Index vs. Vive Pro

[TT]

I currently have a Vive Pro and just got the Index controllers. Been eyeballing the Index headset now…

I’ve been hearing pretty positive things about the Index headset’s comfort, sound quality, fov, screen door effect, and refresh rate at cost of picture contrast vs. OLED displays. I’ve even heard that some more sensitive people feel less motion sickness with the Index's higher refresh rate and more natural-looking motion, which would be great for my wife if really true.

A few questions:

Do the over-ear speakers still provide privacy vs. earphones, or can anyone in the same room hear what you are hearing or be distracted by it?

Is the Index headset a negligible, minor, significant or worthy upgrade for someone coming from a Vive Pro?

If money is not a major issue, would you recommend switching from a Vive Pro headset to the Index?

If you have experience with both headsets, please share your thoughts. Thanks!

[--ranXerox--]

I have both.

Money was not an issue and I just jumped in. The speakers are very loud on your head but from the outside, it's like hearing a teenager listening to music through a headset like back in the 80's. I never got motion sickness from any headset but everything feels premium and I can tell there is a more comfortable feeling from it. I notice my head does not feel "heavy" from nausea enducing scenarios. My vive pro feels junky compared to the index.

[JayRon]

I have both a well.

For me the biggest thing was a significant improvement to color reproduction and less distortion. So I perceive the world as clearer. The world has greater definition and is dimensionly "correct". I felt the vive pro tended to distort dimensions in the world a bit.

I have a love hate relationship with color on the index. I love that that color is much better reproduced, but hate the fact that it is not as vivid. I also have a love hate relationship with the clarity. I think that the perceived clarity is greater but the optical clarity is worse. (I know that sounds wired). The world is more defined but is less optically clear. I think this may be due to my glasses. I'm seeing an optitractian to get new ones and some vr lense made.

You have to work harder to position the headset to get it in the sweet spot. With the vive pro, I just put in on and i'm in the sweet spot. But once your in the sweetspot, everything is clear.

I have also big head and wide ipd (70+) so its tight fit.

But overall, I think its worth it. I think when I get vr lenses, things will be better. I'm pretty sure I'm going to retire the vive pro. I work in VR so the color reproduction and detail makes it a no brainer.

[lastsonof7]

So i'll jump in and mention what has not, and that ultimately coming from a Pro, will be a deciding factor. First of all, the Pro is awesome as you know with its representation of blacks and contrast overall. You will not be getting that definition when it comes to the Index. I'm still hoping that there's someway, somehow, to mod this out a lil better. It's just not gonna be right to you when in dark situations. In fact it will just look and feel bad coming from the Pro.

The biggest highlight I have to say with this headset is the upgrade in frames. I haven't tried the headset with many other games yet, but i'm assuming any game that ever felt it just needed a lil extra horsepower to have you running stable 60 fps, this headset will give that to you. I've run it in a demanding heavily modded Skyrim Vr setup and seeing this game in spots running at 144 fps was a jaw dropper for me. Assuming you have the pc specs to match it's horsepower.

This to me, outside of the quality of the headset, is THE deal maker. I would say if you want better performance from here on out, let that be the deciding factor. For this, you will love the Index! Again, when it comes to black spaces, loading screens, there's a glaring difference between the Index and the Pro. It's beautiful during day scenes and you won't miss the Pro around those times. So be warned. Also the bump up in FOV is pretty nice and definitely noticeable. That would be the number two reason imo for buying. Towards the end before ordering the Index, the goggles effect really started to wear on me so that was a nice upgrade as well.

[lastsonof7]

Also wanted to mention the on ear speakers are actually pretty awesome. I'd say they do surprisingly well with keeping you immersed even with other sounds in the background. To anyone nearby, they will just sound like really high fidelity headphones turned up to max.

[Lex Lagger TTV]

I have the Vive Pro WITH the gear VR lens mod, this is important.
I also have the complete Index set up.

From what I have noticed, after about 30 hours in the index now, and then swapping back and forth is this.

Vive Pro: (again, WITH the Gear VR lens mod) Is night and day clearer and crisper display, no god rays, and great contrast with vibrant colors. (Index is the opposite. Foggy looking display (yes, I've found the tiny sweet spot) god rays galore, poor contrast with blacks being grey, and some what washed out colors in comparison.

Index: Wider field of view! This is great, and very obvious when switching back to the pro with what you are missing from your sight. Smoother display. No shifting lines when rotating in Elite Dangerous or anything like that. The audio is fantastic. I use my own headphones with the Pro but feel no need at all with the Index.

