PIMAX Artisan

[NEVO]

If you could be so nice as to allow me here to put down some first hand experiences with this HS. In case anyone interested

So lets start, shall we?

First things first :

Your Amazon.de order of “Pimax Artisan VR Headset…” and 1 more item(s) has been dispatched!

And I have also received nice email from Pimax :

You have received a message from the Amazon Seller - PIMAX VIRTUAL REALITY
Dear VR enthusiast, congratulations on your brand new Pimax VR headset!
Our team would like to personally thank you for your purchase, and we want to make sure you get the best possible experience using our industry leading high-end Virtual Reality technology. …

[BeachAV8R]

You know…between the shipping announcement and unboxing there is a taste test right? Right??

[PaulRix]

Looking forward to hearing your review @NEVO. I really like my Reverb G2 my only real criticism is that I’d like a wider FOV.

[Troll]

VR Flight Sim Guy on youtube has tested the Pimax 5K Plus and 8KX. Right now he’s actually testing the Varjo VR3…!
He seems to always fall back to the Reverb G2, though, but mostly for MSFS. For DCS and IL-2 he prefer the Pimaxes…

@NEVO, I’m really interested in hearing about your experience with the Artisan!
I’m seriously considering a Pimax myself. But it will have to wait until next spring, after the house relocation is finished

[NEVO]

Just now I realized what I have done!

It could have been relaxed VR digestion but now it is going to be as follows :

• two weeks maturation ( without it the taset test will be useless )
• packaging taste test
• unboxing with photos and comments
• initial setup well documented with screens for future generations
• testing with camera pushed inside the VR HS, instead of my head, to grab through the lens shots

LoL! Now on a more serious note. I wont be the perfect reviewer as you expect :

• this is going to be my first HS so I have nothing to compare it to
• I ordered just the HS so no base stations for tracking just the bilut in 3dof positioning initially ( this needs to be tested also; and I never owned trackir so I am not spoiled )
• no VR controllers either

Now I wonder which paragraph, from the two above, is funnier

My plan is to enter the VR worlds step by step ( maybe that was wrong decision ). First the HS. Once that is acceptable then the base station(s). Once happy with that then controllers.

( that means you are in no hurry @troll with your moving )

Anyway looking forward to it despite the initial experience will be limited.

[NEVO]

delivery confirmed for today, yay. taste test comin …

…

… and here it is. Little disappointed as it was already tasted by someone or something

But it needs to be done anyway. Pls prepare the cutlery

Fortunately the filling was untouched. Overall taste of the outer packaging can be described simply as industrial with the traces of cargo truck and delivery van

Finally something with full taste!

I need you here @cib , all those tastes I cant describe

And the modular audio strap

…

Before installing the modular audio strap, the comfort kit needs to be detached

…

INSTALLATION

HW :

cable management is not particularly described in any included manual/quickguide or on web. I found some description on openmr formus. Added my comments :

New cable have these connectors
1x DisplayPort (DP, you know)
1x USB 3.0 (blue usb)
1x USB 2.0 for extra power supply (black usb)

The USB 2.0 can be connected to either an extra USB slot on your PC/laptop, a USB charger adapter or a USB Hub.

I connected usb 3.0 to MB and usb 2.0 to powered usb hub.

SW :

First I installed PITOOL downloaded from pimax website. This is standard desktop sw app.
Then I installed STEAMVR from steam app. I went to my steam library, entered steamvr into search and proceeded.

Then I run all the sw and it independently powered the headset and proceeded with base stations and controller setup. As I own none I skipped what could be skipped and that was it.

…

CONCLUSION

Packaging, HW and SW installation - overall I have positive experience. Especially the SW setup was seamless. Thumbs up to them for PITOOL.

Only negative I see in missing proper quick setup guides inside the boxes (there were some but with little and not up to date info) and not up to date setup description on pimax website. So I had to spend some time googling for 100% matching info. One just dont want to guess and screw up something.
I will have to write them some feedback.

…

INSTALLATION OF HTC BASE STATION 2.0 :

I have added single base station to the setup. One important knowledge

POSITION OF BASE STATION

Please keep the distance more than 1.5m between the headset and base station when you are playing the game, or the tracking will be lost. Please also ensure that the height of the base station is about 2m.

