Quest 2 - My Initial Impressions

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
Hi all
My turn for a review!
As some of you might be aware, I have been humming and harring over whether or not to get the Reverb G2. In the end, I sold-out my already sold-out data and went Facebook. See spoiler for justifications...

My current specs:
Ryzen 3600x, 16GB, GTX 1070

Typical games:
Elite Dangerous​
Dirt Rally​
Assetto Corsa​
All sorts of other games every now and again​

HMD path:
DK2 --> CV1 --> RiftS --> CV1 (because RiftS broke)

Headset Price: £385
£300 - Quest​
£30 - cable for link​
£50 - white Marshall Major iii headphones​
£5 - slim-form 0.35m headphone cable​

Additional costs for wireless: £30
£20 - Virtual Desktop for Quest​
£10 - 5GHz wifi dongle​

Additional cost to keep misses happy:
£24 - Beat Saber game​

For around £440, I feel I have a complete and versatile package. The headphones are light and are aparently noticably better quality than the Valve Index / G2's over-ear equavalents, I can go wired or wireless for PC gaming and I still have the Quest2 as the standalone unit for the misses! And no external sensors! Everything feels a significant upgrade from my old CV1. Even the horizonal FoV!
People complain about the strap. Both my misses and I have no qualms with it so getting the Elite strap is not something we feel we need to do.


Field of View is good!
  1. Hop into an Asp Explorer,
  2. Reset view,
  3. Try to center the view so you can see as much of those two vertical side lights as possible,
  4. Make a mental note of how much (if any) of those two lights you can see.

With my faceshape, I have found the following:
  • Quest 2 - about half, maybe a smidge more, of each light
  • CV1 - slither of each
  • Rift S - just the glow of the each light (presumably fresnel glare)
  • Quest 2 (with 5mm gasket extender for glasses) - as Rift S, slightly dimmer glow.
So, only a smidge better, like 1 degree or something better than my CV1. But I don't care, that was enormous peace of mind for me! With the spacer that was included for people who wear glasses, you get RiftS field of view. My misses wears glasses, which look pretty standard to me, and we have found we don't need the spacer.


Image quality is amazing!
I have the Quest set to 90hz and because of my specs the lowest setting which is 0.8 in the Oculus software. (Confusingly, 1.0 is not native, the max setting 1.5 is the setting required to render the image natively, due to compensating for the barrelling or something.)
Even with that setting, which does look a lick low resolution compared to the CV1, the quality is so much better. And I think I am getting a tiny bit of performance back. Because the of seriously reduced screen door, everything looks clearer. To the point that even at these setting I am gaining about one second worth of reaction time in games like Dirt Rally because I can now tell if a junction is a junction or not further away. That's huge!
I set everything to the max when I first got it to see what it could look like when I get a new gfx card - wow! Astonishing. Jerky mess but... I nearly cried it was so good.
[EDIT] Also, the blacks seem pretty dark. My CV1 OLEDs had bad mura and so blacks seemed less black than my Quest 2.


I have zero buyer remorse. I would buy again!
So, that was my initial thoughts anyway. I will play around with Elite over the next week or so, spending more time wireless etc.

Thanks!
Andy

p.s.
Wireless needs SteamVR but when I have used SteamVR for my previous Oculus HMDs, the starfield appears really close compared to Oculus? It looks to be the same with the Quest 2 wireless. Is there a setting I need to tweak somewhere to remedy this?

  • You do seem to be getting a lot in exchange for your data - the specs are astonishing for the price
  • Lots of telemetry data which is taken is given back in useful ways e.g. my wife with her fitness stuff
  • It's new, so is FB's current baby and seems to be getting regular updates
  • The experience with the oculus software is so slick and makes immediate sense, compared to games that run using SteamVR anyway. None of that matters to me but is great for my misses who isn't the most techy because everything just appears to work outside of the box.
  • I have shed loads of games on Oculus Home I am yet to finish.
 
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Arioch

Arioch
How do you reckon the “shimmer” compares with the Rift S / CV1?

