ran the rift S for about a year and was the worst experience I've had with sim racing. headset is just full of bugs, switched to triples about 2 months ago and finding it so much better.
I think i did 40% of simracing in VR (Vive pro) Immersion is obviously way better than my single monitor and the spacial awareness is awesome. I must say that if I try hard on both system, I am always faster in VR I'm more precise with my braking and lines. The main thing that keeps me switching to vr exclusively is the clarity and performance.
I have Oculus Rift because it's cheaper than any triples on 49' 32:9. I don't like big fovs on small screen so I wen't for VR option. To be honest I'm not a super mega hyped for using any VR. Screens are just more comfortable and theres zero problem with support in some games. That 3D perspective is nice, helps with feeling the car but there's still a lot of blind spot and it kinda ruins immersion. Also headset have like 90° FOV when rendered is 110° so it's not 1:1 scale with real world. The only game that have world scale slider is R3E. Still better than small single screen tho.
@@DanSuzukithere’s been a new software overhaul and firmware update since I tested it so it sounds likely they’ve made a big step forward. I’ll have to give it another try.
@@boostedmedia Stability has been getting much better. I never had issues with it connecting. For me it was when the battery got to a point where its drained the crystal would disconnect at random and turn back on and had some audio buzzing issues. I haven't had issues now after more updates and using a better Power USB hub.
Lol i was losing trust in these videos. I don’t have the space for triple monitors yet but looking to get into VR. Love both channels hope when you spent more time with this product the video will answer more questions for me. Cheers
I did VR only for 4 years before switching to triples. The immersion is slightly reduced but not so much & now I can stay in the rig for 5 or even 6 hours instead of 1 or maybe 2. I love the experience of VR but I prefer to drive for longer & have the convenience of triples.
I run an hp g2 and its great and all but after about 20 minutes with it on im dying to take it off. Its usually cooking my face about halfway through the race lol.
I don't want to spend more than 2 hours sim racing without a break no matter what I'm using, but with the Pico 4 I can easily do that as well with wind-sim and comfort airflow face cover. And now during summer I can turn off my G9 and have one heater less in the room. I ditched VR once because of missing clarity, comfort and performance, but that problems seems fixed for me now. Buying this awful Vive Cosmos was also one of the worst decisions I've made.
I used three 42" TVs many years ago and switched to Oculus CV1. But I do also play other games than sim racing. If you only play sim racing, there are pros and cons for both so it's up to personal preference.
I wish more reviewers were transparent on if they are allowed to keep a product or if they have to send it back etc. Thanks Dan! Now to watch the rest 👍🏾
They allow to send it back, but customer service is really bad. You will most likely loose 1/3 of your money on customs fees and shipment back to them depending on your location.
@@alim883Woosh😅 they mean if Dan was allowed to keep it or does he have to send it back as this isn’t the best for reviews when they get free stuff it can make people biased I don’t believe Dan is this way
I only started Sim racing a year ago, on a laptop. I bought a VR headset and noticed such a difference in my ability to see what was going on that I went and built a new i9, RTX 3060 Ti pc to race on. It is amazing the difference in immersion.
Glad you are converted to VR now ;) Immersion is the key to really enjoy driving in a simulator. But you have to try AMS2 with chnaging weather conditions. Its the best VR experience in sim racing hands down. Its also less CPU bottlenecked as the outdated iracing.
Can you tell me/us anything about the setup process? Some reviewers really bash how bad the VR support is on this headset and that it is difficult to set up and get it to work.
I use a Pimax 8KX and a Pico 4 with Virtual Desktop (i5 13600, RTX 4080). The Pimax was not easy to setup, but now it's great and the FOV is even on "small" wider than the Index. The Pico has considerable smaller FOV, but even wireless better clarity. Certainly the best HMD for under 1k and basically no compression artifacts nor noticeable input lag. It feels like plugged in and if it's attached to a power supply, no battery drain. In AMS2 I get with both rock solid 90 fps despite ridiculous resolutions up to 24 million pixels at medium high. OpenXR is really a game changer for VR as well as current GPU and CPU gens. Many issues of the past were due to running the system at full capacity without getting 90 fps and good visuals. Now there is some headroom left while having no compromises regarding quality and smoothness.
@@AndrewAffolter It's all of it combined. The RTX 4080 was a substantial upgrade to the 3080, but the current i5 is so much better compare to my former i7 10700 even I'm still using the same DDR4 RAM sticks. Without OpenXR I would need a 4090 and i9 for similar results I guess.
Thanks so much for a great review. I'm a long-time VR user and you did a really good job. I wouldn't have known you were new to VR if you had not mentioned it. I also have a Crystal and could tell your review was very honest.
I had a Rift S, Pimax 8k Plus and Reverb G2. My biggest problem with Pimax was the weight and size. The Big FOV is awesome but because of the big screen it felt way to heavy. Reverb G2 was the best thing Ive tried. Very light and great Lenses. But I switched back to monitors a few months ago. The immersion of VR is so so awesome but the discomfort (weight,heat) and bad software (lots of crashes/lags despite RTX 3080) of VR just kills it for me. With a monitor you get in your seat and drive. VR always took more time to set up.
I will never buy a headset without eye tracking anymore. DFR is a game changer for sims. I personally prefer CAS for upscaling and I also use turbo mode. I really hope that future sims will include DFR in their settings.
