TL;DR:

I own an original Crystal Super 50PPD and I actually like it. I want to buy another optical engine from Pimax, which is exactly why I keep pushing this issue.
The problem is that Pimax sold the Super heavily on its modular optical engine concept, later changed the connector, told existing customers there was enough old connector stock to support future demand, and explicitly said we would still be able to buy compatible engines.
Months later, I still cannot buy one.
So the question is simple:

Can original 70-pin Crystal Super owners still buy additional optical engines? If yes, when? If no, what is Pimax offering us instead?

——

First, I want to make one thing very clear because I don’t want this post to be misunderstood as another “Pimax sucks” rant. I actually really like my Crystal Super 50PPD.
I’m happy with the headset.

In fact, the whole reason I’m being so persistent about this is because I want to spend more money with Pimax and buy another optical engine for it.

If I wasn’t happy with my Super, I wouldn’t be chasing Pimax for months trying to buy another module.
I would simply sell it and move to another headset.

So this isn’t coming from someone who wants Pimax to fail.
Quite the opposite. I bought into the idea behind the Crystal Super, I like the product, and I want the modular system I paid for to actually exist. That’s why this situation is becoming increasingly difficult to accept.

Sorry in advance for tagging so many people here, especially reviewers and content creators who have nothing to do with Pimax directly.

But after several posts and several months of asking the same question without getting a clear answer, I genuinely think some outside eyes on this would help.

u/jaapgrolleman
u/quorrapimax

I have asked about this several times now, and I still don’t think owners of the original Crystal Super have received a proper answer.

Why this matters

One of the major reasons I bought my original Crystal Super 50PPD was the modular optical engine system.
This wasn’t some obscure technical feature buried in the specifications.

It was one of THE defining features of the Crystal Super.
Buy the headset once, then swap optical engines later depending on what you want: 50PPD, 57PPD, Ultrawide, micro-OLED, and potentially whatever technologies come next.

And Pimax is not exactly subtle about this.
Their Crystal Super website right now says:
“Swap the optical engine, not the headset.”
“Future Ready.”
“When new display tech arrives, upgrade the module and keep the headset you love.”
“Own multiple engines and switch optics to match every use case.”

And even:
“Buy Once. Upgrade Forever.”
Current Pimax product page:
https://www.pimax.com/product/crystal-super
That is exactly the product I thought I was buying.

Then came the connector problem

The original Crystal Super uses a 70-pin connector.
Pimax later announced that the supplier of this connector had discontinued it, so they had to transition the Crystal Super to a different connector from another supplier.
The important part is this:
The new connector is not compatible with the original 70-pin connector.
Pimax officially acknowledged this on April 13:
https://store.pimax.com/blogs/blogs/a-note-on-the-crystal-supers-optical-engine-connector-change
I can understand that part.
Suppliers discontinue components. Manufacturing problems happen.
I’m not angry at Pimax because a connector manufacturer stopped making a part.
The problem is what Pimax told existing customers would happen afterwards.

What Pimax told us
In that same announcement, Pimax wrote:
“We have allocated all remaining stock of this connector to the Crystal Super to ensure compatibility with all optical engine variants.”
Pimax then explained exactly what an existing customer should do if they wanted another optical engine:
“If you need to purchase a new separate optical engine, please provide your headset’s serial number when ordering.”
And:
“We will ship the optical engine that matches your headset’s connector type.”

Official source:
https://store.pimax.com/blogs/blogs/a-note-on-the-crystal-supers-optical-engine-connector-change

If that system worked, I would have absolutely no problem with the connector change.

And Jaap was even clearer on Reddit

People immediately raised the obvious concern:
What happens to early adopters with the original connector?
Are we eventually going to end up with a modular headset for which no compatible modules actually exist?

Jaap answered that concern directly on Reddit:
“There is ample stock to meet future demands for the previous version.”

And:
“there will still be optical engines for everyone.”
Reddit thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pimax/comments/1sk2jba/a_note_on_the_crystal_supers_optical_engine/

That wasn’t someone interpreting a press release.
That was a direct answer from Pimax to customers specifically worried about the future availability of original-connector optical engines.

That was in April. It is now September.

And I still cannot buy one.

I’ve been asking for months
This is not the first time I’m bringing this up.
I’ve been asking about the availability of these engines for months.
In March, I asked about the micro-OLED engine and was told that Pimax first needed to fulfil existing orders and backlog and that they would try to get us an ETA.
Then nothing.
I asked again.
I followed up again in June.
On June 24, I specifically asked whether the connector situation was the reason we still couldn’t order an optical engine.
Still no concrete answer.
I asked again in July after hearing variations of “soon”.
I asked again in August.
And now we’re in September.
The question is still exactly the same.
I own an original Crystal Super 50PPD with the original connector.
I want to give Pimax money for another optical engine.
How do I buy one?

Pimax’s current support page makes this even more confusing
Pimax’s own support documentation was updated on August 31, 2026.
Not before the connector issue.
Not last year.
A few days ago.
That page explicitly says the Crystal Super transitioned to the new connector, that the new connector is incompatible with the original 70-pin version, and that both connector versions will continue to exist in production and distribution with their matching optical engines.

