharp bit of plastic sticking out from the factory (quality control anyone lol), but due to the pain of sending it back and trying to get a new one, I just fixed it with a bit of superglue!!!
It was the same for me at first, but later connecting it directly to the PC failed too. I'm suspecting to have a bad cable now after not being able to use my headset for 5 weeks (had disconnect issues sometimes before too). Pimax is sending me a new hub, but that probably won't be enough.
New hub will help they changed the design. I recently had issues with my hub using a third party one now but will reach out to pimax. Before that had no issues. Think a lot of people had hub issues. Bar that I have been a very happy Pimax user
I don't think it has poor build quality. Plastic is fine to help keep the weight down and they used premium materials where it matters. Example, the glass lenses and the face gasket. The Vision Pro for contrast has metal structure, its heavy, but it has plastic lenses that are easy to scratch. I think the biggest issue with the crystal is it's not a complete device. It has so many things I'm waiting for that they haven't completed. I knew that I was a beta user when I bought it though...
What you say at the beginning about the bad things with the VR headsets, I am still hesitant on buying any PIMAX products. Sounds like they are not just a plug and play type devices.I don't hate PIMAX, but I also don't want to run into allot of issues with any VR headset. Also I don't want something that heavy on my head just to do ong duration SIM Racing games. The other thing about getting a PIMAX Product is does my computer have enough spunk to drive these devices? I do have a Windows 10 I7 processor with a RTX-30800TI GFX card. It does well with my Quest 3 and doing SIM racing games. Seems you have a 4090 GFX card which is much more power for graphics. Anyway, Thanks for the video and take care.
Pretty much agree with your thoughts on this headset, Steve. I actually hadn't ever thought of the helmet thing you mention, but I'm sure that could be a good point for the form factor for some people. I think the form factor for me is the number one thing I'd love to change about it. I must have been quite lucky with my Crystal too, since I had very few issues with almost anything in terms of quality. I love the display, but I hate the need for a battery (and the form factor... I just can't get over that :D ). Btw, I'd love to know if the XR2 chip in the headset is actually necessary for the inside-out tracking. I'm sure that's the case for the standalone mode, but I'm not sure it relies on it when connected to a PC. After all, there are plenty of headsets which have inside-out tracking without any onboard processing (the Reverb G2 for example). I'd assume the PC handles the tracking when used in PC mode, but without confirmation we can't know for sure I suppose. But the reason I mention it is because, if it isn't necessary then that's another piece of added cost which isn't really required for most people who are going to buy it.
Brilliant landing my friend (I hope I'm using that term right?), good job in rough conditions. Agree with what you said... I'm still not a Pimax fan from a company standpoint, but I do think they are trying. Haven't tried the Inside-Out tracking since I got my lighthouse faceplate because it used to be buggy once in awhile. Good to know they may have improved it incase I ever need to switch back. Thanks as always for the great content.
I got mine and found that I had a dead pixal in the middle of the left screen. To have a dead pixel wouldn't be too bad if it was along the edge of the screen but to have it in the middle is very distracting. I mostly play DCS and to have it in the middle of my viewing space, I find myself asking "is it the dead pixal or an aircraft in the distance." After spending that kind of money and having to deal with their customer service, not sure if I'd buy it again. I still say it's the best looking headset but like you say, it's a gamble.
Weirdly, my battery has stayed charged, despite me leaving it running. I’m using the usb powered hub that came with it. I swapped batteries for 20 minutes, in case the power level meter wasn’t reading correctly, since it consistently reads the power level of my controllers incorrectly- always says either left or right needs charging, and it’s fine
Thanks steve, the thing for me is the hit and miss, as to if you get a defective unit or not, it shouldn’t be a lottery, why is this the case? Also I’m still hurting after Varjo sold us down the river, and having some trust issues with VR companies at the moment, im considering this unit, but think I’m waiting to see the next model they are bringing out.
I totally understand your dilemma. It's been a rough time for us recently. If you do get a Crystal, maybe go through Amazon rather than my affiliate in case you need to return it. Best wishes and thanks for watching.
Over the years, I have received a total of 5 headsets from Pimax (2x5KS, 1x8KX, 2xCrystal). Of those 5, only 2 were not defective. That's a 60% defect rate. Both Crystals and one of the 5K Supers were defective. However, the 8KX I've been running as my main for years has been a solid champ. It really is a roll of the dice whenever you buy something from Pimax.
It’s a POS that never works right. It frequently disconnects and the screen isn’t that much better to be worth the headache. Going straight to EBay because I’m sick of dealing with it.
Regrettably, I had to return my Crystal after trying it for a few days. Because I wear glasses that have a strong prism in them to correct for my double vision, I could not get the eye tracking to work properly. Even if I disabled eye tracking, I would at times see a window pop up telling me to adjust my headset. The only way to get rid of that window was to reboot the headset. Anyway, the screen was definitely much sharper than my Reverb G2 and I wish I could have kept it, but Pimax did not give me any problem when I asked for a refund.
The Crystal is a great headset because of its versatility and can be used very flexibly. I am very satisfied with the device. Pimax did a very good job.I'm looking forward to the 12k. Bit off topic Steve but you have to take a look at the Masters of the Air series ;) really nice.
I found the crystal face bracket is too flat to fit my curved head (If you take the padding off and hold it against your head, then only the centre of the forehead touches my head, which leads to excessive wobble no matter how tight the rear strap is tightened. I then tried to stuff in double sided velcroe around the edges, to try and raise the padding at the sides of the headset, and that made a massive difference to the wobble, being able to hold my head in the sweet spot and comfort of the faceplate was higher. Not sure why they don't offer thicker adjusment pieces to be able to beef up the sides.
