Xtal first impressions

Nobody knows what he means when he says he tested this and that headset. Is a whole review a "test" for him or was having the headset on for 10 seconds a "test"?

Maybe he excluded the XTAL because it's not as known as the others/is so expensive in comparison.

My XTAL arrived last week and I tested it over the weekend.

Its on its way back now. I can tell you why if someone is interested in a more disappointed review.

i always found the hype around it completely unreasonable, however i was still expecting for it to be a high quality headset, so yes; i would be interested in hearing your opinion about it.

My XTAL arrived last week and I tested it over the weekend.

Its on its way back now. I can tell you why if someone is interested in a more disappointed review.

So? Let us know! we're all curious.

Cheers!

Please DO explain what you have encountered with your XTAL in detail here for all of us to understand.

Thanks!

I'd like to know also.....

Interesting to hear about your experiences!

Does anyone have screenshots to compare xtal with reverb? otherwise it is only personal opinions..

So in summary we're pretty much no further forward with information about the XTAL and DCS?

No videos or pictures of unboxing or of the hardware?

No "through the lens" shots of DCS? (Even mobile phone cameras are good enough to give a general initial idea so not sure what the issue is here.(

No hard evidence of the performance/FPS in game?

Could anyone in this thread who tries to do a review of their Xtal please post a placard with their name on it beside their Xtal headset. I think we all agree that would be far more convincing that something with no photographic or video evidence. Thanks.

Got to say at this point I agree with that statement.

I am also interested in information about the XTal. At the same time I am interested in a comparison with the reverb.

What bothers me a bit is the tone of how you would like to receive information about the Xtal. you forget that someone takes the risk to buy an xtal for 5000.-. This someone is so nice and would like to help you with your decision. This is what people do here voluntarily and this in addition to a 100% job.

So maybe I would not demand that offensive. But give the people the time they want to take their pictures and so on.

If you can not wait, just buy one and test the Xtal, Reverb or whatever, and share your information.

I would liken folks considering either a Reverb or Xtal, to be like hmm should I get a Ferrari or a Lincoln?

Right. After all both will get you from Point A to Point B without any issue.

You know the old saying - If you have to ask...

:smilewink:

Xtal on its way back

Hi everybody,

I have decided to return the Xtal. It's a great piece of tech but for me it doesn't meet my requirements.

I use it for myself but I also use it at my Air Cadet unit for our flight sim program. That means the headset is used by many of my kids. So the main reason why it's going back is comfort. It is just too heavy for small heads. Kids heads to be more precise.

I will also say this. Although it's not really bad on my head, when I went back to my old headsets I started noticing the weight a bit more. While for professionals using the Xtal for shorter periods, I started to find the weight objectionable for hour long sittings.

But like I said before. The materials are top quality and the picture quality is top notch. But for me, my kids have to be able to use it.

So beware of that should you be interested in buying one. Other than that, it's a very good headset.

Stefew

Thanks for taking the plunge and checking it out. If I was going to pay that much for a headset then it'd better be near perfect and it seems like the Xtal isn't, at least in this first iteration. It may be packed with awesome technology but other parameters such as long-term comfort or ease of use are also important when picking a headset.

Comfort

Thanks for taking the plunge and checking it out. If I was going to pay that much for a headset then it'd better be near perfect and it seems like the Xtal isn't, at least in this first iteration. It may be packed with awesome technology but other parameters such as long-term comfort or ease of use are also important when picking a headset.

Hey Supmua,

Yeah, I totally agree. A great headset has to be more than the sum of its parts. The Xtal is nearly there. And for some people, the weight would not be an issue. But for my kids it was.

Stefew

Hi Stefew

Can I ask what age were the kids for whom Xtal was too heavy? I am also considering getting one and would occasionally use it with air cadets.

According to the specs Xtal weighs 1210 grams with the head strap, would be a little more with the Steam VR tracking clip on.

My real world flight helmet (Alpha Eagle) weighs 1535 grams. The cadets wear similar helmets when they fly (and pulling up to 4 g).

Many months ago, I ordered the XTAL.

Finally arrived yesterday. After paying about AU$860 import tax.

Have not got it working for DCS yet. SteamVR wants it in Direct mode but so far I can only get displays working in Extended mode (just like multi monitors in Windows, so I can drag windows into the view). I get lots of SteamVR crashes and can’t setup room scale to be seated only. I have no lighthouses yet and no VR controllers. Directional tracking works okay. That’s about all I can give at this point. Photos will come.

A month after ordering it, my house mate (sister) lost her job and all my savings have been diminishing supporting us. Once I am monetarily stable again I’ll invest in a lighthouse 2.0. They should be available in Australia by then.

I also run GTX1080 cards. This headset recommends a minimum GTX1080Ti. Perhaps this is why I am having trouble.

Bunch of pics

Attractive white box with magnetic latch

This is everything you get. If you want detailed instructions and drivers/software, you log into the developers portal that they create an account for you to use.

Three types of mains power plug. None for Aussieland. I'm using the US one going into a 240V to 110V transformer. But bought a figure 8 appliance cable today to replace that setup.

