Short review of my experience with the Pimax Super.
Pre-ordered in November and then ordered accordingly.
It finally arrived two days ago.
Before the Super, I regularly played the original Crystal.
My experience and how I proceeded:
Cleaned up Pimax Play and completely reinstalled it. (Due to previously known sound and microphone issues, I installed the beta with newer firmware.
I connected the Super, and it was recognized after about a minute. Up until then, everything was fine.
I launched the first few games and was disappointed.
The resolution is higher and the image is brighter, but the jump from the original Crystal wasn’t as big as the YouTubers promised.
Continuing with the FOV measurement:
With the Crystal, I had 102 H and 98 V (relatively average, I think).
With the Super, I got 106 H and 108 V with 11 mm foam.
I was confused and annoyed.
After a lot of testing, I used a different foam pad that I had left over from the Quest 3, made of leather.
New measurement:
126 H and 122 V (very good), but why?!
It turned out that the original foam pad for the Super is exactly the same as that of the original Crystal and also the 8kx.
Due to the large difference in the headset, this can’t really be right. (Okay, forgive me, who knows.)
Now comes the worse part:
I like the sound, even through the headphones.
But what came out (including from the DMAS I still had from the Crystal, because the Super initially came without DMAS but with an email saying the DMAS would be delivered in June) was really cheeky.
- Extremely quiet
- Microphone, okay
I then tried a lot with audio boosters and equalizers. But everything was bad.
Consider that the sound no longer comes from Nvidia, but uses its own 16-bit drivers. (I hope Pimax can patch it via software.)
I was very close to returning the €1,700 HMD (luckily it’s possible, thanks Pimax).
But I rarely give up and enjoy tinkering.
Finally, after examining the headset, I saw that I could connect it to an HTC DAS without making many changes. No changes to the Super, and I drilled a hole on each side of the HTC DAS. A bit of skill, and it fits.
The HTC DAS has a headphone jack. I then ran a 5m extension cable from the Super’s main cable to my PC and connected it to the sound card there. And lo and behold, the sound is excellent and, thanks to the HTC DAS, also the best wearing comfort. No wobble, the FOV is correct, no head strain, everything is secure.
Conclusion:
If I weren’t such a nerd, I’d have to return the thing.
- Image quality isn’t much better than the Crystal, FOV but yes, if the foam fits
- Sound is absolutely rubbish.
- You have to invest time to have fun with it.
- If you own a Crystal or Crystal Light, you should think twice about spending so much money on things that aren’t huge.
- Sound does not switch automatically when activating or deactivating the Super
- When turning off the PC the Crystal stays on, all lights are on only screens are off
- Good VR headset but not a big jump from Crystal to Crystal Super
- You still have to be patient with the settings and like to tinker a bit
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- Tracking is good but the controllers are more like something from 4 years ago.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve liked Pimax since my 8KX, and I also tinker a lot and enjoy testing. I’m a nerd, after all.
I would have liked my Super to look like it does now without any tinkering.
Since I haven’t found anything online for modding yet, I’ll post some pictures here if anyone wants to see them. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them if I can.
Pardon my English (Google will do it ;-))