Can anyone help me with the following please: I always try to remember to power down my 8KX after use by long pressing the power button until the LED ‘chevron’ strip on the front stops flashing and stays off. However, the red light on the power button still stays illuminated. Is this OK for the headset, or should I actually be physically disconnecting the usb/hdmi cables from the back of my PC so the red light goes off too?
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It’s fine to leave the headset in sleep mode for long periods of time, but the electronics will still be on (in low power mode), waiting for you to wake it up. Personally, if I’m not going to use the headset for a week or more, I would unplug both USB cables. However, you don’t really want to unplug/replug it constantly, since that can cause wear on the connectors.
I have the power USB cable plugged into an Ankor power adapter, which is plugged into a remote-controlled power switch, so I only need to unplug the other (data) USB connector (and just switch the power off). I bought a set of 5 power switches, so I can turn off the base stations at the same time (and have spares). Also note that you don’t want to switch the base stations on and off excessively, since that can cause the motors to wear out sooner.
As you noted, as long as the LED is bright red, the headset is in sleep mode and the LCD screens are off, so it’s OK to leave it in that mode. Dim red means the screens are on, so you need to put it to sleep or unplug it. Unfortunately, rebooting your computer will sometimes power up the headset, so you need to put it back to sleep. It can be hard to tell the difference in the two shades of red sometimes, so I always carefully recheck the headset after booting.
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Thanks for providing such a clear and detailed answer Neal.
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You’re welcome. I should have noted that I almost never turn my computer off and I’ve disabled sleep mode. In a more common situation, the data USB will likely be off when the computer is sleeping (unless you have enabled wake-on-USB-activity). In that case, you’d only need to unplug the power USB cable of your headset.
Re: the base stations Neal, what would you say is excessive in terms of turning them on and off? I have a couple of SteamVR 2.0 base stations. So for example, if I had a 2- 3 hr VR session about once a day, would you recommend switching off the base stations overnight?
My understanding is that if you are using them occasionally throughout the day, it’s best to just leave them on. However, I don’t claim to be an expert. (I’m just repeating what I’ve read here on this forum.) The base stations use the same sort of motors as hard drives, which suffer wear when turned on and off.
Since you asked, I decided to do a bit of research, to try to find a definitive answer to your question.
According to Steam Support, you should turn your “Base Stations power off when not in use to reduce power usage and extend their lifespan.”, so I think the best idea might be to avoid turning them on and off frequently (more than once or twice a day).
Here’s quite a bit of useful information on base stations…
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I’ve been turning my v1 basestations on/off for Years without issues (knock on wood).
I’m annoyed about their high pitch sound so wouldn’t leave them running plus I (generally) don’t leave stuff on for no reason when not in use (I at least put everything into standby mode when not in use)… 
That said, I rarely switch them on/off several times / day.
I don’t even have them running daily, so of course if You do and the sound doesn’t bother You, You could just leave them on, I guess.
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Strange, my base stations (2.0) are silent when running. But they are only about 12 months old. Maybe the high pitch sound only happens with 1.0?
Probably. I wouldn’t know as I only have v1’s.
There are physical differences though.
For example v2’s are single motor while v1’s are dual.
The high pitched sound comes from the motors spinning so either they’re spinning at different speeds, are just quieter on the v2’s or it’s a matter of the dual motor setup on the v1’s making them resonate with each other (not sure if that’s the right term?).
I can confirm that both my v2’s are making a high pitch sound, the frequency changes along with changing channels on them as well.
If somone is unable to hear the sound they are emitting, well that’s due to the persons ability to hear those high frequencies of sound.
Sorry @belimi im not saying you hearing is bad, just that you are unable to hear the sound frequency they are emitting
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I had been wondering if I just suffered from Tinnitus. Now it may be my V1 LHs I’ve had on for 5 years. O well
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Maybe the individuals who can hear the sound has more canine features
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