After waiting for over a week for a response from Pimax to my request on the official support platform, I wonder if other backers with the Pimax 8K have found the hardware issues listed below. Or maybe have not even tested these components, which might be important as described below.
I would like to point out that I assume that these are probably only defects of the first batches. Since I have not found similar reports in the forum, it could also be only an isolated case.
I had noticed these problems only after a few days because I had not checked the headphone jack and the microphone in the short test after unpacking. And at first glance, no defect was visible. The problems became visible when I wanted to connect the newly purchased DAS.
Hardware problem 1
The headphone connection is loose and is pushed into the housing when the plug is inserted. The plug can only be plugged in half and the sound can only be heard on the left side.
At the first plug of the headphones, the jack was still in the normal position and gave way at the first pressure point. The half-inserted headphone plug can be moved back and forth and the socket is not fixed and seems to be held only by the cable inside.
From my point of view such a defect should have already been detected during quality control. Especially since the packaging and the headset had no signs of physical damage.
Hardware problem 2
The microphone does not transmit a single sound when wearing the headset. The sound is only extremely quietly transmitted when spoken with a distance of about 1cm / 0.39in frontal and very loud in the microphone. Which is shown graphically in the following test and also indicates a hardware problem.
However, the microphone has no optical defects and the error occurs regardless of the USB port used.
(Asus Maxmimus X Hero, current FW)
It would be great if support requests from early Backers, and in particular at hardware failures, would not go unanswered for more than a week. Especially with regard to the increasing number of delivered headsets and potential support requests. @Pimax-Support@deletedpimaxrep1@Sean.Huang
Thank you in advance.
(mostly) enthusiastic Backer 41
That sucks. I hope that microphone is an isolated error. A decent mic is really important for a vr hmd. I really hope the headphone jack is an early batch teething issue with assembly rather than a design flaw too. I’m used to built in headphones.
Yes I had issues with microphone no transmitting sound, but detected. Just no sounds.
This issue totally disapear since I upgraded my GPU and resintalled windows.
Sorry for your headphone jack issue. Mine is ok so far.
I very much hope that this is a unique case. If not, this will at least help improve quality control as soon as possible. And hopefully also the response time for support requests.
@Ludiks Did you tried with another microphone before reinstalling Windows?
Since an extremely quiet sound is transmitted and another microphone is working properly, I think this should be due to a driver or hardware error. Where a driver error would certainly have been found by other backers. And considering the headphone jack, another hardware defect or production error with the microphone seems very likely.
It can not be ruled out that this headset also has other quality defects that result from faulty components or production that can not be determined without a direct comparison. Because a wobble effect, similar to that described by MRTV Sebastian, can also be determined with this headset.
The effect becomes recognizable even on the planet still image and arises from a slightly faster head rotation. The image shake becomes visible in the middle of the picture and results in a constant blur over a certain speed. What I had also communicated to Pimax with my support request.
Hi @Bright! For the microphone issue, did you increase sensitivity in the Windows settings? That did the trick for me and the mic turned out to be great.
The wobble effect is a bummer though and can’t be fixed. At least you know it’s not your units fault but a general problem of the 8k.
If that’s the lens warping on the edge; it’s a characteristic of the lenses. @Sjef has reported the geo distortion on objects on the 5k+.
But in both headsets this is more if your strsining your eyes to far to directly see the lenses edges. This effect is also present i think if mem serves on the bottom of lens as well.
Bright the effect you describe that Seb calls wobble. The blur i haven’t observed that except on Vega. But the Vega is a bigger issue due to amd vega driver.
I don’t have it on either headset either. So it might be a hit & miss issue as Seb has observed it.
I didn’t even have that on tge i5 6500 with 1080 ti or when testing in the r9 390.
And if any should do it the r9 390 should have.
With you testing 1060 6g & @Fresco testing the 980ti we should have more repeatable results. Suggesting this might be a glitch affecting certain users with headsets. Much like tge display flicker firmware was on Vive & Vive pro.
Iam on 1080TI Founder Edition now but didnt have it with 10606go either.
By the way, label says : Pimax 8k Model : P2
Just in case.
I just took a picture of the serial number cause its fading away, I wont be able to read it in 2 weeks, it getting erased by holding the HMD with right hand, thumb is resting on the label.
Hi Sebastian! Thank you for your advice. Of course I had checked this first. The problem is also present at maximum microphone sensitivity.
Your explanation of the wobble effect sounds absolutely plausible. But because only a few 8K backers have so far detected this problem, is it possible that this is caused by a slightly faulty component?
Since the effect also occurs in all three FOV settings. And regardless whether with or without LH tracking, Hidden Area Mask or parallel projection option. Tested with current Piplay and firmware, rendering quality 1.0.
(8700K@5.1, Asus Hero X, latest drivers, Palit 1080 Super Jetstream, 32GB CL16, Nvidia 416.34 max. perf.)
Yes I found the exact same problem, it’s important that pimax fixes this ASAP in my opinion. It’s quite irritating if you have to fiddle with the audio plug during game play, which I have to do quite a bit.
The microphone driver is a standard Microsoft driver. I have already deleted this via the control panel and reinstalled. The microphone is normally recognized in the control panel and also the somewhat hidden microphone sensitivity settings in the speaker settings are set to maximum. But the problem is still there.
The following two mic settings are not synchronized automatically. What should be considered for a test.
To take a closer look at the wobble effect, the headset can be pressed lightly against the face from the front. Thus, the speed can be controlled a bit better and avoids a possible wobble of the headset with too fast head movements.
Of course, this is not a natural scenario, but this helps to look at the occurrence of the effect.
For example, if you look at the ground textures in the planetary image below the red planet on the right side, the image shake and blur should be visible very quickly. Maybe that helps for a quick review.