I mean, when going through the mail-slot or looking at Elite’s many horizontal thingummybobs, do you see the aliasing jaggies? With a higher resolution screen I’d expect it to be lessened, but I’d like to know before pulling the trigger.

Also, how are you finding tracking using the Link? When I tried the Quest 1 with beta Link, I wasn’t too impressed - noticeably worse performance than the Rift S.
 

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
Arioch said:
How do you reckon the “shimmer” compares with the Rift S / CV1?

I mean, when going through the mail-slot or looking at Elite’s many horizontal thingummybobs, do you see the aliasing jaggies? With a higher resolution screen I’d expect it to be lessened, but I’d like to know before pulling the trigger.

Also, how are you finding tracking using the Link? When I tried the Quest 1 with beta Link, I wasn’t too impressed - noticeably worse performance than the Rift S.
Click to expand...
Yo!

The shimmer in the stations is still there. I would say it's comparative to the Rift/RiftS. I cranked it up to max on the slider (so native for the Quest2) and even added 1.5 SS but the shimmer is still visible. It's very thin and it would never bother me but it's present. Surely there must be some shimmer / aliasing on these objects, even in pancake? Because they are long, staight and flat surfaces?

Regarding Link?
Tracking performance seems fine to me. My misses (and yes, me as well!) have been playing a good bit of Beat Saber and Pistol Whip. It obviously needs to use software to predict where the controllers are when they leave the range of the cameras but the prediction software seems to do a good job.

As I understand it, the Link has only recently come out of its beta and with the official release update, there was a significant improvement.
The very dishy Karl Gosling initially gave the Quest 2 a very poor review for sim racing via Link, recommending against using it because of its many issues. However a couple of months ago he re-reviewed it after the update and was very positive.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZZj6JCNyS0


That said, I noticed something which may or may not be Link related but I guess I was looking for anomolies.
In space, everything looks fine, no colour banding. However, on a planet, in the same area of space, I noticed definite colour banding when looking at the sky from the surface.
 
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Elfino

Elfino
Newbie in VR here, 1070, 6600k, 16 Gb RAM. Back to the game after 2 years. I've downloaded ED Profiler, but I don't know which settings to use for a computer like ours.

I have to learn even how to mine, as they changed everything.

Any help would be appreciated.
 

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
Elfino said:
Newbie in VR here, 1070, 6600k, 16 Gb RAM. Back to the game after 2 years. I've downloaded ED Profiler, but I don't know which settings to use for a computer like ours.

I have to learn even how to mine, as they changed everything.

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Assuming you have Quest 2 using Link.
Slide the slider in the Oculus Home down to as low as possible, which is 0.8. This will make the game look lowish resolution but there is still no screen-door effect so you still sort of see more detail anyway.
Accept that we will never get 90Hz near stations, asteroid fields and planet surfaces. Feel a bit better knowing that very few people do. And with that in mind we have a bit of headroom within the 45Hz to increase the odd setting.
I have all settings, one below the best quality, with the following exceptions:
  • Keep the HMD quality at 1.0
  • Shadows - ultra
  • Bloom - off
  • Field of View - off
  • Ambient Oclusion - off
  • Volumetric - medium
  • Reflection - low
  • For anti aliasing either use the best anti-aliasing or 1.25 Super Sampling

The above seems to be nice and stable.
 

Elfino

Elfino
I don't know what you mean with the slider in the Oculus Home (perhaps an option inside the VR headset?), but according your instructions, I've created this profile (Experimento, Hi from Spain :) ):

1609013837227.png


I don't know if that's what you refer to. Now I'm a bit... dizzy. I'm getting used to it yet, but I'm much better than the previous week. So I will test it tomorrow.

Thanks for your help.
 

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
Elfino said:
I don't know what you mean with the slider in the Oculus Home (perhaps an option inside the VR headset?), but according your instructions, I've created this profile (Experimento, Hi from Spain :) ):

View attachment 202045

I don't know if that's what you refer to. Now I'm a bit... dizzy. I'm getting used to it yet, but I'm much better than the previous week. So I will test it tomorrow.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Looks good
Turn off: Blur and DOF
FX quality can probably go up.

