HP Reverb G2 - User Experiences & Owner Impressions

[Mr Latte]

Reports are it may be launching in September 2020 which is earlier than some expected.
I'm seriously considering one of these having had a CV1 in the past and enjoyed VR

Finally, though with this device, now we have image quality that is very good for simulations. Also offering easy setup, superb audio, and nice controllers but all at a good price.

Steam HP Reverb G2
UK Pre-Orders
Manual
Datasheet/Specs

 

[Moonmachine]

I have worked through numerous issues with my G2. I now have a stable framerate in Dirt 2.0 and AMS2 but the biggest problem of all is now the view instability. What I mean by this is that every time I move my head the world moves a bit. This is easy to experience if I look at a menu in VR and shake my head a little. The whole panel moves a little with my head movement. It completely destroys "presence". There is no presence with this G2. In this respect it is the worst headset I've owned (Rift/Quest/Vive). I am always aware I'm in some kind of trembly environment (unless I keep my head still). I have not experienced this with any other headset. Not enough to notice anyway. The further something is away the more it'll tremble so it's super easy to notice in SteamVR because the stars and planets tremble if I just look at them and move my head slightly. It's terrible. So do the mountains in the distance.

I have found a few people on forums speaking of this as poor "geometric stability", and is a known thing on the G2 apparently. I don't know if I can live with it. Seems pointless to be wearing a headset if I'm continuously being reminded I am wearing a headset. I use a motion simulator, so when playing Dirt 2.0 for example, my head is being thrown about all over the place. And because of this quirk of the G2, so is the environment!

I'd be interested to know what this forum's G2 owner's experiences of this have been, and if you have found any way of mitigating it?

Please note - I do not think this is a tracking problem. I get the same problem in any room, in any light. It is running on a RTX 3090 and plenty decent enough CPU. It runs like this on a clean install on Windows 10.

I don’t have a vast knowledge but have the same card and headset with an x570 motherboard and 5800x cpu.

I had similar issues and changed pcie to gen 3 in my bios. This settled the headset down, at least for the last 20 hrs or so. Maybe worth a try although you didn‘t state CPU/chipset.

 

[TShrimp]

I was able to finally replace my 5700 XT with a 3070, and it fixed my Reverb G2 BSOD issues.

Edit: This was short lived. Card was an open box return. Stayed up about 2 hours, and now computer won't boot most of the time, and if it does boot. locks up. At least I found out the Reverb works. BTW...this happens with just the PC and no Reverb.

 

[Wmacky]

That's the one I printed but even with an 11 mm vive cover, my VR Optician prescription lenses are just a little too close to my eyes. The cover is the perfect shape for the gasket. I've tried with my thicker Odyssey Plus cover but due to its bigger footprint my eyes end up much further away. A 15mm Vive cover would be perfect I think. Haven't found one yet however.

Did you ever find a solution? I'm in the same boat having to buy prescription inserts.

1 do you feel the new gasket is even needed for additional FOV since the inserts bring the lens closer to your eyes already?

2. Did you consider the 3D print + Zenni solution? Has anyone else tried these? I was very happy with my VR Optician inserts for my G1, but these look super simple to do?

HP Reverb G2 Zenni #550021 adapter - remix by jegstad

Remix of https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4690554 Less material around prescription lens for easier fitment. Cutout so the distance between the headset lens and prescription lens can be observed. Alterations to remove overhangs when printing bottom up, where bottom is the ring that fits onto...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[wajdi]

Did you ever find a solution? I'm in the same boat having to buy prescription inserts.

1 do you feel the new gasket is even needed for additional FOV since the inserts bring the lens closer to your eyes already?

2. Did you consider the 3D print + Zenni solution? Has anyone else tried these? I was very happy with my VR Optician inserts for my G1, but these look super simple to do?

HP Reverb G2 Zenni #550021 adapter - remix by jegstad

Remix of https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4690554 Less material around prescription lens for easier fitment. Cutout so the distance between the headset lens and prescription lens can be observed. Alterations to remove overhangs when printing bottom up, where bottom is the ring that fits onto...

www.thingiverse.com

I tried the solution without the gasket with the pad directly attached to the headset. Yes it’s good and it improves the FOV but it’s not comfortable. I used the 26mm vive pro pad for this solution. Now with the gasket I use a 6mm pad and I have the same FOV as with the previous solution plus it’s much more comfortable and a better sweet spot.

