Back in June this year DPVR announced that they were releasing a bunch of accessories for their headset. The team have been kind enough to provide me with Anti-Scratch Len Protectors, In-ear Headphones and Cable Management Clips.
Anti-Scrath Lens Protectors
DETAILS
2x Silicone Lens Sleeves/Layers
Price: $9.99
This is an accessory that is made for users who wear glasses. These are silicone sleeves that go around the edge of each lens, that give them some extra distance between the lens and your glasses – with the silicone being soft to not cause any damage to your glasses lens.
As I have glasses for when using the screens while working but only to very low prescription, it is not something I use while playing Virtual Reality. But, as I have glasses I tried it out for the purpose of this review. As the lenses in the HMD do come very close to your face with how the DPVR is manufactured, I would say the lens protectors would be recommended – more if playing an active game where you are going to physically move a lot.
This is because, I found when trying the headset on without the protectors the lenses were very close to touching each other, so I would be wary of them touching when moving around physically. With the lens protectors in place the distance is always kept between them, and I had no worries when playing games like Synth Riders that they would come together and risk scratching the DPVR or my glasses lenses.
For the cost of $9.99, I think it’s worth safe-guarding either set of the lenses, while allowing the HMD as close as possible to get the best field of view.
In-ear Headphones
DETAILS
Wired headphones (3.5mm jack), S/M/L Rubber Buds
Price: $19.99
One of my issues with the DPVR E4 was around the audio quality that was offered by the in-built speakers on the headstrap, which was reported in a number of reviews. This is feedback taken on by the team at DPVR, so I was happy to see they were going to offer their own solution in the form of In-ear headphones.
These headphones are made with lightweight aluminium housing, have 20-20000hz frequency range. Allowing for high quality audio and deep bass, accurate mid-range, and clear treble at 100±3dB.
I wanted to put the headphones through a good batch of testing, so I made sure to visit a number of different genres. This allowed me to get an understanding on how they perform across a range of different styles of games.
The first test was in rhythm games Audica and Synth Riders, covering a number of genres of music with the selected tracks. For music the performance of the headphones was fantastic, with all the audio being really clear and giving fantastic volume.
Then I moved into a Tokyo Chronos and Gloomy Eyes, that are more narrative based games/experiences – which allowed me to concentrate on how clear the dialogue was. Again I found no issues with the performance in regards to listening and concentrating on narrative and with how clear it all came through.
Next was testing games that offer a lot through the use of environmental audio and setting an atmosphere – for these I chose to go into Half-Life Alyx (Northern Star level), Phasmophobia, and Z.O.N.A Project X. I chose these three as not only do I think they made a great use of audio to set the atmospheres, they also use spacial audio very well. As with the previous tests they did not let me down in this area, the environmental sounds and spacial audio came together well to set the atmosphere perfectly in these titles, with being able to pick out each of the sounds separately.
The final test was going into the shooting range on Zero Calibur to test out a large number of guns, and get the feel for the gun sounds. This is the only issue I found with them, for the larger more powerful guns like snipers and LMG’s, it did sometimes sound quite tinny. Outside of the bigger guns, I had no issues and they all sounded clear and changed up will when adding attachments like silencers – it was more an issue with the more punchy sounding weapons.
During the testing they stayed secure enough in my ears to not affect my experience, but they did fall out a few times on the more active game. However, this is not fault of DPVR, as they offer the small, medium and large rubber covers that come standard with most headphones – I just require smaller ones than these, and have had to order them in separately for other in-ear headphones in the past.
The question of would they replace my over-the-ear headphones I currently use? Unfortunately this is a no, but this is because they are a decent set of headphones – that cost quite a bit more than the $19.99 you would pay for these. But, are they worth the $19.99 if this is your budget? I would say they are with the performance I have had from them over all my testing.
Cable Management Clips
DETAILS
3x Cable management clips
Price: $4.99
One thing that I found very useful when reviewing the DPVR E4 was the clip on the cable for attaching to your clothing, this made the cable more stable. It you want that extra stability on your cords to stop them getting tangled while playing games and offering a hassle free experience, this allows you add an additional three clips.
These clips are small and lightweight which means no unnecessary bulk and weight being added if you want to add the extras. Through the testing I found adding one additional clip worked best for me, this allowed me to keep it more secure to my clothing, but allowed for some movement in the cable. Meaning the other two can be kept as spares just in case, which is always a good thing to have.
With these I would say if you find you use the clip that already comes with the DPVR E4 to keep the cable more stable down you back, adding an extra is worth it. But, if you find you don’t use this clip because you don’t like it, these will not be essential for you.
REVIEWED USING DPVR E4
For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a review product provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a review product does not affect my judgement of the product.
* The new face gasket will be covered separately once I have received this, as this is the only accessory announced I have yet to be sent. Once these are in full production I will be able to cover this.