Also you might want to change your HUD colour preset to something other than 'standard'; it's found in the middle of Dr Kaii's tool.
Just be careful because hostile are now blue...
<!--
Friendlies: Lime
Hostiles: Deep Sky Blue
-->
<MatrixRed> 0, 0.25, 0.75 </MatrixRed>
<MatrixGreen> 0, 1, 0 </MatrixGreen>
<MatrixBlue> 1, 0, 0 </MatrixBlue>


Regarding the slider, I assumed you had a Quest 2. What headset are you using?
 

Elfino

Elfino
Thanks, I've made the changes. I have a Quest 2. But I don't know what you refer to with the slider. Newbie. Tomorrow I will use them again. In fact I have to remember the keys... no Jostick/HOTAS yet, I bought the Quest 2 because I also want to do exercise in the pandemic, appart from Elite. I know how to type and I know where the keys are.

I don't like to change the HUD, I did it some years ago, but I prefer my red enemies :D
 

"Red" the Pirate

"Red" the Pirate
So I just got one too, and... now my oculus setup download is stuck at 5.08GB out of 5.13GB and hasn't moved in several hours. Anybody else having this problem?
 

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
Elfino said:
Thanks, I've made the changes. I have a Quest 2. But I don't know what you refer to with the slider. Newbie. Tomorrow I will use them again. In fact I have to remember the keys... no Jostick/HOTAS yet, I bought the Quest 2 because I also want to do exercise in the pandemic, appart from Elite. I know how to type and I know where the keys are.

I don't like to change the HUD, I did it some years ago, but I prefer my red enemies :D
Click to expand...
The slider is inside oculus Home on the PC.
In Home, click on devices and then the main part (top) of the Quest 2.
This is where you can adjust headphone/mic settings.
You can also change the frequency to 90Hz.
You can also adjust the slider to control resolution. It is probably set to auto at 1.0.
1.5 is actually the native resolution for the Quest 2. I think 1.0 is too high for our cards so recommend reducing it.

@"Red" the Pirate
I hope you get your issue fixed. Maybe restart the process again? A complete ballache but it might have got stuck. :/
 

Elfino

Elfino
[VR] andysonofbob said:
The slider is inside oculus Home on the PC.
In Home, click on devices and then the main part (top) of the Quest 2.
This is where you can adjust headphone/mic settings.
You can also change the frequency to 90Hz.
You can also adjust the slider to control resolution. It is probably set to auto at 1.0.
1.5 is actually the native resolution for the Quest 2. I think 1.0 is too high for our cards so recommend reducing it.

@"Red" the Pirate
I hope you get your issue fixed. Maybe restart the process again? A complete ballache but it might have got stuck. :/
Click to expand...

Yes done. It was set to auto at 1.0. I have selected 0.8.

This headset is going to be really expensive for me, I'm afraid I will have to upgrade my computer :ROFLMAO:
 

Bantha

Bantha
CV1 user here, for the last 4 years.

I have it set up with 3 sensors, extended cables to both the sensors and HMD, and I have perfect tracking. I haven’t configured it in literally 2 years, I just turn my PC on, and it works. Every time.

Current system specs - I run ED directly from the Frontier launcher which automatically boots up the Oculus software. Both the Oculus software and ED are stored and run from the system SSD, and I have 16gb ram, i7700k, 1080Ti.

Looking at either the Quest 2 or Reverb G2, simply because I want an upgrade to the visuals. I want less god rays, less screen door and less pixelation. I would also like to easily read text in the HUD with it.

I would have already bought the G2 but for a couple of issues - 1. The tracking is apparently poor. Whilst my mainstay is ED I do play other games too, 2. New GPU required to get the best from it? If so, this changes the costs considerably

Any thoughts people?
 

VR andysonofbob

VR andysonofbob
Bantha said:
CV1 user here, for the last 4 years.

I have it set up with 3 sensors, extended cables to both the sensors and HMD, and I have perfect tracking. I haven’t configured it in literally 2 years, I just turn my PC on, and it works. Every time.