I have the Pimax 8Kx, one thing that I noticed on the crystal is the incredibly small FOV. That's a big turn off, for you to have an idea... on the lambo, on the 8kX, your field of view goes all the way to the right side mirror.. It just lacks the eye tracking, which I'm hoping the 12k will bring along with the same FOV. Other than that, awesome performance and res.
New sub here. I want more games and more settings video's in VR. You have one of the best understanding of settings I have seen with any other VR channels witch is sort of funny to say since the VR channels I watch are all about VR only.
great video, just before i start using my own crystal. Its is indeed insane. Cannot express the feeling in words. I had used valve index, quest 2 and hp reverb g2 but that was so awful i had to return all headsets. I just kepts quest 2 for its standalone. Crystal is exactly what i want from VR, this is it. More picture quality is always welcome. Hope they can improve it for 12k qled. like 40-45 ppd
Hi, have you tried Varjo Aero? I realy want to buy VR cause I have no space fro triple but I would like to go the best way to use VR in simracing. Thanks a lot.
I am so torn between this and Bigscreen Beyond. I have a Valve Index, and I hate the sag that messes with my vision clarity. I'm sure that would be absent with the lightness of the Beyond. That said, the superior FOV, refresh rate, and resolution of the Crystal is hard to beat. I also like the potential for wireless on the Crystal
Hello Dan! Two months have passed. :D. no pressure! looking forward to your final review especially now that quest 3 is being released and probably index 2 will be announced.
What I don’t understand is pimax headsets have that form factor from day one because they had such a massive FOV but why are they still making such a massive headset but with FOV comparable to HG REVERB 😮
I just switched from VR to Trippels. Only advantage with VR is something more immersive trippels more comfort, no input lag, better picture, and you see your rig that you bought for a lot of money.
hi sorry but when you play in VR with cristal as you do with the three monitors I have the same but since cristal you have to attach it to the PC with DP I have to and you have to detach a monitor right? Have you found a faster solution than removing a DP and removing the surround mode for the triple monitor?
I switched from the 8Kx to the quest pro two weeks ago and am so convinced that the 8 KX is now sold. This sharpness over the entire image area is simply insane. Had previously the Pico 4 and the G2 and they all can not keep up. And that by far for me.
I also have the Crystal: 1) for simming (I play DCS) this is absolutely genius! The picture quality, the clarity is just amazing! But I would get a chair without headrest, because of the headset is to bit behind your head (battery!) and you'll need to keep your head slightly forward, which is quite a strain! 2) for Roomscale: absolutely not. The room-setup is flatout broken, the inside-out tracking is really bad (it mostly works for seated simming, but even then it can happen that you'll be "outside" the seat; you'll re-center often with this HMD!). The controllers feel REALLY cheap and their tracking isn't that good either. -> if/when we get the Lighthouse (which will add to the cost) and which will need different controllers (which enormously adds to the cost!), then maybe. Probably. Hopefully.
I have VR and Triple monitors. I absolutely prefer VR all day long. I think VR even looks better to the viewer, based on my streams. Great video. Thanks.. :)
K.O. criteria for me is that the headset is battery driven and so bound to the lifetime of the battery. 5 to 6 hours is long yes, but if you want to play longer you must have at least two batteries, one for backup. Thank you Dan. Was a quite good review of this VR headset. Maybe you do more of such videos :)
You should try 90fps mode with vr pixel density at 130%. Its going to look noticeably sharper and i imagine it wont bother you to drop from 120. Also, try CAS 100%
I race in vr daily since mid 2017. Sometimes 2 to 3h straight. No issues from my side. I wear glasses (even while racing in vr). So far no correction needed. /Reverb g2
Couple tips if I may. Go into your Nvidia control panel, go to manage 3D settings, and set virtual reality pre-rendered frames from 1 to 3. Technically, there is a increase in latency when using this setting, however, as a frame time snob, I don't notice much of a difference. This will significantly help with cpu bottleneck. The trade off with latency is worth it. Secondly, the FOV that's used in VR is different from the FOV you use on flat screens. The games load settings from different .ini files. So there's no need to swap it back and forth when switching. Set it to what you want and then it'll change itself depending on what renderer you use (i.e. openvr, openxr, monitor). I recommend uses the fov/camera default settings for VR. Sometimes in Assetto Corsa I feel the need to move the seat a tiny bit, but ultimately the devs spent a lot of time trying to emulate in VR exactly what the drivers sees from an optimal driving position, and that's what the default settings are. Great vid as always! VR is the way!
I went from VR to triple 55” 120hz. I felt VR just needs time to catch up to the clarity and performance . plus with triples no one can sneak up on you
Eye tracking, I think, is going to be the next big thing in training. We can now know if we're actually looking through the corners as far as the fast guys.
The irony of you not being able to move your head is that it's actually more realistic. Real helmets are so strapped down to the Hans device (I think it's called something else now) that you can actually barely move your head, maybe even less than you are in your seat.
Hello Dan and thanks for the video, i would like to say i totally agree with you concerning the blury aspect of ACC..i realized that when i discovered rf2 and Iracing...and came back to ACC. I would like profit the entire screen of your POV but i guess the point was to show the performance. I never tried VR but i really want to now..
