Very impressed with the Reverb G2

[AuburnAlumni]

I picked up a Reverb G2 this past week and finally got around to actually playing some games in it this weekend.  I've got every Oculus headset going back to the OG Rift and I'm very impressed with the Reverb, in comfort, clarity, and audio.  Definitely the most comfortable headset I've ever worn.  Definitely plan on using it as my main sim driver for racing/flight simming...will probably still use my Quest for more FPS style games as I definitely like the Oculus Controllers better.

 

Coming from the Oculus enviornment...are there any tips to using the G2 and maximizing smoothness, etc. in IL-2?  I have a 5900x/3080 rig with 32 GB ram.  I'm gonna tinker with the settings this week but didn't know if anyone else has similar specs and some tips for me? 

 

Also...is there an ASW type feature for Reverb similar to Oculus?

[kissTheSky]

Steam VR settings has “Motion Smoothing” as the ASW equivalent, IIRC. It is accessed through “individual app settings” within steam Vr, WMR for SteamVR.

[chiliwili69]

12 hours ago, AuburnAlumni said:

are there any tips to using the G2 and maximizing smoothness

 

Here I would recommend to use fpsVR app from Steam. And use it to adapt your settings (either you use Motion Smoothing or not).

 

As you know, when you apply the 100% SS ratio it renders 19.5 megapixels. So, here using settings which loads more the GPU could saturate the 3080 card. So pay attention to the Clouds settings and MSAA (probably you would not needed).

 

At the end is a trade off for : Clouds, MSAA, SteamVR SS and Motion Smoothing.

 

If you activate Motion Smoothing you will be for sure able to run all maxed out. Even with some MSAA. But the MS introduce little subtle artifacts here and there. I believe some G2 users are using MS and they are happy with that.

 

You can also just run the SYN_VANDER benchmark to be sure everything is performing as expected.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

The Motion Smoothing depends on sharpness of the rendering and refresh rate. So keep the game at least at 100% SteamVR SS (3100x3100 approximately) and refreshrate at 90Hz, with 45fps computed. Always use either Forced-On or Off, do not use Auto (costs ~1ms and introduces a lot of artifacts when it switches automatically). 

 

 

You must go into SteamVR's dashboard in the VR environment by using the WMR controllers (press system button). There on the bottom left you find the WMR menu. Bring it up and look for the setting to set Motion Smoothing on a per App-Setting basis.

 

Only then the Motion Smoothing settings @kissTheSky mentioned in SteamVR's individual app settings will have an effect.

 

 

Like @chiliwili69 said, clouds and msaa make your GPU suffer extraordinairly.

 

 

 

 

 

Do not use SteamVR Beta, as it disables your ability to set Motion Smoothing. 

[firdimigdi]

1 hour ago, SCG_Fenris_Wolf said:

Do not use SteamVR Beta, as it disables your ability to set Motion Smoothing. 

It was just a UI mess-up, in steamvr.settings you could still set it; however in the latest beta (1.7.10 as of this writing) it's back in place in the UI as well.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

4 hours ago, 335th_GRFirdimigdi said:

It was just a UI mess-up, in steamvr.settings you could still set it; however in the latest beta (1.7.10 as of this writing) it's back in place in the UI as well.

Good to hear ! Then go for it! 

 

P.S. Got no VR atm. My Reverb G2's cable went kaputt. Grrr. Contacted HP today. They are sending me a new cable, they said 1-2 working days. Let's see, if they managed to do that, that would give them the support crown.

Edited May 25, 2021 by SCG_Fenris_Wolf

[AuburnAlumni]

Thanks for the tips so far guys.  Greatly appreciated.

[Charlo-VRde]

1 minute ago, SCG_Fenris_Wolf said:

P.S. Got no VR atm. My Reverb G2's cable went kaputt. Grrr. 

Contacted HP today. They are sending me a new cable, they said 1-2 working days. Let's see.

That happened to me, too, in January, when HP told me it would take nine weeks for a replacement cable. I bought a second-hand G2 just to use its cable until the replacement cable could arrive, then resold that G2 for what I paid. I now baby the replacement G2 cable.

 

Glad to hear HP now only needs a few days to replace a faulty cable, assuming that ends up being accurate

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

34 minutes ago, Charlo-VR said:

 

Glad to hear HP now only needs a few days to replace a faulty cable, assuming that ends up being accurate

I hope so too. It depends on location too.

 

A squadron mate from Finland has to replace his cable as well, and they said ETA 5-6 weeks. He then declined (of course, who'd wait such a long time), and they offered to replace the entire HMD against a new unit right away. 

 

Let's hope it's the cable and no inherent hardware compatibility between the two. We both use X570 boards. All other headsets work properly.

