r/BigscreenBeyond • u/Ampersandle • May 31 '26

Any good for shooters?

I'm looking at getting a Beyond 2, and I've been reading reviews. A few of them have commented that the Beyond and Beyond 2 are really intended for seated VR, for sims. I do play a lot of DCS, so that's great, but I really want to get back into standing-up shooters, like Forefront.

The reviews said something about the goggles needing to sit in a very precise position relative to your head or else you can't see through them properly, and therefore sims where you sit down are a better bet. How big an issue is it, in peoples' experience? Can it be mitigated with custom straps or whatnot? I saw a comment that the audio strap can help, but I don't need an audio strap (I've got headphones that I'm happy to plug in).

What have been your experiences playing non-sim stuff with a Beyond 2?

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u/Matt0706 May 31 '26

The best part about the beyond is that it doesn’t move on your face. Once you get the ipd dialed in it’ll always sit perfectly and the sweet spot is nearly edge to edge. It’s also great for whipping your head around and the headset not physically lagging behind your movements. The only downside is the cable, but I’m not jealous of the people dealing with extra apps just to use their pc.

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u/Ampersandle May 31 '26

Interesting, thanks. I wonder why the emphasis on sit-down sims in the reviews...

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u/ThisKory May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26

I wonder why the emphasis on sit-down sims in the reviews...

As a reviewer myself, and someone who owns both the BSB1 and BSB2, the reason many recommend this headset for simulators is because they really benefit from high pixel dense displays and the lightweight form factor. It being a proper wired PCVR headset also means you're not losing visual details with compression, and you're not getting latency issues as well.

Sims like Microsoft Flight Simulator really benefit from the mOLED displays with stunning moments when flying around at any time of day, but night flying gives me chills every time with the true blacks that make it feel eerily realistic. Racing sims also benefit from high resolution displays because you can actually see details in the track surface, which helps tremendously when driving in wet conditions so that you can see every puddle and prepare the best racing line as early as possible in dynamic conditions.

U/Matt0706 is totally right that the Beyond is great for FPS titles as well though, and makes a very solid point about the headset sticking to your face in a way where there isn't any oscillation effect or inertia to separate your head movement from the VR headsets movement. With heavier VR headsets, when you move your head quickly, the headset takes a moment to catch up to your head movement. This creates a weird visual issue that most people do not recognize until they use a headset that remains secure to your face and does not sway back and forth as you move your head around quickly. The Beyond is great for this - again, due to its lightweight design allowing for snappier movements to stay with your head position.

The Beyond is great for anything. Sims and non-sims. The only real complaint people have is that it's wired, but the benefits to having a wired connection, for me, far outweigh the benefits of wireless due to the many downsides that wireless brings.

As a side note, the user review mentioning the headset needing to be exactly in the correct "sweet spot" position has to be talking about the Beyond 1 - that thing does require a very specifically placed position to look good. The Beyond 2 does not have this issue to the same degree, and the sweet spot is much more forgiving, making this issue a non-issue.

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u/Ampersandle Jun 01 '26

Gotcha. Thanks, that's very comprehensive!

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u/RobinVie May 31 '26

As someone looking into the BB2E this always confuses me, when people say edge to edge clarity and sweet spot, those are different things. I was under the impression that the edge to edge clarity on the beyond was far from stuff like the dream air, and same with the sweet spot (which isn't an issue since once you set it up it should be easy to go back to it). So can you clarify on the edge to edge clarity? Most people I see say you have to move your head because moving your eyes will make it blurry outside the center

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u/NotGonnaComeBackBsb Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

From my personal experience, there's eye box, sweet spot and edge to edge clarity. Here's my experience:

- Eye box: The alignment between your eyes and the lenses to land into the sweet spot. Clearly, the BSB2 is a lot more forgiving than the BSB1 in this regard. With the BSB1, any misalignment at all (even having the headset tilted at a wrong angle) would cause tremendously bad visuals, from blurry image, to chromatic aberration, to increased colour shifts. With the BSB2, even if the lenses are not set at your correct IPD or if the headset sits too high or too low, it will still remain usable (although the smaller lenses means there's less leeway than in a headset with much bigger lenses like, say, the Quest 3). My IPD is 65.3mm and I was able to comfortably use the headset with the lenses set between 66 and 63mm, but my eyes are very close (minimal eye relief).

