Upgrading, G2 or Valve Index (or something else)?

[AirBear]

I returned to Elite Dangerous recently after a 2 year break. I currently have a 2 to 3 yr old Dell Windows Mixed Reality VR device. It works fine with ED but I rarely use it as getting the Logitech G933 headphones placed in a comfortable position over it is a PITA. And at my age (mid-60's) I have to remove the VR headset periodically for things like bio-breaks. I have a 3 monitor setup and usually do trading and mining with Inara and EDDB up on the left hand monitor and voice comm app, Voice Attack, and ED Market Connector up on the right hand monitor.

Mostly I'm looking at the G2 and Valve Index. Open to other suggestions for stuff I may have overlooked. I have read Pimax can be a PITA to setup with games and since I need all the gear would run me more than the Index even.

I'm running a 3yr old i7 gaming rig with 32GB RAM and a Nvidia 2080 GPU. I keep it "pure" with only the absolute minimum # of apps installed. I do general purpose stuff on my iMac.

I'm retired and spend a LOT of time playing ED, frequently 8-10 hours per day.

Here's what is important to me:

-Ease of getting on/off and comfort level after an hour+ of wearing it. Most headsets now have built in speakers/mic so much easier than my current rig.

-Ease of accessing the other 2 monitors. The WMR falls short here as I think it only offers a B&W "Flashlight" mode. If the headset is very easy to tilt up that mode may not matter. My Dell has a flip up visor which is handy. I don't think the G2 has that.

-Video quality. I only play ED right now and I don't know how important resolution vs. FOV is in the game. My old Dell has significant "screen door" effects.

The founder of my squadron runs a computer store/tech support business in Canada. He's a big fan of the Valve Index and always wears it when playing ED. The G2 is $400 cheaper (if you can find it, which I can't right now). All the reviews have said the G2 has better res but narrower FOV compared to the Index. And the controllers are much better on the Index. I understand the Index has a pass through mode you can access by pressing a button on one of the controllers whereas the G2 you just use the WMR Flashlight feature.

The main thing holding me back (other than availability) is whether I'd use the Headset or not. I do a fair amount of "Kill the Pirate" missions using my PVE build Corvette. But I do more trading and mining than combat, especially since getting my Carrier. VR might be somewhat handy in mining. Right now I use the headlook mode, it's mapped to my Thrustmaster T16000M HOTAS so I can just push in a button on the throttle that I normally use for thrusting around asteroids and it converts to headlook mode.

Thanks for any input, I hate to spend a bunch of $$$ for something I don't wind up using. For what the Valve Index cost I could get a 3080 GPU, but then my 2080 does fine right now.

 

[Kyokushin]

Take G2. Slightly lower fov than Index, but same audio, good tracking, same comfort and overwhelming better visual quality.

Index have similar vertical resolution as your old dell, and visuals will be slightly better. G2 have 2 times more pixels - text is clearly readable and there is no screen door effect at all.

 

[Dooguk]

Don't forget that in order to run the 2x pixels of the G2, you are going to need a decent graphics card.

 

[Kyokushin]

Don't forget that in order to run the 2x pixels of the G2, you are going to need a decent graphics card.

In fact he don't need better gpu than for Index. In the index he need to use high supersampling to see something more than a coloured stain, and on G2 even if he downsample then visualls will be better.
So to conclude - on the G2 you will see better visuals on same graphic card, no matter you have - of course - its better to have decent gpu always.

 

[Dooguk]

...of course - its better to have decent gpu always.

Now if only we could buy one.

 

[Kyokushin]

Now if only we could buy one.

I am running my G2 on 1080ti so far, but in plan to change for 3080 - unfortunately - out of stock wordlwide.

 

[AirBear]

How easy is the G2 to lift up or remove to look at a side monitor? Or is there an easy way to switch from the center monitor with ED running to a side monitor? I haven't messed with the WMR software, an advantage of the Index is I won't need it. But again there's the $400 price difference. One nuisance with my current Dell WMR VR is when I start the game in full screen windowed after a VR session the graphics settings have to be changed back or I get a tiny screen on my 34" wide screen center monitor. I have found one website that says the G2 is in stock, but I've never heard of them before so not sure I believe them. Even HP's direct sales site says they're out of stock.