I'm waiting for the Crystal to arrive myself, hopefully it will be soon. You said that the FOV isn't much larger than the G2 but looking at the Pimax mirror screen there's a big difference. I use the Lamborghini in the G2 all the time and in the VR mirror the left mirror of the car is only in part in the picture (only just the beginning tip), while here it is in fully on sight, and the vertical fov is much higher (in the G2 you see just a little part of the legs while here you see them almost to the waist). So at least judging by the mirror the fov is more on par to the PSVR 2 than the G2.
vr is great. But it takes time for research to get the best out of each sim. a lot money for the best hardware on the market to run it smooth at 90 fps with super graphics. Once you're there and enjoy, it's probably hard for the most users hard to get back to pancake racing. I started in 2017. Way to early for proper vr gaming. with a oculus rift 1. Screen door effect and 45fps max, annoying base stations and poor optimized vr titles. now in 2023 with the right hmds like the fov eating pimax crystals and affordable reverb g2s, rtx 4090s and software like openxr and stuff...vr seems to be ready for everyone. But as mentioned. Vr is not for those who expect plug & play gaming. Just my experience over the years of daily racing in vr. I love it and i am always excited every day to take a seat in my rig and put that vr headset on after work 😊 enjoy guys!
Heyyy I really like this video, it gives me a comprehensive introduction about Pimax Crystal! But I still want to know compared with other popular products like Quest 3, Varjo Aero, what Pimax Crystal attracts you most? And when you select a VR headset, what factors will you consider first? (Because I am kinda want to purchase a VR headset, so I want to understand the field more)
Thanks for another great review. I’ve tried VR with Oculus 2. VR’s much more immersive than my triples, but it was not as comfortable to use it for longer races and also a bit inconvenient.
The Quest 2 cheap strap and face interface is crap, but if you are willing to drop some money in aftermarket replacements, its night and day. I can race hours with my BoboVR strap and face interface.
Great first take Dan! I’m using the Index (4090 and 12900KS) and find ACC blurry in VR (iRacing much clearer). I’ve been waiting and waiting for the Index 2 and DFR, but this looks like a bridge in that.
And another great vid Mr Suzuki, would it be worth trying a pimax 5k super which can do 120hz and super wide fov, with the 4090 and open xr it may be nice stepping stone to the crystal
Triple 1440p or 4k IPS displays. You won't get triple OLEDs for $1600 *yet*. You could get a standalone mount, triple displays (or even a 4th) for the same price.
triples are way cheaper in any regard, the screens itself (unless you compare it to cheaper vr headsets) and also the computer needed to run it :D my triples were around 1000$ - very happy with those.
The software looks great. I’ve always just had an oled at my rig, I didn’t want to go into triple screen category and have been waiting for a game changing VR device. Thanks so much for the preview. Time to go research to see if this works for ATS and ETS2.
I wish there was a way to stream in VR but have a second source to capture in OBS so that the viewing for the stream is more similar to what you get from somebody who uses a monitor.
I'm gonna hold out for the new super. I have quest 3 with my rtx 4090 . I mainly use it for my sim but i love onward on pcvr. My biggest fear is the head set is too big to truly play an stand up action moving FPS.
i had really bad fps and render latency, lowered render resolution down to 40%, changed graphic settings, nothing really helped as frames bounced between 40 and 90 cap. disabled that smart smoothing and it fixed all my performance issues. now IRacing runs capped at 90 most of the time in my test session with render resolution at 100% and max preset graphics. next time ill test with cars on track im running through SteamVR only.
You really shouldn't need NIS etc at all. Use CAS at 75% instead without upscaling and if needed use a lower resolution for the HMD. Will give you better performance AND better gisuals.
I love VR but it's just not for me when it comes to everyday sim racing. I don't like the sweaty face and I do find it more tiring for long sessions. Also it makes it next to impossible to reach down to open a beer or grab a snack whilst on the long straights.
hallo Dan good evening, given all the upgrades, can I ask you if you have changed the graphics settings of the Primax or of the various tools or of the iRacing and ACC games, thank you very much
I swapped from ultra wide to VR then swapped to triples , I found it too hot with VR on my face while racing however I would not say it’s a deal breaker , sometimes I do want VR back but I don’t use it enough to warrant getting one again
120hz will enable the DSC (maybe the reason of the experimental warning). I don't know how much time is added by the compression, but I faced eventual movement lag running my VP2 in 4896x2448@120hz. Remembering that the Displayport 1.4a have a maximum native resolution of 4k@120hz, so 5760x2880@120hz is much more than the maximum. Does anyone realized similar issue with the DSC enabled?
Hi thanks for the fantastic videos I can ask you as I'm new to VR if you take your hands off the steering wheel you see it also in VR in the game it takes your hands off it behaves like in reality I don't know the question may seem stupid thank you very much
thank you very nice and very useful could you make another video like iracing acc but with the settings updates have many things changed or is it the same after the APP and primax updates? thank you for your time
I'm in VR since day 1 of ACC. First the original Vive and now the Vive Cosmos. On a 3090 it runs well but I have to keep it a bit fuzzy to have 90 fps in races. I also get these annoying CPU spikes where the frame is dropped once in a while. They are shown as a red line in FPSVR. Not sure what ACC is doing while that happens?