Edited May 25, 2021 by SCG_Fenris_Wolf

[[-=BP=-]Slegawsky_VR]

Best place for any advice and all things vr related:

https://vr4dcs.com/2020/12/24/how-to-nail-reverb-setup/

https://discord.gg/7ckPmrUF

Edited May 25, 2021 by [-=BP=-]Slegawsky_VR

[AuburnAlumni]

So spent a good deal of time tweaking last night.  The fpsVR app is super helpful so thanks for that.

 

I definitely saw a big difference with the motion projection on.  Very smooth experience.  Still trying to find the sweet spot on detail, etc. but I think I’m zeroing in on that.

 

Non IL2 topic...Star Wars Squadrons is pretty damn impressive performance wise now.  Flew in that as well and had amazing performance with every setting cranked to the max.  Amazing how different each game can be optimization wise.

[Varibraun]

On 5/24/2021 at 2:59 PM, AuburnAlumni said:

Definitely the most comfortable headset I've ever worn. 

 

This is also true for me, compared to some of the others I have worn, I almost forget I am wearing it. 

 

I will be following our pioneers experiences with the Vive Pro 2 to see how it compares, but this is the first time in the advance of VR Headsets when I haven't jumped right onboard simply because I have been so happy with the G2 (and I might want to invest in the Yaw2 instead).

[dburne]

Yeah Reverb G2 is awesome with the flight sims for sure.

Just finished a play of Medal of Honor Above and Beyond with the Index. Great fun.

Going to have to check out Squadrons with the Reverb G2, can't remember if I already did or not - I don't think I have.

In fact going to have to set up some new controllers I have acquired in it I know,  I remember it can be a little convoluted getting them set up.

Edited May 26, 2021 by dburne

[AuburnAlumni]

36 minutes ago, dburne said:

Yeah Reverb G2 is awesome with the flight sims for sure.

Just finished a play of Medal of Honor Above and Beyond with the Index. Great fun.

Going to have to check out Squadrons with the Reverb G2, can't remember if I already did or not - I don't think I have.

In fact going to have to set up some new controllers I have acquired in it I know,  I remember it can be a little convoluted getting them set up.

So if you own both a Reverb and an Index, I'm assuming you use the Knuckles and Base stations with your Reverb?  

[dburne]

40 minutes ago, AuburnAlumni said:

So if you own both a Reverb and an Index, I'm assuming you use the Knuckles and Base stations with your Reverb?  

 

No.

I use the Reverb G2 for flight sims - for the gorgeous cockpits in the Reverb G2 display.

I use the Index for made for VR games that use controllers - for the tracking and awesome Index controllers.

1 hour ago, dburne said:

Yeah Reverb G2 is awesome with the flight sims for sure.

Just finished a play of Medal of Honor Above and Beyond with the Index. Great fun.

Going to have to check out Squadrons with the Reverb G2, can't remember if I already did or not - I don't think I have.

In fact going to have to set up some new controllers I have acquired in it I know,  I remember it can be a little convoluted getting them set up.

 

Goodness I had forgotten what a big cluster mess it is trying to set up controllers in Squadrons.

This one will have to wait for another day.

[AuburnAlumni]

53 minutes ago, dburne said:

 

No.

I use the Reverb G2 for flight sims - for the gorgeous cockpits in the Reverb G2 display.

I use the Index for made for VR games that use controllers - for the tracking and awesome Index controllers.

 

Goodness I had forgotten what a big cluster mess it is trying to set up controllers in Squadrons.

This one will have to wait for another day.

I set up my Warthog HOTAS stick and throttle pretty easily for Squadrons.  Couldn't get my rudder pedals to work for the life of me so I just added key binds for rudders on my throttle.  But other than that no issues.

 

What a great freaking game too, especially if you are a Star Wars nut like myself.

[dburne]

21 minutes ago, AuburnAlumni said:

I set up my Warthog HOTAS stick and throttle pretty easily for Squadrons.  Couldn't get my rudder pedals to work for the life of me so I just added key binds for rudders on my throttle.  But other than that no issues.

 

What a great freaking game too, especially if you are a Star Wars nut like myself.

 

Yeah I am having a bit of a struggle with it but getting there. Trying to get buttons assigned for everything is a little complex for me.

I had no trouble with pitch, roll and yaw axis assignments, those went fine. Just getting to where I can navigate the menus properly is a pitb.

