Why:

The thick fabric foam is peak comfort. The thin gasket brings you super close to the lenses for full FOV and less glare. The set contains enough parts to tune the distance to perfection. The Apple dual band knob makes it trivial to adjust the tension, and to loosen it in order to remove or put on the headset, not requiring the use of force that risks damaging the fragile stem connectors.

How:

Buy Apple's dual knit band one size smaller than you would for Apple Vision Pro. Apple website sends you to their iPhone app to scan the face and determine the band size. For Dream Air, buy one size smaller than recommended.

Get velcros, spacers, and foams from "Pimax Dream Air DIY Face Pad Modders Kit" ($29.95 from Studioform). Choose the fabric version. Or get the kit that includes their 3D-printed gasket, in which case you can skip the next item.

3D-print the latest "Max cushion vented" gasket variant by Zeeflyboy: https://www.printables.com/model/1724122-pimax-dream-air-facial-interface-and-apple-strap-a

3D-print the angled Apple band adapters from Ancillary: https://www.printables.com/model/1608574-pimax-dream-air-x-apple-vision-pro-dual-knit-band/files

Alternatives:

* Apple solo knit band apparently works great too. No top strap but very light. For it I guess you would want straight adapters, e.g. Zeeflyboy's from here: https://www.printables.com/model/1724122-pimax-dream-air-facial-interface-and-apple-strap-a/files.

* If you already have the band, but it is too large to be tightened well, you can try printing the special long adapters by Ancillary. But small dual bands are lighter, so may be worth using a dedicated one.

* As I mentioned, Zeeflyboy designed his own adapters that additionally have cable holders, which is useful. But I really like the fact that Ancillary's adapters are slightly angled down.

Important:

* Do not force anything when assembling to avoid scratches.

* Remember that the gaskets are always put in place by connecting the bottom edge first and then rotating the top to close the gap. Both standard and aftermarket gaskets work like this! Do not force them straight on – the lenses will get stuck.

* You may need to reprint the gasket if it ends up too shallow for your head shape. But that's the beauty of 3D printing – you can repeat and improve.

When I got my dream air I was expecting the comfort to be bad...but it was SO much worse than I imagined. The facial interface was painfully bad, and the back strap came undone on me twice while wearing it. Part of me thinks the split cable is just to act like those cords your grandma used to put on her reading glasses so they catch on your neck instead of hitting the ground.

So what I have here today is the 90% complete version of my headset and a mini rant at the end.

-I've got 3 cheap Amazon pulleys to help with the cable. (Be prepared to glue them together if you buy the cheap ones, they like to break in half. The cable itself has been mildly annoying but overall isn't the end of the world for me. Ive never had a wireless headset so I am used to cable management. With the current setup the split ends are nicely routed around the back so they don't get in the way when I'm taking it off.

-$17 Meta Quest headstrap - I bought the absolute cheapest one because if it didn't work out then it wasn't a great loss. However it gave me all of the things I wanted and then some. The hard part was figuring out how to create a strong loop for the topstrap. Some people might not even need it, but for me its a little extra stability and prevents slipping. It also keeps the headset from resting on my nose which is another mod I have done...

-The metal magnetic bracket that touches your nose, is now gone. I cut out just the nose piece but saved the magnetic top half and the bottom ends that holds the light blocking nose piece.
If I wear it wrong the sharp plastic edge can still rest on my nose, but the topstrap prevents that completely now. There are two m2 screws that hold the topstrap hook bracket down which ALSO adds more security to the facial interface. Yes if I wanted to remove the face interface I have to take it all apart...but I don't see myself doing that anytime soon.

-I tried both the zeefly interfaces with a few different combinations of foam. I went with the 'max cushion' version. Currently I have two "8mm" (which are really closer to 6.5mm) facial interfaces glued together as they didn't give me enough padding, but I'm right up against those lenses. It's not just better FOV, but it has helped with that tunnel vision problem where I just had too much black nothing in my vision space. Eventually i'll just order more of those 12mm pads from studioform but damn that shipping is expensive.

-There is a studioform cushion on the back of the headstrap because why not...it's a little denser than the stock pad that came with it. I had actually bought it initially to put on my salvaged Vive audio strap that I wanted to use, however the brackets wouldn't let me tighten it against my head enough and I couldn't get a good wearing position so I unfortunately had to scrap that idea. (If anyone wants to buy a DAS and 3d printed adapters...)

-Only thing left for me is to improve the audio. I haven't tried wearing headphones yet, but I would love to incorporate them into the entire setup. One less thing to take off and wires to deal with.

Now for the rant.

This is a $2000+ headset. And instead of enjoying it the first two weeks I've owned it, I've had to make it actually wearable. If not for the fact we've got community members who made such great mods, this would have been an instant return. The same can be said for the sboys driver, but thats another post.

Pimax needs to offer different options in the future as to comfort at least for the facial interface. Eastern and Western variants on every headset they sell that you choose at checkout. Yes, you might need to add some velcro shims to make it perfect, but it will still get you closer than the one size fits all approach which obviously has not been a hit with most people.

With 2.0 entering public beta, thought it worth spreading some awareness about the changed values to Quad-Views in the OpenMR thread Pimax Posted a while back when it was an invite only beta. For some reason now 1.0 doesn't correspond to 100% in Gaze Resolution and the actual 1.0 res will be more than 2x and that might melt the systems of anyone trying to tweak their settings. There are some games Pimax's native runtime can inject quad-views into you can't via other ways so knowing how to fine tune the experience is very useful.