Gday Dan I've had the G2 but moved to triples for endurance racing but have since added motion and keen to get back into VR, Have you tried it yet with your motion and did you notice the weight? Cheers
Hi Dan. VR is not for me, get way sick. When you were loading into a session. I noticed the drivers entered were in different colors and patterns, looks really good. How can that be achieved if you don't mind sharing. Great content!
im on a 3060ti/10700k with a quest 2 and while it's not no where as good looking as your settings, i've got it to run nicely at 80fps full resolution and the 3D experience is just something else, made me faster as well.
main problem is overlays, racelab does not work with openxr. also, acc sucks on vr, it renders everything, including stuff hidden by cockpit. it hammers anything below 4090
@@Mucus1972 I had it working using the crewchif toolkit, but still awful. I can't go back to monitors after getting used to VR, and VR software is still not ready for the masses.
I have RaceLabApp working natively (not through CrewChief) I'm using Steam VR and then simply fire up Iracing in OpenXR mode. It just works, I didn't need to even think about it. What I did have to do was change scaling of RaceLab objects when I switched from OpenVR to OpenXR. But that was just because I'd changed settings in OpenXR menus regarding scaling to take advantage of upscaling in XR.
Dan, what about people that wear glasses? I fly FPV and Fat Shark HDO2 googles offers (adjustable) IPD (interpupillary distance) So you can move the Focus: +2 to -6 diopters. Hoping they have a solution for people that wear glasses. They look like a game changer for sure.
How have you found the ergonomic comfort of the back of the Crystal headset resting on your racing sim chair? I've seen someone say it's a problem for them vs. VR headsets like the Pico 4 and G2, etc, because of how thick it is on the back of the headset. Have you found the same in any way by any chance? Perhaps their chair is too upright?
How does this compare to PS VR2? I just sold mine recently (I wasn't blown away). And, is there legit no "grid" or screen-door effect with the Pimax?????😯
Optimization suggestion...u should be GPU limited not CPU limited... Turn open XR back to 100%...that will give u more CPU headroom and improve ur graphics...upscaling is cpu intensive.
Have you tried VR? Did you like it?
Reverb G2 user since release in iracing - love it. Especially with a custom facemask from etsy that gave alot of FOV.
ran the rift S for about a year and was the worst experience I've had with sim racing. headset is just full of bugs, switched to triples about 2 months ago and finding it so much better.
@@lupineDKcan you link the facemask?
I think i did 40% of simracing in VR (Vive pro)
Immersion is obviously way better than my single monitor and the spacial awareness is awesome.
I must say that if I try hard on both system, I am always faster in VR I'm more precise with my braking and lines.
The main thing that keeps me switching to vr exclusively is the clarity and performance.
I have Oculus Rift because it's cheaper than any triples on 49' 32:9. I don't like big fovs on small screen so I wen't for VR option.
To be honest I'm not a super mega hyped for using any VR. Screens are just more comfortable and theres zero problem with support in some games.
That 3D perspective is nice, helps with feeling the car but there's still a lot of blind spot and it kinda ruins immersion. Also headset have like 90° FOV when rendered is 110° so it's not 1:1 scale with real world. The only game that have world scale slider is R3E.
Still better than small single screen tho.
It seems that eye tracking + foveated rendering is the secret ingredient we've been missing for a long time to get good looking VR with high FPS
For sure! So glad it's finally happening
Indeed.. it's the best way. There's no point in rendering all the picture at full quality when the only important is where the eye is focusing.
Good to see you didn’t have any issues with reliability so far. It was an absolute nightmare for me. I need to check out the software/firmware update.
It’s crazy how your experience was so different - I literally had zero issues with mine apart from the 3 monitors + VR not working thingy 🤔
@@DanSuzukithere’s been a new software overhaul and firmware update since I tested it so it sounds likely they’ve made a big step forward. I’ll have to give it another try.
@@boostedmedia Stability has been getting much better. I never had issues with it connecting. For me it was when the battery got to a point where its drained the crystal would disconnect at random and turn back on and had some audio buzzing issues. I haven't had issues now after more updates and using a better Power USB hub.
Would love to see you have another go Will
Lol i was losing trust in these videos. I don’t have the space for triple monitors yet but looking to get into VR. Love both channels hope when you spent more time with this product the video will answer more questions for me. Cheers
I did VR only for 4 years before switching to triples. The immersion is slightly reduced but not so much & now I can stay in the rig for 5 or even 6 hours instead of 1 or maybe 2. I love the experience of VR but I prefer to drive for longer & have the convenience of triples.
Yep I was using vr for about 18months changed to triple and couldn't go back just the ease of use and comfort is worth the change
I run an hp g2 and its great and all but after about 20 minutes with it on im dying to take it off. Its usually cooking my face about halfway through the race lol.
I don't want to spend more than 2 hours sim racing without a break no matter what I'm using, but with the Pico 4 I can easily do that as well with wind-sim and comfort airflow face cover. And now during summer I can turn off my G9 and have one heater less in the room. I ditched VR once because of missing clarity, comfort and performance, but that problems seems fixed for me now. Buying this awful Vive Cosmos was also one of the worst decisions I've made.
I used three 42" TVs many years ago and switched to Oculus CV1. But I do also play other games than sim racing. If you only play sim racing, there are pros and cons for both so it's up to personal preference.
Something triple can’t do well: motion sim. Sold the triples for a motion sim plus pico 4= close to real life.
