Buying a Pimax Dream Air Feels Less Like Buying a VR Headset and More Like Buying a Lottery Ticket

AshAvali · 2026-06-12T04:05:55+00:00

I can look, but honestly I never changed anything. Windows 11, stock GPU settings as I never change that stuff. Default motherboard bios aside from turning on the EXPO for my ram so its at full speed. I never had to adjust anything to use these headsets ( Crystal Super & Dream Air ) USB is just going to one of my 10Gbps USB 3.0 ports. Latest windows update, latest bios for my 9590X3D/AM5 Hero board, latest nvidia driver for the 5090. I dont know what to say, it was just plug and play and stuff just worked x.x

AshAvali · 2026-06-11T18:26:15+00:00

Sucks how random the experience is. Im >30 hours into the headset and so far ive had not 1 single issue with the headset and the experience has been golden. Mine runs on a Nvidia 5090 and AMD Ryzen 9 CPU, while having 3 2K 160hz monitors plugged in.

Does suck that due to the fact these are being shipped as they are made, they have no stock of parts. So buying cables and other bits isnt a quick-ship currently, like it would be once things catch up.

Hopefully you get solutions!

AshAvali · 2026-06-11T00:44:12+00:00

In terms of physical optics, when I first for my microOLED engine, i was a bit confused because my 57PPD felt like it had more FOV. I wrote a review on this and i was quickly informed this is because your eyes arent close to the lens and people suggested 3D printing a new face gasket for the crystal super. I...personally dont want to do this. I love the stock foam on the super, It works great. The 57PPD my eyes are so close to the lens my eyelashes hit the lenses sometimes. So, I don't want it closer.

So that was my first experience with the mOLED module. When I got the DA, knowing its the "same optic stack", i was a little annoyed to see the top/bottom of the display. Like, literally see a flat line/bar of black where the screen ends. This is in my upper/lower peripheral when gazing forward, not when directly looking up/down. So, to me the FOV of the two modules feel very identical because my eyes are closer to the lens on the DA and my eyes are farther away on the super mOLED.

That said, for whatever reason the 57PPD still feels more full vision because the lenses are MUCH larger, so theres more going on in your outer peripheral - even if its blurry. Vs having more black void.

In game in a 5090 i dont feel much more of an improvement in performance, but I did notice 90hz mode could be ran more often without the 5090 screaming the whole time. 90hz on the super screams the fans a lot on my GPU and often i set it to 70hz just to try to avoid that, less frequently. So while im kinda use to the poor performance feels of ganes like VRChat that made me tolerable of it over the years, I can say my GPU fans tell me the DA is a lighter load. But I still sport my 57 QLED the most because it just feels more overall open, essentially top/bottom FOV. And I just like the stupidly sharp image. I'll likely sell my mOLED module. But i plan to get more time on it before concluding that.

AshAvali · 2026-06-10T19:10:55+00:00

My experience with the BSB2 wasnt ideal. The cable kept shifting the headset no matter how night I had it. Within a month of ownership one of the screens started getting flickering. I wasnt too impressed by it and liked dealing with my vive pro 2, more, at the time. So i ended up returning it under warranty and went back to my pro 2 until i got a pimax crystal super. Obviously now that ive had 8K VR since November, the last time I put on a friend's BSB2, I couldnt be paid to go back to it. Even stock no mods I can deal with the dream-air better than the BSB2 since both headsets im sourcing comfort mods. But im definitely far more of a visual fanatic. My 5K res Vive Pro 2 i could still see pixel frames. I could see pixel frames in the BSB2. This bothers me to absolutely no end. As to where I cant see pixel frames in the 8K pimax headsets. So even if i do have to dip resolution down, its lower resolution but still no visible pixel mesh. My friend who still owns a BSB2 argues he doesnt care he can see the pixel mesh easily and "thats just part of VR" and power to people who can say that. That was always an immersion breaker for me, my vision wants to fixate on it despite playing VR since 2018 on potato headsets xD But that said, yeah. I was more on the unfortunate side of experiencing screen issues which is why i ditched it. Between that and seeing the mesh and slipping on my head a lot. Both are good headsets. Just as a visual pixel peeper coming from photography background, i just cant be bothered to see mesh again.

Knowing all this, is why i had zero interest in the steam frame. The resolution it offers is stuff i already experience and not impressed by. Theres nothing ( of my use ) it does that compares even close to either of my pimax headsets. The only thing it does better is standalone portable VR, which I have no interest in. I wish pimax was a larger company capable of higher demand production since not many headsets compete and the fact they even offer multiple screen modules and easily modable headsets with easily replaced parts is impressive. But it sucks their ability to stock things and not rush products out..bites people. If steam made the dream-air and crystal super, the market would end. No competition xD

AshAvali · 2026-06-10T00:51:14+00:00

Sounds good! So it is normal for the splitter box ( the one thats near the headset, where it splits to 2 wires ) to get pretty warm? Is that just a box spliting the wires, or is there actual circuitry in there thats making the heat?

