I am one of the backers. Ever since saw the incredible project in the Kickstarter, I was impressed by you guys’ ambition and the effort to realize those lofty goals. It didn’t matter if there was a delay for 2 years. As long as I knew you were actively working on it, I was perfectly satisfied. The 5k headset I received was more like a pleasant surprise. You finally did it ! Even that headset had problems here and there, I had no complaints, because the few hundred dollars I gave you, was more like a donation. It was all worth it the moment I received the headset.
And when that headset worked, it worked quite well. The major advantage was the wide FOV. The feeling of immersion was quite overwhelmed. I could literately feel being inside the VR world.
After a few months that headset died, and I burnt it while trying to fix it myself. So I thought to myself, “The love fair is over. It’s time to be serious and get a different headset.” So I chose HP Reverb G2, thinking it should be the best under $1000. How wrong I was ! When someone got used to the 200 FOV, it’s hard to go back to the 90 degree. Plus I found out that HP headset was difficult to put eyeglasses in, then it worked only for 1 day. I had to return it immediately.
Maybe I had bad luck with that HP headset, but with that headset I realized how much I missed the feeling of wide FOV, and the freedom of not really need eyeglasses. Yeah, only then I realized that I could buy another headset on the market, but none of them would have Pimax’s spec and pricing.
So once again I ordered a 5k super when it was on sale. The new headset had many improvements over the previous one, and it works solid like a rock. I have been very happy with it.
The new Crystal is coming. Saw the pictures and liked it. It would be a good complement with my 5k super: if I need wide FOV, I use my 5k super. If I need crystal clear picture or the freedom of roaming around, I will use Crystal. The price is a little too high at $1900, but comparing to the other brands at the similar specs, it’s not too bad. I have confidence that Pimax will get everything right on the first go.
In the end, I wish Pimax will keep pushing the boundaries like you guys have been doing in the past 7 years. You were never satisfied with the products already out, and constantly improved them and made them better. This spirit is the reason I stick with you and will pay a premium for the best thing you can offer.
The only consumer facing VR company that are willing to do large FOV and try to push the limits. Clearly Pimax is made up of people that love VR and it shows, I think Pimax’s passion for VR aligns with my own moreso than any other company. Meta are focused on Social, Vive are focused on enterprise, Varjo are focus on just clarity (I guess focused on simmers), Pico are focused on Meta lol. Pimax seem to be focused on the enthusiast VR experience first and foremost.
What was advertised ha. If the headsets match the specs that were announced then the 12k in particular will be a headset like no other, nothing else will come close. I do need to see it to believe it, but I’m hopeful. I’m willing to tinker and work with the devices to get the best experience, so not expecting perfection on day 1 out of the box but I also do expect the reality series to be more accessible than the vision series in terms of out of the box performance and usability. Of course the price is not as accessible but that comes with trying to absolutely everything.
There needs to be an offline mode in the Pimax Client, like steam has. Other than that, I’m pretty happy with pimax software.
Right now, in my opinion, it’s 100% the best headset that you can get as a consumer. The Aero is the clarity leader right now but personally, I can’t do that FOV but I’m happy the option is there for those that want it. 8K X ticks more boxes for me than any other right now, but VR headsets are extremely personal and subjective.
Theres no better way to see VR. Innovative designs.
High build quality. Full-spec, full-featured devices.
Wide FOV.
What do you expect from our Reality series?
Better binouclar overlap. Then better vertical fov, then better overall clarity. Finally I hope to see wigig succeed and higher PCVR bandwith (i.e. DP1.4 x 2)
What do you have when comes to Pitool / Pimax Software?
I use PimaXR for just about everything now that can. Compatabilty is becoming more and more unbiquitous. 1/2 or more of all my games now work with PimaxXR+OpenComposite+OpenXRToolkit. This provides great performance and proper motion smoothing. Some still need index controller support, Basic Pitool is still my launcher of choice.
Is the Pimax 8KX top tier enthusiast headset?
Hopefully not for long thanks to the 12k, but yes currently it is. Crush the competition.
If you have the chance to speak with one of the Pimax employee, what would you want to tell them?
Know that where you’re at is important beyond business. VR is a part of tomorrow. There will be documantaries one day highlighting the folks that were on the VR frontier. Push it!
I hope that the 12k will have a very very large sweet spot and edge to edge clarity in the main part of the lens, I still struggle with the 8Kx and can not get the headset to fully focus with both eyes (IPD 64). Can you please provide further specs and details on the lenses of the Pimax 12k. Will adjustment of the headset be simpler and not require as much work to get the image looking sharp.
