Pimax Crystal Review 2023 | 6 months later...
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- Опубликовано: 14 ноя 2023
- Today, I'll be giving my opinion on the Pimax Crystal after owning and testing it for the past six months.
Processor: Intel i9 11900KF (overclocked to 5.2GHz)
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus Hero VIII
Memory: 128GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB PRO 3600MHz (4x32GB)
System Cooling: CORSAIR iCUE H150i Elite LCD XT Liquid CPU Cooler - IPS LCD Screen
Graphics Cards: MSI GeForce RTX 4090
Operating System: MS Windows 11 Professional
Operating System Drive: 2TB Samsung 990 Pro M2 NVMe
Game Drive: 2TB Samsung 990 PRO M2 NVMe
DCS Drive: 2TB Samsung 990 PRO M2 NVMe
Power Supply: CORSAIR AX1000i ATX Titanium
Virtual Reality: Varjo Aero, Meta Quest 2, Pimax 8KX, and Pimax Crystal (eye-tracking)
Hand tracking: Pimax Hand Tracking module (LeapMotion IR170)
WinWing DDIs and UFC
Thrustmaster F/A-18C and F-16 Hornet stick and Warthog Throttle.
Thrustmaster TRP pedals.
Sim-shaker software driving 3 tactile bass-shakers: andres-shop.simshaker.com/
Music: Darkside Alternative Cover by TallyMouse 
Игры
I love my Pimax Crystal. Flying exclusively in DCS, I never had any major issues at all, and the small ones I did have were quickly resolved by referring to YT, Reddit, and DCS forums. I especially followed your instructions to set it up initially and also downloaded and use the companion app you created (many thanks for it). And I can say, my experience all around is nothing but positive. I am running at 90 hz and limit the frames to 50% of that - I find that seems to be the sweet spot for my setup (7800X3D + 4090 + 64 GB DDR5). My visual experience is superb and I love every minute of it. Now, I am upgrading the rest of my simulator - currently running Thrustmaster Warthog Hotas, I just put an order in for the VPforce RHINO base and will in the meantime buy the Winwing F-16EX grip w/Orion 2 base. I fly mostly WW2 warbirds (my favorite is the P-47) and just started helos a while back. To that end, I put in a pre-order for the new Virpil AH-64 collective which should supplement my rig nicely. As you mentioned, I also plan to upgrade to the Pimax 12K once it's out. I can say nothing but good things about Pimax at this point. I don't dispute others' less-than positive experiences, but (knock on my wooden head), I cannot replicate these up to now. Thanks for all your helpful videos and forum posts. I am learning a great deal from you!.
Thank you! I check Winwing's site daily for a restock of their helo collective, and it's always out of stock. Today I received an email stating that, from Saturday, they'd be running 25% off.. you know 25% off that stuff that's out of stock.. I'm now laser focused on the Virpil collective - at least I can pre-order!
I was talking to somebody the other day about MSFS and DCS settings, and I told them that this was the first time, in a very long time, i've just simply turned off my fps counter because it just works and is smooth and high-resolution, and everything i'd been chasing for years..
I love the intro!
They're gr-r-reat!
Lots of lovely smoke being blown up Pimax's ass. Technically its mostly good, I have one too. But their customer service is abysmal. I dread the day something goes wrong with mine.
Amazing video. Your buddy with Pimax problems from Discord. Still not fixed, but the problem is the cable I believe.
Thanks for the heads up.. can I can help? Hopefully, it's just a bad cable.
@@tallymouse I think it's the bad cable. They agreed to send a replacement. Fingers crossed! Thank you for all your help.
@@constantine6313 I'm glad support were responsive, and are on it!
@@tallymouse me too! QuorraPimax helped a lot as well. Great resource for Pimax very helpful.
Mine arrives today and will replace the G2. I am eager to test it out and tinker with it.
I'm excited for you. If you follow the guides you'll find on YT and on Reddit, if you need to resolve something, you'll be fine..
Nice.
I only meassured H 102°.
i will now try the Aero and then 2024 I hope of a better formfactor crystal light without battery or Xr2 inside.
are you also excited about the upcoming Varjo event? 27.11.
..i'm thinking the event on the 27th will be announcing the XR-4
I'm curious, why do you think that the pancake lenses on the Quest Pro are not ideal? I've sold my Quest Pro for the Crystal because of resolution, and native displayport / lighthouse tracking. I love the crystal and its 200 nits of peak brightness, but the Pro's lenses are arguably a lot better. The crystal is about 90% edge to edge clarity while the pro is just shy of perfect. The pro has zero chromatic abberations and zero optical distortions. I like the crystal a lot more, but in terms of lenses the Pro's are a much better design.
Also, your chart says the Quest Pro has LCD Displays, while it in fact has QLED's just like the Crystal with similar colors and local dimming. It's peak brightness is around 100 nits.
Don't get me wrong I like the Crystal a lot more, but this comparison isn't really accurate
Pancake lenses could be excellent EXCEPT they're known for inter-layer photon loss, which is why the brightness of pancake lens systems typically suffer compared to aspheric lenses. One thing I do like about pancake lenses is that the optical stack can be much shorter!
@@tallymouse yeah, I'm personally still on the fence if I like pancake or aspheric better. I don't care about CA but the distortions even in the sweet spot are noticable in room scale. But looking into the sun in games is super cool, as it's uncomfortable. The edge to edge clarity is better on Meta Lenses, but the crystal is right at good enough to call it edge to edge.
The Quest 3 probably isn't good at this, but I never felt the Quest Pro had brightness compromises.
I love my crystal! ❤
I love your Crystal too!
@@tallymouse 😂 hey keep your eyes on your crystal!
