Got rid of the nose cover and that made the headset more comfortable there and breath better.
The SMAS hinges are a problem on my end and I am awaiting a shipment of fixed ones that allow the headset SMAS to actually drop down at the back of my skull instead of having it sit high at the back as it does now. The headset currently is more perched on my head when I use it - not fixed.
Also, with the SMAS sitting so high, the inbuilt audio is too far away from the ears to be effective and lacks any mid to low range sound. I would imagine the SMAS off ear speakers would be better when sitting closer over the ears. That being said, there is less Gyro Drift when using those speakers compared to using my AKG 702 headphones.
I think the idea of 3 section modular foam (Center and Sides) for the headset is a good one or foam that shapes to the users face. For good clarity, the headset needs to sit close to the eyes. Mine didn’t come with the thin foam option.
Resolution of the screens is great and I think people just need to dial the SS settings in to get the most out of the image quality. A lot of washout brightness issues can be attributed to poor SS settings in SteamVR.
#RANT:
Unfortunately - SteamVR does not take account of the screens native resolution capability when deciding SS render target resolutions and that can lead to poor image quality. VR people still seem to forget that at the end of the day, we are still using flat screens stuck in front of large lenses to give us the experience. The screens are what give us the image and running resolutions on screens that don’t relate to their native resolutions - well it can make the final image look very poor.
My only real, but fatal problem so far with 8KX is that I cannot position my eyes close enough to lenses to provide optimal picture (even with thin foam). I see only mid 1/3 of “potato” FOV clear, then it starts to become more and more blurry (all sides, least upwards) and even somewhat distorted (not even the rather big fonts in PE are really legible at the potato’s edge).
The eyes can somewhat learn to compensate the blurriness on inside of lens by combining the data from both eyes and preferring the sharp picture over time, but still not perfectly and at cost of some visual discomfort as if you have eyeglasses fogged around the nose.
When I remove face cowling altogether and press the headset as close to my eyes as physically possible it improves significantly. Now at edge of “small” 120° FOV the same text is somewhat legible although blurred and with some blue chromatic aberration.
I believe this is because:
lens are designed for eyes to be very close (perhaps to allow for the high FOV)
the headset do not take into account people with rather deeper set eyes and prominent forehead
My recommendation for engineers would be to explore following options:
modify lens to allow for optimal eye position at greater distance even if that meas to sacrifice some FOV (Artisan FOV mostly clear would be much more preferable to large FOV where not even 90° are usably clear). This could be high-end headset for those who cannot get 8KX to work for them because of anatomy.
allow for either the face cowling or the lenses themselves to be movable in z axis so it could be brought closer or further to eyes by exact distance like it is for mechanical IPD in X axis. Also take into consideration people with large noses or so called ‘eagle’ shaped noses when choosing the right solution to this as it can also pose challenge for perfect lens positioning.
Optional, but advisable: Make more comprehensive modular set of head foam cushions for different head anatomies. As someone with narrow head I used 5 layers of double-sided Velcro under the sides of face foam so that it hugs my face and secure it against tilting to sides. I removed the super thin foams from the inside of speakers and placed there 3/4" thick ballistic helmet pads instead. I also removed the upper back cushion as it was too thick in the middle and prevented the swiveling part attached to the top strap to correctly hug bottom back of my head. After these changes the comfort is quite good for me.
This one is resolvable as ‘Do It Yourself’ workarounds unlike to optical issues, but for a flagship model, it would definitely be more fitting and gather appreciation.
I hoped 8KX would be THE headset I would settle for for quite some time and that is why I was willing to pay the premium. Now I see I am still in search for THE headset, possibly mid-FOV (in between 120 and 150 degrees) that I could set up for more optimal picture at similar detail i have in the small sweet-spot of the 8KX.
please suggest your team to include a an optional standard, “cheap” Velcro headstrap with every HMD in addition to the (D/S)MAS already attached.
Reason:
I am cockpit-sim-VR-player only, playing 100% seated in my chair.
With the MAS, I cannot lean back comfortably due to the knob - which wouldn’t be too dramatic for me if there would have a been a simple Velcro headstrap (used i.e. for the 5K+ already), I could have fixed quickly to the 8K-X instead.
… fortunately, I had my 5K+ still, so I took its Velcro headstrap and attached it to the 8K-X. Since then, everything is perfect for me
But in the first instance, I was quite annoyed, and I would have been even much more if I would not have had that Velcro from the 5K+…
I am sure, the 5K+ -velcro just costs a couple of dollars in maximum, probably less for Pimax if purchased in large quantities.
So please include one - optionally, additionally - with every HMD - I am certainly not the only one who could not use the MAS while playing seated.
(PS: And any sound option on the headstrap doesn’t bother me at all since I am wearing my headphones anyway.
So Velcro is just fine for me )
Good news to hear that the velcro strap fits - I was always planning to use mine from my Artisan but only last night wondered whether it fits to the X or not.
The other thing I realised was that if the X works for me then I will sell the Artisan but if I’m using the velcro strap from it that might be hard (probably don’t want want to sell the MAS with it as that would look strange and not be good for maybe selling the X one day) so wondering if you can buy a separate velcro strap? I guess I should ask Pimax!!
Yes, exactly my doubts, too, when selling the 5K+ …
I already asked Pimax two weeks ago, but that was right during their vacation…
Either, they have so plenty of mails to check that they did not get to mine yet. Or they oversaw it. I’ll have to re-ask once again, I think
I would like to see work done on the lenses for future products. There are many reports of people not being able to achieve full clarity in both eyes using the 8KX, and that is a concern that I can relate to having used the 5K XR. As competing HMDs (Index, Reverb G2) improve upon their own lenses for greater clarity and reduced artifacting, I would like to see Pimax do the same.
For the 8KX-R you need to source next gen HDR OLED panels. That will put Pimax ahead of the competition. No other headset manufacturer is focusing on HDR
)
Thank you for your support