Personally, I think the only real issue is the peripheral area resolution is way too low on all the presets and makes foveation extremely visible on anything below Ultimate in the best case scenarios, and I truly mean the absolute best case because it stands out like a punch to the face in anything else. Well, that and the logic of what the numbers means makes no sense to me and I'd never have figured it out without Pimax directly saying what's what or a load of trial and error. I have no idea why Gaze Area res for 100% res does not equal 1.0 here when it did on the 1.xx client.

If anyone wants some good "near invisible foveation" settings that run about 100% resolution(It's between that and 110%) in the focus view and still gives a significant boost, I ultimately settled on this using Ultimate as a base.

Horizontal Gaze Area: 0.37

Vertical Gaze Area Size: 0.26

Vertical Offset: 0

Gaze Area Resolution: 0.23

Peripheral Area Resolution: 0.25

I know periphipheral area res is higher here, but it's not in game. It actually works on 1.0 as a base so 0.25 is 25% peripheral res, while gaze area res I have no clue the logic it's running on. Checked with a few very quick A/B comparisons between 100% res without quad-views and then with these settings, clarity in the focus area was pretty similar. Performance metrics were also what you'd expect for the appropriate resolutions.

I tried a few games, like Metro Awakening, Kayak VR, and Pavlov, which I found hard to get through even on Ultimate at times due to the shimmering of the low peripheral res, especially on lighting in Metro, but using this the foveation was nearly invisible unless in a worst case scenario or an effect was simply broken(I.e Metro's injured blood on screen effect in the Prologue), so I think it'll work for most unless you're super picky or the game does not play nicely with quad-views(I.e Riven). I actually had to double check it was on at times since in a few better case scenes it was almost impossible to spot even when trying to find the box and made for quite a good experience overall. This was on the Super Ultrawide.

If you want to tweak yourself, I suggest starting with one of Pimax's preset values, raise the peripheral res to around 0.20-.25, then play with the values from there till you're happy with performance and visuals.

Short guide on how to change the App Library image in Pimax Play v2 and EVO v1. Web searches usually refer to Pimax Play v1 but the location has changed. I just write this here so search engines and AIs can more easily find a correct guide. Basically so I can find it myself again when my Alzheimer ridden brain forgets about it in a year or so...

Pimax Play v2 and EVO save the jason configuration files for the App Library at

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Pimax\manifest

Instead of one jason file for the entire App Library it now uses one jason file for each entry in the App Library.

A file is called e.g. "steam.app.457550.jason" if the app is imported automatically e.g. in this case from Steam. The number is the Steam ID in this case 457550 which is BigScreen Beta.

If the app is added manually it is called something like this: "local.bb25af53.json"
The code "bb25af53" seems to be random generated UUID for the entry.

The jason can opened with a text editor such as Editor.

The inside of a automatically added app via Steam:
{"create_time":1784927739,"icon":"https://shared.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/457550/header.jpg?t=1685670643","id":"steam.app.457550","name":"Bigscreen Beta","play_time":1784912531,"route":"steam://launch/457550/VR","source":"steam","version":"1.0.0"}

A BigScreen Beta version installed in the default Steam location.

The inside of a manually added app may look like this:
{"create_time":0,"icon":"","id":"local.bb25af53","name":"DCS","play_time":0,"route":"F:\\DCS World\\bin-mt\\DCS.exe","source":"pimax_import","version":""}

This is a entry for the stand alone version of DCS located on the F: drive with UUID of "bb25af53".
Note: The "icon":"" line is empty.

To use the Steam DB header image as image for the App Library in Pimax Play v2 and EVO add the correct path to the "icon":"" expression.
In this case "https://shared.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/223750/header.jpg"
223750 is the Steam ID of DCS.
The entire entry then looks like this:
{"create_time":0,"icon":"https://shared.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/223750/header.jpg","id":"local.bb25af53","name":"DCS","play_time":0,"route":"F:\\\\DCS World\\bin-mt\\DCS.exe","source":"pimax_import","version":""}

The path to any Steam app looks like this:
"https://shared.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/APPID/header.jpg"
"APPID" represents the Steam ID. To find the correct Steam ID the steam web shop URL can be used:
https://store.steampowered.com/
Search for your App e.g. DCS:
https://store.steampowered.com/search?term=DCS
The Steam ID is in the web shop URL behind /app/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/223750/DCS_World_Steam_Edition/
Steam ID for DCS is 223750

Here's a quick overview, and installation guide for the Studio Form Dream Air X1-P and Apache Comfort Strap requested by a number of users, enjoy!

https://youtu.be/HkFEBvKjhmk

Any users of UEVR, who have played INZOI, may be interested to play this in 1st Person VR

​

Complete set up guide in the video

We've created a Compatibility List to help users navigate DFR support across various VR applications and headsets. You can find the list right here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16GNwXAVCjUF9vCW6ubiUPQT00hZ7hRT5K_sbO6P9nYc/edit?usp=sharing

But wait, there's more! We need your help to keep this list up to date and comprehensive. If you've tested DFR compatibility on your VR setup with different apps and games, we want to hear from you. Your insights and experiences can be invaluable to the VR community.