 

[VR andysonofbob]

I absolutely love my Quest 2!

£400 will get everying you need including better headphones than the Index, the USB cable for Link plus some change.
It also just seems to work without any of the ballache.

Buy it from Amazon and if you don't like it you can always return it and then go for the G2.

Here are my impressions if you are interested:

Quest 2 - My Initial Impressions

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...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[Kyokushin]

How easy is the G2 to lift up or remove to look at a side monitor? Or is there an easy way to switch from the center monitor with ED running to a side monitor? I haven't messed with the WMR software, an advantage of the Index is I won't need it. But again there's the $400 price difference. One nuisance with my current Dell WMR VR is when I start the game in full screen windowed after a VR session the graphics settings have to be changed back or I get a tiny screen on my 34" wide screen center monitor. I have found one website that says the G2 is in stock, but I've never heard of them before so not sure I believe them. Even HP's direct sales site says they're out of stock.

Its easy, like a hat.

 

[Dooguk]

How easy is the G2 to lift up or remove to look at a side monitor? Or is there an easy way to switch from the center monitor with ED running to a side monitor? I haven't messed with the WMR software, an advantage of the Index is I won't need it. But again there's the $400 price difference. One nuisance with my current Dell WMR VR is when I start the game in full screen windowed after a VR session the graphics settings have to be changed back or I get a tiny screen on my 34" wide screen center monitor. I have found one website that says the G2 is in stock, but I've never heard of them before so not sure I believe them. Even HP's direct sales site says they're out of stock.

Just make sure that they actually have it in stock and are not just taking your money in advance.

 

[VR StarLightPL]

TL; DR From the OP it looks like @AirBear only plays ED. If that's the case, I'd recommend the G2. It's lighter than the Index too, and the visuals will be better. 2080 should be enough to drive both these headsets in 90Hz modes. If however you intend to play something else, well... things get as clear as "coloured stain(tm)", MSFS 2020? DCS? Any roomscale games? Index will probably be better for that as it's more universal than the G2.

good tracking
slightly lower fov than Index
don't need better gpu than for Index
In the index he need to use high supersampling
coloured stain
G2 even if he downsample then visualls will be better.

Oh no, the insufferable Reverb fanboy made it here... He is right about the resolution but absolutely loves to downplay the Index for reasons unknown and making wildly imaginative comparisons to old-gen headsets. While the reverb has 2x more pixels, it has also a much smaller clear vision area which may or may not matter to you, depending on your IPD and glasses/contact lenses used. Tracking is very bad, Tom's Hardware called it "real tragedy" and "huge letdown". As for "coloured stain" he should really trademark that as his as he loves to paste it everywhere despite it being a complete bull . If you have DCS and a F18 module, I can tell you that I don't need vr zoom in the cockpit of the plane, I can read almost all text and gauges except the smallest text (gun ammo on SMS page - need to lean a bit), and for sure you won't have absolutely any problem reading anything in Elite.

As for comparing to some dinosaur tech like previous WMR (odyssey+, dell, whatever), just stahp already: different screens, different lenses, different fov, different everything. I won't even discuss that with you. Tried with Odyssey+ and Index is way better.

There's LITTLE TO NO SDE in the Index. There ARE however glare and godrays in the Index.

Comfort is better in the index, because G2 doesn't include the regulation mechanisms the Index has. In Index you can adjust how far the screen are from your eyes (affects fov and glasses), and you have the harness regulation at the back which is convenient for quick adjustments especially when you demo the headset to others. Index is truly "a hat" - you take it on and off or lift it up as needed. Passthrough modes are there but I'm not using them. It's very easy to lift up headset and put it back down. SteamVR also has desktop view mode, where you can just pause the game and view the desktop in VR. I can play in the index for hours, and not only seated but in roomscale shooters like pavlov and onward which require movement.

