@@ihanak8814 That scares me. If I don't hear anything by Tuesday I will put a ticket in and ask them how much longer because maybe I'm not as patient as you. We have payed for these headsets so waiting 2 weeks and not even getting that confirmation email address that's not really acceptable in my book.
So, my G2 cable (5th one) is now broken and I'm done with the G2..rip...I have a Q3 and it's okay for iRacing, but am wondering if I should buy the Pimax Crystal. I have a good pc set-up with 4090 and mostly do iRacing...some F1 23 and PC2, but mostly iR.. Read Pimax is coming out with a Lite headset. Any suggestions on plunging now with the current Pimax Crystal, or should I wait for the Lite Pimax..or go the other way with the 12k? Any thoughts appreciated. Meanwhile, plowing on with Quest 3.
So I don't believe you can even buy a crystal anymore. I LOVE mine but I would actually recommend the Crystal Super now as it will be lighter and just be the best headset on the market. Because you have the Q3 to tide you over it won't be so bad waiting another 6 months for the Super :)
Thanks. I appreciate your advice and would love to have the 12k, but, it's more than I want to spend, plus, would need to see if it needs the upcoming 5000 series GPU to get the best from it. I think I'll got with the Light when available, and just need to decide if it's with, or without, local dimming. Any advice on that last bit from the community would be great. @@gibilator
great information buddy keep them coming espicially graphic settings for openxr toolkit waiting for mine and cant wait lol, i also have 4090 13900k hopefully it runs smooth. the only problem im concerned is i wear glasses and is there enough room in the headset. or might just get prescription lenses inserts what do you think bro ?
You may require some custom lenses which are already on the market I have been led to believe. Whilst I have heard people wearing glasses in this headset I don't believe I would be able to so take from that what you will. Appreciate the feedback. I will be making an OpenXR video when the beta is available to everyone as I really feel like its a sore point for a heap of users. But I can say that I have around 40% headroom GPU-wise whilst recording in OBS in most scenarios at a resolution of 3825*3234 (with mirrors and dynamic objects disabled) whilst still sitting beyond the display resolution.
I have an IPD of 59mm and had that nose pinching problem with the lenses on a Pico 4 (but not my G2). The lenses on the Pico 4 are actually a tad larger than the Crystal, according to another unboxing video I say yesterday. Anyway, with the Pico I found it quite painful after a while on my nose, so like you I made up a foam nose rest, but I also tightened the head-strap a bit to lift the headset just enough to take the weight off the bridge of my snoz.
Thanks from Germany! I´ll get mine in the next few days. 😁 Hopefully it runs good with my 12900K and 3090. Could you please share your iRacing Graphic Settings.
Hi, I´m from Germany too. Would you please share your impressions to me? I´m running iRacing on a 10900K and a RTX 3080. Where did you order it? Thx a lot a this point
Ich schick meine vermutlich wieder zurück, bekomm es einfach nicht hin das es ansehnlich aussieht. Hab jetzt so viel Zeit verschwendet seit ner Woche dafür 🙈. Hoffentlich habt ihr mehr glück mit der Software für uns normalos, drücke euch die Daumen! Und wenn einer aus der Nähe von BW kommt, könnt ihr sie gerne testen, bis ich sie die Tage zurück nach China schicke. LG
I couldn't even use the Face pads that come with the Crystal my nose hits the lens and smears them sometimes. I installed the 8kx thicker pad and seems to help but now I feel i'm too far from the lenses.
Hey Josh! Nice video and good explanations mate! I do own a Crystal myself since last Friday and could not really get it to the point of comfort (especially concerning eye strain in iRacing) I had with the Reverb G2 yet. HL Alyx looks amazing and comfort is good, but I can't get it dialed-in in iRacing yet. I'm running OpenXR (using Pimax OpenXR) with FFR enabled, maybe thats a reason as you mentioned you are more satisfied with SteamVR too. (need to try that) Others seem to are blown away by the clarity with OpenXR and DFR enabled using eye tracking which is unluckily something thats not supported for us "normal" people as I was not able to find the Pimax Play Beta version anywhere. Were you provided the Play Beta by Pimax? Are you allowed to share it, or is it available somewhere to download? And if all is no, how can I get Beta status from Pimax myself to be provided early SW releases? Your reply is very much appreciated! Cheers
Hi, I am actually using PimaxXR currently and have dialed it in so that it is clearer then SteamVR (I just lose my overlays) I believe I also will be able to maintain 120fps whilst streaming using Jabbahs OpenXR mirror. I can understand the frustration with people not having access to the beta but I can tell you that you definitely want it more fleshed out then it currently is, there are definitely caveats to being a beta tester! This is a big reason I haven't uploaded another iRacing video as I don't like broadcasting features that arent readily available. Apologies on behalf of us content creators I know its not very nice having it rubbed in your face, although it is nice to see what is on the horizon! And a beautiful outlook it is! I know that doesn't entirely answer your question but I hope it helps somewhat. Cheers, Josh.