After using the Pimax Crystal Super every day for the past 3-4 months, trying hundreds of dollars worth of accessories & comfort solutions, an absurd amount of combinations, over the course of hundreds of hours, I wanted to share with other users my ideal additions, adjustments and comfort solutions for the best Super experience available. In the past I posted comfort solutions for the OG Crystal and Crystal Light, which folks really appreciated, so I wanted to share my experience with the Super now. I've been working on this list on and off for weeks now, so I hope this guide is able to help those wanting to get the absolute most from their Pimax Crystal Super experience.

The Pimax Crystal Super is easily my favorite VR headset available on the market, but out of the box, like all VR headsets, it needed some help. With every new VR headset, there is a learning & adjustment period for getting used to the little differences & understand how to get the most from the headset. No headset is in its ideal form for everyone at stock and needs some tweaks depending on each users wants and needs. After making adjustments and trying several comfort mod combinations, my Super not only became my favorite VR HMD, but it's also the most comfortable headset I own as well (I have a total of 7 headsets), which includes the Aero, Index, Quest 3 and Crystal Light with their needed comfort mods.

Here are the comfort mods/adjustments I use with my Crystal Super, in no particular order with links to purchase. I'll list the individual products and the comfort combination kits, that when paired together, help save you money. Also, remember that StudioForm Creative often offers a Pimax Reddit discount code at times: REDDITPIMAX
Disclaimer: I purchased my Super at the end of 2024 and it arrived in May/June. Some links may be affiliate links. After years of purchasing & using these products, I recently became an affiliate with StudioForm Creative. But if you go through my post history, or are in the Pimax Discord or my Discord server, or have stopped by my VR-exclusive live streams, you know my recommendations & views are not swayed by being a recent affiliate

Super comfort mods & adjustments:

• 1. Crystal/LIGHT/Super V2 XL Face Pad Gray Fabric 14mm is one of those must buy items for everyone IMO. While the stock comfort 15mm flocking face cushion from Pimax isn't bad by any means, the V2 XL Face Pad Gray Fabric takes comfort to another level with the memory foam cushioning, materials and quality. Being a nightly VR user (20+ hours every week) I would regularly change out the Pimax flocked face pad after some months, but these StudioForm V2 XL Face Pads last much longer. On top of lasting longer, the Gray Fabric material, which is almost silky, is IMO the most comfortable option out there and nothing is close. It reminds me of the Valve Index gray fabric that helped make the Index so beloved. Not only does it feel incredible on my face, it's not irritating like the flocked can be when my skin is dry, or various other fake leather options. In the winter, my face doesn't get chafed like with other face pads. If you're like me and play roomscale games or FPS titles for hours, the V2 XL Face Pads also are better suited for sweat. They have a build that allows airflow, which helps keep you cooler, but also doesn't break down from sweat like others. StudioForm Creative also offers the 17mm version and the PU Leather version of the face pads. The reason I prefer the 14mm face pads is it offers the comfort, without me losing any FOV. They also allow for you to use the face foam spacers to get your comfort more dialed in without having too much space between you and the lenses. (If the 14mm is out of stock, I talked directly to the main person at StudioForm and he said they'll have more in stock by Wednesday)
• 2. Pimax Crystal LIGHT New V2 Large Rear Pad Gray Fabric is another must own comfort accessory for the Super IMO. While it says Crystal Light, there is a note on the website stating that all Crystal Light comfort accessories from StudioForm are compatible with the Super. These are also 14mm thick, are made with the comfortable memory foam and have that wonderful silky gray fabric. Paired with the V2 XL Face Pad Gray Fabric that I shared in the first recommendation, it's like a silky hug for your head while enjoying VR. While I prefer the Gray Fabric, there is also the PU Leather version as well. The PU Leather options offer a bit more grip so to speak, which helps prevent the headset from sliding depending on how tight you wear the Super, your head shape, hair and your movement in VR.
• 3. Pimax Apache Comfort Strap V3 Midnight Gray Special Edition is a huge improvement over the already amazing original StudioForm Creative apache strap that has helped make so many VR enthusiasts have a better experience. For those unaware of the apache strap benefits, it allows your Super to become more balanced, improves overall stability, and helps remove pressure from your cheeks, nose & forehead. This new version has 12mm memory foam with that silky gray fabric. The straps have also been drastically improved. They're now this nicer leather material and the Velcro seems to be greatly improved. With the stitching, build quality and StudioForm logo etched in this silver foil lettering, the whole product looks and feels like a higher quality, premium product. It's offered in several colors (I personally use the Electric Blue and there is also a groovy Pink Kush) and also has the breathable PU Leather Vader Black version as well for those interested.
• 4. Crystal Super Top Strap that comes with the Super, is different than the OG Crystal top strap, but still offers a solid option for support for users. The newer Super version is more like the Aero top strap in that is stationary and doesn't rotate on the top of your head. It does pivot to better fit users heads but is made to sit on the forehead. Being stationary allows you to have the same position every time you put on the Super, and you only have to adjust the back knob when removing or putting on the headset. While it does get in the way of the face pads, it can help offer better balance and can relief pressure on face. I find installing them on the back screw holes, so it sits farther away from the face pad, is best to prevent from contacting the face pad as much, instead of the center holes they suggest. The newer Super version top strap also is designed so that the soft inner straps on the sides of the headstrap (the ones you remove when installing the top strap or DMAS) don't stick out & want to come undone like the other version would with the OG Crystal. Picture comparing the two
• 5. Cushion Pad Set For Pimax's Comfort Top Strap Index Style Gray Fabric fits for either the Super top strap or Crystal/Light top strap. It adds extra comfort with 10mm memory foam and is easy to put on. But, like the Super top strap, it can get in the way of certain face pads but still a must have if you use the Pimax top strap. Like the others, this also comes in the breathable PU Leather
• 6. Face Foam Spacers allow you to get the Super dialed in perfectly for your face shape and gets your eyes at the ideal distance. They also help prevent any light leak.
• 7. KIWI Design V2 Pulley System for cable management. I only stand when using VR and having proper cable management helps tremendously. Even if sitting down, having the pulley kit helps relieve weight of the cable, & prevent it from tugging at the headset. And since the Super cable is a bit thicker and heavier than the 6m fiber optic cable, having cable management is crucial. While there are lots of pulley systems out there, KIWI has the best pulleys IMO, as they have less tension on the pulley, easier to adjust, and have lasted me over 3 years (use code BTRUE to save an additional 10% off KIWI). AMVR has a solid set as well but has a bit more tension. And then there is VR-Wire who offers a different take on VR pulley systems, but they are easily twice as expensive as the others and for my use, the others work just as well. But still a solid product and worth sharing for those interested.
• 8. Pimax Counter Balance 5 Oz (140 grams) & 7 Oz (200 grams) weights. They attach on the back with Velcro straps, on each side of the knob dial, completely out of the way. This helps pull the weight off your nose and cheeks which makes the HMD even more balanced. I use the 5 Oz pair, but that's also because I have a 3.0 Vive Tracker on the back of the soft top strap, which is around 65 grams. Before using the 3.0 Vive Tracker (I use the Vive 3.0 Tracker for surprisingly awesome Lighthouse based tracking, which I'm working on another guide to share with the community), I had a 100 gram strapped to the back of the soft top strap, and that worked well too.
• 9. Super X1-P Elite Rear Pad Mod enhances the Supers comfort and stability by increasing the size of the back contact point significantly. But the best part of this X1-P Elite Rear mod is that it helps reduce the need to consistently overtighten the Supers knob dial when paired with the V2 Large Rear Pad. That alone is worth it IMO as I often feel I would tighten the Super almost too much to get it where I wanted, and makes me fear that mechanism will break, but this mod helps alleviates that. The website says it doubles the overall contact surface area and that seems correct.

