cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

[Rift S Review] From CV1 to S

xWildchildx
Explorer
Hi all,
time to spend my 2 cent on a small review.
In the past weeks I've read a lot of review focused on "from CV1 to S worth it?", and now that I took the S from Amazon on Black Friday with 50euro discount, I can post my consideration.
I have the CV1 since something like "day 1" (maybe day "2" let me say).
I saw all the software evolution, I remember every single update and phase of the CV1 history, the bad updates and the good one.
Oculus effort was AMAZING during the last years, so massive improvements was done since the day one! 
Now, the S come out. I've read all the review and basically the "CONS" considered by most of that review is:

1) no OLED, so black is not black but "greysh";
2) audio quality from the "non-headphones;
3) sensors tracking sometimes not perfect (latest updates should mitigate/fix this);

My "S" arrived last Saturday at me. I was excited, not like the first day with the CV1, but excited.
Package is really good, let me say that CV1 was AWESOME, but the S one is really good. But we don't care about the package...right?
So, connecting the S to the PC (i7 6700k, 16GB RAM, Nvidia 1080Ti)...Oculus Home didn't open itself as I expect. Mmm. I open it manually.
Ok! Found the Rift S! It ask me firmware and driver updates. Let's do this. It takes a long time, after some Oculus Home restart...it ask me to...restart Oculus Software. Again. And again. And again. And again.
Ok. Shit. Maybe a clean Oculus installation is preferred. I can accept this since I never needed to re-install it clean since CV1 "bug" a long time ago (do you remember that update? 🙂 ).
Ok, clean install! Insert Rift "S"..."can't track your movement" (or something like that...) and again, ask me for software restart loop.
So angry. It takes me hours on this, then after "usb out/in" and "display port out/in"...SBAM! It works! Finally! I can try it!

I'll be very short:

1) OMG...that's CRISP. I can finally rad every single row of text! It's AMAZING from CV1 experience! WOW!
2) Colors are OK, let me say, I can't tell you if there's some difference from CV1 on this...really.
3) Black: meh...I think this is the major big problem (after the software and connection...that is THE major). For many games/experience is fine. For example, on daytime in Pavlov VR or Onward, it's really fantastic...you'll don't miss the OLED "true" black. But...in the dark scene...you'll miss it. A lot. This will break your experience. On Arizona Sunshine dark scene for example, Onward night time (without night vision on, of course). On Project Cars 2 and Assetto Corsa you can notice it, but it's not so important as I could expect. It's OK. Just OK. Not so bad on that kind of game. Vader Immortal instead break your immersion a lot cause the dark environment around you.
4) Audio: OMG. Why? Why Oculus decide to go with this SHIT instead of the "near-perfect" headphones in the CV1? Because I can't give to this other name other than shit. It's pure shit. Lack in bass. In clarity. In dynamics. It lacks everything you could expect for a GOOD audio experience. You need the headphones in order to avoid any nausea and so I tried it with my small AKG K328 earphones. But the problem is that every time you put your Rift S on, you need to insert the earphones. And again, when you take it out, the same. Annoying as hell.
5) Refresh rate: for the most part, I can't notice difference from CV1 90hz to Rift S 80Hz. Most, but not all. It works fine for Project Cars 2 and Assetto Corsa where I originally expect issues. It's fine. I can't believe but I don't notice so much difference. In Onward, by the way, it's MASSIVE difference. Rift S movement it's bad against CV1 "perfection". Very strange, tried several time but that's it. Annoying. 
6) Tracking: sensors are the only issue that sometimes the CV1 gives to me so I was really excited from inside tracking of Rift S! Ok, it's fine for most of games like Project Cars 2 and Assetto Corsa. Let me say, it's fine for all games without the touch needed. Because the touch movement it's not good as the CV1. A lot. In Onward for example gun/rifle movements are not natural at all. In CV1 it's almost perfect, in Rift S so disappointing. Also, you need the full lights on in the room, if you lower it the tracking simply stops working at all. I've read so many reviews and most of all says that the latest updates improved this a lot, I tried the beta update channel of course but it's simply not working as good as CV1. No near miss, but very distant from the CV1.
7) Comfort: I think this is personal, but for me the CV1 it's so much better in comfort and easy to put in/out.

So that's it.I love the screen resolution and sharpness. It's night and day from CV1, for sure. The sound it's so awful but ok, you can use your headphones. 
The refresh rate can be "good" for 90% of games. The "true black" lacks too. 
But the software...the drivers...OMG...this is a nightmare. Why? Why Oculus???

Final consideration: probably I will return it to Amazon due to connection issues. I don't want to fight everytime I want to play
For 10 mins play you need 30mins fight with connection. Unacceptable.
I hope they'll fix this issue, otherwise Rift S is already dead.

After connection...I think that if you come from CV1, the Rift S it's simply not your way to go. If you played a lot like me in the CV1, black lacks, refresh rate and tracking will make too much impact on your experience.
But, if you're new to VR, Rift S will be AMAZING experience because you cannot compare it to the CV1 experience.