 

[TShrimp]

Maybe one of you guys can help me out. I replaced my 5700XT with an MSI Ventis 3X 3070. When I did my Rerverb G2 now works. However, I was having stability issues (Even in Windows), so was looking at the boost clocks. It is rated at 1755, but seeing as much as 1960 in both Afterburner and GPU-Z while running game benchmarks. I bought this card as open boxed as 3070s are hard to find, so thought maybe this person had overclocked it. I went to MSI Afterburner (4.6.3), and is shows the advertised GPU clocks are set to default (1500 base/1755 boost). Are any of you guys who own the 3070 seeing the same behavior with their cards showing over advertised boost clocks (normal?). Been working to get this G2 going for a while.

I do want to note that I uninstalled Oculus software, and Revive, and uninstalled drivers with DDU and let windows install their drivers (seem to just be a slightly older version of what is at Nvidia, and includes everything on the install...not just drivers). I have not had a crash or lockup since then, but still not convinced I don't have issues as my PC has only been up for 2 hours. However, I was averaging about 10-15 minutes yesterday.

I would be grateful if someone could run a benchmark (I used Farcry 5), and see what Afterburner or GPU-Z is showing for your max clocks, and if they are higher than advertised.

Edit: Forgot to mention power draw was never over 212W, Card default is 220.

Edit 2: I think maybe a bad video card. The above was a coincidence. After a couple of hours issues started again. I read many posts from unpleased Nvidia owners on the 3070 having the exact issue I was having. Boxed up and ready to go back.

 

[Wmacky]

I tried the solution without the gasket with the pad directly attached to the headset. Yes it’s good and it improves the FOV but it’s not comfortable. I used the 26mm vive pro pad for this solution. Now with the gasket I use a 6mm pad and I have the same FOV as with the previous solution plus it’s much more comfortable and a better sweet spot.

But are you using these with prescription insert lenses?

 

[EsxPaul]

Maybe one of you guys can help me out. I replaced my 5700XT with an MSI Ventis 3X 3070. When I did my Rerverb G2 now works. However, I was having stability issues (Even in Windows), so was looking at the boost clocks. It is rated at 1755, but seeing as much as 1960 in both Afterburner and GPU-Z while running game benchmarks. I bought this card as open boxed as 3070s are hard to find, so thought maybe this person had overclocked it. I went to MSI Afterburner (4.6.3), and is shows the advertised GPU clocks are set to default (1500 base/1755 boost). Are any of you guys who own the 3070 seeing the same behavior with their cards showing over advertised boost clocks (normal?). Been working to get this G2 going for a while.

I do want to note that I uninstalled Oculus software, and Revive, and uninstalled drivers with DDU and let windows install their drivers (seem to just be a slightly older version of what is at Nvidia, and includes everything on the install...not just drivers). I have not had a crash or lockup since then, but still not convinced I don't have issues as my PC has only been up for 2 hours. However, I was averaging about 10-15 minutes yesterday.

I would be grateful if someone could run a benchmark (I used Farcry 5), and see what Afterburner or GPU-Z is showing for your max clocks, and if they are higher than advertised.

Edit: Forgot to mention power draw was never over 212W, Card default is 220.

Edit 2: I think maybe a bad video card. The above was a coincidence. After a couple of hours issues started again. I read many posts from unpleased Nvidia owners on the 3070 having the exact issue I was having. Boxed up and ready to go back.

You could try the latest hotfix driver and make sure that you don't have any performance monitoring tools like afterburner running in the background. Might make a difference?

 

[TShrimp]

You could try the latest hotfix driver and make sure that you don't have any performance monitoring tools like afterburner running in the background. Might make a difference?

Thanks for the suggestion. It has gone back to the store. It was an open box, and was informed today, it had actually been returned multiple times. They are sending the card back to MSI as bad. Now to wait for another to come in stock. I am not an MSI fan personally, so hoping I can hold out long enough to get picky and get an EVGA. I was going to send to MSI for warranty work but reading people have been waiting months to get their cards back. EVGA has a good reputation for customer service. At least I know my G2 works now, and here is my impression.

Pros:
1. Very comfortable - I didn't get to try it for extended period of time due to video card being bad.
2. Sound - I love that it is off the ears, and it sounds really good.
3. Looks fantastic - No screen door. Compared to my CV1 this thing is like comparing OLED to an old CRT.
4. Head tracking seemed very good
5. I expected the controllers to not track well, but didn't notice it being poor. However, very little use.
6. Very long cable. I don't need it this long ,but can see how it could benefit others with large play spaces.
7. Comes with almost any adaptor you would need.