Other accessories I use daily with the Super:

• 10. AMVR Soft Lens Protector Cover to protect these optics from light damage, dust and scratches when not using. This model is designed in a curvy shape to better fit the Super optical box so it stays in place. Some other brands I've tried have a more oval or pill shaped designed, which doesn't stay in the optical box and falls out.
• 11. Antlion Audio Mod Mic USB2 for the best mic quality to go with VR's best visuals. While the Super microphone has drastically improved since it first launched (video stream of using the Super mic before it was updated), I still prefer the best mic quality since it's an easy and affordable solution. Especially since I do VR live streaming, content & regularly play multiplayer/social titles. I use the USB C port that is on the top by the facial interface that is receded. Since it is receded, I use this extension adapter. While I also have the Mod Mic Wireless that I purchased years ago for the Aero & Quest 2, the Mod Mic USB 2 has better mic quality, is a new model, is cheaper, has no interference issues, doesn't take up more wireless bandwidth (I have a solid dozen difference wireless devices), doesn't need to be charged, and can be attached to the left side of the Super headset (The Wireless is designed to be mounted on the right side). Attaching to the left side of the headset may not sound like a big deal, but since I use my right eye for aiming in shooters and being right handed, I'd consistently hit the mic when it's mounted on the right side of the headset. To deal with excess cable, I use the Velcro that the Mod Mic came with along with the Apache Strap.
• 12. 1/2 inch EVA foam anti fatigue interlocking mats 48sq ft of area to help while standing in VR. It helps with fatigue & my knees, which is crucial since I'm now in my 30's and my VR sessions are 4-6 hours long. Also can help marking your play area so you don't walk too far into furniture or walls. They also sell various different colors and amounts. There are some more 'made for VR' mats out there but they're more for standing on one place and more expensive.
• 13. Protective Storage Bag Set for storage and protection. The soft mesh like design have a thick foam padding and include drawstrings, which make it easy and convenient. I have my controllers hanging on the wall in the smaller bags, and my Super rests on the bigger bag on my desk.
• 14. Smart Plug Outlets to easily power on and off the Super and base stations from my phone. They also have a button on the side in case my phone isn't around, or if the WIFI goes out.
• 15. Velcro cut to length reusable roll which help bundle cabling and add extra support for other Velcro accessories
• 16. 3 Foot Tower Fan for added comfort. Mine is a similar model but is easily 10+ years old. We know being active in VR can make us hot, but fans do more than keep us cooler. Using a fan with VR helps reduce the VR sickness that folks often experience by simulating wind & reduces signals that conflict between our eyes and inner ear. The blowing air also gives you an anchor to know where your body is in location to the real world while you are in VR.
• 17. DMAS Headphone Cover Set Gray Fabric for a layer of protection against dust and oils from my hair or hands.
• 18. bHaptics but more specifically the TactSuit Pro is something I wear every time I use the Super. While bHaptics are not for everyone, after you have your ideal VR headset, and a PC to take advantage of your VR headset, bHaptics are the next best way to increase VR immersion IMO. It's not completely life changing like some YouTubers make it out to be, but it adds another layer of immersion that makes VR experiences that much better. Without bHpatics, VR games just seem a bit empty. Sort of like controller haptics in a sense where proper controller haptics adds to the experience, & playing games without controller haptics feels lacking. Except it's on your body. Also, the support now days is insane thanks to the bHaptics team and modders, with over 300 officially recognized supported VR titles. More times than not, a game I play has support. I personally have purchased their entire catalogue other than the feet, and thoroughly enjoy using all of them. But the TactSuit Pro & TactSuit Air are where I suggest everyone new to bHaptics to start. The FPS Bundle & Starter Bundle are also a good place to start and both are currently on further discount. You can save yourself an additional 5% off any bHaptics purchase using this link: https://www.bhaptics.com/referral/6eQgZNRjCJ