[[-=BP=-]Slegawsky_VR]

if they invested in quality cables it means the end of HP reverb.

alvays good for the consumer.

https://www.vive.com/eu/product/vive-pro2/overview/

[dburne]

6 minutes ago, [-=BP=-]Slegawsky_VR said:

if they invested in quality cables it means the end of HP reverb.

alvays good for the consumer.

https://www.vive.com/eu/product/vive-pro2/overview/

 

I have run my Reverb G2 pretty hard since getting it around the end of the year, have had no issue with the cable so far.

It seems pretty robust.

[unlikely_spider]

6 minutes ago, dburne said:

 

I have run my Reverb G2 pretty hard since getting it around the end of the year, have had no issue with the cable so far.

It seems pretty robust.

Mine just stopped working

[Varibraun]

12 hours ago, unlikely_spider said:

Mine just stopped working

You would think after all the issues with the G1 HP would have figured that out on the G2.  I hope they get it replaced for you quickly - let us know how it goes.

 

I had this issue with the G1, and although HP was responsive it took a few weeks to get a replacement.  But this was right as the G1 was being discontinued, and I actually received my preordered G2 a week after the replacement G1 arrived (which I kept as a backup because I was so traumatized being without VR...lol).  So hopefully, it will be much quicker for you for the G2.  Good luck!

[unlikely_spider]

43 minutes ago, Varibraun said:

You would think after all the issues with the G1 HP would have figured that out on the G2.  I hope they get it replaced for you quickly - let us know how it goes.

 

I had this issue with the G1, and although HP was responsive it took a few weeks to get a replacement.  But this was right as the G1 was being discontinued, and I actually received my preordered G2 a week after the replacement G1 arrived (which I kept as a backup because I was so traumatized being without VR...lol).  So hopefully, it will be much quicker for you for the G2.  Good luck!

I opened up a ticket via chat on their site almost two weeks ago. Hopefully the replacement cable comes soon.

[Varibraun]

53 minutes ago, unlikely_spider said:

I opened up a ticket via chat on their site almost two weeks ago.

 

I saw a post that when someone pushed HP over the delay on a cable, HP sent a full replacement headset because the cables were backlogged.  Might be worth a try - when I was having my G1 issue I found their phone support to be pretty good at trying to work through the issue and delays with me.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

HP did promise the replacement cable to be here by now, but I didn't even get a sent notification yet. 

Have to call them again tomorrow...

[firdimigdi]

10 hours ago, SCG_Fenris_Wolf said:

HP did promise the replacement cable to be here by now, but I didn't even get a sent notification yet. 

Have to call them again tomorrow...

Do you have any clue as to what might have caused your cable to die in the first place?

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

2 hours ago, 335th_GRFirdimigdi said:

Do you have any clue as to what might have caused your cable to die in the first place?

Unfortunately not, I played seated 99% of the time.

[firdimigdi]

45 minutes ago, SCG_Fenris_Wolf said:

Unfortunately not, I played seated 99% of the time.

 

Since I acquired one recently after having demoed a friend's - one thing I noticed was the the proposed cable routing for the headset didn't look like the best way to do it. Pulling on the straps could easily get the cable to stress the plug as the cable would grab on the clip (which is also probably the way most people end up breaking the latter). I opted for keeping some slack over the top and securing it with a wide piece of velcro on the rear and routing it down towards the clip. That way there is always slack between the back of the headstrap and the plug and also the cable drops naturally to my left and downwards in a smooth loop, much like my Rift S does, so then it can rest on a wall-mounted monitor arm I got on my left.

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by 335th_GRFirdimigdi
photo, thousand words, etc

[Charlo-VRde]

7 hours ago, 335th_GRFirdimigdi said:

 

Since I acquired one recently after having demoed a friend's - one thing I noticed was the the proposed cable routing for the headset didn't look like the best way to do it. Pulling on the straps could easily get the cable to stress the plug as the cable would grab on the clip (which is also probably the way most people end up breaking the latter). I opted for keeping some slack over the top and securing it with a wide piece of velcro on the rear and routing it down towards the clip. That way there is always slack between the back of the headstrap and the plug and also the cable drops naturally to my left and downwards in a smooth loop, much like my Rift S does, so then it can rest on a wall-mounted monitor arm I got on my left.

I only play while seated, and I suspect the above was correct for what killed my first G2 cable back in January. I now also use velcro in two places across the back, as well as magnets on the cables to attach the cable to my gaming chair, to treat the replacement cable gently.

 

I also suspect frequent, casual swinging the headset up after I first got it - both because initial setup has you looking at your monitor often as you dial in settings, and also because my previous Oculus Quest 1 didn’t have that feature so I really appreciated it in the G2 - may have helped kill my first cable. But that usage should be anticipated and built into the quality of the cable, IMHO, since HP markets that as a feature ? 

Edited May 28, 2021 by Charlo-VR