I notice a lot of the time I have to unplug the USB cable on my Crystal for it to be recognized again. Maybe some firmware bug?
2 Likes
I really really hate these Crystal controllers. The tracking is the worst Iāve ever seen in VR and none of the buttons map to games properly. Any suggestions? Any way to get my Index controller and lighthouses to work independently?
2 Likes
Yea the pimax controllers / tracking are horrificā¦they need to get the lighthouse face plate released ASAP.
Itās a pity Pimax didnāt focus on what they can do well to some degree, that is make headsets with high res, wide FoV.
The wasted a lot of time and some resources on the Sword (Sense) controllers, which have been rotting on my shelves after I tried them exactly once (in that case it never came to the stage that the performance could be decisive as they abandoned the thumbstick meaning it was useless for gamers no matter what).
And ow they seem to have repeated the same for the Reality series, just because somebody thought they had to desperately tick the box āstand-aloneā too. Sometimes I hate it when engineers run the show - at least, when they are only eager engineers and not users, gamers at the same time. They get lost in feature-creep without any sanity control to what they are actually doing over there.
If youād look at cars, why is there no roadster-van-offroad car? Because the three concepts just donāt go together well, a raodster needs to be short & nimble, a van needs size, etcā¦ But Pimax are trying to sell us their roadster-van-offroad vehicleā¦
Hopefully they will announce the Crystal PC VR only version soon - just the headset with a cheaper and less energy consuming SoC than the XR2, inside-out or lighthouse faceplate at your choice; controllers optional (so we can avoid paying for them).
A this stage I am starting to have doubts about the wireless capabilities as we donāt seem to hear anything about them anymore, so itās fine if they let that go too for the PC VR version. This together with a less consuming SoC would also remove the need for batteries, as the USB feed should suffice.
7 Likes
A question before I decide to buy this thing: Have there been any reports on how sensitive Crystal is to electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues?
In my simrig, EMI issues occur every now and then due to the dozens of peripherals I have. For example, I had to get rid of my wireless keyboard and mouse, as they in random rare cases caused my steering wheel to stop working and need a reboot. Another example: My Pimax 5k+ sometimes gets mild snow interference on the displays, and on two occasions it became so bad that the headset rebooted itself while I was using it. Looping the cable through a magnet a couple of times seems to have mitigated the issue.
I expect the fiberoptic cable to not be affected by EMI, but given how often I run into various EMI issues, I wonder if anything else in the Crystal might still be sensitive to EMI?
2 Likes
Iām quite alright with the stand-alone(and wireless) concept all-in-one.
If they want to do this, itās ok, and MAYBE they can still get it working (esp. with controllers to be even better and on par or above to other headset tracking like the PICO 4.
But that takes time, lots of feasibility analysis to hit their targets. MAYBE they think they still can hit a better target for things like stand-alone and controls.
If they can deliver quality for all modes, then Iām happy. I just donāt think theyāve really met the mark. As well, now that I think about it (as I said above), I think I want color passthru for AR options too. I donāt have enough money to get two HMDs. So it is appealing their design. Itās just a matter of deliveringā¦
4 Likes
Yeah, totally agreed, I also said it before, Pimax should have never gotten into making controllers. There are already good controlles, why re-invent the wheel, focus on what we DONāT have yet, like good wide FoV VR. The Crystal itself also didnt make much sense to me, at least not for a company focused on wide FoV. And the Pimax portal, damn, is that thing even still alive? Havenāt heard anything anymore but that surely was a huge waste of resources.
3 Likes
And Pimax went with the crappy Oculus style controllers which are terrible for PC VR.
Whatās terrible about them? The quest pro touch controllers are my favorite vr controllers out.
2 Likes
Fixed my black screen issue by downgrading the software to 0426. All thanks to engineers from Pimax and AweSun remote desktop software.
2 Likes
I must admit, I still prefer the Oculus style controllers over the Index ones. I wee bit too short, thatās a criticism I would make, but otherwise quite nice (I am not talking about tracking quality, Lighthouse is of course superior).
The ones I liked the most, which I still consider the pinnacle of VR controller design, were the original touch controllers.
2 Likes
Original Touch controllers were the best. Totally agree.
1 Like
You guys must be smoking crack, the Pimax Oculus clones and tracking are complete garbage compared to Index controllers and Lightstations.
3 Likes
the tracking is pretty much unusable for me,and its not cause i come from lighthouse tracking,psvr 2 has decent tracking you can aim guns etc played whole re8 without an issue on psvr2 meanwhile with the crystal i cant even aim a gun in alyx cause they oclude eachother and the controller in front gets stuck and it takes like 3 4 tries to actually grab a mag from the back,as soon as the controlers are out of the view its over they are gone.
pretty much worst tracking ive ever seen in a vr headset and thats when the controllers work,usually they just unpair randomly oh and the floor is just nuts,i have to set the floor pretty much half the times i take it off,the lh plate literally will be a game changer for this headset
5 Likes
Yes, PIMAX we need lighthouse faceplate NOW!
1 Like
So I just spent an hour in MSFS and the controllers literally stop tracking with them RIGHT IN FRONT of my Crystal. I couldnāt even manipulate the throttles properly the tracking is so bad. This needs fixing ASAP.
1 Like
You must be smoking crack 
if youāre not using something like a HOTAS for playing MSFS. 
Itās not a use-case I can imagine for a game like MSFS to use the included hand controllers.
1 Like
Ha ha hsā¦ totally agree.
Stop inventing man, worst idea in the world to play MSFS with controlkers
1 Like
Iām testing the controllers in all different scenarios. I have a Virpil HOTAS for flight sims, has nothing to do with the Crystal controllers being trash.
4 Likes
I get youāre testing. Though IMO the use-case your testing for MSFS is a very rare one that virtually no one who plays Flight Sims will care about.
I think ppl will care more for other games and particularly stand-alone titles and how the trackers work in those more common less rare use-cases.
Like, someone said they had issues with Half-Life Alex. Others mentioning that anything more than the basic Beat Sabre modes, the controller/tracking on the Crystal isnāt good for.
Personally I think those use-cases should be more of a priority for PIMAX to nail down.
But the big question is: Given their current hardware design, is there any more room for them to improve things up to on par, with something like, the PICO 4?
If not, then itās a FAIL IMOā¦
2 Likes