I wish more reviewers were transparent on if they are allowed to keep a product or if they have to send it back etc. Thanks Dan! Now to watch the rest 👍🏾
They allow to send it back, but customer service is really bad. You will most likely loose 1/3 of your money on customs fees and shipment back to them depending on your location.
@@alim883Woosh😅 they mean if Dan was allowed to keep it or does he have to send it back as this isn’t the best for reviews when they get free stuff it can make people biased I don’t believe Dan is this way
I only started Sim racing a year ago, on a laptop. I bought a VR headset and noticed such a difference in my ability to see what was going on that I went and built a new i9, RTX 3060 Ti pc to race on. It is amazing the difference in immersion.
Glad you are converted to VR now ;) Immersion is the key to really enjoy driving in a simulator.
But you have to try AMS2 with chnaging weather conditions. Its the best VR experience in sim racing hands down.
Its also less CPU bottlenecked as the outdated iracing.
Been using the Crystal for sim racing for a bit over a month. It really is hard to put into words the immersion you get from it.
Pls stop 😂 i am out of money😂
can it use inside out tracking or do you need the base stations?
@@rooooney87 its inside out tracked, no need for base stations
Can you tell me/us anything about the setup process? Some reviewers really bash how bad the VR support is on this headset and that it is difficult to set up and get it to work.
does FoV rendering and eye tracking works like on PSVR2?
I use a Pimax 8KX and a Pico 4 with Virtual Desktop (i5 13600, RTX 4080). The Pimax was not easy to setup, but now it's great and the FOV is even on "small" wider than the Index. The Pico has considerable smaller FOV, but even wireless better clarity. Certainly the best HMD for under 1k and basically no compression artifacts nor noticeable input lag. It feels like plugged in and if it's attached to a power supply, no battery drain. In AMS2 I get with both rock solid 90 fps despite ridiculous resolutions up to 24 million pixels at medium high. OpenXR is really a game changer for VR as well as current GPU and CPU gens. Many issues of the past were due to running the system at full capacity without getting 90 fps and good visuals. Now there is some headroom left while having no compromises regarding quality and smoothness.
Is all the extra headroom because of the good CPU or because of OpenXR?
@@AndrewAffolter It's all of it combined. The RTX 4080 was a substantial upgrade to the 3080, but the current i5 is so much better compare to my former i7 10700 even I'm still using the same DDR4 RAM sticks. Without OpenXR I would need a 4090 and i9 for similar results I guess.
Man, I am excited for these new range of headsets. I think the 12k once it's out will truly be a gamechanger
I can confirm all your pros and cons after having the Crystal three days. Although I still have many problems - but I hope they will be resolved soon.
Thanks so much for a great review. I'm a long-time VR user and you did a really good job. I wouldn't have known you were new to VR if you had not mentioned it. I also have a Crystal and could tell your review was very honest.
Totally agree, I cannot play anymore on tripple screen. VR is immersive as F*ck
I can play on triples still.....just don't like it at all and it actually feels restrictive. lol
I have the pins 5k+ and had it fit about 4 years and have always thought about going triples but after watching this I am definitely staying VR
Looking forward how much the X3D can improve performance in racing Sims and MSFS with the Crystal. Thanks in advance Dan! Greetings from Cologne
Thank you for this!!! My Cyrstal arrives in couple weeks!!
I had a Rift S, Pimax 8k Plus and Reverb G2.
My biggest problem with Pimax was the weight and size. The Big FOV is awesome but because of the big screen it felt way to heavy. Reverb G2 was the best thing Ive tried. Very light and great Lenses.
But I switched back to monitors a few months ago.
The immersion of VR is so so awesome but the discomfort (weight,heat) and bad software (lots of crashes/lags despite RTX 3080) of VR just kills it for me.
With a monitor you get in your seat and drive. VR always took more time to set up.
I will never buy a headset without eye tracking anymore. DFR is a game changer for sims. I personally prefer CAS for upscaling and I also use turbo mode. I really hope that future sims will include DFR in their settings.
I have the Pimax 8Kx, one thing that I noticed on the crystal is the incredibly small FOV. That's a big turn off, for you to have an idea... on the lambo, on the 8kX, your field of view goes all the way to the right side mirror.. It just lacks the eye tracking, which I'm hoping the 12k will bring along with the same FOV. Other than that, awesome performance and res.
New sub here. I want more games and more settings video's in VR. You have one of the best understanding of settings I have seen with any other VR channels witch is sort of funny to say since the VR channels I watch are all about VR only.
Why not try Automobilista2 and an accelerated time to run 24 hours in twenty minutes and have the weather change too?
great video, just before i start using my own crystal. Its is indeed insane. Cannot express the feeling in words. I had used valve index, quest 2 and hp reverb g2 but that was so awful i had to return all headsets. I just kepts quest 2 for its standalone. Crystal is exactly what i want from VR, this is it. More picture quality is always welcome. Hope they can improve it for 12k qled. like 40-45 ppd
Hi, have you tried Varjo Aero? I realy want to buy VR cause I have no space fro triple but I would like to go the best way to use VR in simracing.
Thanks a lot.
This is the final video that has sold me on the Crystal.
I am so torn between this and Bigscreen Beyond. I have a Valve Index, and I hate the sag that messes with my vision clarity. I'm sure that would be absent with the lightness of the Beyond. That said, the superior FOV, refresh rate, and resolution of the Crystal is hard to beat. I also like the potential for wireless on the Crystal
Hello Dan! Two months have passed. :D. no pressure! looking forward to your final review especially now that quest 3 is being released and probably index 2 will be announced.
