Slopey
Volunteer Moderator
They're 100-240v. All 5 of them.
Rift vs Vive - my perspective
- Thread starter Slopey
- Start date
They're 100-240v. All 5 of them.
Slopey
Volunteer Moderator
Thanks for that. I've not really used SteamVR, so all the menus are new to me. What particularly annoyed me is that Pairing the controllers is done by right-clicking in the icon at the bottom, but the help page for that very topic says to go into Settings -> Devices, which doesn't exist. Took me a while to get it to work then discovered they needed firmware updates, which setup doesn't tell you is required, and I only figured that out by trying to charge one off a USB port on the PC.
Lovely, thank you! My Vive arrives tomorrow and I leave for the states in the evening - was planning on taking it with me for the trip, but was worried I wouldn't have time to open it all up and check before the flight
I'd just like to add to this thread that I hate you all. (in the nicest possible way of course)
My Vive doesn't ship until May.
On the plus side I'm so happy someone else has the pain so I can concentrate more on the pleasure.
Thanks Slopey. You Da Man!
My Vive doesn't ship until May.
On the plus side I'm so happy someone else has the pain so I can concentrate more on the pleasure.
Thanks Slopey. You Da Man!
I'd just like to add to this thread that I hate you all. (in the nicest possible way of course)
My Vive doesn't ship until May.
On the plus side I'm so happy someone else has the pain so I can concentrate more on the pleasure.
Thanks Slopey. You Da Man!
Well I just ordered both, Vive expected June and the CV1 expected August!
Hope FD can get the Vive issues sorted for before either of ours arrive. And Slopey thanks for doing the testing.
Thanks for the review.
If your trackers don't have line of sight (difficult each side of monitors?) might you be better using the sync cable?
What a bout your Vive vs Rift ED thoughts?
Currently there's an issue with the Vive that makes playing ED virtually impossible. Until that issues fixed there really is very little point doing a comparison.
I'll see your hate, and raise you a can't even afford a single one of them (either Rift or Vive) even to share with my partner. And even if we could afford one, the $PC upgrades would push us way over budget.
Thanks for taking the time to do the write up Slopey and answering follow up questions.
Appreciated.
Nosh
Appreciated.
Nosh
Slopey
Volunteer Moderator
I'll be playing ED in both tonight - will post tomorrow, but I'm not expecting much Vive wise for now - spent a few hours fiddling with the Vive straps and lighthouse placement and got it working a little more satisfactorily now, but it's still uncomfortable - I've come to the conclusion it's the cable - it's heavy, and as it's 3 joined in a ribbon, you can feel it move around against your back etc. I've found that if you pull the cable up a bit so it is pulled off the top of the strap, it's more comfy. I'm considering cutting the loops that hold it to the top strap as that's the bit that annoys me most. Also the side straps are cutting into my ears, but if you position them so they are on the upper portion of velcro (so you don't get the plastic tabs on your ears), it works a bit better. For sake of comparison, it has to be said that the Rift feels like putting on a baseball cap - it's simple and comfortable, and there's no heaviness or chafing of the side/back straps. (but then they're on their 3rd+ iteration vs the vive's initial release).
Now that I'm more used to it, and I've found some dark/light experiences - the godrays are present on the Vive also. Less so than the rift, but when you do see them they show up the freznel pattern, so that might be more or less annoying depending on your preference.
I've also finally got the controllers both working - my best advice would be to charge them fully, launch steam VR, then plug them in one at a time via USB (not wireless), then update the firmware immeadiately.
The camera feature is weird at first - it's like being in the matrix. It's basically an edge detection display of the camera feed, so you can see the outline of your keyboard, but not the keys on it - so you still need to touch type. Even weirder is the scale is different, so your hand holding a controller appears huge in the camera view, but the controller model in VR is much smaller. But it is very handy for looking if you're going to trip over the annoying cable!!
The Rift is still my go to device for now, but the Vive is getting there, if I can make it more comfy!! I'm going to move around some rooms in my house this or next week so I can have a proper play area for the Vive.
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Leaves me wondering if OH allows for switching between headphones and speakers at all. Only tried it using the DK2 and was able to use my speakers just fine. The problem was that any OH game I've tried rotated the soundscape around with the HMD's orientation which obviously isn't necessary and highly irritating when using speakers.