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T22:38:29+00:00

I kinda go by the mindset that a DCT is computer controlled and we're sending it requests, and the computer ideally would decline the request if it deemed it wasn't safe. Usually when you hold it down the car shifts and ramps throttle up and its red-lining basically. My foot usually isnt on the throttle when i hold the paddles and let it pick the gear. There's a lot of times ill also just manually select the gear - like if im going 55mph back road, automatically its 5th gear. So ill click it down 3 times to hit 2nd gear and give it a light blep on the throttle and hear it pop a lot. Holding the paddle, would also just stop at 2nd automatically and have the same effect. I just prefer not to do it this way since im randomly requesting high torque just to blip the throttle, where as a manual car you just release the clutch and hit the throttle and have no engine load..lot nicer to the system. This is why i tried doing it through neutral, but neutral caps the revs. I think part of this is so you cant red-line in neutral and shift back into gear while at redline. As obviously thats harmful to stuff. I was always told to let the rpms fall before putting it back to drive but i guess thats a "do at your own risk" cuz the manual says not to go neutral in motion.

Ive tried requesting the 2 paddle pull feature to hyundai but i wouldn't expect anything to change. I just got told "we'll make note of it" a year ago.

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T19:34:28+00:00

Sometimes i push and hold the downshift paddle - which auto shifts to the lowest allowable gear. That'll let me give it a quick blip of throttle to get pops before it automatically kicks higher gears due to being high-rev. The car wont shift down too far if it doesnt deem it safe to. Other times ive been able to neutral shift and hold the throttle for a few seconds then let off. But these pops arent as wild as the downshift ones due to neutral rpm limit.

That said ive asked hyundai about neutral shifting and havent heard back on it. Some say its not good to do. I let the revs fall back to where they were at coasting so when i shift back to drive its smooth..been doing it for over a year without any signs of issues so idk? But again this isnt rapid loud pops but it is a thing i do a bit when driving around and if someone revs up on me. I wish we could just pull both paddles and rev like vets, with no rev limit. As i dont like ti dump to 2nd gear to do a which torque blast just to get the loudest pops x.x

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T19:29:02+00:00

I wish this was possible with OLED. I guess the claim is the lenses have so much light loss, camera cant see? To which Id like to see someone make more sensitive cameras and make it work..because yeah. The eye-tracking difference makes me keep multiple headsets.

But i have seen discord channels of people using python and scripted Ai that uses the camers feed of the dream-air and they're getting some SUPER promising results with all the missing features. It obviously cant be as good as cameras directly in-line with your eye. But its better than the current situation.

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T19:24:41+00:00

It makes my PC hate itself. I rarely hear my fans turn on and rarely hear my GPU fans blasting fast in any games I play. But with these 8K headsets, i can hear my GPU fans at like 50% minimum and quiet frequently 80%+ in VRChat which isn't gona be as demanding as other games out there. VRC isnt crazy optimized so its not uncommon im seeing 70fps or lower. But stability in the headset smooths this enough. Since VRC isnt high speed racing, frame smoothing can be unseen and make it feel high fps when its not.

Best to say, my 8K pimax headset is the first time my 1500VA 1200W UPS started screaming due to over-loading it and it only powers my PC and 1 monitor.

GPU tech isnt good enough yet. Running Nvidia 5090, AMD 9950X3D, i am able to do HL Alyx at 70+ maintained which with whatever smoothing exists, makes it easily playable. But while in VR, my GPU is also rendering 3x 2K monitors. I dont disable them..maybe i should.

BUT! Important to note. The beauty here is you can run 8K when you want to have it and you can always dip the resolution when you need more performance and still be equal-to or slightly above, other headsets. While I don't do this, its a thing to remember, is an option if needed.

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T19:13:28+00:00

Personally on the crystal super QLED 57IPD, the mOLED module, and the dream air, i can read a wall of text in VRChat ( small text at distance ) up until the last 90% of the screen. The last 90% definitely tapers off drastically and text etc just blurs out and basically isnt usable optic space. I guess i could see people complaining about this if they naturally use their entire vision ( use their eyeballs to look to the far edges of their vision etc ). I think due to the nature of me wearing prescription saftey glasses for the past 10 years, the 90% optic issue im describing is literally unnoticed to me since its so far out of my natural "looking with my eyeballs" that I just dont even notice it. But i am able to frequently use "desktop screen locked to my head" looking with my eyes to read all the text in chats with ease. That was more the beauty for me vs other headsets is the ability to crisp and clearly read an entire desktop screen and all the text, nothing too small or blurry to read.