I found that when im racing in vr, im more consistent than when im on monitors.
Ive got a console and VR2, and yes, VR is just so much more immersive.
Be interested to see how ur lap times and racing are affected.
Hitting that like button. Thank you Dan!
What I don’t understand is pimax headsets have that form factor from day one because they had such a massive FOV but why are they still making such a massive headset but with FOV comparable to HG REVERB 😮
I just switched from VR to Trippels. Only advantage with VR is something more immersive trippels more comfort, no input lag, better picture, and you see your rig that you bought for a lot of money.
You can get away with shitty cable management in VR though :P
hi sorry but when you play in VR with cristal as you do with the three monitors I have the same but since cristal you have to attach it to the PC with DP I have to and you have to detach a monitor right? Have you found a faster solution than removing a DP and removing the surround mode for the triple monitor?
Have the exact same question, advice anyone?
Great video Dan, thanks for looking at ACC
I switched from the 8Kx to the quest pro two weeks ago and am so convinced that the 8 KX is now sold. This sharpness over the entire image area is simply insane. Had previously the Pico 4 and the G2 and they all can not keep up. And that by far for me.
Did you try that stabilized mirror of the quest pro? This could probably be a viable option for streaming
@@DanSuzuki Good question. But there are some good tutorials on youtube
4:55 the backlight feature is nice for games that do not allow you to adjust brightness like iRacing allows you to.
Crystal vs 8kx FOV for iRacing specifically? I love the idea of higher resolution, but feel like FOV is more important
I also have the Crystal:
1) for simming (I play DCS) this is absolutely genius! The picture quality, the clarity is just amazing! But I would get a chair without headrest, because of the headset is to bit behind your head (battery!) and you'll need to keep your head slightly forward, which is quite a strain!
2) for Roomscale: absolutely not. The room-setup is flatout broken, the inside-out tracking is really bad (it mostly works for seated simming, but even then it can happen that you'll be "outside" the seat; you'll re-center often with this HMD!). The controllers feel REALLY cheap and their tracking isn't that good either.
-> if/when we get the Lighthouse (which will add to the cost) and which will need different controllers (which enormously adds to the cost!), then maybe. Probably. Hopefully.
This was good, the algorithm brought me here , Glad it did.
I have VR and Triple monitors. I absolutely prefer VR all day long. I think VR even looks better to the viewer, based on my streams. Great video. Thanks.. :)
K.O. criteria for me is that the headset is battery driven and so bound to the lifetime of the battery. 5 to 6 hours is long yes, but if you want to play longer you must have at least two batteries, one for backup. Thank you Dan. Was a quite good review of this VR headset. Maybe you do more of such videos :)
I’ll try, thanks :) it does come with 2 batteries in the box plus external charger btw
Dan has seen the VR light!
In the first part of assetto corsa and automobilista 2, the adaptation for VR is much better, it's really cool)
Dan you promised a complete and full review after couple a month please😁🙏
In iRacing DFR will be more useful if you have a lesser GPU, I run my Reverb G2 quite comfortably with a 3070 with regular FFR.
You should try 90fps mode with vr pixel density at 130%. Its going to look noticeably sharper and i imagine it wont bother you to drop from 120. Also, try CAS 100%
I also recomend CAS , about hte pixel density i will prefer 100% with 170 % upscale in Open XR
Something i always wonder.. in long term use can they affect eye sight? given the screens are close to the eyes.
I think it is more dangerous than monitors
I race in vr daily since mid 2017. Sometimes 2 to 3h straight. No issues from my side. I wear glasses (even while racing in vr). So far no correction needed. /Reverb g2
Couple tips if I may. Go into your Nvidia control panel, go to manage 3D settings, and set virtual reality pre-rendered frames from 1 to 3. Technically, there is a increase in latency when using this setting, however, as a frame time snob, I don't notice much of a difference. This will significantly help with cpu bottleneck. The trade off with latency is worth it. Secondly, the FOV that's used in VR is different from the FOV you use on flat screens. The games load settings from different .ini files. So there's no need to swap it back and forth when switching. Set it to what you want and then it'll change itself depending on what renderer you use (i.e. openvr, openxr, monitor). I recommend uses the fov/camera default settings for VR. Sometimes in Assetto Corsa I feel the need to move the seat a tiny bit, but ultimately the devs spent a lot of time trying to emulate in VR exactly what the drivers sees from an optimal driving position, and that's what the default settings are. Great vid as always! VR is the way!
At basically 3x the price of the G2, I will hold off (just upgraded from 3090 to 4090) and already there the uplift was huge.
I went from VR to triple 55” 120hz.
I felt VR just needs time to catch up to the clarity and performance .
plus with triples no one can sneak up on you
It caught up
Eye tracking, I think, is going to be the next big thing in training. We can now know if we're actually looking through the corners as far as the fast guys.
The irony of you not being able to move your head is that it's actually more realistic. Real helmets are so strapped down to the Hans device (I think it's called something else now) that you can actually barely move your head, maybe even less than you are in your seat.
Hello Dan and thanks for the video, i would like to say i totally agree with you concerning the blury aspect of ACC..i realized that when i discovered rf2 and Iracing...and came back to ACC. I would like profit the entire screen of your POV but i guess the point was to show the performance. I never tried VR but i really want to now..