Cons:
1. Doesn't work with my 5700 XT and AMD CPU combo, and looks to be a common issue. After posting on other forums, I hear AMD and HP are admitting to an issue.
2. Cable is too stiff IMO.
3. Clip on the back of the unit pops off easily.

Excited to be able to use this VR headset in full someday.

If you are curious to one of the examples I was seeing with my video card here is an attachment. In the past when I had these artifact issues, it was bad vram.

This example is during installation of Windows 10. See below... artifacts and then lockup.

 

[Brane Khaos]

So, I currently have a Rift S. From the experience of those who own one, is the G2 a worthy upgrade? My main concern is the small sweet spot issue I've seen so much about. Is it really an issue? Is so, is it resolveable by wearing the headset correctly or by some other means? Or is it best to wait for next releases? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

So, I currently have a Rift S. From the experience of those who own one, is the G2 a worthy upgrade? My main concern is the small sweet spot issue I've seen so much about. Is it really an issue? Is so, is it resolveable by wearing the headset correctly or by some other means? Or is it best to wait for next releases? Thanks in advance for the help.

Mostly depends on the individual's fit. Some have no issues with stock face interface, some need wider mod gasket that brings eyes closer to lenses.

 

[TedBrosby-]

So, I currently have a Rift S. From the experience of those who own one, is the G2 a worthy upgrade? My main concern is the small sweet spot issue I've seen so much about. Is it really an issue? Is so, is it resolveable by wearing the headset correctly or by some other means? Or is it best to wait for next releases? Thanks in advance for the help.

What's your IPD?
I have the G1, and everyone says the G2 is better than the G1 for sweet spot, and with my IPD (62.5 mm), I honestly have zero issues with sweet spot, so the G2 should be a huge upgrade. Plus it has physical IPD adjustment.
I think HP is going to focus on fixing issues with the G2 before directing any resources to the G3/etc. The G2 was quite ambitious of a project, even having collaboration with Valve to add the Index's speakers, etc.

Personally, my ratings are, for sim racing exclusively: G2 > G1 > Valve Index >>>>>> Rift S (I owned it before).
For all around VR: Valve Index > G2 > G1 | Rift S (Kind of a tie. Rift S has amazing tracking but the G1 has less guardian issues and better screen).

 

[Celestiale]

So, I currently have a Rift S. From the experience of those who own one, is the G2 a worthy upgrade? My main concern is the small sweet spot issue I've seen so much about. Is it really an issue? Is so, is it resolveable by wearing the headset correctly or by some other means? Or is it best to wait for next releases? Thanks in advance for the help.

I owned the Rift S before and bought the G2 a few weeks ago. It's really night and day. The upgrade is massive. I lost interest in VR more and more lately due to the low resolution of the Rift S, the G2 completely turned that around and since i own it, i spend more then 90% of my time in VR again. It's better then the Rift S in every aspect bar comfort.
I am using a custom 3d printed gasket and a 15mm leather padding - this makes the FoV bigger and the sweetspot also, but only a bit.

- Small sweet spot: definitely noticable, but mostly because the center is so sharp. The edges are still clearer then the Rift S but a little distorted. You can still read text. A little annoying but no dealbreaker
- Clarity: here it absolutely shines. Leaps and bounds ahead every other headset. This headset made me start with combat flight sims again, because i can identify aircraft far away.
- FoV: a bit bigger then Rift S but nothing groundbreaking
- Sound: i like it very much, since nothing is touching you ears, it doesn't get uncomfortable
- Comfort: with my setup it's a little worse then the Rift S, the face cushion is a little uncomfortable after a long use, but it didn't stop me from 5 hour long sessions

This headset is also futureproof, because it will be years of graphics card development from now on to "max it out". I am very happy with my purchase and could never go back to a lower res headset.

If I could change anything regarding that headset, it would be a bigger horizontal FoV by 20 degrees and better lenses/clarity over the whole FoV. Apart from that, i can't really think of anything better that makes sense with the current computing limitations.

 

[Jason Mullin]

Just ordered a G2 this morning directly from HP, shows a ship date of 16 February
This thread has been very helpful and look forward to sharing my experience with it.

 

[MrBraindown]

Just ordered a G2 this morning directly from HP, shows a ship date of 16 February
This thread has been very helpful and look forward to sharing my experience with it.