Couple of things more:

• Index has a physical IPD slider in range of 58-70mm while the Reverb has 60-68mm range. This might or might not matter to you depending on your IPD.
• Index also has better edge-to-edge clarity (the area you can look using your eyeballs only), in the Reverb the most sharpest image is in the center and gradually blurs away. Of course Kyokushin will tell you it's edge to edge clear, and that tracking is good, but all other reviewers disagree.
• Index's Vertical FOV is nothing to be sneezed at. Being able to see more is better, especially in combat sims like DCS. In Elite, VFov almost doesn't matter, as this is an arcade shooter with magical radar... The planet view from the SRV is beautiful though, or from something like AspExplorer with huge canopy up and down... Index's horizontal FOV is also better, and its effects on perception are non-linear. You can see this easily comparing something like original vive (which has better FOV than G2) to something like the index or pimax - new gen FOV is leaps and bounds better and more immersive. Larger FOV allows for better sense of speed in racing sims etc. Again, hardly ever matters in Elite unless you're doing some SLF canyon or engineer bases racing

including better headphones than the Index

There's no such thing Off-ear audio is perfect for VR, because of convenience and comfort, especially in long sessions OP mentions. I won't ever look at headphones for VR again, unless I buy Quest 2 for portable use

 

[AirBear]

Thanks, that's the info I needed. Remember I'll be coming from a Dell WMR so either of these will be a big improvement. I think it's going to come down to availability. The G2 is out of stock, the Index shows shipping within 2 weeks. I just got a 2 week update from B&H and still no sign of the G2. I did look at the Quest 2 thread and will check it out some more. My biggest concern is I'll pay a lot of $$$ then not use the thing.

Edit: just looked at the Quest 2 on Bestbuy's site and realized it has no built in audio that I can see. That's a big disadvantage. Also, with the better strap and link cable I'm looking at $430 USD. Not that far from the G2.

TL; DR From the OP it looks like @AirBear only plays ED. If that's the case, I'd recommend the G2. It's lighter than the Index too, and the visuals will be better. 2080 should be enough to drive both these headsets in 90Hz modes. If however you intend to play something else, well... things get as clear as "coloured stain(tm)", MSFS 2020? DCS? Any roomscale games? Index will probably be better for that as it's more universal than the G2.


Oh no, the insufferable Reverb fanboy made it here... He is right about the resolution but absolutely loves to downplay the Index for reasons unknown and making wildly imaginative comparisons to old-gen headsets. While the reverb has 2x more pixels, it has also a much smaller clear vision area which may or may not matter to you, depending on your IPD and glasses/contact lenses used. Tracking is very bad, Tom's Hardware called it "real tragedy" and "huge letdown". As for "coloured stain" he should really trademark that as his as he loves to paste it everywhere despite it being a complete bull . If you have DCS and a F18 module, I can tell you that I don't need vr zoom in the cockpit of the plane, I can read almost all text and gauges except the smallest text (gun ammo on SMS page - need to lean a bit), and for sure you won't have absolutely any problem reading anything in Elite.

As for comparing to some dinosaur tech like previous WMR (odyssey+, dell, whatever), just stahp already: different screens, different lenses, different fov, different everything. I won't even discuss that with you. Tried with Odyssey+ and Index is way better.

There's LITTLE TO NO SDE in the Index. There ARE however glare and godrays in the Index.

Comfort is better in the index, because G2 doesn't include the regulation mechanisms the Index has. In Index you can adjust how far the screen are from your eyes (affects fov and glasses), and you have the harness regulation at the back which is convenient for quick adjustments especially when you demo the headset to others. Index is truly "a hat" - you take it on and off or lift it up as needed. Passthrough modes are there but I'm not using them. It's very easy to lift up headset and put it back down. SteamVR also has desktop view mode, where you can just pause the game and view the desktop in VR. I can play in the index for hours, and not only seated but in roomscale shooters like pavlov and onward which require movement.

Couple of things more:

• Index has a physical IPD slider in range of 58-70mm while the Reverb has 60-68mm range. This might or might not matter to you depending on your IPD.
• Index also has better edge-to-edge clarity (the area you can look using your eyeballs only), in the Reverb the most sharpest image is in the center and gradually blurs away. Of course Kyokushin will tell you it's edge to edge clear, and that tracking is good, but all other reviewers disagree.
• Index's Vertical FOV is nothing to be sneezed at. Being able to see more is better, especially in combat sims like DCS. In Elite, VFov almost doesn't matter, as this is an arcade shooter with magical radar... The planet view from the SRV is beautiful though, or from something like AspExplorer with huge canopy up and down... Index's horizontal FOV is also better, and its effects on perception are non-linear. You can see this easily comparing something like original vive (which has better FOV than G2) to something like the index or pimax - new gen FOV is leaps and bounds better and more immersive. Larger FOV allows for better sense of speed in racing sims etc. Again, hardly ever matters in Elite unless you're doing some SLF canyon or engineer bases racing

