New valve vr hmd

I let my order slide away for a number of reasons but one was the controllers. I have since re ordered just for the headset. Im happy with my wands for now. spending just £450 seems a bit more acceptable.
 
I've since had the next email with tracking data in it :)

I too just bought the headset until the controllers have had more time to settle down. They're on reserve.
 
kevman said:
Yeah I think this has put quite a few off. I think they will try and stealth this one out silently replacing the controllers that people don't accept. Not great practice. I will see what comes with my kit I can always send back if not happy. Still, valve is still probably more palatable company than facebook (and I have a rift also)
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I have more faith in facebook fixing their hardware than valve.
 
I think I am going back to using my IEM's. The over the ear speakers are decent but I need to turn them too loud to get the same effect and you don't get the bass of IEM's.
 
Vega said:
I think I am going back to using my IEM's. The over the ear speakers are decent but I need to turn them too loud to get the same effect and you don't get the bass of IEM's.
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Second time I've read this today.

I still don't think anything beats a good set of headphones outside of a subwoofer for the bass thump. I know the speakers are meant to be amazing, but surely anyone accustomed through high end audio headphones can see the distinct advantages.

I mean if my headphones can better my KEF speakers for positional audio and analytical music player, surely these valve speakers don't stand a chance either.
 
Ya I am a low-end audiophile and have both good tower speakers and good headphones. For the purest sounds and listening experience, I think I prefer good headphones over speakers.
 
So I just got done modifying my Vive Pro with the andi-SDE "Odyssey+" OLED panels and also added the non Fresnel GearVR lenses. Hardly any SDE, no god rays and the color/contrast beats out the Index.

I'm going to do more A/B comparison but I think the modified Vive Pro may be the better headset. Keeping the Index controllers though!
 
Wow that sounds like some pretty hardcore tweaks but with awesome benefits.
I still have my GearVr lenses that I intended to fit to my vive but never got round to it. Maybe some tweaks will come out for the Index.
 
So I've spent quite a few hours playing games back and forth between my modded Vive Pro (Odyssey+ OLED panel transplant [same panels as Vive Pro but with anti-SDE layer] + GearVR non Fresnel lenses) and the Index and here is what I came up with:

Vive Pro Positive:
1. Black levels.
2. Contrast.
3. Colors.
4. Clarity - mainly due to GearVR lenses. Yay for non-Fresnel!
5. Basically no god-rays.
6. No ghosting/trailing of objects under movement (OLED needs no overdrive). This makes up a lot for the lower 90 Hz refresh rate.
7. No pixel inversion artifacts.
8. USB-C DAC can plug in right at the face side/top of the headset out of the way.
9. Anti-SDE layer on the OLED panels makes up for the worse pentile panel matrix.
10. Can't see the edges of the panels.

Vive Pro Negatives:
1. Slight "graininess" viewable from the anti-SDE layer on the Odyssey+ OLED's versus the stock Vive Pro OLED's without the layer.
2. Less FoV than the Index.
3. Slight barrel distortion that needs to be fixed with a .cfg edit.
4. Maybe slightly more eye fatigue, still trying to narrow this down but it's hard when switching back and forth between headsets as eye fatigue doesn't go away quickly.

Wash:
1. Index's speakers definitely kill the Vive Pro's but it is a wash for me due to still using high end IEM's. Even though they Index speakers are decent, they cannot compare to the IEM's.
2. Index is more comfortable than a stock Vive Pro, but the Vive Pro is comparable once you put aftermarket padding on it.
3. Sweet spot seem comparable and no real issue with either.

Index Positives:
1. Wider FoV.
2. No barrel or other world geometry issues.
3. Low SDE due to the full RGB panels instead of pentile.
4. 120/144Hz gives a slightly better motion smoothness.
5, Possible less eye fatigue.

Index Negatives:
1. Vertical lines during movement caused by LCD pixel inversion. Seriously annoying.
2. Clarity, static viewing is around modded Vive Pro levels but the vertical line issue makes everything look worse in motion.
3. Colors.
4. Contrast.
5. Black levels.
6. Obvious ghosting due to much slower LCD pixels.
7. God rays a-plenty.
8. USB DAC has to plug in the frunk, leading to some messy cable routing for IEM's.
9. The Fresnel lenses of the Index just don't give you that clarity of the modded Vive Pro.
10. Can see the "squaring off" of the edges of the panels.


It would be interesting to test the Index again if someone finds a non-Fresnel lens mod for it. Overall the modded Vive Pro OLED image "pop", non Fresnel lens clarity and no movement anomalies like the Index's vertical lines make it a fairly clear winner for me. LCD just can't compete with OLED and clear lenses.
 
Sounds like the index is going back then? - I'm loving mine but stepped up from cv1.