I can attest that a 3080 is good enough for the Pimax Crystal. I will be considering a GPU upgrade to get the most out of the Crystal, but I'm currently getting a near perfect experience with the 3080, the Crystal and No Man's Sky. If you know anything about No Man's Sky, you'll know that's quite the achievement.
Are you able to get maximum refresh rate + eye tracking working when you connect it directly to the PC? Mine seemed quite limited, sometimes only 72hz or 90hz, no eyetracking unless I connected it to the hub where I'd have more disconnects. (Now I'm unable to use it at all, cable seems to have given up finally).
are you able to run 3 monitors plus crystal at the same time? I have to turn off 1 monitor to make it work! I also get occasionally see a flash on the screen ( I had this with my G2 as well) running a 13th Gen I9 and a 4090 card
How do I find out if I can live with the weight and bulkiness without spending a ton of dosh up front though? It was easy for me to buy a G2 to replace my first headset, a Q2 as it was easy to be confident it would be better.
FOV, image quality and DMAS are the only real high points. It is front heavy, stand alone is an unrealized useless feature to date, and the supplied hub is trash. I still get more out of my XR Elite even though it get's destroyed by the Crystal in FOV, image quality, and its audio is no where near as good as DMAS. The XR advantages are light weight, USB-C or wifi for PCVR, excellent stand alone features, especially with MR using the color passthrough which will allow masking for viewing IRL controls which is a very interesting capability for a VR sim pit. Portability is also a plus. If all you want is a dedicated PCVR headset and image quality above all else is the most important criteria then it's hard to beat the Crystal. If however portability and stand alone features are desired the Crystal isn't the one to get. If I could only have one I would keep the XR Elite, it's so comfortable in comparison and I didn't know I was going to appreciate the standalone and MR capabilities as much as I have.
Can you tell me how to record in 2d from my pimax crystal. I just want to do a few flights and record them. I don't know what program or extras I need just for a hobby that won't break the bank. Will NVIDIA shadowplay work? I've only been able to record in the 3d split screen so far. Thanks or....maybe do a short video on this topic ?
Great video! I'm confused by the battery point at 4:00? My battery never goes down its always fully charged when wired? Like the Quest, it should remain fully charged when connected to a usb3 (Think my mobo has usb3.2gen port). I'd assume you also would have a usb 3 port. But anyway thanks for the video!!
Silly question. I’m looking at getting the pimax crystal sim so no controllers. Would I be able to manipulate switches in the cockpit with my mouse like I do now? Thanks!
As you mentioned today, all of us with a Reverb G2 on Windows 11 will be prevented from using them after Windows update 23H2. It now seems that those looking for a new headset will be taking a big gamble on purchasing a Pimax. On that subject... Question: I, like many here, have large VR software (games etc) collections, including Oculus Rift games that play on the G2 via the Revive utility. Are there any headsets out there that will work after this 'update' from MS, and, will play most/all of my existing VR software?
@@ChrisM541Wow Chris. You do realise it takes me a long time to reply to everyone. I get thousands of comments every day. Still, unfortunately I don't really know the answer to your question, since I use VR mainly for flight simulators, but I do believe Pimax Play works with Oculus and Steam VR games.
I just started to see a video problem with my Crystal. There are jitters in the video that only started after a couple months of use. I'd be interested in finding out what's going on and if there is a fix.
Thanks! I turned smart smoothing off in Pimax Play and that seemed to fix it. I turned hardware accelerated GPU scheduling back on, as per your message and everything seems to be working well.@@Clintwoodz
I'm so confused.... does he like the beyond the best, or the crystal? Size and weight (battery) seem to level the playing field. We know the mic on the Beyond is amazing, now let's see what their audio solution is like. Both same price ... thoughts?
Can you do a videos about what is worth upgrading from and to I have a Vive Pro 2 and am not sure what i want to move to if at all. I know the vive pro2 is badly implemented with its software. Keep up the good work
I'm kinda desperate to replace my reverb like right now!! Since the first time I used it I felt like using 2010 tech. But unfortunately at this moment I can't picture any headset that has truly conviced me. And pimax feels like the kind of company I definitely don't trust, not no mension the hammerhead look. Its pretty ridiculous at this point in time.
You say it hi-end but it is not hi-end in this case if it has problems. if it is a product all together hardware, software etc.to be hi-end, must have better conditions. Everybody is speaking about its problem. Only with screen, you can't be hi-end.
The Crystal is the No Man's Sky of VR headsets; very disappointing at first release, promised features missing or broken, but a constant flow of fixes, improvements and new features since. Hopefully they can repair their reputation the way Hello Games managed. Maybe it would help if Pimax were prepared to admint that it's a product for enthusiasts and tinkerers. It's as configurable and extensible as the Somnium VR1 is promising to be, but also has the lack of polish that comes with hobbyist products. It's not just highly configurable, you *have* to mess with the configuration to get it right. Very happy with mine, particularly the Lighthouse faceplate.
You forgot to mention that it doesn't work as advertised 😄motion smoothing hasn't been working for months, eye tracking stops working every now and then, and the fov is a far cry from the 125 degrees promised. Not to mention the myriad of software issues that many users have mentioned. It could really be the best compromise out there for flight sims, but only on those days of the week when it decides it wants to function properly. I for one couldn't recommend this to my friends with a clear conscience.
I have a Pimax for MSFS and DeoVr and it is superb. But as you say, the company is run by a bunch of flakes. So it is a gamble. They have more interest in where they want to go than taking care of what they've got. And they are stuck in their ways. Their customer support, instructions, and service stinks. And known problems never get fixed. They are tech geeks and not people oriented. They are just the opposite of Meta. I would have reservations about using them again exactly because of what you say. Problem is, the damned headset itself is just too good.
