Upgrading from Vive to Vive Pro

[TheRBT]

Hello, fellow pilots!

 

I am running my current setup with a 1080Ti and Vive. The SDE and low res on the vive is a bit annoying so I am looking to upgrade. I have had my Vive since launch day so that's 2.5 years of solid simming and I have got my money's worth.

 

I am wondering what to upgrade to now. Is the Vive Pro a worthy upgrade? Anyone made the switch and how was your experience? Anyone waiting for the Pimax? I mostly just play sims like DCS, Dirt Rally etc in VR.

 

My problem is I am not in the States so I end up paying 200-300 dollars extra for most of these headsets. Currently I can get a vive Pro for USD 1000 which is the best price I can get here TBH but I am wondering if I should just wait for Pimax and gen 2. Thought?

[dburne]

I have a Rift and personally am waiting on Gen 2 myself. Had it for over 2 years and love it, it just works beautifully every time for me.

 

Vive Pro gets some good reports, however many replace their lenses with Gear VR lens to get better picture quality.

 

Pimax seems to be getting mixed reports at this time, some very good and some not so good. Probably be in a bit of a wait to get one at this time. They don't have their controllers ready for it yet, nor their base station. You can use your Vive base station for it though.

 

Hopefully others that have those two headsets will chime in with more details.

[TheRBT]

Yea, the Pimax reviews are really all over the place. Wired.

 

As for the Gear VR lens mods, can that be done on the original vive? Might just give it a go although I am not sure where to get the lenses from.

 

Edit: just realised the gear VR is like 80 dollars. I had no idea it was so cheap.

Edited January 20, 2019 by TheRBT

[Macka]

Yes the original vive can be modded with the Gear VR lens. The process is identicaI. Just use a different file to correct distortion....very easy. I just did my Vive Pro tonite and it was simple and painless. The Vive lenses just literally pop out. Took longer to read the instructions than the actual process. You only need a 2016 GearVR version (its black...dont get the white one as its 2015). I paid only $49 aussie dollars ($35usd) from Amazon Au new, but found 2nd hand ones as low as $15 on ebay. You may find you will need to upgrade your graphics card either way you go, Vive Pro or Pimax.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Macka
pellingS

[TheRBT]

I see you have a Samsung Odyssey+ as well. Would you recommend the Vive Pro over the SO+? I hear they have the same screen and I can get SO+ for 300 dollars cheaper.

[Macka]

Spend the money, if you have it, and get the Vive Pro. I sent my O+ back for exchange and the new one arrives this week.....straight to eBay. The Vive pro isn't perfect ie sound is better on the Odyssey and Samsung after sales seems pretty good. Reports about HTC after sales is somewhat poor....although I don't have first hand experience with them only from reviews I have read. Use the Vive pro for a bit then do the lens mod. Click on my name and select "find more posts by Macka" and read my last few posts re the vive pro vs Odyssey+ . Of course they are only my opinions but I do have a keen eye when it comes to what a display and an image should look like (its my job). Plus you already have the compatible base stations and controllers. Go on...pull the trigger....you know you want to... lol. I am a Rift guy and wish they had come out with something by now but now it would have to be pretty good to get me back.

[imacken]

Hello, fellow pilots!

 

I am running my current setup with a 1080Ti and Vive. The SDE and low res on the vive is a bit annoying so I am looking to upgrade. I have had my Vive since launch day so that's 2.5 years of solid simming and I have got my money's worth.

 

I am wondering what to upgrade to now. Is the Vive Pro a worthy upgrade? Anyone made the switch and how was your experience? Anyone waiting for the Pimax? I mostly just play sims like DCS, Dirt Rally etc in VR.

 

My problem is I am not in the States so I end up paying 200-300 dollars extra for most of these headsets. Currently I can get a vive Pro for USD 1000 which is the best price I can get here TBH but I am wondering if I should just wait for Pimax and gen 2. Thought?

I upgraded to the Vive Pro from the Rift, and would highly recommend anyone to do the same thing. One caveat, it’s a lot of cash, so only do it if you really can afford it.

There are similar threads on the same-ish topic around here. Check them for more detail.

[Macka]

I see you have a Samsung Odyssey+ as well. Would you recommend the Vive Pro over the SO+? I hear they have the same screen and I can get SO+ for 300 dollars cheaper.

 

TheRBT what country are you in? If your in Australia eBay stores has 10 and 20% off deals this week so can get the headset as low as $900 aud (650 usd) Inc shipping.

 

EDIT: FYI for anyone on the fence in Oz Use the AU eBay app and Code PAPP10 (I will remove this edit when it expires).

Edited January 21, 2019 by Macka

[remi]

I'd wait for foveated rendering tech with the new Vive Pro eye.

[TheRBT]

If your in Australia eBay stores has 10 and 20% off deals this week so can get the headset as low as $900 aud (650 usd) Inc shipping.

 

 

I wish. I wold have bought at that price in a heartbeat. Its USD ~1050 here but I bought it anyway. Such is life in a welfare state. High taxes and all.

 

Thanks to everyone for their inputs but I do have a quick question. I am just graduating from the FC3 aircraft to the full modules and just started the training session for the F-18. I really have to bend my neck to look at the switches on the left and right. How do you guys manage that? It seems to be similar in the Ka 50 as well. Like I literally have to hold push my head with my hand to see some of the switches behind me.

[imacken]

Thanks to everyone for their inputs but I do have a quick question. I am just graduating from the FC3 aircraft to the full modules and just started the training session for the F-18. I really have to bend my neck to look at the switches on the left and right. How do you guys manage that? It seems to be similar in the Ka 50 as well. Like I literally have to hold push my head with my hand to see some of the switches behind me.