There's no such thing Off-ear audio is perfect for VR, because of convenience and comfort, especially in long sessions OP mentions. I won't ever look at headphones for VR again, unless I buy Quest 2 for portable use

 

[Hempstead]

Quest 2 has built in crappy audio just like everybody else does. The two hard plastic stubs the goggle straps snap into contain the speakers. If you could, do what I do... hook you computer‘s digital output up to a real stereo! Night and day difference sound quality for Elite Dangerous.

BTW, Q2 strap is crappy. Even the so called Elite strap is designed wrong. I designed a 3D printed adapter to hook it up to a Wilcox NVG adapter for a tactical helmet to solve that everybody-copied-Luckey-skii-goggle-strap. Don’t waste your money on that Elite strap, it ain’t much better. But, I‘d highly recommend the expensive Oculus optical Link cable, it just works. Unless you want to roll the dice with a ton of the non-optical Chinese crap sold on Amazon and eBay.

 

[Kyokushin]

TL; DR From the OP it looks like @AirBear only plays ED. If that's the case, I'd recommend the G2. It's lighter than the Index too, and the visuals will be better. 2080 should be enough to drive both these headsets in 90Hz modes. If however you intend to play something else, well... things get as clear as "coloured stain(tm)", MSFS 2020? DCS? Any roomscale games? Index will probably be better for that as it's more universal than the G2.


Oh no, the insufferable Reverb fanboy made it here... He is right about the resolution but absolutely loves to downplay the Index for reasons unknown and making wildly imaginative comparisons to old-gen headsets. While the reverb has 2x more pixels, it has also a much smaller clear vision area which may or may not matter to you, depending on your IPD and glasses/contact lenses used. Tracking is very bad, Tom's Hardware called it "real tragedy" and "huge letdown". As for "coloured stain" he should really trademark that as his as he loves to paste it everywhere despite it being a complete bull . If you have DCS and a F18 module, I can tell you that I don't need vr zoom in the cockpit of the plane, I can read almost all text and gauges except the smallest text (gun ammo on SMS page - need to lean a bit), and for sure you won't have absolutely any problem reading anything in Elite.

As for comparing to some dinosaur tech like previous WMR (odyssey+, dell, whatever), just stahp already: different screens, different lenses, different fov, different everything. I won't even discuss that with you. Tried with Odyssey+ and Index is way better.

There's LITTLE TO NO SDE in the Index. There ARE however glare and godrays in the Index.

Comfort is better in the index, because G2 doesn't include the regulation mechanisms the Index has. In Index you can adjust how far the screen are from your eyes (affects fov and glasses), and you have the harness regulation at the back which is convenient for quick adjustments especially when you demo the headset to others. Index is truly "a hat" - you take it on and off or lift it up as needed. Passthrough modes are there but I'm not using them. It's very easy to lift up headset and put it back down. SteamVR also has desktop view mode, where you can just pause the game and view the desktop in VR. I can play in the index for hours, and not only seated but in roomscale shooters like pavlov and onward which require movement.

Couple of things more:

• Index has a physical IPD slider in range of 58-70mm while the Reverb has 60-68mm range. This might or might not matter to you depending on your IPD.
• Index also has better edge-to-edge clarity (the area you can look using your eyeballs only), in the Reverb the most sharpest image is in the center and gradually blurs away. Of course Kyokushin will tell you it's edge to edge clear, and that tracking is good, but all other reviewers disagree.
• Index's Vertical FOV is nothing to be sneezed at. Being able to see more is better, especially in combat sims like DCS. In Elite, VFov almost doesn't matter, as this is an arcade shooter with magical radar... The planet view from the SRV is beautiful though, or from something like AspExplorer with huge canopy up and down... Index's horizontal FOV is also better, and its effects on perception are non-linear. You can see this easily comparing something like original vive (which has better FOV than G2) to something like the index or pimax - new gen FOV is leaps and bounds better and more immersive. Larger FOV allows for better sense of speed in racing sims etc. Again, hardly ever matters in Elite unless you're doing some SLF canyon or engineer bases racing