Chromatic aberration on a head set that cost so much and it’s so heavy …….i think it’s enough……I own also a Quest 3 …..less ….less heavy …..chipper and with no aberration …….why we are still talking about that ……thing……Sorry but I spend my money really for nothing ……MY OPINION …….
Got caught up in the pre order hype and I’ll never go through that again. My headset never wanted to be recognized and connect consistently. USB ports would always go crazy and mess with all the peripherals. Try dog fighting with that thing on your head and turning all around. No thanks. Support is a mess with the time difference and language barriers. Quality control is clearly an issue. Too long of a list of things that aren’t functioning at launch or are to be available at a much later date. Tech evolves too fast to wait over a year for promised features. Not really interested in paying full prices for products in perpetual beta states either
Has anyone else run into this, I'm at wits' end: My PC is a dedicated flight sim PC. Alienware Ryzen R10, 5900, 3080 10GB. It ran MSFS flawlessly for almost 2 years. All of a sudden, MSFS refuses to run in DLSS. I've updated drivers, rolled back drivers, repaired MSFS, uninstalled and reinstalled MSFS, repaired Windows, finally did not one, not two, but three clean state installs of MSFS from scratch. Still no DLSS, when it ran fine since DLSS dropped. It randomly reverts to DX12, if I try in the settings to use DirectX 11, then MSFS breaks and absolutely refuses to ever load again, giving an error. Is this a recent thing brought about by the newest MSFS or Nvidia drivers? I'm stumped and short of getting a new computer, at the end.
@@VRFlightSimGuy Oh perfect - thank you! I completely rebuilt my simpit (put it on top of a DOF P3), and now I can 'quick release' my front-panels, so have a F18 and F16 option, and I wanted to make a GA option too! How do you find the Honeycomb? I've heard some feedback regarding 'roll too loose' or 'pitch too stiff', but you fly as well, so was interested in your feedback!
Sadly, the future of stable/trusted VR headsets and their software is poor. With the removal of Windows Mixed Reality coming soon, simmers will be reluctant to invest in any headsets after being bitten once by these companies. In turn, it will look as though there is less interest in VR, because of less VR headsets being purchases ( which is not true the interest has never been higher). We are moving backwards when it comes to MFS VR. It's looking good for Tobi head tracking even though it comes in second place to VR. I love my Reverb G2 in MFS but I won't be investing my pension money into another VR headset. At 70 years old looks like my VR days are numbered ' WHY FIX SOMETHING WHEN IT ISN'T BROKEN, SHAME ON MICROSOFT '.
I will NOT buy one because of the BATTERY People with Triple Screens have a lot of issues because of It's Software so I have been told by them. It can be a nightmare and I do not have Triple screens so I am not in the Loop on that. My entire life has been like this "buy something NEW and it will be Broken Defective or Poor Build Quality" It is JUST my Luck. I have a Son that gets Extra stuff free Upgraded versions he didn't order . He ALWAYS makes out like a Bandit lol it is unbelievable how much this happens for him. lol How many Cords do you have plugged into the headset total. Power cord batter power charger USB and every plug in cord?
The Crystal has the best display on the consumer market, but everything else about this headset is trash. That's the Pimax Crystal in a nutshell. Its audio system would be great if it wasn't broken. It suffers from severe audio latency (~300-500ms!). The poor tracking quality of its controllers makes FPS games nearly unplayable. It has a plethora of stability issues in both software and hardware (especially USB issues stemming from excessive power draw). I have used Pimax for years. I am not a hater, and I'm not trying to be hyperbolic. But I think anyone who wants to buy Pimax products should understand what they're getting into. Pimax is a weird company with unusual strengths and also unusual frustrations. At this time, I think the Crystal is only good for hard core simmers who never do anything else with VR. Its current problems and drawbacks just don't impact simmers very much (and this probably isn't by accident since Pimax seems to be concentrating on that use case and letting severe issues that affect other use cases just rot). For someone like me where simming is only one corner of what I do in VR, the Crystal currently falls on its face. I have bought two Crystals and sent both back. So I'm back to running the Pimax 8KX as my main, and I use a Quest 3 when I travel. I think the Crystal will one day be a great headset when it's actually ready for release.
I also had 8kx and now Crystal; I got rid of base stations and index controllers after trying crystal ones. They are lower quality, but they serve good, for most of the games. I can imagine more problems in competative MP shooters for pro players, but for me it just works good enough. PS: for me base station positioning was never rock solid on index controllers - there was always an occasional jitter in games, mostly when I do not move, like while aiming :)
No other choice. They are making sure the reverb g2 dies and all the other vr head sets are poo compared to this one…. Even if it is heavier than a cave man’s balls.
I went from the Varjo Aero to the Pimax Crystal after Varjo announced the Aero end of support in 2025, and Varjo not addressing issues anymore - even today. My experience so far:
Positives:
- FOV is so much better, the feeling of looking into a box is gone
- 120 FPS works well - needed some performance tweaks with iRacing, but there are some guides out there and it makes a difference
- The battery limit can be addressed with the USB charger and USB-C cable connected to the USB-C firmare upgrade port. Acts like a laptop now connected to power supply, no issue.
- Size/weight - ordered the comfort kit with the counterweight. Honestly a bit better than the Aero now, the Aero would always leave marks after longer wear.
- Local dimming - black is now black. Great.
- General setup - the Varjo Aero was incredible hard to setup. Very sensitive to RMI, and I had to do 3 RMAs to get one without dead pixels. The Crystal isn't easy either, but the QA seems to be better (or I got lucky).
Negatives:
- No built-in fan, fogging could occur. Got anti fog lense drops, hopefully that addresses it.