I'm waiting for the Crystal to arrive myself, hopefully it will be soon. You said that the FOV isn't much larger than the G2 but looking at the Pimax mirror screen there's a big difference. I use the Lamborghini in the G2 all the time and in the VR mirror the left mirror of the car is only in part in the picture (only just the beginning tip), while here it is in fully on sight, and the vertical fov is much higher (in the G2 you see just a little part of the legs while here you see them almost to the waist). So at least judging by the mirror the fov is more on par to the PSVR 2 than the G2.
vr is great. But it takes time for research to get the best out of each sim. a lot money for the best hardware on the market to run it smooth at 90 fps with super graphics. Once you're there and enjoy, it's probably hard for the most users hard to get back to pancake racing.
I started in 2017. Way to early for proper vr gaming. with a oculus rift 1. Screen door effect and 45fps max, annoying base stations and poor optimized vr titles. now in 2023 with the right hmds like the fov eating pimax crystals and affordable reverb g2s, rtx 4090s and software like openxr and stuff...vr seems to be ready for everyone. But as mentioned. Vr is not for those who expect plug & play gaming.
Just my experience over the years of daily racing in vr.
I love it and i am always excited every day to take a seat in my rig and put that vr headset on after work 😊 enjoy guys!
Hey Dan, how did you get OpenXR to show the GPU/CPU headroom on the OSD?
Heyyy I really like this video, it gives me a comprehensive introduction about Pimax Crystal! But I still want to know compared with other popular products like Quest 3, Varjo Aero, what Pimax Crystal attracts you most? And when you select a VR headset, what factors will you consider first? (Because I am kinda want to purchase a VR headset, so I want to understand the field more)
id be very tempted to try... Just unsure how I would manage button boxes and button locations on the wheel etc.
You get used to it eventually, It just takes some time. It may be a hassle that some don't want though
Thanks for another great review. I’ve tried VR with Oculus 2. VR’s much more immersive than my triples, but it was not as comfortable to use it for longer races and also a bit inconvenient.
The Quest 2 cheap strap and face interface is crap, but if you are willing to drop some money in aftermarket replacements, its night and day. I can race hours with my BoboVR strap and face interface.
Pimax Crystal, Vs. HP Reverb G2 vs Bigscreen Vr. That's a comparison I would like to see!
Danke!
Danke dir :)
Great review i’m sold
now that many things have changed and you have a great experience, would you update this video, thanks
Fantastic discover...Amazing, that a VR device is better than a 3 screen setup...
Great first take Dan! I’m using the Index (4090 and 12900KS) and find ACC blurry in VR (iRacing much clearer). I’ve been waiting and waiting for the Index 2 and DFR, but this looks like a bridge in that.
And another great vid Mr Suzuki, would it be worth trying a pimax 5k super which can do 120hz and super wide fov, with the 4090 and open xr it may be nice stepping stone to the crystal
Looks amazing, but for $1600 what would be compatible options for triples?
Triple 1440p or 4k IPS displays. You won't get triple OLEDs for $1600 *yet*. You could get a standalone mount, triple displays (or even a 4th) for the same price.
You can find 27' 1440p 144Hz+ for $250ish' 3x is only $750 and leaves room for a stand/bezel kit
@@IBuiltDaArkhat monitors you recommend, I use mainly vr but consider switching back, had a single monitor before
triples are way cheaper in any regard, the screens itself (unless you compare it to cheaper vr headsets) and also the computer needed to run it :D my triples were around 1000$ - very happy with those.
The software looks great. I’ve always just had an oled at my rig, I didn’t want to go into triple screen category and have been waiting for a game changing VR device. Thanks so much for the preview. Time to go research to see if this works for ATS and ETS2.
may i know did you try the crystal on ets2 ?
I wish there was a way to stream in VR but have a second source to capture in OBS so that the viewing for the stream is more similar to what you get from somebody who uses a monitor.
I'm gonna hold out for the new super. I have quest 3 with my rtx 4090 . I mainly use it for my sim but i love onward on pcvr. My biggest fear is the head set is too big to truly play an stand up action moving FPS.
i had really bad fps and render latency, lowered render resolution down to 40%, changed graphic settings, nothing really helped as frames bounced between 40 and 90 cap. disabled that smart smoothing and it fixed all my performance issues.
now IRacing runs capped at 90 most of the time in my test session with render resolution at 100% and max preset graphics.
next time ill test with cars on track
im running through SteamVR only.
I love VR but for endurance races it gets hot and uncomfortable so I use vr for sprints and triples for longer
I can't decide whether I should buy the Crystal and GTX 4090 now, or wait for the Crystal Super and GTX 5090.
You really shouldn't need NIS etc at all.
Use CAS at 75% instead without upscaling and if needed use a lower resolution for the HMD. Will give you better performance AND better gisuals.
And please for the love of god disable FXAA in VR, use MSAAx4 instead (x8 will kill your GOU at this res). Qdan suziki
@@kolorartists imniwhatever tested 2xmsaa and 4xmsaa. they looked nearly identical and 4x reduces the performance big time. like you lose 1/3 of fps
I love VR but it's just not for me when it comes to everyday sim racing. I don't like the sweaty face and I do find it more tiring for long sessions. Also it makes it next to impossible to reach down to open a beer or grab a snack whilst on the long straights.