P.S.: after 2 days of play, I took back the CV1 for comparison. Simply put the USB and HDMI. It works like a charm. At first try. CV1, my old love, missed you so much.
Thermaltake Element G - Corsair TX850W - ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero - Intel Core i7 6700K@4.5GHz (1.230V) - Noctua NH-D15 - 16GB DDR4 3.466Mhz Corsair (2x8GB) CAS16  - Samsung 950 PRO  M.2 NVMe 256GB - GTX 980Ti Inno3D iChill Black Accelero Hybrid S - Windows 10 PRO 64bit - Panasonic CXM710 50" 4K LED - Oculus Rift CV1
54 REPLIES 54

Umpa_PC
Rising Star

Netheri said:
Personally i really can't understand why Facebook dropped the sound we accustomed in CV1 from the 1.5 gen step forwards, losing an edge there against the competitors (of course it's the money, cheaper to produce, more profit/sell but shit, that was one of the benefits of Oculus; great sounds out of the box).


Oculus have made VR more affordable, so more people than ever are taking up the hobby.  For the hardcore enthusiast there are other HMD's available from other companies.  Whist Oculus should still provide accessories for the CV1 - and its unforgivable that they don't and I feel for you guys but they don't & thats the reality of the situation. 

FWIW I think the Rift S is a great HMD and have very few problems with it.  Would have been better at half the price 🙂
Oculus Rift S - Oculus Quest 128GB
MSI trident 3 7RB-200UK Intel Core i5-7400 3 Ghz x2
MSI GTX 1050 Ti (4GB) & MSI Aero GTX 1060 OC (6GB) & MSI Aero GTX 1070 OC 8GB
16 GB RAM x2, 1TB HDD x2, 1TB SSD x2
Windows 10 Home Edition Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363, Oculus version 17, Quest Version 17
Fan Cooling by Zotac FireStorm - AfterBurner cause me problems.

Netheri
Rising Star

Umpa_PC said:



FWIW I think the Rift S is a great HMD and have very few problems with it.  Would have been better at half the price 🙂


Yeah, i could've considered it as a next hmd for me, but my IPD is 68 and i wouldn't like to take risk that my eyes couldn't handle the 62.5 maximum on those. 😕 Although, the different bugs mentioned also on Rift S on these and Reddit forums I'm a bit satisfied i didn't take the risk. 
i9-9900K@ 5GHz, ASUS Rog Strix 2080 Super OC , 32gb 3466MHz DDR4, ROG Strix Z390 E Gaming, 1 x Inateck 4 port USB 3.0 card, 2x3.1, USB, 6x3.0 USB on mobo, 1x USB-C on G-card, Reverb G2

Ray_Sover
Expert Protege

Netheri said:
Yeah, i could've considered it as a next hmd for me, but my IPD is 68 and i wouldn't like to take risk that my eyes couldn't handle the 62.5 maximum on those. 

I don't know where you're getting the 62.5mm maximum from. The fixed optical IPD of the Rift S is 63.5mm. Facebook recommend a user range of 61.5 to 65.5mm for optimal performance. The software adjustment range is 58 to 72mm, although I'm not too sure how well it works in reality toward the extremes as I sit pretty much in the middle at 64mm.
Intel i7-6700K OCed to 4.7GHz (all cores) @ 1.37V with Corsair Hydro H60 Rev.2 liquid cooling | Sapphire Pulse RX Vega 56 OCed to 1.7GHz boost clock @ 1.05V | 16GB (2x 8GB) HyperX Predator DDR4-3333 CL16 RAM | Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3 motherboard | Win10 Pro 64-bit on 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe SSD on PCIe3.0 x4 | Corsair RM750x PSU | Oculus Rift S

Netheri
Rising Star
Well, 1mm there or there. However, from reading the user experiences from forums other half says (with wider IPD) that "no problem" and the other half says "can't play long", "getting eye/headache" etc. So, not taking a risk as i don't have option to try S in any local shop where i live. If i had the option to try S somewhere and it would've been good for my eyes, i might have bouhgt it as a replacement for CV1. However, seeing the many problems too outside the IPD thing on forums just is the message for _me_ not to buy 1.5 gen devices. Others for their problems, others for their price.  
i9-9900K@ 5GHz, ASUS Rog Strix 2080 Super OC , 32gb 3466MHz DDR4, ROG Strix Z390 E Gaming, 1 x Inateck 4 port USB 3.0 card, 2x3.1, USB, 6x3.0 USB on mobo, 1x USB-C on G-card, Reverb G2

Ray_Sover
Expert Protege

Netheri said:

Well, 1mm there or there.  