- Chromatic Aberration - better than the Aero without the CA fix, but worse than the Aero with it. I tried to apply the CA Reshade Varjo filter to the Pimax. It helps with CA at short distance, but makes further distance worse. I think the filter was hard coded for the Aero lenses, I hope someone will apply it to the Crystal, and/or Pimax keeps optimizing it.
For the FOV and 120fps, it's worth the switch to me. I wish Varjo would have continued with Aero 2 based on the XR-4 tech, but to me the Crystal is best next thing. XR-4 seems to be too expensive. Hopefully Pimax keeps getting on-going support/upgrades, appears to have an active community, and eventually it get a path to the 12k.
did a Aero comparision on CA, i forgot how bad it was before. I think Crystsl is generally better.
Excellent overview thankyou for taking the time to post your experiences!
Damn. So that's both the Pimax and Varjo ruled out for all those with Reverb G2's that MS is about to kill with the next update. PC VR is taking a massive step backwards!
@ChrisM541 Pimax Crystal is a solid option and much higher res. If you don't care about Varjo's phasing out the Aero in '25 you can get for a really low price. Best equivalent (price/rest ) to the HP Reverb G2 IMO is the Quest 3 with much better lenses. The G2 was already dead 2 years ago :)
@@karloy123 Thanks for the info. I have a big VR collection that I play on my G2 (some via the Revive plugin to also allow my old Oculus Rift games to work on G2). Will the Pimax play most/all of these?
I've had my Crystal for over six months, and I love it. It is heavier than my G2, Pico4, or Rift-S - but with the Apache strap and counterweight I've gotten use to it. I don't own a Varjo Aero, but I can't imagine the visuals getting any better than what I'm currently seeing at the Crystal's price point.
The return policy makes me not want to buy it. To spend that kind of money and not be able to return it if its not up to what you expected is a deal breaker
Amazon?
I returned mine on Amazon no questions asked.
This has been my concern too, even had a conversation with Emily from Pimax about it. She said if I can get the headset myself to the warehouse in Sweden (from Germany) they would waiver the $100 return costs. For a supposedly premium product that doesn't strike me as premium customer care. Amazon here it's €250-€300 more expensive.
UK distance selling laws override whatever 'company policies' Pimax think they can push onto purchasers.
In the UK you can return any product you purchased online within 14 days, no reason needed. I quoted this to Pimax when I returned my Crystal, after they threatened to charge me for return shipping and replacement of the inner foam gasket. Jog on.
Running Crystal on i7-8086K (5ghz) and 3090. Not able to upgrade PC yet but very happy with the general clarity. Still playing with settings, 72hz or 90 hz locked 50% with PimaxXR but object edges finely jittering, still trying to chase that down. Settings roughly follow your recent 4090 video. Battery not too bad but remember to turn it OFF when done and it will recharge. Backstrap scratches my head if front is put to my face first so I put the backstrap on first and heave the front down. Settngs are a WIP.
Inside out tracking is just fine after my 8K X and a station. Using VR_Rock prescription lenses and they are fine, I'd ordered them based on your earlier video just before you switched but all is ok.
Thanks for all your good work, I'm a regular follower.
Damn. SO even with a 3090 getting a 4090+ is essential for this headset, right? I guess I got to wait for the 5090 when it comes out this year as I can't justify going from my 3080 Ti to a 4090 for the increase and cost doesn't make sense. 5000 series all the way. :)
Pulled the trigger on a Crystal yesterday. Time to leave the Reverb. Thanks for confirming that I did the right thing!
Woah congratulations!
Same here tomorrow looking forward to it.
I hope - as VRFlightSimGuy stated in this video, "the big gamble". A lot of Pimax users are struggling to get their systems working.
Do you have base stations for sale? :-) I think I'll go the Beyond for watching movies as well. The cost will be the wame with a basestation...
How is it ?
Great video, Steve. My experience with the Crystal reflects yours to a tee, I've had mine for half a year now and couldn't possibly have been any happier with it. Absolutely NO issues EVER.
Have a great weekend! Love from Norway ♥♥♥♥♥
Hey buddy I'm really glad you are continuing to enjoy the Crystal. It remains to be my favourite VR headset for flying despite some of its reported issues. I see the weather is extremely cold in Norway at the moment. Stay warm my friend!
@@VRFlightSimGuy Thanks! Yeah, I had 24 below zero at the depot this morning. But I kinda like it tbh. It's too cold to be slippery, which is a big plus for a driver like myself. And when it gets cold, you can always add another layer of clothes. Hard to strip off any more when you're naked in the summer and you actually play with the thought of taking a little siesta in the freezer🤣 You stay warm as well !
Mine has been amazing since I got it. Been very happy with it. Takes a bit to setup, but once you get it right, it’s amazing. I modded it a bit and made it comfortable for me. I use my nova pro wireless headphones with it, and it’s very immersive.
I will say that i really like my Crystal when it works, i just sent back my second one and still awaiting for my third one, both of them ended up with a very bad permanent horizontal lines in the display. Hard to explain, kind of like a bad VHS tape recording. Also the controllers are garbage, which would be an issue for flight simmers.
No real issues at this end. I went from a Reverb G2 to the Crystal. Definitely need additional comfort kit. I have the soft strap comfort kit with counter weight, I also went for the 14mm face cushion. The latter made a real difference, not just for comfort but also provided the additional stand off between my eyes and the lenses, perfect. IL2 looks absolutely stunning. I will go for the OEM top strap once they are back in stock at Pimax. The soft strap is absolutely fine, but the official strap is neater and will be easier to adjust when wearing the headset. I've had a couple of disconnect issues when I've turned the PC on. Battery life hasn't been a problem this far, although I rarely fly for longer than 90 mins at a time. Well worth the upgrade from the Reverb. Just awaiting my i9-14900k with 64GB of fast DDR5 RAM to arrive....
