Rift, Vive, and Virtual Reality

[Deleted member 86764]

If they're true Dolby Digital then they'll be connected by optical, not a normal audio jack.

Do we even know if Oculus Rift has an audio jack, I hope they wouldn't have to be connected to the PC itself...

 

[manux]

Are there any rumors when 3rd party reviewers get rifts for review and analysis? Or is there even rifts being sent out to reviewers?

 

[hughJ]

Is there a headphone jack on the headset itself? Or how would you attach your own?

No jack. The DAC/amp in the HMD outputs directly to the built-in headphones. For anyone wanting to use beefier headphones they're probably going to want to use their own audio equipment anyways because the impedance/power demands will be very different from the built-in ones. Jawed probably isn't going to want to power his 300 or 600ohm phones from a tiny integrated amp that was chosen for 10-50ohm drivers.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Thinking about it, I'm not sure if you need a huge amplifier for headphones; they're not exactly pumping out huge amounts of decibels.

 

[iroboto]

Thinking about it, I'm not sure if you need a huge amplifier for headphones; they're not exactly pumping out huge amounts of decibels.

Sennheisers are known for extremely high impedance for their headphones. Without enough current the sound on the headphones comes in very soft and quiet.

When I bought my Asus xonar I was able to flip my output to Excitor mode which is for 150ohm headphones! And it sounds:: incfreibleeee!

 

[Jawed]

You guys have to remember the weight those headphones are going to add. The whole headset is less than 500grams that includes the built in ear phones.

According to amazon without the cable the hd 800s are 330 grams . Its almost the weight of the headset. So you might increase the quality of the sound but your going to increase the weight on your head by 50%

As I've already said, HD 800 (S) is almost certainly too big to wear with a headset, so HD 650 at 260g is quite a bit less. HD 650 is absurdly comfortable, by the way, I've worn them for an entire waking day, 16 hours, dozens if not hundreds of times, without any fatigue.

Also there's a big difference between headphones that distribute their weight across a very large surface of your head versus a VR visor that's hanging off the front of your head (pressing on your nose, for example, and leaving racoon rings around your eyes).

 

[hughJ]

The added headphone weight on your head really isn't an issue - you couldn't ask for a more centered weight distribution.

The stability and convenience factors however are legitimate things that impact regular use and never get better. I suspect that everyone with high-end audiophile hardware goes into VR scoffing at the idea of using something other than your $1000+ headphone rig, but eventually gives it up. Everyone on MTBS back in 2012 was swearing up and down about not wanting integrated headphones and how much better hi-fi stereo headphones would be (including palmer and myself), but real world experience tends to change your mind.

I could see sacrificing the integrated audio for headphone+ configurations though. For example right now I have a home theater subwoofer split off my USB headphone DAC/amp which allows me to get heavy sub bass in addition to my headphones. Similarly I was thinking about a transducer chair/body shaker like a Buttkicker or Subpac - also something that would be impossible if your game is piping the audio directly to the HMD's dac.

 

[eastmen]

As I've already said, HD 800 (S) is almost certainly too big to wear with a headset, so HD 650 at 260g is quite a bit less. HD 650 is absurdly comfortable, by the way, I've worn them for an entire waking day, 16 hours, dozens if not hundreds of times, without any fatigue.

Also there's a big difference between headphones that distribute their weight across a very large surface of your head versus a VR visor that's hanging off the front of your head (pressing on your nose, for example, and leaving racoon rings around your eyes).

The rift is under 500grams , 470 I think. The Hd 650 at 260 grams is half the weight and you have to combine it with the weight of the headset.

That puts it close to the weight of the sony headset which some reviewers with hands on time said its a lot heavier and was not fun to wear.

Of course if the better sound is that important to you , you can add them on. For me I will just keep the ones it comes with. I prefer a lighter headset

 

[cheapchips]

15 second video of Eagle Flight showing the tunneling they use to stop motion sickness. Wonder if this could work with as well with a conventional first person game. It would really open up more possibilities for game worlds if that type of locomotion was possible.

(Having two VR threads is a bit of a pain for general stuff/games on multiply platforms!)

 

[eastmen]

I think we should start breaking the games out into their own threads at this point

Here is Tested playing Dragon Front multiplayer

 

[iroboto]

I think we should start breaking the games out into their own threads at this point

Here is Tested playing Dragon Front multiplayer

VR games sub forum?

 

[eastmen]

VR games sub forum?

that would be cool

 

[Shifty Geezer]

An very exclusive! Just keep them PC and Console games as they are now. PC game discussion will have a subculture not present in PSVR discussion for settings etc., which is why Rys as decided to keep the separation for multiplatform games.

 

[hughJ]

This sorta stuff is still what turns my crank the most for VR content.

I can remember a time when I'd have to bug my mom to hook up our Apple IIc to the TV so I could play some space sim/rpg on a bigger screen with color. "Bigger" screen meaning 17" as opposed to 9". heh.

 

[eastmen]

The fighting games of the future

 

[manux]

Decent read:

http://www.engadget.com/2016/03/18/htc-vive-an-oral-history/

 

[London Geezer]

This sorta stuff is still what turns my crank the most for VR content.

I can remember a time when I'd have to bug my mom to hook up our Apple IIc to the TV so I could play some space sim/rpg on a bigger screen with color. "Bigger" screen meaning 17" as opposed to 9". heh.

You must be ancient.

 

[eastmen]

http://uploadvr.com/valve-cost-vr-graphics/

As long as the GPU can hit 45 HZ we want for people to be able to run VR,” Vlachos told UploadVR after the talk. “We’ve said the recommended spec is a 970, same as Oculus, but we do want lesser GPUs to work. We’re trying to reduce the cost [of VR].”

Very interesting to see that a GeForce 680 will be able to run the vive . The improvements will most likely cross the other side of the pond to oculus also.

A lot of people have 680 level hardware , more to the point in a few months 680 level hardware should cost peanuts. So you could greatly reduce the cost of a vr ready pc from $1200 down to $800 or less

 

[Jawed]

There's a huge yellow band representing performance between red and green on the Steam VR test that says "capable". So people running this test can already see what their hardware achieves.

But the test seems to fail on one major point: most people who run the test and get "capable" seem to think they must upgrade. The text associated with "capable" results is quite unequivocal: "your VR is rubbish, upgrade your graphics". So I'm afraid to say, while "680" performance sounds "inclusive", what's actually going to happen is quite the opposite.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

As long as the GPU can hit 45 HZ we want for people to be able to run VR,” Vlachos told UploadVR after the talk. “We’ve said the recommended spec is a 970, same as Oculus, but we do want lesser GPUs to work. We’re trying to reduce the cost [of VR].”

Surely 45 Hz isn't good enough for VR. Are they 'upscaling' like Sony to 90 Hz, or just letting people have a juddery, nauseating experience after spending hundreds of bucks on virtual reality?