I’m seriously debating getting this headset. I’m currently using the Reverb G2. This seems to be a big leap forward in clarity. I might wait until it’s a big more fleshed out though. It seems like it’s still a little early to jump in with some of the features still in development.
Howdy @Schwing27, I actually put a back to back comparison of the G2 up not too long ago. I hope this helps your decision making process. TLDR though I always say if your happy and don't feel like your missing anything why upgrade early! those features will be more fleshed out and the user experience WILL be better by then. Cheers mate hope your enjoying the content.
I believe this is to do with correcting the distortion from the lenses. Most vr sets do this. I have found the sweet spot to be 3200x3500 odd using CAS at 100% in openxr. I can hold 120fps in iracing whilst recording.
@@gibilator still don't get it... I use G2 and it has 2,160 by 2,160. So in Steam VR I set smt like 48% so value is close to G2 display resolution. So why you need higher in Crystal is strange to me
@@vyacheslav_potapenko That's wrong, native res for a G2 is by setting steamvr to 100% which is something like 3200x3200, or over 3000 anyway. If you set to 2160x2160 in steamvr you are undersampling and not getting the proper resolution. It's not like 2D.
@@vyacheslav_potapenko I can assure you barrel distortion is very much a thing, and 2160x2160 in steamvr is NOT native res. Don't take my word for it though, do some research.
I still say Pimax!! this product is much sharper and there are wider FOV lenses on the horizon at which point there will be no comparison. Also a big price difference IMO once set up with trackers and controllers.
Great video very informative, on the fence myself at the moment, not sure between Crystal or the Varjo Aero, trying to get as much info before deciding.
It would handle it fine! Would you be able to extract every ounce of potential from it? No, but even this 4090 system requires compromise as native resolution is ~3.5x 4K resolution pixel wise.
Great video, but I was hoping for more of a comparison between HP G2 and Crystal. You mentioned that you’d be covering it, but I didn’t catch it in the video. Do you think the Crystal is worth it for an upgrade especially for sim racing?
I very much glanced over that apologies. In terms of a back to back with the G2 I would most definitely say if you have a 3080 or better then the crystal is going to be worth it as an upgrade path.
Unfortunately i have not a goog experience with it so far.. .running a 4090 with a 12900K and cant get it Crystal clear and sharp. Not in iRacing/Half Life Alyx or the original AC with Content Manager. But happy for everyone who get it handled with the standard mormal software.
Actually dialed it in a bit better so I should be able to stream / record. Using openxr as it handles less then frame rate drops associated with recording better! Will probably do another video soon.
Thanks for the input. Definately rushed this one slightly unfortunately wanted to get it out to help anyone on the fence but unfortunately it was incredibly late when I uploaded and is quote hard to fix. I'll have a crack though thanks!
Thanks so much for pointing this out, actually worked out how to do it in the youtube editor so should have got rid of the first take at the end there :) Much appreciated!
About the audio-lag: Have you tried to mirror the PC-audio to the DMAS in SteamVR instead of running it over the headset? With my 8KX I'm using this trick so I get proper stereo in AMS2 out of the DMAS which needs to be configured to 5.1 or 7.1 despite only providing two channels for some reason. In AMS2 I'm missing audio-channels otherwise and might help with lag as well...
This sounds like a right royal PITA. I already run a mixer so separating game audio would be a menace! Glad to see you've found a fix although this issue seemed to be openxr related in my case :) Thanks for the help!
@@gibilator The mirror-function just takes your usual non-VR (probably) stereo-output and mirrors it to the headset. Mixer doesn't matter in this regard and you can completely avoid OpenXR for audio with this method. If you don't have a delay running non-VR-games, you should not have a delay with this mirroring as well.
@Leynad778 amazing! Thanks man I will definately give this a crack. Got iracing going at 120 with openxr natively (avoiding the steamvr backend) will have to go back to steamvr and see if I can get it working fine because I do like my overlays :D
@@gibilator I'm running the 8KX with about 4300 x 3200 pixels per eye (RTX 4080, i5 13600) with OpenXR+SteamVR and get super solid 90 fps in AMS2 even online during rain races. I had issues with the OpenXR toolkit and uninstalled it. It just seems to cause trouble here and experienced rather lower performance than better.