I’ve got one. The visuals are astonishing, especially after coming from a Quest 2. I wouldn’t want to wear it for something like Half Life Alyx as does feel heavy but for sedentary flight simming I wouldn’t swap it for anything else. Clarity between the Quest and Crystal are night and day. Haven’t had any quality issues. Looking forward to it becoming cable-free as they annoy me on any headset; has a tendency to drag the headset to one side
I find mine very comfortable and balanced. I wear wireless audio headset under the Crystal. I use the finer cable so I used a second usb cable to a QC3 charger and the battery never dies.
I’ve not had an issue with the weight or battery tbh the visuals outweigh the negatives
Good to know 👍
Well, my Crystal just works, no big issues. Beautiful clarity. The battery is no issue, I just charge it between sessions. I don’t mind the weight, no problem for me. The sound is great, and Pimax Play is easy to use. A few problems with the hub they give us, so I don’t use it anymore, I just connect the headset directly into the PC. But overall I am very happy. Running it at 80% resolution. When the 5000-series arrive I might be able to run it on a 100%.
Thanks for sharing ☺️
What gpu are you running it with?
@@Saturntime334090 Suprime X. Overclocked, from 24 Giga to 25.
I've had the Pimax Crystal for about a week now. I LOVE and HATE this VR headset. I am extremely impressed with the resolution, brightness, and colors of the display. Nothing that I have ever tried comes even close. I very much want to use this headset for all of my VR gaming, but mine has serious issues that is preventing me from doing so.
Is it normal for the Pimax Crystal to have very noticeable barrel distortion? Mine is particularly bad in normal VR games (not simulators) and it feels like I am wearing really bad eyeglasses or I am on some drugs. Things in the center of my vision are enlarged, but things near the edges are shrunken. Not to mention my eyes are always converging looking at things in the distance which really messes with my sense of distance (mountains feel like they are 20ft in front of me). It seems my left lens is faulty because if I set the horizontal IPD offset to -0.8, it mostly fixes the sense of distance issue.
Is this an issue that you all are having as well? Should I RMA my lenses?
Well count me in on the ‘love’ side with Pimax. Got mine for Xmas and so far I’m spending more on accessories 😂. Got the Apache head strap and got my office chair going with HOTAS for DCS. Waiting on the Honeycomb’s. The only issue I had out of the box was I had no audio output. Per Pimax’s website, I turned on AIO, heard audio, then turned it back to PCVR. Go figure ! I would like to see you review hand tracking - I see Pimax has a module and there are others. I think that would set them apart if they can make it work well. Jamie
Cheers Jamie for posting your experiences :)
I've got a Quest 3 and think it's very good especially at that price point.
However since that last update I've noticed that in VR all major airports like Gatwick Heathrow etc are not possible in VR But go north Edinburgh Glasgow etc are perfect. They broke my sim with that update.
I highly doubt that !! They are certainly possible. Just intensive. I'd check your settings and GPU.
@@mark_lhr3As everything was working before that update I can only come to one conclusion .
For battery, I use a Quest 3 link cable that has a charge port and a 49w usb charger and the battery never runs out. Only bad thing is you have 2 cables but battery doesn't drain at all
Hi Steve - great commentary (and flying) as always. I would like to hear your thoughts about Amalence. I have had it implemented and the clarity that it creates truly makes the Crystal closely resemble a 4K monitor as if in 2D mode. The trial expires on 3/15 so hopefully this tehnology will be incorporated in the headset right away permanently.
I think you may have inadvertently fixed the issue I’ve had with my Crystal since getting it a month ago. Following your throw away remark re not using the supplied hub, I plugged my headset straight into my PC and the horrible head tracking and jumping issues I had, seems to have gone away! So many thanks! Hopefully I can actually enjoy the headset a bit more now. Talking of build quality mine came with a sharp bit of plastic sticking out from the factory (quality control anyone lol), but due to the pain of sending it back and trying to get a new one, I just fixed it with a bit of superglue!!!
It was the same for me at first, but later connecting it directly to the PC failed too. I'm suspecting to have a bad cable now after not being able to use my headset for 5 weeks (had disconnect issues sometimes before too). Pimax is sending me a new hub, but that probably won't be enough.
New hub will help they changed the design. I recently had issues with my hub using a third party one now but will reach out to pimax. Before that had no issues. Think a lot of people had hub issues. Bar that I have been a very happy Pimax user
I don't think it has poor build quality. Plastic is fine to help keep the weight down and they used premium materials where it matters. Example, the glass lenses and the face gasket. The Vision Pro for contrast has metal structure, its heavy, but it has plastic lenses that are easy to scratch. I think the biggest issue with the crystal is it's not a complete device. It has so many things I'm waiting for that they haven't completed. I knew that I was a beta user when I bought it though...
What you say at the beginning about the bad things with the VR headsets, I am still hesitant on buying any PIMAX products. Sounds like they are not just a plug and play type devices.I don't hate PIMAX, but I also don't want to run into allot of issues with any VR headset.
Also I don't want something that heavy on my head just to do ong duration SIM Racing games.
The other thing about getting a PIMAX Product is does my computer have enough spunk to drive these devices? I do have a Windows 10 I7 processor with a RTX-30800TI GFX card. It does well with my Quest 3 and doing SIM racing games. Seems you have a 4090 GFX card which is much more power for graphics.
Anyway, Thanks for the video and take care.