It did work in ED thanks to Frontier wisely enabling separate settings within the game, but if there's a global setting in OH I couldn't find it.
VR just isn't the same without the subwoofer hitting the stomach.
I love my HTC VIVe but it is more like Nerd device. It's not plug and play yet. You need to think about lighthouses setup (which are better even for sitting tracking). With the correct setup I can play Elite then get up and have fun with room scale without recalibrating or moving my setup (recalibrating takes around 1 min). Adjusting straps and HMD is counterintuitive as you do not wear it as Cap with VR goggles attached but rather like head mounted flashlight where some weight is on cheeks but mostly on strap. Strap is also refusing to work and you have to pull cables - make some space so it reaches back of your head - nearly your neck. After this it is super comfy and I dosed of few times in it - snoring in AltspaceVr. Image is sharp and not blurry till 80-110 fov, same with "god rays" so it does not bother me at all. Controllers and their wand design is also great in VR games as you are mostly holding something like sword, stick, flashlight. It feels natural. Oculus seems to try to replace your hands for which I have leap motion. Check this out - https://gfycat.com/GentleFavoriteBrontosaurus . Vive controllers are now and work well. For me it is all in one package that is available now and room scale made classic games (non-simulator) boring for me.
Sadly every time I turn Elite it does not look good for me and in comparison even to Rvive moded War Thunder without official support it looks broken. Outside cockpit mid/far objects are flashing and textures are closer to Minecraft than War Thunder. As for now If Elite is your only game I would opt for rift. Easier to setup, easier to find your fit and Elite looks well.
I often jump ship and chose what is best for me. But as for oculus with controllers and vive I would still choose vive. Camera, controllers, tracking, and room scale is great. Fov seems to noticeably larger than DK2 in place where you would see ground/legs when walking. And I have to say in room scale It makes a big difference. I do not see much difference in FOV when playing sitting games so again no advantage for vive vs rift in Elite.
Sadly every time I turn Elite it does not look good for me and in comparison even to Rvive moded War Thunder without official support it looks broken. Outside cockpit mid/far objects are flashing and textures are closer to Minecraft than War Thunder. As for now If Elite is your only game I would opt for rift. Easier to setup, easier to find your fit and Elite looks well.
I often jump ship and chose what is best for me. But as for oculus with controllers and vive I would still choose vive. Camera, controllers, tracking, and room scale is great. Fov seems to noticeably larger than DK2 in place where you would see ground/legs when walking. And I have to say in room scale It makes a big difference. I do not see much difference in FOV when playing sitting games so again no advantage for vive vs rift in Elite.
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I have Subpac S2 straped to may chair for bass hit reproduction when using headphones. For Roomscale I put it into a padless backpack and just connect it to VIVE headphone cable and Headphones to it. It has 6-8h lasting battery.
There is also Subpac M2 which is actually subwoofer in backpack form but hits less than S2 as it is smaller. It was not comfortable for seating too so I did send it back and ordered S2. Then I tested it with backpack and I have 2 in 1 now - works even better than m2 as it hits from top to bottom of my back and m2 was felt only around shoulders.
As for bass reproduction it is used by music producers but if you crank it up it will make your vision blurry.
Slopey
Volunteer Moderator
Ok so - played ED in both the Rift and Vive tonight - here's the observations.
Vive was first up:
The Vive was a Pain In the "bottom" to set up. Still not liking the comfort, but anyway - into SteamVR, launch ED, and then I'm back at Vive Home, then I get some flashes, the loading video, and I'm back at Vive Home again. I tried everything I could to get it to work, but it took 6 attempts with reboots etc. Again, the Audio didn't swap, but I've found the setting in SteamVR which does that so it should in future (I hope). Once I finally got it to work, it was poor. DK2 resolution pretty much - but that's a known issue. Godrays weren't too bad, and not noticeable for lag, but the res and text weren't as good as I was expecting. Popped the res down to VR LOW and that was a bit better but still DK2 or worse. Meh.
The the Rift:
First time I started ED from SteamVR it dropped me into Vive Home, rather than Rift Home, but I guess that's just because I have both. Restarted Steam, and hey presto, no problems.
I've been wearing the Vive all day trying to get the thing comfy and to work better, and I was unprepared for how easy the Rift is to put on (think headphones),and how comfy it is. Straight into ED via Oculus Home - no issues. Text is perfectly readable. Godrays are ok, went to the settings menu and upped it to VR High as I was feeling confident.