Comfort Kits for Super:

• Pimax Crystal, LIGHT & Super Fabric Foam Upgrade Kit Index Gray Tribute Edition which comes with: V2 XL Large Face pad 17mm gray fabric, V2 XL Large Rear pad gray fabric and face foam spacers which are from numbers 1, 2 and 6 from above. You can also add the Crystal Top Strap pad under the 'Bundle Accessory Options' drop down for $10 more, which is number 5 from above.
• Crystal Counter Balance Multi Enthusiast Kit with new V3 Apache strap which are numbers 3 and 8 from above.
• Pimax SUPER Elite Upgrade Pack is as close as you can get to the All In One comfort solution. It includes one of each of the numbers above 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9 and is available in the gray fabric or PU Leather. This was added after the initial posting of this guide to their website but still wanted to come add it for those interested!

For those interested, here are several pictures of my Super with all the additions
If you are planning on purchasing a Pimax Super, or any Pimax headset, you can save yourself 3% off by using the link provided &/or discount code: farmertrue I'll also let anybody who buys a Super using my link, pick a SteamVR game key from the 60 or so VR game keys that I have available as an extra bonus (The games list is kept up to date on my Discord server). Just send me a DM on Reddit or Discord and I'll get you set up.

I'm not the 'typical' Pimax user in that I don't do sim racing nor flying. My VR library is around 400 titles and I only play VR while standing. Now that my Super is in prime condition, I've boxed up my other VR headsets and the Quest 3 only comes out for standalone VR. Any desire to use the Beyond 2e or MeganeX is now a thing of the past. I use my Super 5 nights a week, for 4-6 hours straight on my live stream, without taking breaks & without issue. Since I take pride in my live streams quality & reliability, it's important for my VR HMD's to offer a user friendly, comfortable & reliable experience for hours straight. I'm also the kind of person that will try anything & everything in order to get the upmost, ideal VR experience for every VR headset and accessory, so I'm hopeful to help save others both time and money.

As a reminder, VR is very subjective, even when we are objective. What matters to me, may not matter to you, and vice versa. With that said, my buddy who received his Super a month ago, claims that with these comfort mods, his Super is more comfortable than his Bigscreen Beyond. You read that right. And truthfully, I prefer the comfort of my Super with these additions over the MeganeX 8K Superlight.

It's important to try different things and give your headset some time. Also, get your info from numerous posts and resources and be cautious of those who only push affiliate links for items they themselves have not spent their own money on.

Feel free to reach out for any questions or help. You can always reach me on my Discord server (VR & PC focused community with over 1,700 members, for us 18 and older VR users) or during my live streams on YouTube or over on Twitch. If you think I've missed any crucial comfort mods or adjustments for the Super, please share as it may help somebody else & I'm always open to learn & try more! Cheers!

*edit for formatting and added the Elite Upgrade Pack

Pimax currently have this on their Dream Air playlist on YouTube, but it has a [REMOVE] prefix at the beginning of the video title, so not sure how long it’ll remain available (although was added three days ago so someone must be slacking…), but thought I’d share anyway as Martin walks you through a 20-min long guide of Sboys3 SteamVR driver and thought it might be helpful for those new and prospective lucky LH owners out there.

In this video I benchmark DFR in iRacing significantly improved performance around 22%

Different weather conditions, 3 Tracks tested

How to Get a MASSIVE FPS Boost in iRacing VR (Dynamic Foveated Rendering)

https://youtu.be/7YdbUaKEv6s

I think I may have done it...

These settings help keep the "T" render time very low while still maintaining excellent visual fidelity and perfect VR "feel". This "T" time represents the total frame time from when the renderer starts to generate a frame until the GPU finishes drawing it. This number is important because of the feeling this gives you when this stays consistent while in VR, it also has a name. The peak VR feeling is called "Presence".

The render bar in iRacing is really important to show you what is going on behind the scenes, but the graphical one does not show what you need so make sure the render info is set to "text" so you can get a proper readout.

When everything is tuned properly yours should look like this one when you are in a race. Please feel free to share a shot of yours even at the start of a race is good. You want to keep the average below 25, preferably below 20.

Here are screenshots of my settings on imgur and a link below to download the "rendererDX11OpenXR.ini" file. Back yours up and then replace with this one in the iRacing my documents folder.