There's no such thing Off-ear audio is perfect for VR, because of convenience and comfort, especially in long sessions OP mentions. I won't ever look at headphones for VR again, unless I buy Quest 2 for portable use

index is still low res 1st generation headset with horizontal fov only 5 degrees per side better. It not sounds like gamechanger.
The quality something between OP old HP and odyssey+. Index have also some anti sde diffuser, but have no blacks of OLED screens.

Inside-out tracking from g2 is more comfortable - you dont need all of this mess with base stations.

Only one advantage of index controllers finger tracking, but it does not matter for most games, especially elite.

Both Index and G2 have no edge to edge clarity, but G2 have less flares, higher res and people are reporting better colours - there is a lot head to head comparisons in the network.

On G2 you will have image quality near to looking on flatscreen, a far superior from Index, o+ or anything else.
Imo getting any 1st gen low resolution headset at now as Index, where we have G2 or at least quest 2 on the market, is just wasting money on something outdated.

 

[VR andysonofbob]

If you are ED or cockpit games only:
G2

If you want best-in-class tracking and a solid all-rounder:
Index

I don't own these HMD but I did do some serious research, which lasted well over a month, when I was choosing - I made graphs and everything!

But seriously consider the Q2 which is what I went for in the end (I do have a family of gamers though so play games other than Elite).

• Astonishing visuals - slightly less than G2
• OK FoV - vanilla is slightly better than vanilla G2
• Solid tracking - significantly better than G2
• Largest sweetspot out of all of them (Oculus lenses)
• Negligable screen door - similar to G2

Edit: just looked at the Quest 2 on Bestbuy's site and realized it has no built in audio that I can see. That's a big disadvantage. Also, with the better strap and link cable I'm looking at $430 USD. Not that far from the G2.

It does have audio, but it may as well not. Which is why I said £385, not £300. (good quality matching headphones, usb cable for Link and additional tiny 0.4m audio cable)
You don't need the strap; it isn't like the Quest 1 which did need it. My misses, two children and I have had zero issues with the strap and find it comfy but that could be our headshape.

Edit: just looked at the Quest 2 on Bestbuy's site and realized it has no built in audio that I can see. That's a big disadvantage. Also, with the better strap and link cable I'm looking at $430 USD. Not that far from the G2.

Like I said, stock is no issue so why not buy the 'andysonofbob Quest 2 bundle', see for yourself and return the whole lot if you don't like it?? Amazon has excellent returns policy. You will have lost zero money and will have zero buyer's remorse etc. later.

TL; DR From the OP it looks like @AirBear only plays ED. If that's the case, I'd recommend the G2. It's lighter than the Index too, and the visuals will be better. 2080 should be enough to drive both these headsets in 90Hz modes. If however you intend to play something else, well... things get as clear as "coloured stain(tm)", MSFS 2020? DCS? Any roomscale games? Index will probably be better for that as it's more universal than the G2.

If you have DCS and a F18 module, I can tell you that I don't need vr zoom in the cockpit of the plane, I can read almost all text and gauges except the smallest text (gun ammo on SMS page - need to lean a bit), and for sure you won't have absolutely any problem reading anything in Elite.

There's LITTLE TO NO SDE in the Index. There ARE however glare and godrays in the Index.

Comfort is better in the index, because G2 doesn't include the regulation mechanisms the Index has. In Index you can adjust how far the screen are from your eyes (affects fov and glasses), and you have the harness regulation at the back which is convenient for quick adjustments especially when you demo the headset to others. Index is truly "a hat" - you take it on and off or lift it up as needed. Passthrough modes are there but I'm not using them. It's very easy to lift up headset and put it back down. SteamVR also has desktop view mode, where you can just pause the game and view the desktop in VR. I can play in the index for hours, and not only seated but in roomscale shooters like pavlov and onward which require movement.

