Got the pimax crystal today & already thinking of returning it.
Posted by: CSOCSO-FL on r/pimax
1st Impressions
I was super excited to get this headset. I only wanted it to play Asetto and have super clean graphics.I was using quest 2 with a 3080ti and i9 13900k. On oculus 2 I was doing an x1.5 resolution and made the picture so much nicer. I was still getting like 90fps and when I saw the crystal’s native resolution was basically the same as the oculus 2’s x1.5 overdriven resolution I figured I would get the same performance with much nicer and cleaner graphics. Headset came in and the setup was super easy but I realized how freaking uncomfortable this headset is. I messed around for hours and in the end, it was still not good. ( yes I was using the thicker and bigger facepad)Another thing that was bothering me a lot is the CRAZY amount of chromatic aberration. Blue/ red and green around so many damn things. Then I tried to play the game and first, it did look good but the performance sucked. I checked steamvr settings and realized I was also doing the oversample thing on the crystal. It was also at %150. When I put it to %100 the game looked more like what I had on Quest 2 without the ugly fresnel lens look. Like in the car, the text on the odometer was just as blurry. Btw the whole time I was struggling with having the vr stay at the right place on my face. It kept drooping down pushing on my eyebrows and cheeks. Kept adjusting it every 5 minutes :(Auto IPD does not work and I kept switching between the smallest and widest IPD and barely had any difference while quest 2’s smallest and widest settings made a huge difference. On quest 2 it was super easy to find the right ipd. With Crystal, I have tried half a dozen scenarios to adjust and find the right IPD and I was simply unable to do so. ( Like watching still images. watching a video. Looking at the text, looking at different games, dark / bright places nothing really made the image better or worse.I know I could get better performance if I spent just as much again on a 4090 but it doesn’t help with the other issues.FOV was also not much better than quest 2. Imho the best thing about the headset is not having a fresnel lens and because of that, the image is clearer. So thinking about returning it and waiting for the quest 3 or maybe getting the quest pro…Forgot to mention I realized I can not use a normal audio headset with this. Bummer.
Update:The head strap is not broken. If i set it tighter, it holds better, but the back end (where the battery is) behind my head won’t be able to swing down far enough. I was messing with the ipd a ton. I was even trying to adjust it while I was looking at the chromatic aberration to see if it goes away. Btw lenses do move. I can hear the motor, and when reaching the smallest amount, I could tell it was getting closer to my nose. So there was a point where, in the very middle, I was getting less fringing, but I was still getting it all around. For example, if I opened the Steam menu, I saw red all around it. Kdmas speaker does work. I play with people around me. I want to use my headset so I don’t bother anyone. I already have a nice audio headset and can not stand using an earpiece (plug style), so I won’t do that. Buying a 4090 is not exactly the answer. Even if I was able to get enough performance out of my pc, I would still be like 50-50 about the headset. Just not enough to justify spending $1600. Like, right now, I am 80-20 about sending it back or selling it.Also the steam vr rarely comes up even tho i am pressing the button. Annoying as hell.
UPDATE#2: I am warming up to it! color fringing still sux. Comfort was not good but I put a kitchen towel folded 10 times in between the elastic and the rubber rigid head strip and it helped tremendously. Clarity is there for sure! %130 render resolution was playable in asetto. But both days i had issue where the screen was shutting off randomly. It wasn’t the battery. But I had a couple super fun hours with it. Then changed the battery and the issues started after
Source r/pimaxDisappointing beginnings but I am getting hooked. Pimax Crystal day 2.
Posted by: CSoCSO-FL on r/pimax
2nd Impressions
So I had a rather disappointing first day with the Crystal.
Short recap
- Super uncomfortable even with the bigger facepad
- Really bad and crazy amount of color fringing ( chromatic aberration)
- kdmas audio is fine but I can’t use my own audio headset (which I really want to) because of the shape and size of the crystal’s hinges
- Realized that native resolution won’t give me enough of a sharp image in-game ( it needs at least %130 render resolution or %150 to be truly amazing looking compared to quest 2
- IPD adjustments just doesn’t do much ( cant find the right ipd size)
On Oculus 2 there are only 3 settings for IPD. If I adjust it anywhere from my ipd the image looks horrible so finding the correct settings was child’s play. With Crystal i can adjust it from minimum to maximum and nothing bothers my eye. All look the same. I believe the motor does move the lenses since I hear the humming and feel it getting closer to my nose when I set it closer to the minimum.
So day 2 came I had a few hours of play time and it’s definitely growing on me and starting to like it.
• First of all, I realized even my oculus 2 has color fringing but it’s not as visible due to the lower resolution panel and the fresnel lens.
• Comfort wise I took a small towel and folded it up like 10 times and stick it between the elastic and rubber head strap on the top of my head and it did relieve some pressure that the headset was putting on my forehead and cheeks. ( adjusting the elastic strap tighter made things worse since the back end of the headset just couldn’t swing low enough behind my head. ) After this towel trick I was able to play 2 hours without an issue.
• I do need a better graphics card so I can hit 90fps in game. I have a 3080Ti and 50-60fps feels choppy. Whenever fps goes up to 75+ it becomes smooth
I use vrperfkit and foveated rendering. Opencomposite and openxr make the game unplayably choppy and stuttery.
I set the render resolution to %130 and it does look really nice and clear.
I tried to take some through the lens images of the crystal and oculus 2 to compare them. Not sure what would be the best way to show them so here are some links:
Day 5 with Crystal and it is far from good.
Posted by: CSOCSO-FL on r/pimax
3rd Impressions
TLDR: If I had to score this headset I would give it 2 out of 5. :(( Yes I got the latest update)
Positive(s?): Clarity
Yeah. Can’t think of anything else that’s good on this headset.While I have no major issues that are preventing me from using it I still have a bunch of issues that wanna make me return it. Especially since It costs this much.
Cons:( from previous posts that are still not changed)
- VERY uncomfortable. Every 5 minutes I had to adjust and tinker with it because it was pushing on my eyebrows and cheeks. Yes. I tried a million things. Yes. I adjusted the straps and all. Yes, I am using the bigger facepad.
- TON of color fringing ( chromatic aberration)
- Not easy to use your own headset even if you take off the dmas speakers.
New issues since my day 2 update:
-Very bad brightness and color calibration issues between the 2 panels (eyes)
Discord link if you wanna know more about it
-Left trigger is bad. B button is bad. ( so both controllers need to be replaced. They do work. But they have issues and again; for a $1600 headset I don’t want any issues at all.
-Got the new update for the controllers but games are unplayable since controllers stick in the air every other minute for 5 seconds.
-Other dozen quirky or stupid issues that came up since I had it but there are workarounds and or fixable after you freak out about them.
There you have It. Want my honesT opinion? Well. I don’t think I wanna Say it since I would like pimax to Actually help me with my iSS ue and if I say it how I feel I don’t think they would talk to me.