Oculus Earbuds Accesory - My Impression

[dburne]

So being how I like to try out new things, and am a bit of an audiophile, I decided I would give the Oculus Earbuds a try. They are in ear replacements for the over the ear stock earphones that ship with the Rift.

They are readily available from Oculus, or Amazon, for app 50 USD.

 

I received them yesterday and installed them this morning. Removal of the stock earphones and installation of the Oculus Earbuds was very quick and easy, took me all of about 10 minutes. They ship with an included plastic screwdriver to fit the plastic screw that retains the earphones/earbuds in place. One the earphones were removed, the Earbuds just snap right in and a little turning of the screw and they were nice and secure. Also they are labeled for left and right, as the earphones are.

 

First thing I did was watch a short VR movie preview clip - Ghost in the Shell - the sound was very good. I had it cranked up fairly high, but boy it was plenty loud enough and the clarity was very nice. The positional audio of the Rift really shined in these earbuds as well.

 

Next I flew a couple of my campaign missions in BoS, and again the audio was very good. Maybe a slight improvement over the stock earphones in BoS, but the clarity of the sounds was certainly very good.

 

Lastly, I loaded up Robo Recall for some Touch action. I was not disappointed there either, the sound quality was very good and of course the positional audio one gets through the Rift is incredible anyway especially with games that take advantage of it, like Robo Recall.

 

Probably the biggest advantage one gets with these, is the earbuds being in the ear, rather than the earphones that are over the ear. If you use the stock Rift earphones, just press in on them tightly whilst playing and you will hear the sound better of course, well with the earbuds you get this already.

 

I do find them an improvement over the stock Rift earphones, probably not a large improvement but one nonetheless. Whether that would be worth 50 bucks to someone would be really personal preference, if you love getting every ounce of the best audio you can out of your Rift, then probably worth it. If not so much so and as long as you can hear good sound you are fine, then the stock earphones are probably plenty.

 

An advantage I find with them in my case - my wife and I share the same office. I am retired, and she works from home for her job most of the time. We are in fairly close proximity. With the Ear Buds, they do a great job with noise isolation. I do not hear her at all when she is on the phone, and she does not hear any sound coming from my Rift at all, even though it is blaring in my ears. So in our case that is a good thing.

 

One disadvantage, being in-ear well they are not so inclined to be swapped out between users, if you happen to share your Rift. I mean that would be strange sharing ear wax I suppose. But the Ear Buds do ship with some extra rubber covers, two pair of two different sizes, so one could swap out the covers prior to sharing the Rift.

Or alternatively spend about 10 minutes and swap out with the stock ear phones for those occasions.

 

Overall I am please with them, and will leave them attached to my Rift for the foreseeable future.

Edited May 10, 2017 by dburne

[coconut]

Playing games beside your wife while she's working?! You have no shame !

[dburne]

Playing games beside your wife while she's working?! You have no shame !

 

 

 

None in the least!

[sinned]

Thanks for the great write up...

 

Now i am comtemplating if i should get the earphones... i only have standard rift headset.. and extra vive set...

This VR forum is robbing my wallet.

[Highwayman]

Thanks for posting, I've been on the fence about getting these for a while now.