The included power transformer

I hope you like black

Batman gear?

Big, meaty cable. As it is quite stiff it takes up a lot of room if dumped on the floor like this.

It also makes it awkward to put the headset on.

Top strap is hook and loop, adjustable for height on your noggin.

Purple knob for sizing around your noggin.

That stray strap at the top left, also seen on the top pic in this post, is the USB connector from the sensors to the headset.

When ordering the unit, you tell them what sort of tracking system you plan to use and they give you the appropriate clip-on for it.

The silver circle near that cable is a headphone jack. Not found a guide to tell me that yet.

You can also see the lights across the bottom edge of the lens. These are barely noticeable to the naked eye, a very faint red.

This would be the lighting for the automated IPD to be able to see your eyes when the displays are dark. At least that sounds like a reasonable assumption to me.

I started the ordering process in mid May. So took 5 and a half months from that point. There were a few questions about what I was after so they could give me the correct gear.

Original estimate was that it would be sent in September. That ended up being late October to get here yesterday (4 Nov).

It definitely has a stealth like appearance! Cant wait for you to give it a go!

For comparison this is roughly what PD 1.0 looks like;

And at 1.6 much of it is readable.

Screen door effect is there if you look for it. But I can see it on my monitors if I look for it too, so whatever.

And the padding is a little wrinkly and leaves minor marks

Semi review for you. Only on day 2 here, though and I have no external head tracking.

It's heavy. I've not used another headset to compare to but it will take a lot of tequilas for me to forget I'm wearing it.

The thick cable can be felt dragging on the back or my chair. With the cable coming from my right, if I turn to look over left shoulder the cable will dropping between the chair and I.

Clarity is not as good as I was expecting. This was the key point for getting this particular unit. It has the best screens and lenses out there but perhaps the GPU power and software limitations are holding it back.

I am running a vid card slightly below the documented minimum.

The directional head tracking is very good. It does lose centre sometimes after extreme haed turns. I thing most of them do though and easy to fix.

Not designed for summer.

It's 27C/80F in here and at times getting a little warm. Not too bad, considering it does a good job of blacking out outside lights.

I've not played with the builtin microphone and voice command stuff yet.

Vertical view angle is not great. In a fighter plane I thought I would have wanted to see higher easier, but it's really the cockpit dash that I miss. Need to tilt the head down a far bit to see your screens, and side consoles are even further away.

Horizontal view angle is epic. Another reason I wanted this unit is the 170 degree horizontal view.

Instead of feeling like you are looking out of binoculars, this feel like you're wearing Ned Kelly's helmet.

This item is marketted for the likes of Honda and NASA.

I will not ever get value for money from the XTAL. At the time I was in a good place financially.

I got a 200 Euro discount for mentioning SweViver's Youtube videos. That took my quote down to 5300 Euro (500 for the lighthouse clip-on, 200 postage).

Then I got smacked with import tax in Australia for AU$805 (~500 Euro) (I may have mentioned it was more earlier, but that was my memory telling me lies, it was $805.10)

I wonder if I offered them $50 they would have lied for me and said the item was $90 instead.

(Outside of DCS) The built in Leap motion hand tracking is still at gimmick stage. It's cool to play with but most of what you would want to do would have your fingers hidden from the cameras by your own hands.

The AR/XR module they are working on looks fantastic. It allows your real life gear to be visible. OMFG ! https://vrgineers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AR_module.jpg

If I hadn't already sold my mother, I would fully sell my mother for this capability.

The biggest thing that stopped me from going VR earlier was the fact that you can't drink scotch from a pint glass with a HMD on.

I proved that wrong today.

It's not easy, but it's not hard either.

Nice review. Fwiw typically with the mainstream devices head tracking is quite solid.

My Rift S has never lost tracking in head movement on my end, nor did my Rift CV1 before it.

5800 euro tsjee. It should be the best of the best! This is unbelieve! You should send it back and take the Hp reverb instead. :D

One problem with personal, non professional reviews is that people mostly notice the things that irritate them.

This system is quite phenomenal.

The huge price tag is because they don’t have a mega company behind them like Valve, HP, Facebook. Price has to be up there for them to survive. Ideally, a customer focused gaming hardware company would buy the tech and redevelop for home consumer level pricing.

I have personal concepts I’d like to see on a HMD.

Like move the smarts of the device to the rear of the head to counter balance.

Tricky to keep it rigid enough to be stable but I keep thinking of having the screen on top of the head and just mirrors at the front. Or a projection system. Again for weight balance.

And how come none come with a built in bottle opener?

The only real downside that I see with that thing, is that it ain't a street believable... :-D

No matter, I wouldn't walk anywhere with ANY HMD on my head... But that thing is just so beast that it is difficult to take seriously. But 170 degree horizontal FOV is just mind blowing. The thing that VR really needs!

Maybe one day the HMD like that will get slimmer, so it is closer to face, but it requires a well done optics with curved lenses etc.

That HMD just generates jealousy, it is so awesome.