Vive Pro 2 Initial Impressions

Gelly916

Premium
Well, not a great start for the VP2. Testing on a variety of different resolutions and I just do not think the image clarity is all that great for a headset at this price point, claiming to have these crazy great lenses. Lateral FOV is pretty good, I'd say on par with the Index. But the vertical FOV is noticeably smaller. Luckily for me, I have the Index, VP2, and G2 all in my household. So I can switch back and fourth between the three pretty quickly. I think edge-to-edge clarity on the VP2 is somewhere in-between the Index and the G2. Better than the G2, but slightly worse than the Index. I have a test that I run on Assetto Corsa to measure this. There is a sign in the pit boxes at Brand's Hatch that says something along the lines of "no one under the age of 16 permitted...." I read that sign from the same pit box with all three headsets and the G2 is the obvious winner, VP2 in second, then Index in third. I then go about doing my regular racing to measure things like performance, audio, clarity, and comfort.

Audio is much better than the G2, but not as good as the Index. The bass is just not as deep, and while I prefer on-ear audio, I felt like the VP2 sounded hollow. The volume of the audio was fine though.

When it comes to comfort, I think the VP2 is the least comfortable between the three headsets. Now this is of course debatable, as everyone's heads are different shaped, but I felt like the VP2 dug into my forehead quite a bit. Probably something I need to play more with and just get used to, but I was not happy with that at all.


Performance on the VP2 was very similar to that of the G2. I could not hold stable 90 FPS on ACC or AMS2 with 20+ other cars on circuit. This is compared to the Index where I can hold a stable 80FPS for practically everything past the start of the race (ACC). Didn't test in an actual race in iracing, but I imagine you could hold 90 FPS in that title with similar or better hardware than I have. Regular AC ran fine, but I did have some frame rate drops in specific parts of specific tracks. That was with 23 AI driving with me. I'm using a 3080/9700k. I felt like the performance was just right at the "high" setting (3672x1836 @ 90hz) in Vive control console. Ultra seemed too demanding and frame rate was not stable. (4896x2448 @ 90hz)

I think the colors on the VP2 are a little bit better than that of the Index. Darker colors specifically have more depth to them.

Vive software was easy to navigate. No real big deal here. But I still dislike how SteamVR settings are still not completely taken out of the equation. Like, I think that the Vive software should automatically take priority over SteamVR settings when it comes to resolution. It's confusing when you're running Vive settings at "high" or "ultra" and then you have to go back to SteamVR to change the supersampling to match whatever settings you're using from Vive. It's just a headache, but at least it's not WMR lol!

Build quality again put the VP2 somewhere between the Index and the G2. One issue I had with the VP2 immediately was that the setting for pulling the lenses closer to your eyes doesn't really lock into place that strongly. When I take the headset off, I could hear the gear inside (sounds like a ratchet strap) click, and the lenses would move further away. Again, this is when I'm grabbing the front part of the headset to lift it off my face. I had to readjust that distance with the lenses, and take care of not grabbing that specific part when removing the headset. I felt like that was kind of janky. But my GREATEST disappointment when it came to build quality was that the facial interface and back head pad are all made of foam. Like c'mon, it's 2021 and this is a 800 dollar headset. Give me the smooth pleather type material that the Index uses over that crappy foam material. The Index is built like a damn tank, the G2 is built like a CV1, and the VP2 is somewhere in-between.

If someone asked me if I would recommend the VP2, I'd say no. I'd absolutely recommend the Index or G2 over it. As much as I dislike the G2, the lenses and clarity on that thing are still leading the market. I just wish it didn't lack in so many other areas. The Index is the exact opposite. It's top of the market is every imaginable way, except for its lenses. If they could literally make an Index and replace the lenses with that of the G2, it'd be the best headset on the market, no questions asked. Pretty disappointed in the VP2, but I'll give it a couple more days before I make a decision on whether to return or not.
 
Do you mind helping me out with my issue?

I am new to the whole VR world and dove right in with the VP2. I mainly got one for sim racing and when playing both ACC and Automobilista 2, I am locked at 60-61 fps via fpsVR, no matter what I do. I can lower all graphic settings in the games to the lowest and it won't make a difference. I've tried all the display settings in the Vive console from performance, ultra and extreme still won't budge. I was gifted Half Life Alyx by purchasing the base stations and I can get 120fps in that game.

Messed with the SS settings as well in the steamVR and per application I was running, still can't get above 60 fps.

Also went into NVIDIA CP and changed some things around with no success. So now I am at a loss.

Would appreciate your insight as to why this is happening and what I could do to fix this.

Specs: 3080, i7-9700k
 
Inside the Vive Console App, there is a checkbox that can be selected. I forget exactly what they called it, something along the lines of "motion compensation" (I know that's not what it's called, but it's something like that). Make sure that box is NOT checked.
 
It almost sounds like Steam VR is forcing ASW. There is a setting to disable that in Steam VR, but I thought it was disabled by default because the VP2 doesn't support it. ASW basically cuts your FPS in half, 120/60, if it can't reach the target frame rate. I wish I could help more, but I returned the headset and uninstalled the Vive software.
 
It almost sounds like Steam VR is forcing ASW. There is a setting to disable that in Steam VR, but I thought it was disabled by default because the VP2 doesn't support it. ASW basically cuts your FPS in half, 120/60, if it can't reach the target frame rate. I wish I could help more, but I returned the headset and uninstalled the Vive software.
Damn, in steamVR is it motion smoothing? Because that cannot be changed in SteamVR at all. In the vive console I can turn on motion smoothing but that doesnt help. This is annoying.
 
I have a question with regards to the VP2 and what the minimum hardware needed is just to play race sims. I am not referring to PC specifications, this is more specifically about the VR peripherals.

If I have VP2, I know I would need at least one tracking base, however would I need two? This is just for race sims, I have no intention of using for the typical VR games. The only possible use may be flight sims in the future but righ now it would be dedicated.

The other part is the controller; do you really need one for race sim use, or can you get away with another controller (button box set up with a couple of presets and a mouse)

Finally, is there any other specific race sim related hardware or point of note? Something that you deem essential or really helpful?

Thanks in advance for any responses

Les
 

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