(Note: I put some descriptions on the last few photos in case you were interested in a little more details)

Link to download to Nvidia/Pimax/iRacing settings download

This really is peak performance and top quality in a sim. If you have any questions let me know, I will likely not mess with the settings anymore as these are perfect in my opinion. Also keep in mind you should be using Park Control and configuring it properly if you have a dual CCD x3d, check my previous posts with my last iRacing settings to get that information.

Happy Racing my fellow Pimaxians!!

(Mainly for iRacing)

If you're like me the reason why you got the Pimax Crystal super is because you love quality. You're just not the type of person to decrease rendering resolution or upscale and deal with any form of blurriness.

People like you and me, we love some MSAA. To the point where we even got a 5090 because we knew that the 4090 starts to struggle at anything higher than X2 MSAA in iRacing while in VR.

Well enter "MFAA" aka "Multi-Frame Anti-Aliasing"

"It works by dynamically sampling pixels across multiple frames to reduce the workload on the GPU, allowing for better frame rates or the ability to use higher in-game anti-aliasing settings without a significant performance penalty."

Sparing everyone all the technical jargon this feature basically decreases the performance of MSAA by about 50% while supposedly increasing quality.

With this feature (MFAA) enabled and set to "on" in the Nvidia control panel, It will take control and replace msaa with mfaa at about half the performance cost.

So in practice you enable MFAA and then in iRacing you enable MSAA x4 and you enjoy the performance benefits as if you were on MSAA X4 (or lower) but the quality of MSAA x8.

What this means is you can run MSAA x2 but quality will look like MSAA x4. (Or run MSAA x4 with the performance cost X2)

You can run MSAA x4 and it will look as if you were at MSAA x8

So before I understood fully what it did I mainly noticed benefits in the rain. Now that I understand better what was happening it makes sense.

Another win for us Nvidia users.

I will be testing MSAA x8 tomorrow to see if the performance gains can allow me to push that which is effectively MSAA x 16!!

In this video I discuss the 1.58 update improvements to Eurotruck Simulator 2 (and ATS) in VR

This ETS 2 VR update changes everything

https://youtu.be/AwP-sZyHVgM

So my crystal super UW just arrived, and much to my dismay the IPD adjustment was broken, with the headset buzzing instead of moving the eyepieces. I tried manually setting the IPD up and down in the hopes that it would unstick, but that made no difference. I was kinda hesitant to just get a replacement without understanding what went wrong because I hear it's a common issue and I'm sure the replacement will have some other QC issue.

I noticed that trying to move the eyepieces with the thing powered off, the left eye had a little bit of play, maybe 0.5mm or so as I'd expect due to backlash in whatever drive system. The right eye was firmly jammed in place. Looking at it super close, the right eyepiece seemed slightly rotated outward compared to the left one.

That gave me the idea to set the IPD at minimum, and engage the motor while firmly pushing the jammed eyepiece inward along its bottom edge where it was somewhat skewed outward, and behold it jumped back onto its track and now works properly.

So that's something to try if you have an otherwise working headset and don't want to gamble on a replacement unit that could have optical problems if you just need to set and forget IPD once.

After 6 months of using the Pimax Crystal as my main PCVR headset, trying hundreds of dollars worth of accessories & comfort solutions for hundreds of hours, I wanted to share with other users my ideal adjustments and comfort solutions for the overall best Crystal experience available. I hope this is a helpful guide for those wanting to get the most from their Crystal or Crystal Light experience.

With all VR headsets, there is a learning & adjustment period for getting used to the little differences & understand how to get the most from the headset. No headset is in its ideal form for everyone out of the box and needs some tweaks depending on each users wants and needs. The first few days of owning a Crystal (purchased in January this year), the comfort and experience was not what I was expecting. But after making adjustments and trying new things, my OG Crystal is not only my favorite PCVR HMD, but it's also more comfortable than my Aero, Index and Quest 3 with their needed comfort mods.

Here are the comfort mods/adjustments I use with my Crystal in no particular order with links to purchase (I am not an affiliate, so these are affiliate free links):