Couple of things more:

• Index has a physical IPD slider in range of 58-70mm while the Reverb has 60-68mm range. This might or might not matter to you depending on your IPD.
• Index also has better edge-to-edge clarity (the area you can look using your eyeballs only), in the Reverb the most sharpest image is in the center and gradually blurs away. Of course Kyokushin will tell you it's edge to edge clear, and that tracking is good, but all other reviewers disagree.
• Index's Vertical FOV is nothing to be sneezed at. Being able to see more is better, especially in combat sims like DCS. In Elite, VFov almost doesn't matter, as this is an arcade shooter with magical radar... The planet view from the SRV is beautiful though, or from something like AspExplorer with huge canopy up and down... Index's horizontal FOV is also better, and its effects on perception are non-linear. You can see this easily comparing something like original vive (which has better FOV than G2) to something like the index or pimax - new gen FOV is leaps and bounds better and more immersive. Larger FOV allows for better sense of speed in racing sims etc. Again, hardly ever matters in Elite unless you're doing some SLF canyon or engineer bases racing

Completely agree
+1 here!

There's no such thing Off-ear audio is perfect for VR, because of convenience and comfort, especially in long sessions OP mentions. I won't ever look at headphones for VR again, unless I buy Quest 2 for portable use

Depends if you think the quality is good enough... Also the headphones I recommended are light and you don't notice them.
I do agree with your sentiment though as I prefer my 5.1s when I can crank those badboys up whenever the neighbours aren't in!

 

[Bantha]

I do agree with your sentiment though as I prefer my 5.1s when I can crank those badboys up whenever the neighbours aren't in!

Gotta love the loud 5.1 surround with big bass. I hook up to an X-Rocker chair and the noise and rumble from the chair when you boost is unreal. Even going through the mail slot makes the room shake. Love it!

But... not so good with VoiceAttack (which Op uses). If I have the sound blasting out, my Voice Attack picks up all kinds of noises and thinks I’m telling it to do something I don’t want.

It thinks my Beam lasers sound like me saying “Silent Running”, and so when I open fire I instantly lose my shields and start burning up.
Dakka dakka sends my pips in all sorts of random directions. How it thinks MCs sounds like me saying “Engines” I’ll never know!

So, sometimes I play with the x-rocker speakers without VoiceAttack.
And sometimes if I want to just say “Request docking” instead of fumbling with the menus, then I have to use my VR headphones - VoiceAttack is flawless in this scenario.

Point is, if Op wants to use Voice Attack, he needs good headphones, and it seems like he doesn’t want these separate from his HMD, so which of the current HMDs offer the best built-in sound?

There’s a lot of data, tables and specs around the visuals, but not so much on the sound quality, other than they’re all pretty shoddy and you need separate earphones...

I also want to know this, as I’m looking to upgrade from my CV1 (which has excellent sound).

Thanks

 

[VR andysonofbob]

Gotta love the loud 5.1 surround with big bass. I hook up to an X-Rocker chair and the noise and rumble from the chair when you boost is unreal. Even going through the mail slot makes the room shake. Love it!

But... not so good with VoiceAttack (which Op uses). If I have the sound blasting out, my Voice Attack picks up all kinds of noises and thinks I’m telling it to do something I don’t want.

It thinks my Beam lasers sound like me saying “Silent Running”, and so when I open fire I instantly lose my shields and start burning up.
Dakka dakka sends my pips in all sorts of random directions. How it thinks MCs sounds like me saying “Engines” I’ll never know!

So, sometimes I play with the x-rocker speakers without VoiceAttack.
And sometimes if I want to just say “Request docking” instead of fumbling with the menus, then I have to use my VR headphones - VoiceAttack is flawless in this scenario.

Point is, if Op wants to use Voice Attack, he needs good headphones, and it seems like he doesn’t want these separate from his HMD, so which of the current HMDs offer the best built-in sound?

There’s a lot of data, tables and specs around the visuals, but not so much on the sound quality, other than they’re all pretty shoddy and you need separate earphones...

I also want to know this, as I’m looking to upgrade from my CV1 (which has excellent sound).

Thanks

I use VA too! I never have issues.

You can set the sensitivity and background noise.
VA did take some time to become flawless when I switched to the Q2 but it is super reliable now. It went through the same teething issues for each of my headsets.
But now I can go multiple play sessions without any missing voice commands.