Pretty much agree with your thoughts on this headset, Steve. I actually hadn't ever thought of the helmet thing you mention, but I'm sure that could be a good point for the form factor for some people. I think the form factor for me is the number one thing I'd love to change about it. I must have been quite lucky with my Crystal too, since I had very few issues with almost anything in terms of quality. I love the display, but I hate the need for a battery (and the form factor... I just can't get over that :D ).
Btw, I'd love to know if the XR2 chip in the headset is actually necessary for the inside-out tracking. I'm sure that's the case for the standalone mode, but I'm not sure it relies on it when connected to a PC. After all, there are plenty of headsets which have inside-out tracking without any onboard processing (the Reverb G2 for example). I'd assume the PC handles the tracking when used in PC mode, but without confirmation we can't know for sure I suppose. But the reason I mention it is because, if it isn't necessary then that's another piece of added cost which isn't really required for most people who are going to buy it.
The biggest pain for me is the it doesn't fit on my tiny head, so I can never get it to sit perfectly on the face so my eyes are everywhere..
Brilliant landing my friend (I hope I'm using that term right?), good job in rough conditions. Agree with what you said... I'm still not a Pimax fan from a company standpoint, but I do think they are trying. Haven't tried the Inside-Out tracking since I got my lighthouse faceplate because it used to be buggy once in awhile. Good to know they may have improved it incase I ever need to switch back. Thanks as always for the great content.
Thanks buddy 😊
I got mine and found that I had a dead pixal in the middle of the left screen. To have a dead pixel wouldn't be too bad if it was along the edge of the screen but to have it in the middle is very distracting. I mostly play DCS and to have it in the middle of my viewing space, I find myself asking "is it the dead pixal or an aircraft in the distance." After spending that kind of money and having to deal with their customer service, not sure if I'd buy it again. I still say it's the best looking headset but like you say, it's a gamble.
Weirdly, my battery has stayed charged, despite me leaving it running. I’m using the usb powered hub that came with it. I swapped batteries for 20 minutes, in case the power level meter wasn’t reading correctly, since it consistently reads the power level of my controllers incorrectly- always says either left or right needs charging, and it’s fine
Thanks steve, the thing for me is the hit and miss, as to if you get a defective unit or not, it shouldn’t be a lottery, why is this the case? Also I’m still hurting after Varjo sold us down the river, and having some trust issues with VR companies at the moment, im considering this unit, but think I’m waiting to see the next model they are bringing out.
I totally understand your dilemma. It's been a rough time for us recently. If you do get a Crystal, maybe go through Amazon rather than my affiliate in case you need to return it. Best wishes and thanks for watching.
Over the years, I have received a total of 5 headsets from Pimax (2x5KS, 1x8KX, 2xCrystal). Of those 5, only 2 were not defective. That's a 60% defect rate. Both Crystals and one of the 5K Supers were defective. However, the 8KX I've been running as my main for years has been a solid champ. It really is a roll of the dice whenever you buy something from Pimax.
It’s a POS that never works right. It frequently disconnects and the screen isn’t that much better to be worth the headache. Going straight to EBay because I’m sick of dealing with it.
Regrettably, I had to return my Crystal after trying it for a few days. Because I wear glasses that have a strong prism in them to correct for my double vision, I could not get the eye tracking to work properly. Even if I disabled eye tracking, I would at times see a window pop up telling me to adjust my headset. The only way to get rid of that window was to reboot the headset. Anyway, the screen was definitely much sharper than my Reverb G2 and I wish I could have kept it, but Pimax did not give me any problem when I asked for a refund.
The Crystal is a great headset because of its versatility and can be used very flexibly. I am very satisfied with the device. Pimax did a very good job.I'm looking forward to the 12k. Bit off topic Steve but you have to take a look at the Masters of the Air series ;) really nice.
I REALLY want to watch it but I don't have "Apple TV", I might try the free trial and binge watch it once the series is finished 😄
OMG this solved all my VR problems!!! Thank you so much!!
Perfect! 😃
What is the battery life? Is there a wired power connection? Would I be able to do my long haul flights in the crystal 8-12+ hours?
I found the crystal face bracket is too flat to fit my curved head (If you take the padding off and hold it against your head, then only the centre of the forehead touches my head, which leads to excessive wobble no matter how tight the rear strap is tightened. I then tried to stuff in double sided velcroe around the edges, to try and raise the padding at the sides of the headset, and that made a massive difference to the wobble, being able to hold my head in the sweet spot and comfort of the faceplate was higher. Not sure why they don't offer thicker adjusment pieces to be able to beef up the sides.
Would a 3090 be enough for this? Also - and apologies if this has already been answered in one of your vids - does the Crystal have mixed reality?
I can attest that a 3080 is good enough for the Pimax Crystal. I will be considering a GPU upgrade to get the most out of the Crystal, but I'm currently getting a near perfect experience with the 3080, the Crystal and No Man's Sky. If you know anything about No Man's Sky, you'll know that's quite the achievement.
3090 is good enough, but you can't max out the resolution, especially in UEVR. I'm still waiting for the 5090, it's good enough for now.
Are you able to get maximum refresh rate + eye tracking working when you connect it directly to the PC? Mine seemed quite limited, sometimes only 72hz or 90hz, no eyetracking unless I connected it to the hub where I'd have more disconnects. (Now I'm unable to use it at all, cable seems to have given up finally).
Pretty good decision help❤❤❤
are you able to run 3 monitors plus crystal at the same time? I have to turn off 1 monitor to make it work! I also get occasionally see a flash on the screen ( I had this with my G2 as well) running a 13th Gen I9 and a 4090 card
How do I find out if I can live with the weight and bulkiness without spending a ton of dosh up front though? It was easy for me to buy a G2 to replace my first headset, a Q2 as it was easy to be confident it would be better.