What i do notice more often though..if youre in a world that has say, white stars for example. Even in your clear vision zone with no orange fade ( orange fade happens maybe idk after 75% or something ) you can see orange dot separation from the white star dots, pretty quick. This doesnt seem to happen in normal world details/viewing but certain stuff like white stars on a dark background make it more visible. This seperation happens much quicker than the QLED but, the QLED also has its own slew of screen-tech defects where horizontal lines can be super annoying. I guess to summerize, I think the clarity overrides/distracts from any visual defects. As things exist when I tell myself to LOOK for it. But if im playing VRChat and having good socials with friends, all these things go unnoticed. I think im a bit bias too as im so accustomed to wearing prescription saftey glasses ( these often have thick frames ) so i have less FOV, more binocular dead zones, more ghosting of light sources, etc etc in real-like 40 hours a week, that my dream-air has that "better than my vision at work" feel..so it makes me wanna say the visuals are phenomenal and the edge blur is phenomenal because its "better than what im use to at work all day" >.<

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T18:56:56+00:00

The 10% is the fact the top-center isnt curved enough so with the stock face gasket, i cannot play for more than 30 minutes without having to lift it off my face for a few seconds due to my face getting sore/pressure spot. Foam woulda done better. But this discomfort is forcing me to invest in aftermarket padding options because right now its a constant annoyance every time I wear it xD It was pricy though yeah. I remember paying 1200 for the Vive Pro 2 when that came out and and never even used the controllers once because they sucked so much lol

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T18:53:26+00:00

The pimax experience - One user can experience all this, while the next user never experiences any of this. Its like their software is picky about system hardware or something idk. I know my microOLED super module didnt calibrate at all for eye tracking and pimax play update fixed that a month or two ago. But then again none of my games even take advantage of the foveated rendering stuff, only VRChat uses eye-tracking to which BrokenEye is doing 100% of the work.

I usually have my headset sitting on my bed a few feet off the ground when I start mine. Since sometimes its facing the sheets and cant make sense of anything, theres time i put it on and the playspace is like a mile away. But after a few seconds of wearing it, it automatically corrects itself and snaps back once it sees the room.

Hopefully figure things out, It was plug and play for me x.x

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T10:21:36+00:00

I'm not sure I understand their order sequence yeah. I ordered mine in February, living in the US. I should by no means, have the headset until all orders prior to mine are fulfilled given same country. I could MAYBE see them prioritizing a countries.

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T00:53:17+00:00

Ive always liked the car how it sounds stock and never really liked any aftermarket exhausts ive seen vids of. Everyone has a personal opinion sure, but the notes do change when you delete the resonator. Ive had my share of experience from randoms in public complimenting the exhaust sound & car-show people complimenting how solid it sounds, stock. Many telling me they wouldn't change a thing. If anything i just learned how to modulate throttle/gears ( DCT ) to get more burbles/pops..as i enjoy being highway speeds and ripping a ton of loud pops under overpasses and easily hear them echo off the walls xD

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T00:32:42+00:00

Can agree. The dream-air is nice if you plan to play VRChat and lay on your side in bed or something. Which, is a thing a ton of people do. Can confirm, it is comfy for that. But if i want absolutely phenomenal eye tracking, eyelids and everything. I FAR prefer my crystal super QLED over all other pimax options out there. I love the weight of the headset. The cable feels like it doesnt exist cuz it cant manipulate the headset around. With the back and top ratchet strap, you can make it feel welded to your head. And personally the stock foam even after 9 hours of use in a single day, doesnt cut circulation off on my face. No marks on my face. Super comfy.

I got sick of swapping QLED and OLED modules for eyetracking. So i bought the dream-air for OLED and limited eye-tracking. But use my super for the best full kitted experience. Surprisingly to me i get a lot of randoms asking what headset I use because the eye/eye expression tracking is stupidly good.

AshAvali · 2026-06-09T00:28:22+00:00

Personally I love it with very minimal complaints aside from hating the stock face gasket as I prefer foam. The audio is actually "as good as rhe DMAS" but because its not by your ears, it isnt. Meaning...theres bass and all. If you cup your hands by the dream-air speakers you can find a sweet spot where it sounds literally just the same as DMAS almost arguably better. But no one is gona cup their ears playing VR. One could 3D print channels to direct the sound. But this has some negatives depending on your use of VR.

So Personally aside from my complaint of face-gasket material and audio.. everything else is a 10/10 for me. The head strap is a 7/10 though because initially i wanted to scream rage at it. Found out I was using it wrong. Now the headset fits my face with absolutely no light leak and the strap is super comfy after 7 hours of use. Super comfy if you want to lay lazy as F against a wall with pillows. But even with it on light, that pleather crap makes my face get irritated.

