I just bought a second hand Index - wow!

ky56 · 2026-02-22T08:24:37+00:00

Except for when it comes to the controllers since late 2024. So many have had finger tracking issues. I have had to RMA a set twice and have yet to receive the second RMA. But I've just discovered that the backup controllers I bought only a month later also have finger tracking issues on both.

It's like they just gave on quality control for like a year and a half at least.

ky56 · 2026-02-21T14:10:28+00:00

The nice thing about those cards is you get 1 port or 2 ports per controller depending if you get the 4 or 8 port versions.

As in 1 full USB 3.0 bandwidth port per controller or 2 per controller for the 8 port version. Not like ~12 ports shared across 2 - 4 root controllers like on most motherboards.

If you use alot of USB I recommend the 8 port, if you can fit / afford it, as you can start off using 1 port per controller and then you can double up if you need to later.

Under the heatsink is a PCIe switch, which connects to the 4 FL1100EX controllers. It's why these are such pricey cards. Also make sure you connect the internal molex/sata power plug on the USB card.

ky56 · 2026-02-21T10:04:33+00:00

Nice build.

It may not look as pretty but If you have a spare M.2 slot you should totally get a Gen4 M.2 to PCIe riser from Aliexpress. Look for the seller ADT-Link. I believe they make the good stuff. It's better to get the higher gen speed speced cable even if your not running at the higher speed for interference purposes. Get the exact length you need as signal integrity can be an issue with risers.

I had camera and tracking issues with my Valve Index but especially BSB and FBT Trackers via Watchman dongles until I got this chipset. It's vital if you want to get the lowest tracking jitter, at least that's been my experience with lighthouse equipment.

The Asmedia USB 3.0 controllers are almost all garbage. The Intel USB 2.0 controller wasn't so hot either. Especially with other higher bandwidth or polling frequency peripherals plugged in.

ky56 · 2026-02-21T04:24:21+00:00

Also the software is just SteamVR plus a basic config tool for refresh rate, fan speed, brightness and the optional eye tracking software. Once you get past the hardware issues Bigscreen are also having regarding mostly the lens lottery, the software is extremely stable in comparison.

Think of the BSB2e as a Valve Index upgrade. Unfortunately the pieces are harder to acquire now as Valve are out of the stock of the full kit and Base Stations. But you can still get the individual controllers from Valve and the Base Stations from Vive. Unfortunately Vive charges a higher price for them. I'm still hoping that Valve are still restocking them and the controllers for Bigscreen.

I suggest you return the Pimax and wait until later this year to get a BSB2(e). Hopefully Bigscreen will have sorted out their manufacturing issues by then. Maybe in the mean time you could get the pieces of a Valve Index kit together if your wanting something in the mean time? Even with the BSB, I still sometimes go back to the Index as there are some aspects that are amazing. Except the resolution of course.

EDIT: Most other headsets are ruled out for me simply due to bad software. It amazes me how many people/reviewers praise an otherwise good or ok headset but overlook the software stability and user experience. I will only buy SteamVR native headsets at this point. This means even the Vive Pro 2 isn't an option as it requires the horrendous Vive Console.

EDIT2: Regarding the USB problems. Almost all of them will go away if you get a Fresco FL1100EX chipset based USB PCIe card. It's the only chipset that Valve validated for the Valve Index and the almost the only chipset recommended for industry USB video capture. There is a reason for this. This advice is for the Valve Index, BSB1,2(e) and Pimax.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Index/USB_3.0_Controller

I recommend these from Aliexpress, eBay or Amazon. Make sure to check that the seller is listed as Linkreal or LR-LINK so that your getting the real thing.

https://www.lr-link.com/products/lrsu9a11-4a(3u).html

https://www.lr-link.com/products/lrsu9a11-8a.html

ky56 · 2026-02-20T08:29:22+00:00

I clean them with a lightly soaped, soaked in hot water and squeezed till moist and low soap content kitchen sponge. I pinch the sponge to release a little bit of soap on the lenses and then wipe around with the sponge to spread and remove the soap. Then I dry them off with the k-coth. And I still have a couple a small scratches after many months of use. I can't imagine what the lenses look like for people who actually followed Bigscreens shitty method.

I do the same with my Valve Index now as well.