I have a question if I buy a pimax crystal. Can I just simply connect my headbuts to my pc and play with them and the headset on. So i have the sound through my headbutts?
Did you mean headset? If so the dmas speakers do rotate so you could potentially move them aside. The only issue I can foresee is having space for the cups. Neither steelseries arctis pro wireless nor Hifiman arya fit alongside the headset comfortably. IEMs would sort this for sure though.
@@gibilator im dead. crushed laughing. who is he headbutting? DEAD HERE. Good vid for iracers bud thank you. I backed the VR Ears on kickstarter and at first they sounded like crap but using USB it sounds better now. I might try them to compare to DMAS
Apologies for the audio at the start got an undeserved copyright claim!
I paid for my crystal 2 days ago and already the wait is killing me.
I feel you. Same issue 😂
Ah you are both in for a treat!
i payed two weeks ago havent heard a thing lol
@@ihanak8814 That scares me. If I don't hear anything by Tuesday I will put a ticket in and ask them how much longer because maybe I'm not as patient as you. We have payed for these headsets so waiting 2 weeks and not even getting that confirmation email address that's not really acceptable in my book.
you need to be patient it's going to take around one month and it's perfect normal in PIMAX
So, my G2 cable (5th one) is now broken and I'm done with the G2..rip...I have a Q3 and it's okay for iRacing, but am wondering if I should buy the Pimax Crystal. I have a good pc set-up with 4090 and mostly do iRacing...some F1 23 and PC2, but mostly iR.. Read Pimax is coming out with a Lite headset. Any suggestions on plunging now with the current Pimax Crystal, or should I wait for the Lite Pimax..or go the other way with the 12k? Any thoughts appreciated. Meanwhile, plowing on with Quest 3.
So I don't believe you can even buy a crystal anymore. I LOVE mine but I would actually recommend the Crystal Super now as it will be lighter and just be the best headset on the market. Because you have the Q3 to tide you over it won't be so bad waiting another 6 months for the Super :)
Thanks. I appreciate your advice and would love to have the 12k, but, it's more than I want to spend, plus, would need to see if it needs the upcoming 5000 series GPU to get the best from it. I think I'll got with the Light when available, and just need to decide if it's with, or without, local dimming. Any advice on that last bit from the community would be great. @@gibilator
I was getting 120 fps, and then 60 fps suddenly, not even during more stressful environments. Just random.
Check for motion smoothing. Very faulty atm disable it.
great information buddy keep them coming espicially graphic settings for openxr toolkit waiting for mine and cant wait lol, i also have 4090 13900k hopefully it runs smooth. the only problem im concerned is i wear glasses and is there enough room in the headset. or might just get prescription lenses inserts what do you think bro ?
You may require some custom lenses which are already on the market I have been led to believe. Whilst I have heard people wearing glasses in this headset I don't believe I would be able to so take from that what you will.
Appreciate the feedback. I will be making an OpenXR video when the beta is available to everyone as I really feel like its a sore point for a heap of users. But I can say that I have around 40% headroom GPU-wise whilst recording in OBS in most scenarios at a resolution of 3825*3234 (with mirrors and dynamic objects disabled) whilst still sitting beyond the display resolution.
Great video, looking forward to your DCS Vid, Waiting for my Crystal to ship at the moment, really looking forward to trying it out! :)
I'll try and get it out later this week stuck working of all things!
I have an IPD of 59mm and had that nose pinching problem with the lenses on a Pico 4 (but not my G2). The lenses on the Pico 4 are actually a tad larger than the Crystal, according to another unboxing video I say yesterday. Anyway, with the Pico I found it quite painful after a while on my nose, so like you I made up a foam nose rest, but I also tightened the head-strap a bit to lift the headset just enough to take the weight off the bridge of my snoz.
Thanks for the tip I'll give it a crack a bit higher. The headset alignment tool will be screaming at me.
Thanks from Germany! I´ll get mine in the next few days. 😁 Hopefully it runs good with my 12900K and 3090. Could you please share your iRacing Graphic Settings.
Hi, I´m from Germany too. Would you please share your impressions to me? I´m running iRacing on a 10900K and a RTX 3080. Where did you order it? Thx a lot a this point
@@jamesjameson7154 Ich habe meine direkt bei Pimax bestellt, was mich gerade etwas ärgert. Bei Alternate wäre die Brille schon lieferbar.
@@andychicago8295 Ok, danke für die schnelle Info.