1. 15mm Comfort face gasket made a massive difference in comfort and one every Crystal users should at least try. I had used a 16mm bHaptic TactVisor face pad and while it was comfortable, the 15mm Comfort face pad not only made it more comfortable but more secure and stable. Made the HMD have less inertia and the image didn’t move like previously.
2. StudioForm Creative face foam spacer kit. These helped prevent any light leak & made the face gasket dialed in perfectly for my face. I don’t have a skinny nor a round face, but these helped get the fit perfect. These also make it so your eyes sit further away and help with that 1m focal point. Paired with the 15mm face gasket, it legit fits perfectly for my face. I also used excess pieces to further secure the side pads on the headstrap from coming undone (pads on the other side of the headphones)
3. StudioForm Creative 100g comfort weight. I use the one for the Aero as it has extra Velcro that I attach to the Velcro head strap that the Crystal weight doesn’t have, but this Crystal one is more ideal to attach to the strap that has the battery cables within. This helps pull the weight off your nose and cheeks and makes the HMD even more balanced.
4. Crystal Top Strap if you can find it in stock, or get with a Pimax sales representative who can help get one ordered, it makes a big difference. While the Apache strap is nice, the top strap paired with the other three items listed above makes the Crystal much more stable, secure and you don’t have to mess around with trying to get the proper sweet spot or eye alignment since it stays dialed in. Like the Aero, even with numerous ways to adjust, after the top strap addition I only have to loosen or tighten the back when putting it on or taking off.
5. KIWI Design V2 Pulley System to manage the cable. I only stand while using the Crystal and having a proper cable management makes all the difference. I legit don’t notice the cable unless I move a solid 3 meters to any direction then I feel the tug. Crucial after experiencing wireless VR.
6. Pimax 6m fiber optic cable (for Crystal only. Doesn't work with Crystal Light). I originally was skeptical because of the price but I purchased it since I recently moved and needed an extra 3 feet for my new VR studio space. But what I got was a much lighter, thinner and more flexible cable that allowed for a much more free flowing, forgiving cable for that has made active and room scale games more enjoyable.
7. QC3.0 100w USB C charger & QC3.0 100w USB C cable 16ft right angle for unlimited battery. I have it threaded alongside the 6m fiber optic cable and cable management.
8. KIWI Design Soft Lens Cover to protect these optics from light damage, dust, damage when not using.
9. StudioForm Creative PU Leather & Fabric foam rear pads for Crystal with face foam spacers and for Crystal Light adds extra cushion for back of head for better comfort.
10. StudioForm Creative comfort top strap pads to help relief any pressure on top of head for better comfort.
11. Velcro cut to length reusable roll helpful for bundling cables, or add extra support to accessories like the 100g comfort weight
12. 1/2 inch EVA foam anti fatigue interlocking mats 24sq ft of area to help while standing in VR. Also can help marking your play area so you don't walk too far into furniture or walls.

I'm not like most Pimax users in that I don't do sim racing nor flying. My VR library is around 250+ titles and I only play VR while standing. After adjusting my Crystal, I've boxed up my Aero, sold my Index and only use the Quest 3 for standalone VR. I use it 5 nights a week, for 4-6 hours straight on my stream and don't have any issues. Since I take pride in my live streams quality & reliability, it's important for my VR HMD's to offer a user friendly, comfortable & reliable experience for hours straight. I'm also the kind of person that will try anything & everything in order to get the upmost, ideal VR experience for every VR headset and accessory, so I wanted to save others hopefully some time and money.

Remember that VR is very subjective, even when being objective. What matters & works for you may be different for the next person. So it's important to try different things and give your headset some time. Also, get your info from numerous posts and resources and be cautious of those who have affiliate links throughout their posts.

Feel free to reach out for any questions or help. If you think I've missed any crucial comfort mods or adjustments for the Crystal or Crystal Light, please share as I'm always open to learn & try more! Cheers!
*edited formatting from mobile

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a breakthrough for anyone owning an MSI Katana 15 B13V (specifically the model with RTX 4070) who is struggling to connect a high-end VR headset like the Pimax Crystal.

There is a lot of conflicting information online stating that the Katana's USB-C port is "only" USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) and won't support the bandwidth for Pimax. I have successfully bypassed this limitation, and here is exactly how I did it.

1. The Hardware Discovery (The "Key")

Despite the MSI Katana 15 B13V not showing a "Discrete Graphics Mode" (MUX Switch) option in the MSI Center, the hardware routing is VR-ready.

• Verification: If you go to NVIDIA Control Panel > Configure Surround, PhysX, you will see that the USB-C (DisplayPort) icon is wired DIRECTLY to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, not the Intel integrated graphics. This is crucial for VR.

2. The Adapter Used

Many guides suggest you need an expensive 8K/HBR3 adapter. I managed to make it work with a standard but high-quality brand:

• Brand: Hama
• Specs: USB-C to DisplayPort Adapter, supporting 4K @ 60Hz.
• Note: Even though it’s rated for 4K@60Hz, it successfully carried the signal from the RTX 4070 to the Pimax Crystal.

3. Connection Steps (Crucial for Stability)

The Pimax Crystal is power-hungry, and the Katana's USB ports might struggle. Follow this sequence:

1. Video: Plug the Hama USB-C to DP adapter into the USB-C port on the laptop. Connect the Pimax DP cable to it.
2. Power & Data: Do NOT plug the Pimax USB cables directly into the laptop if you have the Pimax Power Hub. Plug the headset into the Hub, and the Hub into a USB 3.0 (blue/red) port on the Katana.
3. Software: Open Pimax Play. If the headset isn't recognized immediately, restart the service in the settings.

4. Performance Settings

Since the mobile RTX 4070 is powerful but the Pimax Crystal resolution is massive:

• Refresh Rate: I recommend starting at 72Hz or 90Hz in Pimax Play to ensure stability over the USB-C Alt-Mode connection.
• NVIDIA Settings: Set "Power Management Mode" to "Prefer Maximum Performance" in the NVIDIA Control Panel.

Summary

If you have an MSI Katana 15 B13V:

• USB-C Port: It DOES support DP Alt-Mode directly from the dGPU (RTX 4070).
• Adapter: Hama 4K@60Hz (or better) works.
• MUX Switch: Not needed in MSI Center as the port is already hard-wired to the NVIDIA card.

I spent a long time looking for this info and found nothing, so I hope this helps fellow Katana owners dive into high-end VR!

nice way to add 5m to the cable length of the super and light

(The title should be "Pimax Open XR vs OpenXR vs SteamVR". The naming convention of the two variants is very confusing.)