I'm also interested in making the jump from a Rift S to this, but reading this thread has put me off a little - it looks like it's massive hassle-fest to get working, so will be interested in your thoughts.

 

[Turk]

What I mean by this is that every time I move my head the world moves a bit.

That doesn't happen with mine, not normal.

The only issues I'm having with mine at the moment is off centre it does feel like the images are separating, getting blurry. I think it's just a positioning it on my head issue though. It's mostly noticeable on straight edges like white boxes in the menu. In game it's not that much of an issue.
When I'm playing ACC there is a weird thing with the rev lights. When they go blue the blue flashes aren't on the rev lights they're just above it. I don't know if that's an ACC bug or a headset bug. It's strange that it's just when they flash blue.

The sweet spot is hard to get right, but other than that its good. I'm only running it at 65% with low settings and it's still an obvious improvement on the rift CV. I'm really looking forward to getting my 3080 and seeing what it can really do.

 

[Turk]

it looks like it's massive hassle-fest to get working, so will be interested in your thoughts.

Comparing it to the rift CV it's actually a much easier headset for me to use. I have to break down my rig and pack everything away. So not having to plug in two cameras and go through that setup is a big improvement for me.

It does work, I can just slap it on my head and be off, don't have to worry about cameras moving on my janky setup (I'd have them on top of card board boxes and things like that because it had to be temporary). So it is better than what I had before.

I think many of the issues of the headset are down to overall VR issues that nobodies really fixed yet. Each headset has pros and cons None of them are perfect yet. Its' certainly not perfect, but it is an improvement on what came before.

Usually online you only hear about what goes wrong. On the whole I'm happy with the headset, it's done what I expected it too. VR is still a hassle but it's made things slightly better.

 

[Jason Mullin]

I'm also interested in making the jump from a Rift S to this, but reading this thread has put me off a little - it looks like it's massive hassle-fest to get working, so will be interested in your thoughts.

Equally interesting will be I only have an
i5-8400 paired with a 2060 super. But, I’m looking at the G2 as somewhat future proof giving me plenty of time to jump on the 30 series train.
I’ve watched a few decent YouTube setup videos it doesn’t appear to be giving too much trouble on Nvidia hardware with my mobo, guess I’ll find out soon enough!

 

[EsxPaul]

I found a very interesting post over on Reddit regarding what might be a possible ground loop issue with the G2. It's a possibility that this info will get passed onto the HP team for some further investigation. If it leads to a fix for the numerous USB issues I might consider finally taking the plunge.

 

[Jason Mullin]

I’ve been digging deeper for the best current settings and came across this in depth post. I also play Microsoft flight simulator and while it’s one of the most resource intensive sims, I think much of this applies to race sims as well.

My 2070 SUPER VR settings and suggestion (Reverb G2 - WMR)

After careful consideration I have determined that this message may be in violation of the guidelines, so as a precautionary measure it has been removed. msg 342582/1

forums.flightsimulator.com

 

[Tr0nic]

Thanks for the suggestion. It has gone back to the store. It was an open box, and was informed today, it had actually been returned multiple times. They are sending the card back to MSI as bad. Now to wait for another to come in stock. I am not an MSI fan personally, so hoping I can hold out long enough to get picky and get an EVGA. I was going to send to MSI for warranty work but reading people have been waiting months to get their cards back. EVGA has a good reputation for customer service. At least I know my G2 works now, and here is my impression.

Pros:
1. Very comfortable - I didn't get to try it for extended period of time due to video card being bad.
2. Sound - I love that it is off the ears, and it sounds really good.
3. Looks fantastic - No screen door. Compared to my CV1 this thing is like comparing OLED to an old CRT.
4. Head tracking seemed very good
5. I expected the controllers to not track well, but didn't notice it being poor. However, very little use.
6. Very long cable. I don't need it this long ,but can see how it could benefit others with large play spaces.
7. Comes with almost any adaptor you would need.

Cons:
1. Doesn't work with my 5700 XT and AMD CPU combo, and looks to be a common issue. After posting on other forums, I hear AMD and HP are admitting to an issue.
2. Cable is too stiff IMO.
3. Clip on the back of the unit pops off easily.

Excited to be able to use this VR headset in full someday.

If you are curious to one of the examples I was seeing with my video card here is an attachment. In the past when I had these artifact issues, it was bad vram.

This example is during installation of Windows 10. See below... artifacts and then lockup.

View attachment 443499

Looks like defective VRAM on your screenshot...