It's actually nearly 1cm difference, but never mind.
Intel i7-6700K OCed to 4.7GHz (all cores) @ 1.37V with Corsair Hydro H60 Rev.2 liquid cooling | Sapphire Pulse RX Vega 56 OCed to 1.7GHz boost clock @ 1.05V | 16GB (2x 8GB) HyperX Predator DDR4-3333 CL16 RAM | Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3 motherboard | Win10 Pro 64-bit on 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe SSD on PCIe3.0 x4 | Corsair RM750x PSU | Oculus Rift S

Netheri
Rising Star
What you mean? 😄 1cm is 10mm. IPD of 62.5mm is 6.25cm 63.5mm is 6.35cm. 😄 At least in the metric system what is used in the country I'm living in. By the way the IPD in S is _fixed_ 64mm, and the software IPD setting 58-72 isn't even nearly comparable with the manual IPD setting. Here's somehing from the Palmer Luckey himself about the Rift S : http://palmerluckey.com/i-cant-use-rift-s-and-neither-can-you/

i9-9900K@ 5GHz, ASUS Rog Strix 2080 Super OC , 32gb 3466MHz DDR4, ROG Strix Z390 E Gaming, 1 x Inateck 4 port USB 3.0 card, 2x3.1, USB, 6x3.0 USB on mobo, 1x USB-C on G-card, Reverb G2

Umpa_PC
Rising Star

Netheri said:

What you mean? 😄 1cm is 10mm. IPD of 62.5mm is 6.25cm 63.5mm is 6.35cm. 😄 At least in the metric system what is used in the country I'm living in. By the way the IPD in S is _fixed_ 64mm, and the software IPD setting 58-72 isn't even nearly comparable with the manual IPD setting. Here's somehing from the Palmer Luckey himself about the Rift S : http://palmerluckey.com/i-cant-use-rift-s-and-neither-can-you/



Its a funny old world, I did not even know about IPD when I bought the Rift S, I just kept altering it up and down until it looked the best it could.  When I got the Quest, I set up the IPD as per instructions, and it said I had an IPD of 64.  So I am not the best guy to listen to when I say its very clear and Sharp!  the display is much better than the Quest is apart from the OLED display is more colourful and better gamma, but unless you swap between the two it fine.

I have never owned a CV1, but if its on a par with the quest (and the quest is not bad by any means) then the Rift S will impress with its visuals I can barely see the pixels.

As for problems, The only ones I have had is the Display Port not found, that I fix by unplugging the USB and basically plug it back in again.  No tracking issues, or anything really - all the software updates have gone tickety boo as well.  

I once bought a car and then went on to a forum and found it was the worlds worst car.  10 Years on I still have it, and thats the thing with forums, seems everyone who has XXX comes on a forum and moans about it.

I know I sound like a fanboy, but the truth is - its been brill, right from the fast shipping.
I say - try it - if you don't you will never know.
Oculus Rift S - Oculus Quest 128GB
MSI trident 3 7RB-200UK Intel Core i5-7400 3 Ghz x2
MSI GTX 1050 Ti (4GB) & MSI Aero GTX 1060 OC (6GB) & MSI Aero GTX 1070 OC 8GB
16 GB RAM x2, 1TB HDD x2, 1TB SSD x2
Windows 10 Home Edition Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363, Oculus version 17, Quest Version 17
Fan Cooling by Zotac FireStorm - AfterBurner cause me problems.

Netheri
Rising Star
@Umpa_PC i get what you're saying but as i don't have any means to test the product anywhere without the purchase and there's much of the different problems on forums (as there's been also on Quest and there's been with the CV1) it's just too much at least for me. And i guess you did at least _test_ drive your car before you bought it? 😉
i9-9900K@ 5GHz, ASUS Rog Strix 2080 Super OC , 32gb 3466MHz DDR4, ROG Strix Z390 E Gaming, 1 x Inateck 4 port USB 3.0 card, 2x3.1, USB, 6x3.0 USB on mobo, 1x USB-C on G-card, Reverb G2

Umpa_PC
Rising Star

Netheri said:

@Umpa_PC i get what you're saying but as i don't have any means to test the product anywhere without the purchase and there's much of the different problems on forums (as there's been also on Quest and there's been with the CV1) it's just too much at least for me. And i guess you did at least _test_ drive your car before you bought it? 😉


Yes good point, I bought with confidence knowing that the distance selling regulations meant if the Rift S was a bag of poop I could send it back for a refund.   Don't you have anything like that in your country ?
Oculus Rift S - Oculus Quest 128GB
MSI trident 3 7RB-200UK Intel Core i5-7400 3 Ghz x2
MSI GTX 1050 Ti (4GB) & MSI Aero GTX 1060 OC (6GB) & MSI Aero GTX 1070 OC 8GB
16 GB RAM x2, 1TB HDD x2, 1TB SSD x2
Windows 10 Home Edition Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363, Oculus version 17, Quest Version 17
Fan Cooling by Zotac FireStorm - AfterBurner cause me problems.

Netheri
Rising Star
@Umpa_PC wiser from the accidents i rather buy some products only after i've tested them. 
i9-9900K@ 5GHz, ASUS Rog Strix 2080 Super OC , 32gb 3466MHz DDR4, ROG Strix Z390 E Gaming, 1 x Inateck 4 port USB 3.0 card, 2x3.1, USB, 6x3.0 USB on mobo, 1x USB-C on G-card, Reverb G2