That's one of the hugh cons while wearing the hmd. Indeed.
You have not mastered the drinking and snacking thing i see.....it is not hard at all actually.
You should try AMS2. It´s the most stunning game for VR. I remember playing it at 200% upscale in my Reverb G2 and it was already razor sharp.
hallo Dan good evening, given all the upgrades, can I ask you if you have changed the graphics settings of the Primax or of the various tools or of the iRacing and ACC games, thank you very much
Former triples user, once i started to sim racing in VR, i just cant go back.
I swapped from ultra wide to VR then swapped to triples , I found it too hot with VR on my face while racing however I would not say it’s a deal breaker , sometimes I do want VR back but I don’t use it enough to warrant getting one again
Thanks for the crystal info!
Will you do more DFR videos using crystal with different games?
Almost certain that DFR only works with acc and Iracing.
@@Emir_de_Passy and Microsoft flight simulator. We need more!
18:52
Lambo :)
120hz will enable the DSC (maybe the reason of the experimental warning). I don't know how much time is added by the compression, but I faced eventual movement lag running my VP2 in 4896x2448@120hz. Remembering that the Displayport 1.4a have a maximum native resolution of 4k@120hz, so 5760x2880@120hz is much more than the maximum.
Does anyone realized similar issue with the DSC enabled?
in acc seemingly you can get out the car and walk round it. good video dan cheers
Hi thanks for the fantastic videos I can ask you as I'm new to VR if you take your hands off the steering wheel you see it also in VR in the game it takes your hands off it behaves like in reality I don't know the question may seem stupid thank you very much
thank you very nice and very useful could you make another video like iracing acc but with the settings updates have many things changed or is it the same after the APP and primax updates? thank you for your time
I'm in VR since day 1 of ACC. First the original Vive and now the Vive Cosmos. On a 3090 it runs well but I have to keep it a bit fuzzy to have 90 fps in races. I also get these annoying CPU spikes where the frame is dropped once in a while. They are shown as a red line in FPSVR. Not sure what ACC is doing while that happens?
Gday Dan I've had the G2 but moved to triples for endurance racing but have since added motion and keen to get back into VR, Have you tried it yet with your motion and did you notice the weight? Cheers
VR Microsoft Flight Simmer here. The Crystal changes everything, its simply stunning.
Hi Dan. VR is not for me, get way sick. When you were loading into a session. I noticed the drivers entered were in different colors and patterns, looks really good. How can that be achieved if you don't mind sharing. Great content!
May you can share the acc graphic settings?
im on a 3060ti/10700k with a quest 2 and while it's not no where as good looking as your settings, i've got it to run nicely at 80fps full resolution and the 3D experience is just something else, made me faster as well.
main problem is overlays, racelab does not work with openxr.
also, acc sucks on vr, it renders everything, including stuff hidden by cockpit. it hammers anything below 4090
I can confirm
Just fyi, my racelab works on iRacing running in openxr mode. Not all racelab objects work, but the main standings and relative boxes do…
@@Mucus1972 interesting. Do you bypass steam vr via open composit?
@@Mucus1972 I had it working using the crewchif toolkit, but still awful. I can't go back to monitors after getting used to VR, and VR software is still not ready for the masses.
I have RaceLabApp working natively (not through CrewChief) I'm using Steam VR and then simply fire up Iracing in OpenXR mode. It just works, I didn't need to even think about it. What I did have to do was change scaling of RaceLab objects when I switched from OpenVR to OpenXR. But that was just because I'd changed settings in OpenXR menus regarding scaling to take advantage of upscaling in XR.
Dan, what about people that wear glasses? I fly FPV and Fat Shark HDO2 googles offers (adjustable) IPD (interpupillary distance) So you can move the Focus: +2 to -6 diopters.
Hoping they have a solution for people that wear glasses. They look like a game changer for sure.
What about the sickness feeling? I've had that after 3 minutes of driving on Oculus Quest 2 (the 100,200 meters marks was very pixelated for me too)
Zero issues for me, but I never had any probles with VR regarding motion sickness.
2 things that really helpa fan as it gives your body a direction from the air flow, and make sure horizon lock is on as thats is awful in vr.
I would absolutely love one of these but they are $3000 in Australia. Maybe in a couple of years the price will go down a bit.
Need to see a bigscreen beyond review!!
How have you found the ergonomic comfort of the back of the Crystal headset resting on your racing sim chair? I've seen someone say it's a problem for them vs. VR headsets like the Pico 4 and G2, etc, because of how thick it is on the back of the headset. Have you found the same in any way by any chance? Perhaps their chair is too upright?
Hmmm, I never rest my head on the chair actually 😅
Great video!!😍
ordered PCL, wonder if you still like this headset? Can you put overlays like racelabs ones. Thanks
Yeah still love it, you can easily use overlays with openkneeboard
@@DanSuzukithank you. Saw many problems with lense lottery with it lately. Hope will win lense lottery :/
How does this compare to PS VR2? I just sold mine recently (I wasn't blown away). And, is there legit no "grid" or screen-door effect with the Pimax?????😯
Great review... would you get a decent performance with GPU RX6800 and CPU Ryzen 5800X?
Optimization suggestion...u should be GPU limited not CPU limited...
Turn open XR back to 100%...that will give u more CPU headroom and improve ur graphics...upscaling is cpu intensive.