Current system specs - I run ED directly from the Frontier launcher which automatically boots up the Oculus software. Both the Oculus software and ED are stored and run from the system SSD, and I have 16gb ram, i7700k, 1080Ti.

Looking at either the Quest 2 or Reverb G2, simply because I want an upgrade to the visuals. I want less god rays, less screen door and less pixelation. I would also like to easily read text in the HUD with it.

I would have already bought the G2 but for a couple of issues - 1. The tracking is apparently poor. Whilst my mainstay is ED I do play other games too, 2. New GPU required to get the best from it? If so, this changes the costs considerably

Any thoughts people?
Click to expand...

I had the same internal debate and ended up selling out to Facebook with the Q2. I love it!
Like you, I went from CV1 to Q2. I have found the whole experience, moving from CV1 to Q2, to be essentially ballache free. If your CV1 works, the Q2 will work out of the box.

This is a pretty shill-free review of the G2 (he also reviewed the Q2 - see above) if you are interested:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdvRCUyPHZc


tl;dw version for the G2:
Awesome for sims - so Elite would be sweet!
Rubbish for anything else because the tracking is too hit and miss.
 

Kemo

Kemo
I have both a Rift S and a Quest 2 - my PC specs are 9700k, RTX2080-Super, 32gb ram.

With the Rift S I can run everything at Ultra within ED, SS at 0.75 and HMD at 1.75 - it looks great and runs smooth.

However, on the Quest 2, using a Link cable, I just cant seem to get the same performance, I've twiddled with settings, dialled stuff down and the frame rate is still not as smooth as the Rift S, when in the ship, spinning on an axis with a planet in view, there are signs of a lag/delay, so I get this kinda phasing effect on the planet as it spins past. On the Rift, I don't get that at all.

I suspect If I were to spend more time, and compromised on the visuals more I may be able to get the Q2 running smooth on my setup, but with the Rift S sitting there, I don't see the point. I also find the Rift S so much more comfortable for longer play times.

I do like the Q2, it's been great over Christmas, watching my wife and daughter flail around the living room, and the no-wires aspect is so freeing.

Maybe once I get around to a GPU upgrade I may be able to get the Q2 running better, but will wait until Odyssey releases as I suspect there may be some additional gpu/cpu overhead with the new textures/lighting that could mean sticking to the Rift S longer.

:)
 

Elfino

Elfino
@Kemo. Consider also that Quest 2 sends, through Oculus Link, a compressed video. That doesn't happen with other headsets. I believe that the loss of quality is due to the loss of resources when compressing the signal.
 

Kemo

Kemo
Elfino said:
@Kemo. Consider also that Quest 2 sends, through Oculus Link, a compressed video. That doesn't happen with other headsets. I believe that the loss of quality is due to the loss of resources when compressing the signal.
Click to expand...

Yes, you're absolutely correct, and this probably also adds to the load on the gpu (in addition to the higher resolution over the Rift S) - maybe connecting a HMD directly to the gpu rather than have this encoding video aspect going on helps 🤔

I've not tried other HMD's - would like to try the G2, but as others have pointed out, the compromise with that headset seems to be the controllers/tracking.. and with games like HL: Alyx, you really need that working well + WMR seems a bit flaky, and I do like the how well the Oculus software works. If I only ever played ED/driving sims I may seriously consider it, but I do like to jump in to other VR genres when available (it's the fun aspect of VR for me :))
 

He$$eeTant

He$$eeTant
Elfino said:
I don't know what you mean with the slider in the Oculus Home (perhaps an option inside the VR headset?), but according your instructions, I've created this profile (Experimento, Hi from Spain :) ):

View attachment 202045

I don't know if that's what you refer to. Now I'm a bit... dizzy. I'm getting used to it yet, but I'm much better than the previous week. So I will test it tomorrow.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Your Quest 2 and link must be enabled. Then go to your Oculus home on the desktop in 2d (not with HMD on). Click on Devices then click the very top Oculus Quest and you should see a right hand side menu appear, scroll down that right hand pane and you should see Graphics Preferences click it

preferences.png
 
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