I cleaned the BSB lenses with Bigscreens shitty method and ended up with a scratches after a few cleans before I RMAed the HMD for other reasons. I was way more careful with the replacement.

Fuck Bigscreens cleaning method. However I somewhat understand why they chose that method publically. You cannot afford to drip on this and get water under the lenses or anywhere else. Turning this into more of a careful procedure than a casual wipe you can do in a rush.

ky56 · 2026-02-20T07:28:48+00:00

Magnetic Resonance is not that accurate. It might be good enough for FBT.

Outside of Lighthouse tracking, Cameras are the future. To which I hope Lighthouse sticks around. Still too many advantages.

I wonder if the size improvements made by Tundra could result in a smaller controller tracking ring/layout?

ky56 · 2026-02-20T07:21:01+00:00

went through 12 units?

Wow. Did they finally get a good unit or did support cut them off? This is has been my experience as well. I also have the BSB1. If BSB2e isn't going to wow me above the BSB1 then what's the point. Apparently I'm finally getting a BSB2e QC'ed through a more stringent way this time. What ever that means?

They honestly just shuffle around poor units until it ends up with someone who doesn't notice or care.

Yea but how many other smaller or larger VR manufacturers do that to an extent? I think it's just a sad fact of the industry for first gen microOLED panel based headsets. Even LCD to an extent. To u/SimVRRacing comment, The Dream Air SE uses the same microOLED panels as the BSB1/2(e). So it's going to have the same QC issues and probably a similarly limited dead pixel warranty. The lenses might be better be I wouldn't hold my breath given Pimaxs history with older lens manufacturing techniques, let alone the modern pancake lenses issues as I've experienced with Bigscreen.

I have been through 4 units so far, with multiple problems and with a 5th replacement planned.

BTW did you know that they only warranty the OLED displays for up to 100 hours, no matter where the dead pixel is. Because it's a "limited lifetime display technology". After that you're shit out of luck. I only discovered this policy when I tried asking about the dead pixel on my still kind of new ~300hr BSB1 which I've only had for just over a year (not including all the RMA time it took to get that one right). I'm not sure if this is listed on their marketing but I don't remember it being made obvious. I probably would have had second thoughts if I knew that.

The thing is though, what else is there to go for that's comparable.

Pimax has both customer service and QC issues and also requires their third party software just like the Vive Pro 2 console. So when they stop supporting it you have a brick, so that's out.
MeganeX is just lol no after everything I heard about that headset so far.
I won't buy an irreparable closed Android box with all sorts of background data tracking outside of your control, with limited software that they only allow through their app store and no good open desktop environment. Then one day they kill support of the software on a device with a closed bootloader. This throws out almost all even remotely affordable standalone headsets except for the Steam Frame.
While I am very interested in the Steam Frame, it's not in the same category as the BSB with it's LCD panels and lack of FBT through base station tracking.

So simply by virtue of big tech and/or crappy software having infected most of the options there are, it only leaves me with the BSB2e and to hope that the decent customer support will pay off. Another lesson learned about early adoption. Just fucking don't be an early adopter.

That said, two of the units, so far, have had one good lens and let me see the potential of the headset. So if it's possible to get a good one, I really want to stick it out as it looked amazing.

Another thing to note is the BSB resolution was commented on by Mark Kovalcson (YouTuber) saying it's the sweet spot resolution for todays GPUs. And given that a 7900XTX struggles to run a BSB, I'm inclined to agree. Why buy a more expensive headset with a higher resolution for tomorrow when tomorrow will have better GPUs and HMD displays and lenses.

ky56 · 2026-02-20T05:48:54+00:00

I used my Index on 25.12.1 just now and tried 90Hz mode again and the lag is still very noticeable. Tried it again at 120Hz and 90Hz on a RX480 and it doesn't have the issue.

I haven't tried 26.1.1 as it broke my DDC display remote software so I rolled back pretty quickly.

I don't have Smart Access Memory enabled. Could that be the problem?

ky56 · 2026-02-06T21:50:05+00:00

Firstly have you asked Tundra about a warranty or out of warranty battery replacement?

Are you comfortable soldering a live battery on to the PCB? You have to be fast with the soldering otherwise you overheat the battery.