Because Pimax is the only company even pursuing wide FOV. It continues to astonish me that the rest of the VR manufacturers continue to act like FOV doesn’t even matter and seem to have no interest whatsoever in improving their offerings. The industry trend after the release of the Valve Index has been for VR headsets to have even smaller FOV, not wider.
I expect the 12K to be essentially an evolved and refined 8KX. It will have greater specs, sure. But the most important thing that needs to happen is eliminating all of the issues that prevent average users from being able to enjoy this headset.
It can’t require the customer to fiddle with software issues to work around problems. It can’t require the customer to perform crafting, wiring, or modification of the unit of any kind. It can’t have any odd cables sticking out of it (KDMAS Y-splitter). And it can’t require excessive manual adjustment.
It needs to work correctly out of the box with no fuss. It needs to be a product I can recommend to people that I meet who are average joes that are not technical.
As much as I love my 8KX, I can hardly recommend it to anyone because I know they would get stuck and frustrated trying to use it, and I would be embarrassed.
In my experience, software is the weakest link for Pimax. Most of my negative experiences have been with Pitool. Even when it’s working, it doesn’t inspire confidence. The poor audio quality of the 8KX microphone and speakers (DMAS and KDMAS) is a software problem. The audio hardware is actually pretty good, but it requires 3rd party software to perform the functions Pitool should be handling but doesn’t.
I’ve generally felt that the 8KX itself is good hardware which is let down by poor software.
It is. Despite its faults, I consider the Pimax to be the most powerful overall consumer VR headset on the market today. In the hands of someone who can successfully wield it, it’s a beast.
And it does provide real advantages in gameplay, including and especially competitive gameplay. My friends often accuse me of paying to win with my expensive Pimax. And I just answer “Yup”.
The increased immersion is great, too.
Please think of the products you make more from the customer’s point of view. Especially customers who are not enthusiasts and who don’t know anything about Pimax’s history or other products or follow the forums or anything like that.
Even Pimax’s website expects the visitor to already understand things about Pimax’s history and products in several places. For example, nobody that hasn’t been with Pimax for years is going to know what an “adapter model” is. At least not without searching old Pimax stuff to figure it out. Your customers and especially your perspective customers should not have to do stuff like that.
An average joe who has never heard of Pimax before should be able to navigate your web site, buy a product, and use that product without ever touching google or digging through forum posts.
Dear Mr. Pimax CEO, board, VC backers, and anyone at the reins: Keep people who can be as real like Kevin, hammerhead_gal, Sweviver, etc. talking as enthusiasts - to enthusiasts - even getting involved in issues that concern VR as a whole. Sure, they can’t reveal inner-workings, but I for one just want to see that there are enthusiasts in the crew at Pimax (I would hope everyone working there is). It’s a “pro-sumer” company and sometimes the best thing anyone with Pimax can say is: “We hear you. We care about moving VR forward, and here’s what we’re doing to make that happen”.
The trade-in-kind is that other enthusiasts set aside their hard earned money - maybe not 100% for the HMD - but a good portion of it is for what it brings about -
And YES we want to play with the toys too!
I’ve got kids and I do think someday they’ll unknowingly (and probably, uncaringly) benefit from the work of someone who 5-10-20 years before worked out how to do full-human FOV/PPD at a high refresh rate. Maybe then they’ll even be lightweight? (and hopefully - cheap). I do feel that what you’ve promised is the future, and I think others agree.
Because it’s an interesting company/brand who like to push the boundaries of VR.
A fantastic market leading product. I do expect some teething problems though.
Yes, along with the varjo aero. I’ve owned both. I must admit I preferred the aero as i prefer clarity over fov but i do rate the 8KX highly, the fov is something to behold.
Keep up the good work, and try not to let the Reality series become delayed if possible.
Please put a team on fixing the issues everyone is having with SOUND and the MIC and the Pitool software and the constant crashes and pc freezing up and and and… These are fixable! Don’t discount the users/customers who spent a lot to be part of the pimax family, who may not wish to take the leap again to the 12k due to lack of confidence because of their experience. I know I won’t go to the 12K until I am completely confident I won’t have to go through what I went through with my 8K trying to get it all working and still having crashes daily. BTW, I created a fix for the mic and speakers, using free software, so if I can do that, certainly PIMAX experts can make a fix and send it to ALL it’s users. I’m not allowed to post a link to it apparently so just look for it on the pimax reddit site, my name there is sleahymusic. The fix works great and my audio is nice and loud and perfectly equalized, 7.1 surround, and my mic is no longer muffled and hard to hear in games.
So , TOUGH LOVE … I won’t give up on my 8k, and I love it and still will promote it to others, but I’m not going to be nice about my thoughts and speak the truth!