My conclusion on the two at this point is a sad thing, as both have good strong advantages, but also very notice-able weaknesses. I want the sharp, high contrast display of the Pro, with the FOV and smoothness of the Index... But that's just not a thing right now. Not sure which to end up using and which to sell. Now the Pro seems like tunnel vision, but the Index makes me feel like I'm looking though a layer of grease smeared on the lenses. I wonder if the GearVR lens mod will work on the Index to crisp it up?

[--ranXerox--]

the gearVR lens mod has a firmware to adjust for visual distortion from what I understand or am I talking out of my butt? unless someone has this firmware out in the wild, I don't think it's worth the upgrade. The glare in the index pro vanishes once you get the ipd correct and sweet spot centered correctly. I noticed that it vanishes if your ipd is like 67 and you set it like 69.

[Lex Lagger TTV]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

the gearVR lens mod has a firmware to adjust for visual distortion from what I understand or am I talking out of my butt? unless someone has this firmware out in the wild, I don't think it's worth the upgrade. The glare in the index pro vanishes once you get the ipd correct and sweet spot centered correctly. I noticed that it vanishes if your ipd is like 67 and you set it like 69.

Here ya go, to correct the lens distortion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/86uwsf/gearvr_to_vive_lens_adapters/dwdigxa/

My distortion fix isn't perfect, but... Would rather have that than the greasy/blurry textures the Index is providing. I wonder though if these lenses can be used on the Index as well with a distortion fix, or... if there is another lens that could be used without the god ray and blurr inducing rings.

[--ranXerox--]

Originally posted by Lex Lagger:

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

the gearVR lens mod has a firmware to adjust for visual distortion from what I understand or am I talking out of my butt? unless someone has this firmware out in the wild, I don't think it's worth the upgrade. The glare in the index pro vanishes once you get the ipd correct and sweet spot centered correctly. I noticed that it vanishes if your ipd is like 67 and you set it like 69.

Here ya go, to correct the lens distortion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/86uwsf/gearvr_to_vive_lens_adapters/dwdigxa/

My distortion fix isn't perfect, but... Would rather have that than the greasy/blurry textures the Index is providing. I wonder though if these lenses can be used on the Index as well with a distortion fix, or... if there is another lens that could be used without the god ray and blurr inducing rings.

i don't think these lenses will work because the field of view is much larger on the index and the gear lenses are not designed for any more than what it was designed for. I think, don't kill me for assuming, the gear lenses are for a panel edge to edge and it is designed for a 0 degree angle as originally designed for. if you place these lenses on a, again don't kill me for assuming, index that has lenses specifically designed for a greater edge to edge that each panel is separate and not one panel like the gearVR lenses are designed for and index having a 5 degree angle tilt on each lense to create a better stereo VR expirience, (yes I still think WMR looks flat in vr) then you will miss out on a really incredible immersion because that is what the index does.

Again assuming here guys but I don't think this will work.

[Lex Lagger TTV]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

Originally posted by Lex Lagger:

Here ya go, to correct the lens distortion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/86uwsf/gearvr_to_vive_lens_adapters/dwdigxa/

My distortion fix isn't perfect, but... Would rather have that than the greasy/blurry textures the Index is providing. I wonder though if these lenses can be used on the Index as well with a distortion fix, or... if there is another lens that could be used without the god ray and blurr inducing rings.

i don't think these lenses will work because the field of view is much larger on the index and the gear lenses are not designed for any more than what it was designed for. I think, don't kill me for assuming, the gear lenses are for a panel edge to edge and it is designed for a 0 degree angle as originally designed for. if you place these lenses on a, again don't kill me for assuming, index that has lenses specifically designed for a greater edge to edge that each panel is separate and not one panel like the gearVR lenses are designed for and index having a 5 degree angle tilt on each lense to create a better stereo VR expirience, (yes I still think WMR looks flat in vr) then you will miss out on a really incredible immersion because that is what the index does.

Again assuming here guys but I don't think this will work.

I'm going to agree with you. Looking at the removed Pro lens and the lens in the Index. The index lens has a different shape to it that is even visible by eye. It "might" be do-able by using software tweaks, like what was done to the Pro, but would take a lot... IF that is even possible. Such a bummer.

Games like Elite, and dark games. Vive Pro. Shooters where you need more FOV and wanna see things in those dark corners? Index. Going to try and get used to it for Elite but it seriously feels like someone just pumped fog into the cabin with me playing that game on the Index.

[--ranXerox--]

Correction: 5 degree angled screens.

[TT]

OP here. Sounds like the Index is overall an improvement over the vive pro, although there will be loss in color contrast and absolute blacks.

Wife and I play Beatsaber the most, so the improved motion and sound quality is very appealing. I play modded Skyrim VR when I can.

My reservation for the Index just came through. I can get the index if I sell my vive pro to a friend. Worth? Any final thoughts or opinions?

I wear glasses, so will probably try to get prescription VR lenses for the Index if I go through with it. Anyone have any experience with those?