Ich schick meine vermutlich wieder zurück, bekomm es einfach nicht hin das es ansehnlich aussieht.
Hab jetzt so viel Zeit verschwendet seit ner Woche dafür 🙈.
Hoffentlich habt ihr mehr glück mit der Software für uns normalos, drücke euch die Daumen!
Und wenn einer aus der Nähe von BW kommt, könnt ihr sie gerne testen, bis ich sie die Tage zurück nach China schicke.
LG
@@dominikka7610 Moin, ich wohne in der Nähe von Ludwigsburg. Wäre das denn deine Gegend?
Would you expect to get any better performance if you had an AMD 7950x3d processor with your 4090?
I don't believe I'm CPU bound at this point so nothing major really in this headset.
I couldn't even use the Face pads that come with the Crystal my nose hits the lens and smears them sometimes. I installed the 8kx thicker pad and seems to help but now I feel i'm too far from the lenses.
Highly unfortunate! I can see how this could potentially be a big issue for some users.
Hey Josh! Nice video and good explanations mate! I do own a Crystal myself since last Friday and could not really get it to the point of comfort (especially concerning eye strain in iRacing) I had with the Reverb G2 yet. HL Alyx looks amazing and comfort is good, but I can't get it dialed-in in iRacing yet. I'm running OpenXR (using Pimax OpenXR) with FFR enabled, maybe thats a reason as you mentioned you are more satisfied with SteamVR too. (need to try that)
Others seem to are blown away by the clarity with OpenXR and DFR enabled using eye tracking which is unluckily something thats not supported for us "normal" people as I was not able to find the Pimax Play Beta version anywhere. Were you provided the Play Beta by Pimax? Are you allowed to share it, or is it available somewhere to download? And if all is no, how can I get Beta status from Pimax myself to be provided early SW releases?
Your reply is very much appreciated! Cheers
Hi, I am actually using PimaxXR currently and have dialed it in so that it is clearer then SteamVR (I just lose my overlays) I believe I also will be able to maintain 120fps whilst streaming using Jabbahs OpenXR mirror. I can understand the frustration with people not having access to the beta but I can tell you that you definitely want it more fleshed out then it currently is, there are definitely caveats to being a beta tester! This is a big reason I haven't uploaded another iRacing video as I don't like broadcasting features that arent readily available. Apologies on behalf of us content creators I know its not very nice having it rubbed in your face, although it is nice to see what is on the horizon! And a beautiful outlook it is!
I know that doesn't entirely answer your question but I hope it helps somewhat.
Cheers, Josh.
Wished the Crystal was part of trade-in program.
I’m seriously debating getting this headset. I’m currently using the Reverb G2. This seems to be a big leap forward in clarity. I might wait until it’s a big more fleshed out though. It seems like it’s still a little early to jump in with some of the features still in development.
Howdy @Schwing27, I actually put a back to back comparison of the G2 up not too long ago. I hope this helps your decision making process. TLDR though I always say if your happy and don't feel like your missing anything why upgrade early! those features will be more fleshed out and the user experience WILL be better by then. Cheers mate hope your enjoying the content.
why you need to set resolution in Steam VR higher than display resolution (2800x2800)?
I believe this is to do with correcting the distortion from the lenses. Most vr sets do this. I have found the sweet spot to be 3200x3500 odd using CAS at 100% in openxr. I can hold 120fps in iracing whilst recording.
@@gibilator still don't get it... I use G2 and it has 2,160 by 2,160. So in Steam VR I set smt like 48% so value is close to G2 display resolution. So why you need higher in Crystal is strange to me
@@vyacheslav_potapenko That's wrong, native res for a G2 is by setting steamvr to 100% which is something like 3200x3200, or over 3000 anyway. If you set to 2160x2160 in steamvr you are undersampling and not getting the proper resolution. It's not like 2D.
@@SimVRRacing nope, I have less than 50% in Steam VR for G2 (matching G2 original resolution) and picture quality is good
@@vyacheslav_potapenko I can assure you barrel distortion is very much a thing, and 2160x2160 in steamvr is NOT native res. Don't take my word for it though, do some research.
I'm on the fence.
Pimax don't have a great rep.
Areo or pimax?
I still say Pimax!! this product is much sharper and there are wider FOV lenses on the horizon at which point there will be no comparison. Also a big price difference IMO once set up with trackers and controllers.
Great video very informative, on the fence myself at the moment, not sure between Crystal or the Varjo Aero, trying to get as much info before deciding.
Varjo Aero just received a 50% Price drop!
But are you faster?