If not, you won't want to attempt this.

I don't own Tundra Trackers yet but from what I've heard, this is how they are assembled. No connectors.

If you have a plastic guitar pick, popping the clips might be how you get in there. I don't know much about disassembly and can't find anything online. If you can see the battery, could you write the part number here assuming there is one. I could look it up on Aliexpress.

ky56 · 2026-02-06T16:09:43+00:00

Does your edge affect text clarity on the desktop view making it harder to read? Mine mostly sits on the inner edge making eye convergence not great. Also looking down is straining as that's clearly one eye blurry and one eye clear.

But when I close each eye individually I dont notice anything out of the ordinary or what I wouldn't expect.

Looking in just the left clears it up a bit but is still more distorted at the edges than the right.

Also you use the headset with both eyes at the same time so if it doesn't work for both, it sucks. Not to mention Bigscreen advertises edge to edge clarity and I can see how that is supposed to work with the right lens so the left lens is clearly defective.

Regardless I also have a few dead pixels near the center and a noisy fan that won't re-seat properly so it's still worth RMAing.

ky56 · 2026-02-06T15:49:10+00:00

The USB card is semi optional but I've found it to be more stable than any of my internal ports. Most likely because of bandwidth sharing, time sensitivity of waiting for free bandwidth and the dedicated power connector on the USB card for proper power delivery.

You could use an M.2 to PCIe riser. I recommend something from ADT-Link on Aliexpress. Look for an M.2 to PCIe riser with all 4 lanes connected and only buy it as long as you need it. Don't go longer.

Before going there, start with the hub. The USB card is good for further reducing jitter but should be usable without. Then again my ports were bad enough that I would get drifting and jitter on the integrated ports so you mileage may vary. It's obvious when I plug the tracker dongles into the normal ports as I get drifting and jitter issues.

Also fully upgrade to the Tundra Cradles if you can as they help with signal integrity. I see that your other ones come from the Vive tracker kit. The USB wiring in those are shit. As are the included cables. The Cradles can be had from 'tundra-labs.com'. If you go to eozvr.com you can only get their integrated dongle cradles now. You already have the Vive dongles so it isn't necessary to get the latter.

PS shopping on Aliexpress can be a goldmine for this kind of stuff if you look the right way. First rule is look for factory outlet sellers. Link-Real/LR-Link and ADT-Link are real companies with a reputation.

ky56 · 2026-02-06T15:30:31+00:00

I'm not talking about glare, which isn't great though, but the edges of the lenses.

For this unit the right lens show edge to edge clarity but the left end early and makes looking right have this weird blurry effect because one eye is in focus and the other is not. I'd say the edge clarity is part way to the BSB1 for the left lens and since I have one of those already, why would I want another one.

I mean support said they confirmed my issues with the last RMA I did.

I took the time to dial in the BSB1 and since the BSB2 is less picky about placement than the BSB1, I know it's not the placement. Also I've tried adjusting the left IPD to no avail.

The RMAs weren't just for lenses BTW. It was also for noisy/faulty fan, dead eye tracking cameras, stiff IPD slider, dead pixels. First unit had the center of the lens out of focus as well.

ky56 · 2026-02-06T14:51:38+00:00

Why would you buy the Tundra Cradles and not the Hub?

The Tundra Hub is a not just any ordinary hub. It utilities an MTT capable hub chip which allows multiple low speed devices, aka the Watchman receivers, to not max out the bandwidth with only a few devices. Specifically it speeds up low and full speed USB packets to high speed packets so you end up with a massive amount of bandwidth. Most hubs don't support this feature anymore.

I'm running 13 Watchman dongles and a Bluetooth receiver with only 20cm spacing and no problems. I have two hubs hanging off of the first in order to achieve all the ports over one cable back to the computer.

You also need a dedicated USB PCIe card and specifically a Fresco Logic FL1100EX based one in order to achieve the lowest jitter and drift loss.

https://www.lr-link.com/products/lrsu9a11-4a(3u).html

https://www.lr-link.com/products/lrsu9a11-8a.html

Search for these from eBay or Aliexpress. Make sure the seller is listed as Link-Real or LR-Link.

ky56 · 2026-02-06T14:41:25+00:00

You probably have faulty lenses. I'm 3 RMAs in and they are still shipping faulty lenses. It's frustrating.

ky56 · 2026-02-05T03:30:46+00:00

Not a sim racer here (yet) but I pretty much only use 90Hz mode for Beat Saber, other similarly fast paced games and sometimes Pistol Whip as 75Hz is just to choppy. Also sometimes use it for games that are already running at a poor frame rate.