All what is needed is to position the base station and connect the power cable. Then run the pitool / steamvr and the base station should find the HS automatically.

[Troll]

Wow! Look at those lenses…!

[Cib]

I hope you can push enough pixels
Make sure you season the box with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, if your feeling cheffy then rub a clove of garlic over the inner side

[BeachAV8R]

@Troll

Look at those lenses…!

[BeachAV8R]

@Cib

Make sure you season the box with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, if your feeling cheffy then rub a clove of garlic over the inner side

Oh my…I had to break open another bottle of Malbec after that description…

[NEVO]

And here comes the first impressions… I FEEL SICK! It feels like hangover.

Didnt expect that but the feeling is there. But I could blame the 3dof head tracking for it maybe.

Cockpits looks cool in 3D. Tested mostly in IL2. Xplane gave me weird display desync - right picture is little off.
EDIT : was able to solve the xplane issue by adding xplane.exe into pitool game list and running it from there (instead of running it from steam).
Before running VR mode in xplane be sure to map, in joystick settings, the ‘toggle 3D mouse’ to joystick button.

Ended up doing only supply runs in IL2 - mostly straight flights

I didnt have time to play with the settings in IL2, I just turned on the VR mode and it showed ingame 40fps at 120Hz.
EDIT : same for xplane, turned on the VR mode and did run the game. Performance was acceptable without touching the settings.

Overall… I feel sick!
The larger FOV is nice; SDE is noticeable but nothing dramatic; sound with KDMAS strap is good;
I just need to order at least one base station to check the 6dof.
EDIT : base station ordered

[Troll]

@NEVO

I FEEL SICK!

It’s not unusual to get sick in the beginning.
And I imagine 3DoF has something to do with it…

[NEVO]

Could be it. So htc base station 2.0 is already on order. (also the smell of the new plastics and cushions didnt help)

Will add some edits to my previos comments so everyone can have clear picture of my experiences.

[NEVO]

Some more testing during the weekend.

Added one base station to the setup. I felt still sick but little less I would say. And realized that its actually none-motion sickness as it seems to be caused by the lack of the motion in contrast to the motion sickness caused by the motion

That base station obviously allowed for 6dof head movement in the VR space but I guess there is an issue with the tracking.

My VR picture is slightly shaking in all apps - IL2, XP, DCS.
Wondering if addition of second base station will get rid of that shake. Turned back to ‘9-Axis’ and no shake.
Addition of second base station could be problematic in my case as my man cave is little cramped and the base station have to be at least 1.5m away from the HS to track it properly. I just dont have enough free space there.

Wondering what to do. I am planning to reorganize my man cave anyway so maybe addition of second base station, just to exclude the tracking issue, could be the way to go.

And not to forget the testing. I am running 100% resolution in steamvr what is little more than native res of the HS. I turned off the anti aliasing and left all other sliders in the same positions as in 2D and all my main sims are running just fine I would say - XP, IL2, DCS. More testing needed oc.

i7-9700F RTX2070S 32GBRAM

[NEVO]

one another thing I will try with the single base station is to lift it up as the setup also hints to have it at 2m height. hope that helps a bit

atm it is like 60 degrees to the left of me and slightly lower than the HS normal position

[haukka81]

I used 1 base station with my ex 5k+ pimax.

It was perfect, you just have to put it least 2 meter away (even 1,5 meters is ok if you get it high near roof), and if possible 45 degrees off from your pit.

      #

  A

^ A = your pit # = base station.

And make sure that your base station is fit tight, even littele loose → will vibrate 00.1mm → your tracking gets funky

-edit- And yes, put it high, my was in 2,3meters and angle it down about 30-45 deg.

[NEVO]

thaks for the hints, it matches my deductions

was particularly thinkink about the vibrations of that thing and if it can cause some trouble.

will be at my gaming pc on Thu the soonest so will try to fidle with it and will post my results

[Troll]

The base stations just need power, right? They don’t have to be connected to the PC…?

[haukka81]

Yes, power only

[Yassy]

Cool stuff @NEVO ! How do you find the build quality of the headset?