Apparently there should be a fix coming for the vertical lines - mine are not prominent enough to affect my experience but I believe it varies.
 
The way I'd put it is: Besides the very expensive Xtal, the Index is the best stock headset now. My modified Vive Pro just has too many category wins to keep the Index. But obviously the amount of people willing/capable of taking a Vive Pro and an Odyssey+ apart is fairly small.

I thought the Reverb was going to smash all, but here we are.
 
So If you had £400 or so burning a hole in yr pocket and you already have the Vive Pro (unmodded) would you buy the Index or Rift S. or... Just stay with what you got.
 
Vega said:
Index Negatives:
1. Vertical lines during movement caused by LCD pixel inversion. Seriously annoying.
7. God rays a-plenty.
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I probably shouldn't ask as once I've seen them I'll probably never unsee them but... what vertical lines?
And God rays... wow they are so much worse than the OG Vive's. I never really noticed them before but on the Index they're pretty obvious.
Still not bad enough to spoil the whole headset but surprisingly prominent
 
Vega said:
I thought the Reverb was going to smash all, but here we are.
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I told you that you that the Reverb wouldn't be the headset to beat all headsets. I did say the Index would be better.

Well, I actually said you would return the reverb and keep the Index, but, to be fair, I didn't realise you would do a McGyver on it and make your own headset out of two others :p:D
 
GBRusty said:
I probably shouldn't ask as once I've seen them I'll probably never unsee them but... what vertical lines?
And God rays... wow they are so much worse than the OG Vive's. I never really noticed them before but on the Index they're pretty obvious.
Still not bad enough to spoil the whole headset but surprisingly prominent
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The vertical lines are hard to explain. "Inversion is also called pixel walk, typically found on higher refresh rate monitors due to voltage control going from positive to negative and back, hence the name inversion (polarity inversion). It'll look like the pixels are moving though they're not, thus why it's called pixel walk."

So like in beat saber, if you look at the blocks moving towards you while your head is in motion, you will see almost transparent granular vertical lines distorting the image. It's a perceived lack of clarity issue and once you see it you always notice it lol. Best way to look for it is to swap back and forth between another headset and view things in motion.

melmac said:
I told you that you that the Reverb wouldn't be the headset to beat all headsets. I did say the Index would be better.

Well, I actually said you would return the reverb and keep the Index, but, to be fair, I didn't realise you would do a McGyver on it and make your own headset out of two others :p:D
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Haha MacGyver, I loved that show as a kid! Ya for some reason the Reverb clarity just wasn't as good as the specs alluded to. Maybe it has crappier than normal Fresnel lenses or something.
 
Got my Index HMD only (using with old Vive bases and wands). Love the clarity increase and can only really see the vertical lines because I have been looking for them. Most noticeable for me on greyish tones but ultimately not really that bad for me. Does seems like it can be better or worse depending on the actual headset going by what I have read. :) God rays don't seem that bad neither but perhaps I need to try some more high contrast stuff. Positioning may be important for minimising the rays and I have only the OG Vive and CV1 to compare them with. Would really liked to have tried the Rift S but at a 58/9 IPD I don't think it would have worked out too well.

Feels like I need a new GPU for some games :p
 
stooeh said:
God rays don't seem that bad neither
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If you draw the fov right in they become less pronounced. Compared to the Vive they dig in less on the Index, probably about a third as much when watching a film. When I was thinking about it, they seem to be a necessary evil, but they compromised by pushing them to the edge of your vision.

Tbh I only really notice them when watching a film anyway.
 
I've got the original Vive, with the wands and base stations.

I'm very tempted to get the Index Headset at about £460 as it seems a good incremental upgrade and lets me use the original base stations.

I'll mainly use it for playing Elite Dangerous.

My main questions:
  • Any feedback re. the Index in Elite Dangerous? Some comments refer to the less black levels and vertical lines - are they that noticeable in Elite?
  • Can I still use my headphones? The Index ear speakers seem to be a selling point, but I think I'd prefer my usb headphones.
  • Does the Index need a mega PC? i.e. would my basic cpu and 1080ti handle the index? (see my sig).
I'm aiming to get a new build PC in 2020 if/when the 3080ti comes out, but would the Index be a decent VR upgrade in the meanwhile?
 
I just got the HMD only and the clarity increase is great! Tried it then in Elite and cockpit much more readable using VR High settings. Seemed to be 45 fps reprojection docked but 90 fps elsewhere. Black levels didnt seem too bad perhaps due to contrasting cockpit lights and I didn't notice the lines but as said already ymmv on this one. It does have a headphone jack and usb port on the front so you should be good there. I definitely would upgrade my GPU now for VR if they release something more reasonably priced! :p CPU frametimes seemed pretty good in Elite for me. By contrast they were quite high in NMS!
 
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