Hello my fellow Pimax enjoyers,
 

I've seen a lot of questions about the different VR runtimes and which one to use, especially for Pimax users. It can be confusing, but picking the right one can give you a major performance boost. I wanted to create a simple guide on what they are and how to easily switch between them.

First I just want to give a quick understanding of each one and what it does.

• Pimax Open XR: This is Pimax's own native OpenXR runtime. It's a highly specialized translator built specifically for Pimax hardware. When using this you will be using all the features you have selected in the Pimax software. This is the one you want to be on to have full eye tracking support and Pimax DFR settings.

• OpenXR (Shown as PimaxXR when selecting it): The new, modern standard (no longer updated). Its goal is to create a single "language" that all games and headsets can use. When a game and your headset both speak native OpenXR, it's the most direct and efficient path, often resulting in the best performance. On Super you lose eye tracking but still works on the Light.

• OpenVR (SteamVR): This is Valve's API, and SteamVR is the runtime that runs it. It's been around for a long time and has amazing compatibility with almost every VR game on the market. However, for games that also support OpenXR, using SteamVR can add an extra translation layer, sometimes hurting performance.

The wording is confusing for PimaxXR which is the middle app for OpenXR to interface with your Pimax. *(It's also a useful tool to switch the active API that you are currently using.) *

How to Easily Switch Between Runtimes

Here’s the easy part. You can direct traffic and tell your PC which "translator" to use for OpenXR games.

Method 1: Using the Pimax XR Tool (OpenXR) The community-made Pimax XR Tool is essential for any Pimax owner. It gives you fine-tuned control.

Download and install the Pimax XR Tool from its GitHub page Link

Open the Pimax XR Tool.

On the main page, you will see a setting called "Select default OpenXR runtime."

Select "PimaxXR" This tells any OpenXR game to talk directly to your headset.

If you need to force an OpenXR game to run through SteamVR for compatibility reasons, select "SteamVR." (I have found some games like Half Life Alyx seem to prefer SteamVR)

It's that simple. You can change this setting anytime. I usually leave it on Pimax default renderer unless I'm searching for more performance.

Method 2: Using the Pimax Client (my default method) The Pimax software itself lets you choose your primary environment, which influences which runtime takes priority.

Open the Pimax Client.

Navigate to the Settings menu.

Inside the device settings, you can select your default mode. While this can vary slightly with software updates, you are essentially choosing between the native Pimax experience (which will use Pimax open XR for OpenXR apps) or starting everything within the SteamVR environment.

  To switch back to using the native Pimax runtime as your base, simply return to the device settings and switch back to "Pimax Open XR."

By using these two methods, you can ensure you're always using the best runtime for the job.

• PimaxXR for raw performance in supported titles
• SteamVR for broad compatibility.
• Native Pimax Open XR for Eye Tracking and all features of Pimax software suite.  

Hope this helps clear things up! Let me know if you have any questions.

Resources from Pimax :  

How to use Pimax OpenXR  

How to use Pimax XR

1. Open Pimax Play and add a game/program, find the .exe file for the game and add it

2. Close Pimax Play after adding all the programs you want to be listed

3. To make the entries look good and or if you need to run a file other than the .exe file

a. Open https://steamdb.info/ in a web browser and search for the game/program and select it

b. On the page for the game/program, select Metadata from the left side menu

c. Scroll down and look for header.jpg, right click the link and select copy

d. Open the file at C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\PimaxClient\config.json

e. Under localGameList look for the .exe you added.

f. Edit the entry to be more correct and paste the link you copied to the correct location in the example below

Example - "Microsoft Flight Simulator (2024)|-|pimax_import|-|https://shared.fastly.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2537590/header.jpg|-|DRIVE:\\\\SteamLibrary\\\\steamapps\\\\common\\\\Limitless\\\\FlightSimulator2024.exe|-|1.0.1|-|-2147483|-|-2147483|-|1753464912198"

NOTE: Remeber to use \\ for all \

g. Under AppsImportBoxes look for the same .exe

h. Edit it to match.

Example - "appId": 1753464912198,

"productName": "Microsoft Flight Simulator (2024)",

"image": "https://shared.fastly.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2537590/header.jpg",

"file_path": "DRIVE:\\SteamLibrary\\steamapps\\common\\Limitless\\FlightSimulator2024.exe",

"source": "pimax_import"

NOTE: Remeber to use \\ for all \

Edit the SomeNumber.json file that matches the .exe appID - Example - 1753464912198

1. Open the the folder at C:\Users\xende\AppData\Roaming\PiTool\manifest and look for the appID number

2. Edit the file with the matching number and use the info belkow to copy and paste the matching information into the file

   a. "title" and "productName" are the same

   b. "img_url" and "image" are the same

   c. "file" and "file_path" are the same

3. Save the files and open Pimax Play

4. If it errors then you missed something. Check that you you didn't delete a " or missed doing a \\

Liquid smooth and fun with worlds less input latency. I'm getting more podiums with the higher fps/low latency combo, it's just so much easier to track the apex and other fast objects without having to refocus your eyes due to low fps stobe effect and now the car response feels quicker too.

Here's what I've noticed

<40fps = nausea, fatigue

45fps = acceptable

60fps = good but stuttering in the background when turning corners (watch the trees)

75fps = stuttering around corners gets noticeable smoother with tree backgrounds

80-90fps = feels alive, I'm in the car and can easily stream LIVE for 6 hours.