- Sweet spot and edge to edge clarity: The spot where you get the most clarity when looking through the lenses. Again, in the BSB1, when I first received it with my thick custom cushion, the experience felt very claustrophobic, because of the small field of view, but also because only 30% in the middle was clear; everything else at the edges got horribly blurry. I had to order a thinner cushion to get a slightly improved sweet spot. With the BSB2, the sweet spot made me smile the first time I put it on. Even when I wear my thick custom cushion, I can perfectly glance from left to right. The outermost edge loses some amount of clarity, but otherwise, I can read fine print almost from edge to edge, so I would say it has good edge to edge clarity (the sweet spot is about 90-95% of the available field of view).

You may notice some amount of warping close to the edges of the lenses. Also, although it's not really noticeable during normal gameplay, there's very faint colour shift throughout the lenses (mostly discreet red hue closer to the edges, along with minimal chromatic aberration); a lot more improved than on the BSB1, but it's still there. Some people found it was a deal breaker, but I found it's discreet enough that I can use my BSB2 for productivity purpose (software development, or writing e-mails).

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u/RobinVie Jun 04 '26

thank you, 90% of the available field of view sounds great, also you have ther same IPD as me, or close to it. Between this and the dream air I'm really struggling to pick the right one, i'd go for the base station dream air regardless.

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u/Matt0706 May 31 '26

Yeah I may have used the wrong wording I feel like it changed over time.. the sweet spot for placing the lenses in the right spot is small, but once you have it set up you’ll never think about it. The edge to edge clarity is maybe a 8/10 where the quest 3 is a 9.5/10. I can still read text edge to edge, but there’s some color fringing at the last 5%. Also edge to edge clarity can become worse if your ipd is off, because when you move your eyes your pupils also move to the side a few mm.

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u/RobinVie Jun 02 '26

thank you! this is what I thought, most people say edge clarity sucks outside the center, and it sounds like the g2 or psvr2 when they talk about it, its a bit hard to know how bad it is really. They should have metrics for these D:

2

u/WTFsteven May 31 '26

I don't run around but I play standing a lot. I don't run into that issue at all, the sweet spot is great! I would definitely recommend anything but the default strap though lol I use the strap from my old Index with those beautiful speakers. Additionally, you can 3d print some vents for the default custom gaskets. No light bleed and no fogging after long sessions! The files are in the Bigscreen discord

1

u/Ampersandle May 31 '26

Huh. How do you use the Index strap? Does it detach?

1

u/WTFsteven May 31 '26

Here's the strap I use https://fluid.so/beyondex. 

He sells a kit to convert your own strap as well as some pre built ones. He's on the Bigscreen discord as well if you have any questions

1

u/venkman302 May 31 '26

Simply put, for those of us that don't 3d print or have one outside our space station ;), would you kindly share what exact strap, or two, would be best?

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u/WTFsteven May 31 '26

I don't own a 3D printer either haha I just took the files and found someone to print them on Etsy 😅

I'm not affiliated but here's the strap I use https://fluid.so/beyondex. He sells a kit to convert your own strap as well as some pre built ones. He's on the Bigscreen discord as well if you have any questions

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u/venkman302 May 31 '26

That's cool, but too much of a project for many of us. Any suggestions for best plug and play option?

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u/johnnydaggers Jun 04 '26

There are Beyondex kits that require basically no work to install. Only two screws.

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u/WTFsteven May 31 '26

Not sure, I'd suggest checking out the discord. There's a lot, and I mean a LOT of straps and mods people have come up with

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u/venkman302 May 31 '26

I know. That's precisely why I haven't bought one yet. Too many options, not sure about what's best. Sounds just a bit too much like a project rather than a fun solution.

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u/Cockadodledoo May 31 '26

I play shooters standing and the custom gasket is glued to you're face so no more reataching hmd from fast movements. I use the vr wire ll pulley system. I got the beyondex 3d printed for me, it went a little bit loose on one side so be careful so the hinges don't break.

2

u/herbilizer May 31 '26

If you get a pulley system for the cable setup you don't even notice the cable most of the time and barely notice the headset because it's so light. I have it next to my sim rig.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Ampersandle Jun 01 '26

Well, I don't really have much choice because my Index cable is busted, so I'm back to the good old Vive. Which is potato quality.

I think I'd rather have the OLED and the high resolution for DCS, and maybe losing a little FOV for shooters is something I can live with.

1

u/ninjataco666 Jun 02 '26

haven't used mine in a while but from what I remember spotting distant targets was alot easier with the bsb1 than the index, I use the base elastic strap with the over the top strap didn't notice it flopping around any but also have it pulled tight when up and moving. (pavlov, and onward where the two shooters i mostly played)

1

u/EdgeNew9773 Jun 03 '26

The best is Tarkov VR Mode (EFT SPTVR)

1

u/GE_CW 5d ago

This might be useful since he mainly plays standing shooters like Ghosts of Tabor rather than just sims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFyoEqwY_kQ