Going to say yes already. Not as consistent yet. But in terms of raw pace yes I would say its a slight advantage over racing on my Samsung G9 :)
@gibilator Being that i am quite slow, this is very important to me. Running the Rift S so far.
how do you think a 3090 and a 5800x cpu would handle the pimax
It would handle it fine! Would you be able to extract every ounce of potential from it? No, but even this 4090 system requires compromise as native resolution is ~3.5x 4K resolution pixel wise.
where can i find the max resolution set by windows mixed reality in the app.ini? thanks for the review
Are you using an upscale like FSR or NIS?
Not in this scenario using steamvr but I cam currently running openxr with CAS @ 100%
Great video, but I was hoping for more of a comparison between HP G2 and Crystal. You mentioned that you’d be covering it, but I didn’t catch it in the video. Do you think the Crystal is worth it for an upgrade especially for sim racing?
I very much glanced over that apologies. In terms of a back to back with the G2 I would most definitely say if you have a 3080 or better then the crystal is going to be worth it as an upgrade path.
@@gibilator Thanks!
Might I point you in the direction of my new video... just for you mate :)
Unfortunately i have not a goog experience with it so far.. .running a 4090 with a 12900K and cant get it Crystal clear and sharp.
Not in iRacing/Half Life Alyx or the original AC with Content Manager.
But happy for everyone who get it handled with the standard mormal software.
Would love to see your IR graphic settings.
Actually dialed it in a bit better so I should be able to stream / record. Using openxr as it handles less then frame rate drops associated with recording better! Will probably do another video soon.
I also have the same issue with the nose. Could you please link me which peace of foam you put? Or an image? Thank you!!
Lighthouse faceplate optional
What is it for and should I buy it? an advice
Good vid but just FYI you have your multiple cut takes still in there. Might want to remove the unwanted ones. :)
Thanks for the input. Definately rushed this one slightly unfortunately wanted to get it out to help anyone on the fence but unfortunately it was incredibly late when I uploaded and is quote hard to fix. I'll have a crack though thanks!
Thanks so much for pointing this out, actually worked out how to do it in the youtube editor so should have got rid of the first take at the end there :) Much appreciated!
@@gibilator10:14 here is another one.
@@ExtremCoxer thanks I'll have a look! Appreciate it.
@@ExtremCoxerah had already got that one just hasn't updated.
I finally found a pimax review from someone with a narrow IPD like myself. Great to hear it works well despite the nose pinch.
I am not sure if I have changed the shape of my nose by now but honestly it isn't an issue anymore! Best of luck with your new headset.
About the audio-lag: Have you tried to mirror the PC-audio to the DMAS in SteamVR instead of running it over the headset? With my 8KX I'm using this trick so I get proper stereo in AMS2 out of the DMAS which needs to be configured to 5.1 or 7.1 despite only providing two channels for some reason. In AMS2 I'm missing audio-channels otherwise and might help with lag as well...
This sounds like a right royal PITA. I already run a mixer so separating game audio would be a menace! Glad to see you've found a fix although this issue seemed to be openxr related in my case :)
Thanks for the help!
@@gibilator The mirror-function just takes your usual non-VR (probably) stereo-output and mirrors it to the headset. Mixer doesn't matter in this regard and you can completely avoid OpenXR for audio with this method. If you don't have a delay running non-VR-games, you should not have a delay with this mirroring as well.
@Leynad778 amazing! Thanks man I will definately give this a crack. Got iracing going at 120 with openxr natively (avoiding the steamvr backend) will have to go back to steamvr and see if I can get it working fine because I do like my overlays :D
@@gibilator I'm running the 8KX with about 4300 x 3200 pixels per eye (RTX 4080, i5 13600) with OpenXR+SteamVR and get super solid 90 fps in AMS2 even online during rain races. I had issues with the OpenXR toolkit and uninstalled it. It just seems to cause trouble here and experienced rather lower performance than better.
I have a question if I buy a pimax crystal. Can I just simply connect my headbuts to my pc and play with them and the headset on. So i have the sound through my headbutts?
Did you mean headset?
If so the dmas speakers do rotate so you could potentially move them aside. The only issue I can foresee is having space for the cups. Neither steelseries arctis pro wireless nor Hifiman arya fit alongside the headset comfortably. IEMs would sort this for sure though.
@@gibilator im dead. crushed laughing. who is he headbutting? DEAD HERE. Good vid for iracers bud thank you. I backed the VR Ears on kickstarter and at first they sounded like crap but using USB it sounds better now. I might try them to compare to DMAS