Yep, that is an issue. TrackIR cheats as the in-game head movement is much greater than the actual head movement, so much less physical turning needed.

Personally, rather than wring my neck, I tend to turn my seat which is a standard swivel type.

[kreidel]

I really have to bend my neck to look at the switches on the left and right. How do you guys manage that? It seems to be similar in the Ka 50 as well. Like I literally have to hold push my head with my hand to see some of the switches behind me.

 

Yep, that is an issue. TrackIR cheats as the in-game head movement is much greater than the actual head movement, so much less physical turning needed.

Personally, rather than wring my neck, I tend to turn my seat which is a standard swivel type.

 

Something that hopefully in the future eye tracking will help with. With the current VR we have to turn our head much farther because the sweet spot in the headsets are centered.

[Macka]

I find if I am in an Aircraft and its a strain to see around that I might have my cockpit View set a bit small. You can adjust the size by lowering the Force IPD to 58 or 57 in the VR settings. There seems to be a slight inconsistency in the individual aircraft rendering sizes. If I drop it to 58 for the AV8 or F18 then go back into the A10C I feel like I am in the cockpit of a Herc not a single seater. If you dont want to do that, another trick is to recenter your VR view by moving closer to your monitor momentarily....hit recenter and it will push you back about a foot and make it easy to reach those pesky hard to get at switches.....then recenter back to normal view/position. It only takes a fraction of a second and becomes automatic after a few times. A bit like in the olden days where you would recenter that TrackIR thing automatically without even consciously doing it. Of course another method is now you have the Vive Pro is to do the Gear VR lens mod and your sweet spot is now about 70% larger and you can just glance down without out having to turn your head as much anymore.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Macka

[Harlikwin]

Yep, that is an issue. TrackIR cheats as the in-game head movement is much greater than the actual head movement, so much less physical turning needed.

Personally, rather than wring my neck, I tend to turn my seat which is a standard swivel type.

 

The 1:1 head movement in VR is so much better and natural for tracking actual objects. I can't really describe it, but if I glance 45 degrees right and 30 degrees up or whatever out of my pit I have a 3D sense of where that aircraft actually is. And when I glance back to where I "think" the plane should be, boom there it is. I never had that sort of Situational Awareness with TIR, or it was seriously degraded.

 

As for flipping switches behind you. Well, you only have to it at startup, and I have found that my swivel chair makes it easy if not "realistic".

[Maddog Muttley]

I was the same, I've been using using the vive and love it, added the cooling fans and optical lenses so I didn't have to ware my glasses but still found it hard to read switches and analog gauges, especially air pressure, (due to pixels).

 

For me I always intended to go for the Vive Pro, which i finally did, OMG it's awesome. And yes everything is clear, my best investment besides my 1080ti. The best way to compare the difference is it's like viewing it on a 4K monitor.

 

Now just looking for the optimum settings for the pro.

Cheers

[Sephroth]

I'm still looking for those settings. I upgraded to a Vive pro and a RTX 2080. In the air I can get away with shadows on low, but on the ground during a larger mission like Red Flag ones I have terrible stuttering with shadows on at all. Oh well. It is pretty though. I did swap out the lenses for the Gear VR ones and I personally think it's an improvement. My field of view is a little less but there is so much more clarity around center, I feel like I don't have to center whatever I want to read.

[imacken]

I'm still looking for those settings. I upgraded to a Vive pro and a RTX 2080. In the air I can get away with shadows on low, but on the ground during a larger mission like Red Flag ones I have terrible stuttering with shadows on at all. Oh well. It is pretty though. I did swap out the lenses for the Gear VR ones and I personally think it's an improvement. My field of view is a little less but there is so much more clarity around center, I feel like I don't have to center whatever I want to read.

To be honest, the only settings that I feel really make a difference on my setup are MSAA and PD. Shadows to an extent, but the other two are the big ones. Experiment with those - at a constant SteamVR SS value - and you should get to your optimum settings.

[Mr_sukebe]

I'd wait for foveated rendering tech with the new Vive Pro eye.

 

This...

[imacken]

This...

Yep, the Eye looks nice, but you can carry on waiting forever. I'm glad I didn't!

I'll certainly have a look when its released, but we have no idea when that will be yet.

[Mr_sukebe]

Yep, the Eye looks nice, but you can carry on waiting forever. I'm glad I didn't!

I'll certainly have a look when its released, but we have no idea when that will be yet.

 

I did think that they’d suggested by summer of this year.

I just don’t see the current options as a big enough step right now, whereas eye tracking and foveated rendering will be.

[imacken]

I did think that they’d suggested by summer of this year.

I just don’t see the current options as a big enough step right now, whereas eye tracking and foveated rendering will be.

Personally, I felt the Vive Pro was a big step up from my Rift. But, it does come at a price!

[Harlikwin]

You might wait for the Vive cosmos, or the HP set they showed off with 2160x2160 displays. Cosmos should be this year, but who knows on the HP. I'm sort of in the same boat, but I gotta buy a new computar and then look at VR upgrades.

[Harlikwin]

I'd wait for foveated rendering tech with the new Vive Pro eye.

 

Absolutely nothing I've read about Vive eye suggests it will be able to do foveated rendering. OR that DCS would actually support it if it could. All I've read it will be able to do is interact with menues, and give your virtual avatar "presence" since it will update your avatars eye positon based on eye tracking. I know that FR is supposed to be the "thing" that gets us to the "thing" for VR, but I'm pretty skeptical, no one has shown a working foveated rendering setup AFAIK, and AFAIK the closest guys were working on half dome.