Wait for Guy Godin to make Virtual desktop work in the Apple Vision Pro and this Pimax nightmare will be over.
FOV, image quality and DMAS are the only real high points. It is front heavy, stand alone is an unrealized useless feature to date, and the supplied hub is trash. I still get more out of my XR Elite even though it get's destroyed by the Crystal in FOV, image quality, and its audio is no where near as good as DMAS. The XR advantages are light weight, USB-C or wifi for PCVR, excellent stand alone features, especially with MR using the color passthrough which will allow masking for viewing IRL controls which is a very interesting capability for a VR sim pit. Portability is also a plus. If all you want is a dedicated PCVR headset and image quality above all else is the most important criteria then it's hard to beat the Crystal. If however portability and stand alone features are desired the Crystal isn't the one to get. If I could only have one I would keep the XR Elite, it's so comfortable in comparison and I didn't know I was going to appreciate the standalone and MR capabilities as much as I have.
Can you tell me how to record in 2d from my pimax crystal. I just want to do a few flights and record them. I don't know what program or extras I need just for a hobby that won't break the bank. Will NVIDIA shadowplay work? I've only been able to record in the 3d split screen so far. Thanks or....maybe do a short video on this topic ?
It's quite complicated and beyond the scope of a reply sorry. Thanks for watching!
What kind of rig would I need for this. Would a 3090TI be sufficient
Great video! I'm confused by the battery point at 4:00? My battery never goes down its always fully charged when wired? Like the Quest, it should remain fully charged when connected to a usb3 (Think my mobo has usb3.2gen port). I'd assume you also would have a usb 3 port. But anyway thanks for the video!!
I haven't tried that thanks for watching:)
@@VRFlightSimGuy oh I think I understand now. I thought you were tethered to your PC. Thank you for clarifying.
Silly question. I’m looking at getting the pimax crystal sim so no controllers. Would I be able to manipulate switches in the cockpit with my mouse like I do now? Thanks!
yes, you can.
As you mentioned today, all of us with a Reverb G2 on Windows 11 will be prevented from using them after Windows update 23H2. It now seems that those looking for a new headset will be taking a big gamble on purchasing a Pimax. On that subject...
Question: I, like many here, have large VR software (games etc) collections, including Oculus Rift games that play on the G2 via the Revive utility. Are there any headsets out there that will work after this 'update' from MS, and, will play most/all of my existing VR software?
Lol, thanks for clearing this up. Not.
@@ChrisM541Wow Chris. You do realise it takes me a long time to reply to everyone. I get thousands of comments every day. Still, unfortunately I don't really know the answer to your question, since I use VR mainly for flight simulators, but I do believe Pimax Play works with Oculus and Steam VR games.
I just started to see a video problem with my Crystal. There are jitters in the video that only started after a couple months of use. I'd be interested in finding out what's going on and if there is a fix.
Try turning on or off the Hardware accelerated GPU Scheduling. it may fix your problem.
Thanks! I turned smart smoothing off in Pimax Play and that seemed to fix it. I turned hardware accelerated GPU scheduling back on, as per your message and everything seems to be working well.@@Clintwoodz
I'm so confused.... does he like the beyond the best, or the crystal? Size and weight (battery) seem to level the playing field. We know the mic on the Beyond is amazing, now let's see what their audio solution is like. Both same price ... thoughts?
I'm confused that you are confused. I've been pretty clear that my favourite headset has been the Crystal for some time now
, @VRFlightSimGuy I'd love to see a top 5 ranking review? I'm looking at getting my first headset and so torn :-)
@@fleebag That video is coming really soon!
Can you do a videos about what is worth upgrading from and to I have a Vive Pro 2 and am not sure what i want to move to if at all. I know the vive pro2 is badly implemented with its software. Keep up the good work
Thankyou. It depends, what do you value most I'm a VR headset?
@@VRFlightSimGuy clarity then smoothness
Will the crystal be okay with a Ryzen 9 5950X and a 3080.
I'm kinda desperate to replace my reverb like right now!! Since the first time I used it I felt like using 2010 tech. But unfortunately at this moment I can't picture any headset that has truly conviced me. And pimax feels like the kind of company I definitely don't trust, not no mension the hammerhead look. Its pretty ridiculous at this point in time.
dude bro- hi Max, disabled 120 Hz on the new firmware… this sucks!! was wondering if you could comment on your channel about it
I had no problems, but now I’m dizzy Sim racing
I was defending this thing for months
Are you off the bigscreen beyond, Or never liked it to begin with?
I've got a new video of it soon 😀
You say it hi-end but it is not hi-end in this case if it has problems. if it is a product all together hardware, software etc.to be hi-end, must have better conditions. Everybody is speaking about its problem. Only with screen, you can't be hi-end.
If I have the Varjo Aero do you recomended to buy the pimax please Thanks
Looks like you missed my comparison video: ua-cam.com/video/NmMGz6OEkf0/v-deo.htmlsi=XyEIsGvYM6yoMYI7
If you buy Pimax Crystal you will get just a little bit more FOV, batteries and weight. The visual quality is about the same. Its not night and day.
I love my crystal 🙌
The Crystal is the No Man's Sky of VR headsets; very disappointing at first release, promised features missing or broken, but a constant flow of fixes, improvements and new features since. Hopefully they can repair their reputation the way Hello Games managed. Maybe it would help if Pimax were prepared to admint that it's a product for enthusiasts and tinkerers. It's as configurable and extensible as the Somnium VR1 is promising to be, but also has the lack of polish that comes with hobbyist products. It's not just highly configurable, you *have* to mess with the configuration to get it right. Very happy with mine, particularly the Lighthouse faceplate.