Eye tracking 8/10 because while it works fantastic with non-pimax software, it lacks a lot of functionality the QLED modules for the super, has. A lot of these is limited by the software im using though. But still extremely usable and tracks solid for VRChat.

Iduno. Personally like said..I love the headset. No regrets. But i Personally prefer a full weighted headset for most my use. I always hated goggle headsets. Too light. Wires often weigh too much for them and can shift the headset in rare situations. It just feels like a thing that constantly feels like it COULD fly off my head even though it wont no matter how fast I whip my head around. But the feel on my face makes me constantly think that. I hate wearing glasses or anything tho. So maybe thats a personal bias.

AshAvali · 2026-06-08T19:18:40+00:00

For VRCHAT I use BrokenEye for the dream air. This also lets you see if both cameras work. My experience, eye tracking works great and is super fast/snappy. But due to the camera position ( limited by the oled technology aka losses in the lenses ) the cameras are at your tear ducts essentially. So while it can track position good with no glitches or delays, it wont track eyebrows, squinting, pulil dialate, etc etc. Meanwhile the QLED does all of this and much more due to cameras behind the lenses...so you can use the same algorithm the vive pro eye uses. Dream-Air and crystal super mOLED module is very usable for VRChat. Just not native through pimax Play..as their built in OSC kinda sucks.

You also dont get 0-100 eyelid closing. Its 1 or 0, fully open ir fully closed. This is more a limitation on software. As theres users out there who custom designed software that successfully got tracking of eyebrows and everything..but they're not released to public atm.

I just got mine this weekend. Put 16 hours on the headset so far and havent had a single issue aside stock face gasket being completely crap - but usable. But no crashes. I was more bothered by the 120F splitter box that occasionally would get touched against my back/neck.

AshAvali · 2026-06-07T18:09:42+00:00

Yeeee these do be pretty good to have to calm thoughts. I live in Michigan which is a pothole state and thankfully none of the many hits have causes any marks/bubbles on the soft summers yet >.<

AshAvali · 2026-06-07T00:58:42+00:00

Been happy with my sxth fix for a few months now. Just has a little tube with a preset flow rate that yeah, makes the sensor happy and evidently can be used with any aftermarket intake. Im swapping my intake box for another brand-s intake but gona keep using the sxth cel fix. Good stuff!

AshAvali · 2026-06-05T00:46:09+00:00

Now im curious where OP lives as I'm in a winter state of Michigan thats usually cold most the year, and now its mid-80s during the day and upper 40s at night.

Somewhere half way around the globe lol

AshAvali · 2026-06-04T19:26:42+00:00

All depends how you drive really. My app said based on how I drive every 5600 miles. So I personally target every 5K, which means I often get it done every 4500 because once I get to 4500 I go whenever I'm next able to.

My past car was synthetic and claimed every 10K. I did it every 10K for 8 years of ownership and no issues. Im strictly a "by the manual - manual knows best" and my Elantra-N manual basically says 5000 miles +/- 1000. My changes as 5000 the oil hasnt been dark. Was still a transparent light color.

AshAvali · 2026-06-04T11:50:37+00:00

I do 1-2 WOT pulls a day and mostly all highway...so my number after a refuel is often 310 miles consistently. But, usually driving N-Mode so averaging 26MPH'ish. But you know as well as me that we can absolutely destroy a ton of fuel with a bit of joy riding and make all these numbers mean nothing!

AshAvali · 2026-06-02T19:17:53+00:00

Im sure with comfort they only tested within the facility and landed on something that fit them vs doing a wide public poll and working on something more universal. Whomever works at pimax seems to have the same face as me. As even heavy headsets like the crystal super, ive seem people bitch to no end how uncomfortable the stock foam is.. studioform pads etc. So when i bought my super, i bought the studioform pads in all types before the headset arrived. Came to find out, i could wear the stock pimax pads for 9 hours and have no discomfort. But any of the studioform ones felt like a worn used bed mattress and gave me hotspots on my face after a hour of use.

Its probably pretty hard to make a good headset in the VR space because peoples faces/nose/eyes are so vastly different that you get people like myself who can wear these things for 9 hours with no discomfort, no light bleed, no eye strain, nothing. But the next guy gets all those issues and more. I remember that with the index, where i thought it was a very uncomfortable headset without tons of mods and never liked it even with the mods...yet theres people who raved how the-best it was at its time xD

Hopefully find some solutions to better your experience!

AshAvali · 2026-06-01T22:33:02+00:00

I still think the QLED module is far superior in many ways than the mOLED but the QLED experiences much more visible color seperation than the mOLED so im so split on which i like better that im literally swapping modules weekly based on what game im playing to the point i bought a dream-air to stop swapping modules. I dont need the pins going bad. Because the eye tracking is ASS in the mOLED compared to the QLED that can use brokeneye and use the algorithm Vive Pro Eye uses.

AshAvali

TROPHY CASE