Besides the image quality, What actually amazed me is how good the tracking without light house is, less jittery then what I experienced in the 5k to 8ks.
You convinced me and I should get mine next week!
What is your F-18 setup for the instrument panel? I'd love to mimic what you have done.
winwingsim.com/view/goods-details.html?id=380
(I remounted them directly onto 2080 aluminum profile with "V" groove) that I made into a crucifix shape, as that permitted me to align them exactly as per F18 cockpit positioning.
The cockpit surrounds are 3D printed (etsy) and the master arm/safe A/A A/G panel is from etsy but I modified it to add the master caution reset button..
The Crystal is excellent - join their discord, watch YT vids about setup, and read guides on Reddit and you'll be fine..
@@tallymouse apparently I need to make some orders on Etsy. I don't have a 3D printer but clearly I need one. I am going to get the MIP as soon as the sting wears off on all the other purchases I've made the last month.
@@TROUT_Actual www.etsy.com/listing/1526130867/pre-printed-left-right-visors-ww?
Great content here, nice work.
Please increase the level on your voice and lower the level of your sound effects please.
Somebody else mentioned this a few videos ago, and said that they were watching on an iPad/iProduct.. same issue? On another note, another viewer complained about the opposite.. maybe they prefer bicycle horns over my voice - that's understandable!
You ever had any issues with yours firing off a bunch of windows defender malware alerts, specifically for malware related to disabling windows defender? That's what happened with mine (and why I returned it) but there's really no other headset that comes close to it so I don't know what to do if I can't use the crystal. In an ideal world I'd find out why that happened and then fix it, but I don't have the technical knowledge to do that.
Microsoft Defender has become overly responsive to python code located within MSI installers.. yes, Microsoft's own installer packages. Unfortunately, many newer viruses are coded in Python as it's a relatively easy language for people to learn. I haven't had an issue with this, but I have seen another person with this issue before, and once had somebody claiming that my QuadViews Companion software installer also triggered MS Defender, even though it's written in Visual Basic on a clean system located behind a hardware anti-virus firewall.. the only thing I can suggest is excluding the pimax folder from the Defender realtime protection once installed...
I have the Crystal but even if the VR1 is a clone the form factor looks much better, will be open sourced.. I would choose it
Like any headset from a small manufacturer, we'll only know what the real story is when they start to get delivered...
@@tallymouse very true. Time will tell, I'm also on the pre-order list.. I really like their mission objective. Still working on my Pimax hand tracking setup in DCS in the meantime!
@@Murmur2k I'll have a guide coming out soon to help!
@@tallymouseon the one hand pimax is china, somnium is czech/euope. there is still a difference. but ok i also dont know what to buy
@lassmirandadennsiewillja3943 All the major components will still be made in China/S.Korea.. processors, panels etc.. it's just assembled in Czech Republic... also, still some months away from being available for purchase, starting at Eur1800 for a version without eye tracking..
I’m having an issue with the quad views DFR that when it’s turned on I can’t see cannon tracers through my hud only if I look above the canopy bow. It’s like it’s shifting it upwards. When I turn eye tracking off in the PimaxXR they are visible like normal, any ideas?
Have you ensured that you have lens effects and bloom (in VR tab) turned off?
@@tallymouseYep they are off
@@SpecialTeams Try using QV Companion to set your foveate resolution to 100% and see if that helps. I've noticed a few small things in DCS get rendered so small when super-sampling that they look tiny.. for example nighttime lights over Vegas. I think they sized everything in the render-pipeline to be optimized for a 1080 monitor!
@@tallymouseOk I will try that when I get home
HI Tally.😇
The Crystal it’s amazing but you don’t speaking the use of batteries, and when our batteries no longer work, what do we do?
On the pimax website they don't sell additional batteries?
I am a backer of the pimax 5k+ in 2017, I love pimax, I spoke with Team-Pimax with Josh+Sweviver in December 2022 at the Pimax Roadshow.
For me it's just the battery that appeals to me even if we know what they are used for.
I also have an 8kx and love this helmet for its large fov.
So I buy the crystal or wait for the 12k for a bigger fov.
You made a video of the fov of the crystal with a Horizontal fov value of approximately 115/118.
But I like the 150 fov of my 8kx so much, so I don't know what to do anymore.
Buy a crystal or a 12k?
The recovery at €800 is not exceptional if in January at Ces 2024 in Las Vegas pimax unveils the 12k.
I would have paid €1620 for a crystal for 3/4 months while I feel the 12k will arrive in January 2024.
Thank you Tally for your excellent videos.
Kind regards /Laurent/Lolof1.😇👍🏻👍🏻
I didn't mention the batteries because, well, they're really not a big deal - they recharge while you're not playing automatically, and I haven't touched my battery in months. In sims, I get 4-6hours of play time, and that's fine for me for one evening. Remember, all Meta products contain batteries too... I even saw one person on Reddit bemoan the Crystal because of the battery specifically, and pass-over the Crystal to purchase a Quest3 instead which, erm, contains a battery that cannot even be swapped out. You can always place an additional USB-C cable into the side of the headset and the battery will never run out while playing - this is similar to the external battery pack accessories for the Quest3.. except you don't need an additional battery..
You could wait until Jan 2024 to see the 12k announced at CES, or not, and then you could be waiting another year for the 12k.. who knows!?
@@tallymouse
Yes ,in France it’s call that a « Dilemme » :
-buy a Crystal now or 12k but when I can buy this headset ?
Aplushhss 😇👍🏻👍🏻
The weight is far from 845g - about 1200g with cable & audio.
The VR-1 weight doesn't even include the head strap... the quoted Aero weight is also incorrect compared to real-life.. everything is relative..