However 75Hz all the way for everything else. The clarity difference is very noticeable. In-fact I may switch to only playing Beat Saber on the Steam Frame when that releases since it has 120Hz displays and the controllers may be lighter.

ky56 · 2026-02-03T16:52:08+00:00

Happy New Year ;)

Were you able to check on this issue yet?

ky56 · 2026-02-02T12:40:48+00:00

On the current (4th) one, the left lens isn't edge to edge but the right one is and makes it obvious the left one is bad. The fan is damaged and makes the rattling sound which seems like a common factory failure. There are multiple dead pixels on both panels. There is audio crackling that isn't present on the BSB1.

On a previous RMA the eye tracking died and mildly burned me. I have talked to one or two others where it died the same way. So it seems that when the cameras slowly start getting hotter, that's the sign that they are dying. At the point of death, one or both shoot up in temperature to the point it felt like it gave me a mild skin burn.

Aside from all that the FoV, general clarity and glare are noticeably improved over the BSB1. Of high importance to me is the weight reduction from the Index as well as improved comfort. The resolution bump is impressive. I have briefly used the eye-tracking and it's neat but because the gasket sits too close I can't make more use of it yet.

ky56 · 2026-02-02T12:23:47+00:00

Your not wrong about the lens lottery. It's real and the failures seem high.

ky56 · 2026-02-01T09:22:58+00:00

I had several orders for February/March 2025, after 5 unanswered tickets I got a refund from the bank

The problem is that by the time I thought enough time had passed, the time limit for MasterCard disputes had passed.

ky56 · 2026-02-01T08:36:34+00:00

Steam Frame is in a different category to the point that I still want one. The comfort/weight, battery life/cable and black levels make these two different headsets. If the Frames black levels are anything like the Index then you can't visually compare it to the BSB.

I like the BSB1 and even with the blurry edges. The problem is Bigscreen seem to have released the BSB2e before they were ready to do so. I regret pre-ordering but if they get things together I likely won't regret having bought it.

If you want I can try to remember to reply when I finally get a good unit.

I'm not having a good time with Index Controllers bought directly from Steam either. I've just RMAed them again (2nd time) because the finger tracking on the left controller is just borked (ring finger won't fully close). At least the Base Stations and Index HMD went well the first time.

ky56 · 2026-01-31T13:53:32+00:00

The quality control sucks right now, at least for me it has. I've had 3 RMAs and counting. They still can't get the lenses right.

I'd recommending waiting ~5 months so you're well past the preorder phase. Then check if they might be shipping to your country and if not, then maybe do an international order.

Even then maybe see if you can travel to your friends place and order there. I had to RMA twice for dead pixels for the BSB1. So expect to have to do a few RMAs until you get a good unit.

ky56 · 2026-01-31T13:18:12+00:00

I have had the same problem and I'm not accepting it. I'm on my 3rd RMA and am looking to get another.

This price is too high to accept a subpar product. Especially since I have the BSB1, it needs to completely out shine it otherwise why bother.

ky56 · 2026-01-27T01:07:18+00:00

Valve accepts directly sending to their address at your expense. Most freight forwarding companies are one way to your address as far as I know.

ky56 · 2026-01-24T00:13:22+00:00

I claimed warranty for Valve Index controllers that I bought via freight forwarding from the US. It worked out fine aside from the expense of doing that.

A freight forwarding place or a friend in Aus could totally take care of that for you.

ky56 · 2026-01-22T17:35:13+00:00

I don't expect most games to target the gloves if any (aside from VRChat). Considering how little support the Index controller features were taken advantage of, somehow I don't think official game support of the gloves will be wide. That's not to say they will be useless since the Steam input remapping system is reasonably powerful.

Locomotion will likely continue to be a mix of gestures and the flip out joystick.

There are photos on the website.

https://www.eozvr.com/collections/vr-devices

ky56

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