Launched into my alt account which was sitting in an Eagle in a station in Leesti.... And that's when I lost my (insert descriptive word here).... It is AMAZING.
Even with the DK2, I've never really gotten the scale of ships and stations, until now. The Rift did it in a way the Vive did not - I think due to the res bug mostly, but it was, even as someone who has played with a DK1 & 2 before, epic - the Rift made it so much more visceral.
So much so that I got out of my seat to inspect the corridor behind me and look out the upper windows at the docking port (leaving my headless corpse in the seat!). The Rift isn't just a seated experience btw. I only have about 1m x 2m travel max but that was enough to get up and wander around the cockpit.
TL: DR - the Rift is (and I stress imho) the best device for ED currently. If FD fix the bug with the Vive, there'll be little to choose between them I would guess on image quality (although the Rift seemed smoother - again, bug?). After they fix that it'll come down to ergonomics, and it's difficult to explain how far the Rift is ahead of the Vive here unless you've owned a DK1/DK2. The Vive is a DK2 on steroids with the DK1's cable management, and lighthouses - the room scale is cool, and I look forward to getting enough space to try that properly, but for me the Vive is very uncomfortable, the cable is too thick and heavy, there's too many cables to setup/manage, and the lack of built in headphones is a major issue.
Vive was first up:
The Vive was a Pain In the "bottom" to set up. Still not liking the comfort, but anyway - into SteamVR, launch ED, and then I'm back at Vive Home, then I get some flashes, the loading video, and I'm back at Vive Home again. I tried everything I could to get it to work, but it took 6 attempts with reboots etc. Again, the Audio didn't swap, but I've found the setting in SteamVR which does that so it should in future (I hope). Once I finally got it to work, it was poor. DK2 resolution pretty much - but that's a known issue. Godrays weren't too bad, and not noticeable for lag, but the res and text weren't as good as I was expecting. Popped the res down to VR LOW and that was a bit better but still DK2 or worse. Meh.
The the Rift:
First time I started ED from SteamVR it dropped me into Vive Home, rather than Rift Home, but I guess that's just because I have both. Restarted Steam, and hey presto, no problems.
I've been wearing the Vive all day trying to get the thing comfy and to work better, and I was unprepared for how easy the Rift is to put on (think headphones),and how comfy it is. Straight into ED via Oculus Home - no issues. Text is perfectly readable. Godrays are ok, went to the settings menu and upped it to VR High as I was feeling confident.
Launched into my alt account which was sitting in an Eagle in a station in Leesti.... And that's when I lost my (insert descriptive word here).... It is AMAZING.
Even with the DK2, I've never really gotten the scale of ships and stations, until now. The Rift did it in a way the Vive did not - I think due to the res bug mostly, but it was, even as someone who has played with a DK1 & 2 before, epic - the Rift made it so much more visceral.
So much so that I got out of my seat to inspect the corridor behind me and look out the upper windows at the docking port (leaving my headless corpse in the seat!). The Rift isn't just a seated experience btw. I only have about 1m x 2m travel max but that was enough to get up and wander around the cockpit.
TL: DR - the Rift is (and I stress imho) the best device for ED currently. If FD fix the bug with the Vive, there'll be little to choose between them I would guess on image quality (although the Rift seemed smoother - again, bug?). After they fix that it'll come down to ergonomics, and it's difficult to explain how far the Rift is ahead of the Vive here unless you've owned a DK1/DK2. The Vive is a DK2 on steroids with the DK1's cable management, and lighthouses - the room scale is cool, and I look forward to getting enough space to try that properly, but for me the Vive is very uncomfortable, the cable is too thick and heavy, there's too many cables to setup/manage, and the lack of built in headphones is a major issue.
Thanks - interesting solutions for the lack of immersion due to non-existent visceral feedback when wearing headphones in VR and certainly helpful to some.
The last time I've used headphones for gaming for prolonged periods of time was before I moved out from home in the early nineties. I don't consider it an option anymore.
So does anyone know if OH has innate speaker support at all?
I wonder if this is something that will be ever present in the CV1 or if it's something that will be adjusted. I would hate for the Rift to be perfect in most regards and have a big flaw in bad black levels.