I have cheated somewhat though:
I monitored what VA thought I said, whilst using my 5.1s and used that. e.g.
Request dock is "bequest dock"
Galaxy map is "alaxy map"
Lift off is... "Lift off"

Also, I probably only have 10 or so commands and I don't use voice packs anymore and I think this helps because VA has less options to listen out for.

 

[AirBear]

I'm not overly concerned with audio quality. My Logitech G933 wireless headphones/mic have been fine. If I can find a lightweight headset that will easily fit over the Q2, or if the Q2 has decent sound quality then that's fine. Does the Q2 have a built in mic? I have a Blue Snowball USB mic that is very high quality. It sits about 2 feet away but it's not ideal for VA. My local Bestbuy can get the Q2 in about 6 days but Amazon has it for 24 hour delivery. They also have a number of bundles I would need to do the math on. There's a Kohl's store 2 miles from my house that has an Amazon return center so that makes it very easy.

Here's a really good video comparing the Index, G2, and Q2 including some screens from ED starting at 5:32. You can really see the difference the G2 makes:

Source: https://youtu.be/ny_OPsxHQmU


So if I knew the G2 would be available anytime soon I'd most likely wait. But the Q2 might be a better option since I'm not sure I'll even use the VR option and would be less money wasted. Also, if someone familiar with the Q2 could tell me, what difference does the 64GB vs. 256GB model make? Assuming I'm tethering it to the computer. I also need to read the thread on the Q2 before making a decision.

 

[AirBear]

Spent the last 90 minutes reading forum posts and watching review videos. I think I'll wait a bit as my 1st choice is the G2, I want to see if it becomes available. The Q2 would be OK but with the accessories I'll need it gets somewhat close to the price of the G2. That video I posted above really shows the difference in clarity between the G2 and the other headsets.

 

[VR andysonofbob]

I'm not overly concerned with audio quality. My Logitech G933 wireless headphones/mic have been fine. If I can find a lightweight headset that will easily fit over the Q2, or if the Q2 has decent sound quality then that's fine. Does the Q2 have a built in mic? I have a Blue Snowball USB mic that is very high quality. It sits about 2 feet away but it's not ideal for VA. My local Bestbuy can get the Q2 in about 6 days but Amazon has it for 24 hour delivery. They also have a number of bundles I would need to do the math on. There's a Kohl's store 2 miles from my house that has an Amazon return center so that makes it very easy.

The Quest 2 has a dual mic system. It is pretty good. Not as good as a decent mic of course but totally workable. I use it for VA with no issue whatsoever.
You will need to train your speech recognition, like I did, for a bit because each mic has a different timbre etc.

Here's a really good video comparing the Index, G2, and Q2 including some screens from ED starting at 5:32. You can really see the difference the G2 makes:

Source: https://youtu.be/ny_OPsxHQmU

That video is old. October.
It is not a fair comparison for the Quest 2 because the link was in beta and the visual quality was shocking.

The visual quality of the Link back then was so bad that reviewers were recommending AGAINST Quest 2 for sims. But the same reviewers had the complete opposite opinion after the Link left beta. Following the update the difference was aparently night and day. I say aparently because I got mine just before Christmas, so it was only beta for a few days before the both HMD firmware and Oculus Home software updated.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZZj6JCNyS0

Also, if someone familiar with the Q2 could tell me, what difference does the 64GB vs. 256GB model make? Assuming I'm tethering it to the computer. I also need to read the thread on the Q2 before making a decision.

If you are only going to use it for PC VR, which requires a USB3 cable for the Link (you don't need the £80 official one!), you won't need anything.
I own the 64GB version and use it for Quest 2 games as well as PC VR

I have installed:

• RoboRecall
• The walking dead: saints and sinners
• Beat Saber
• Pistol Whip
• The Climb VR
• Vader Immortal pt 1 and pt2
• Space Pirate Trainer
• In Death
• Gun Club VR
• Eleven Table Tennis
• Knockout League
• Pinball FX2 VR
• Drop Dead
• Ultrawings

and some apps

Like I said, I have the 64GB version

Soz that I am sounding like a shill for the Q2 but I love mine. Wouldn't swap it for the world.

And like I said, buy everything from Amazon and if you don't like it, just return it for 100% money back.