You forgot to mention that it doesn't work as advertised 😄motion smoothing hasn't been working for months, eye tracking stops working every now and then, and the fov is a far cry from the 125 degrees promised. Not to mention the myriad of software issues that many users have mentioned.
It could really be the best compromise out there for flight sims, but only on those days of the week when it decides it wants to function properly. I for one couldn't recommend this to my friends with a clear conscience.
I have a Pimax for MSFS and DeoVr and it is superb. But as you say, the company is run by a bunch of flakes. So it is a gamble. They have more interest in where they want to go than taking care of what they've got. And they are stuck in their ways. Their customer support, instructions, and service stinks. And known problems never get fixed. They are tech geeks and not people oriented. They are just the opposite of Meta. I would have reservations about using them again exactly because of what you say. Problem is, the damned headset itself is just too good.
Chromatic aberration on a head set that cost so much and it’s so heavy …….i think it’s enough……I own also a Quest 3 …..less ….less heavy …..chipper and with no aberration …….why we are still talking about that ……thing……Sorry but I spend my money really for nothing ……MY OPINION …….
The Quest 3 does have CA
Got caught up in the pre order hype and I’ll never go through that again. My headset never wanted to be recognized and connect consistently. USB ports would always go crazy and mess with all the peripherals. Try dog fighting with that thing on your head and turning all around. No thanks. Support is a mess with the time difference and language barriers. Quality control is clearly an issue. Too long of a list of things that aren’t functioning at launch or are to be available at a much later date. Tech evolves too fast to wait over a year for promised features. Not really interested in paying full prices for products in perpetual beta states either
Has anyone else run into this, I'm at wits' end:
My PC is a dedicated flight sim PC. Alienware Ryzen R10, 5900, 3080 10GB. It ran MSFS flawlessly for almost 2 years.
All of a sudden, MSFS refuses to run in DLSS. I've updated drivers, rolled back drivers, repaired MSFS, uninstalled and reinstalled MSFS, repaired Windows, finally did not one, not two, but three clean state installs of MSFS from scratch. Still no DLSS, when it ran fine since DLSS dropped. It randomly reverts to DX12, if I try in the settings to use DirectX 11, then MSFS breaks and absolutely refuses to ever load again, giving an error.
Is this a recent thing brought about by the newest MSFS or Nvidia drivers? I'm stumped and short of getting a new computer, at the end.
What yoke are you using?
Honey Comb Alpha and Bravo 👍
@@VRFlightSimGuy Oh perfect - thank you! I completely rebuilt my simpit (put it on top of a DOF P3), and now I can 'quick release' my front-panels, so have a F18 and F16 option, and I wanted to make a GA option too!
How do you find the Honeycomb? I've heard some feedback regarding 'roll too loose' or 'pitch too stiff', but you fly as well, so was interested in your feedback!
that must be so heavy
Sadly, the future of stable/trusted VR headsets and their software is poor. With the removal of Windows Mixed Reality coming soon, simmers will be reluctant to invest in any headsets after being bitten once by these companies. In turn, it will look as though there is less interest in VR, because of less VR headsets being purchases ( which is not true the interest has never been higher). We are moving backwards when it comes to MFS VR. It's looking good for Tobi head tracking even though it comes in second place to VR. I love my Reverb G2 in MFS but I won't be investing my pension money into another VR headset. At 70 years old looks like my VR days are numbered ' WHY FIX SOMETHING WHEN IT ISN'T BROKEN, SHAME ON MICROSOFT '.
I will NOT buy one because of the BATTERY People with Triple Screens have a lot of issues because of It's Software so I have been told by them. It can be a nightmare and I do not have Triple screens so I am not in the Loop on that. My entire life has been like this "buy something NEW and it will be Broken Defective or Poor Build Quality" It is JUST my Luck. I have a Son that gets Extra stuff free Upgraded versions he didn't order . He ALWAYS makes out like a Bandit lol it is unbelievable how much this happens for him. lol How many Cords do you have plugged into the headset total. Power cord batter power charger USB and every plug in cord?
The Crystal has the best display on the consumer market, but everything else about this headset is trash. That's the Pimax Crystal in a nutshell.
Its audio system would be great if it wasn't broken. It suffers from severe audio latency (~300-500ms!). The poor tracking quality of its controllers makes FPS games nearly unplayable. It has a plethora of stability issues in both software and hardware (especially USB issues stemming from excessive power draw).
I have used Pimax for years. I am not a hater, and I'm not trying to be hyperbolic. But I think anyone who wants to buy Pimax products should understand what they're getting into. Pimax is a weird company with unusual strengths and also unusual frustrations.
At this time, I think the Crystal is only good for hard core simmers who never do anything else with VR. Its current problems and drawbacks just don't impact simmers very much (and this probably isn't by accident since Pimax seems to be concentrating on that use case and letting severe issues that affect other use cases just rot).
For someone like me where simming is only one corner of what I do in VR, the Crystal currently falls on its face. I have bought two Crystals and sent both back. So I'm back to running the Pimax 8KX as my main, and I use a Quest 3 when I travel. I think the Crystal will one day be a great headset when it's actually ready for release.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Luckily for me and for most people here, we use the Crystal as a flight simulation headset only.
I also had 8kx and now Crystal; I got rid of base stations and index controllers after trying crystal ones. They are lower quality, but they serve good, for most of the games. I can imagine more problems in competative MP shooters for pro players, but for me it just works good enough. PS: for me base station positioning was never rock solid on index controllers - there was always an occasional jitter in games, mostly when I do not move, like while aiming :)
No other choice. They are making sure the reverb g2 dies and all the other vr head sets are poo compared to this one…. Even if it is heavier than a cave man’s balls.