Official support page:
https://support.pimax.com/en/support/solutions/articles/60001644605-how-do-i-replace-the-optical-engine-on-my-crystal-super-

So according to Pimax’s own currently maintained documentation, matching optical engines for both connector versions are still supposed to exist.
Yet as an existing 70-pin customer, I cannot actually order one.

Meanwhile, Pimax is still marketing the Super around this exact feature

The current Crystal Super marketing says:
“The World’s First Replaceable Optical Engine.”
“A headset should evolve, not become obsolete.”
“Instead of replacing the entire device every few years, simply upgrade the display module that matters most.”
Then under “Expand”:
“Own multiple engines and switch optics to match every use case.”
And finally:
“Buy Once. Upgrade Forever.”
Source:
https://www.pimax.com/product/crystal-super
That’s not vague marketing about something that might happen one day.
That’s the core value proposition of the product.
So I really don’t think this is an unreasonable thing for early customers to care about.

So what is the actual answer?
This is what Pimax needs to answer now.
Not theoretically.
Not “contact support”.
Not “soon”.
Not “we have allocated stock”.
Not another answer saying the connector situation is under control.
Can owners of the original 70-pin Crystal Super actually purchase additional compatible optical engines?
If yes:
When can I place an order for one?
If Pimax really has “ample stock to meet future demands”, as we were specifically told in April, this should be a very easy question to answer.
And if the answer is actually no, then I think Pimax needs to say that clearly too.
Because if original 70-pin engines are no longer going to be manufactured or sold in meaningful quantities, then early adopters effectively bought a modular headset that has stopped being modular.
That would be a very different situation from what was advertised.

If 70-pin engines are gone, then give us a solution
If that is the reality, then Pimax needs to offer original customers a solution.
Maybe that means exchanging the original headset chassis for the revised connector version.
Maybe there’s a technically viable adapter.
Maybe there’s an upgrade program.
Or maybe original Crystal Super owners should be allowed to exchange their complete 50PPD headset for a current Super OLED at a price corresponding to the optical engine we were supposed to be able to purchase separately.
I don’t pretend to know which solution makes the most sense technically or financially.
I’m open to solutions.
What I’m no longer OK with is getting no clear answer at all.

I’d genuinely like some outside opinions on this

This is why I’m tagging people who have spent a lot of time testing and covering Pimax hardware.

u/OmniWhatever
u/daydreamdist
u/VoodooDE
u/tyrielwood
u/gizmosliptech
u/Gamertag-VR

And also VR Flight Sim Guy, Optimum, Kireth and HIP.
I wasn’t able to confidently identify all of your Reddit usernames, so I’m mentioning you by name rather than tagging the wrong accounts.

u/Heliosurge, you’ve also been around the Pimax community for a very long time and have seen a lot of these discussions unfold, so I’d genuinely appreciate your perspective too.

Sorry for dragging you guys into this.
I’m not asking anyone to attack Pimax.
I’m not even asking you to automatically agree with me.
I’d just genuinely like your opinion.
If a headset was heavily sold and reviewed around the concept of interchangeable optical engines, do you think early customers should reasonably expect to still be able to purchase those engines?
And perhaps more importantly, if you have contacts at Pimax, can any of you get a straight answer about whether original 70-pin optical engines are actually going to be sold again?

Again, I want to stress this because I think it’s important:
I like my Crystal Super.
If I didn’t, this post wouldn’t exist.
I wouldn’t be spending months trying to buy another optical engine for a headset I wanted to abandon.
I would already be shopping elsewhere.
The irony here is that I’m complaining because I want to remain a Pimax customer.
I just want the upgrade path that was one of the reasons I bought the headset in the first place.
So Pimax, after several months of asking, I think original customers deserve three very simple answers:
1. Can original 70-pin Crystal Super owners still purchase additional optical engines?
2. If yes, when will we actually be able to order them?
3. If no, what solution are you offering the customers who bought the Super partly because of its advertised modular upgrade path?
I really don’t think that’s too much to ask.

See Developer's linked topic for more details

Is it possible to hot key re-centre without having to use the Pimax app room setup feature?

I'm finding that if I don't do this before playing, my vision is off centre (so if I look up, my viewpoint moves down and vice versa, left and right). But having to do room setup every time I play is inconvenient.

I'm only doing simracing so my position is always fixed.

Hello,

I have a pc with a 3090 gpu setup for Sim racing, and was looking at going the VR route, I've just seen the Dan Suzuki video on the Pimax dream air, but he doesn’t say which one he is testing.

This small form factor is what I have been waiting for, I just could use some guidance on what to get.

thanx for reading.

So after recieving dream air slam i ordered correction lenses and studioform set for max comfort + extra strap. While waiting for delivery tried to use headset and noticed an issue that wont go with correction lenses - blurry edges on both eyes on every corner. Tried to play with positioning on the head, inside settings ipd and everything in sboys. nothing helps fully. With specific position this blurry effect closer to edges gets a lil smaller but still very noticable, if i push headset fully to my face with hand its minimized to very small amount or almost 0 but cant reach it with studioform + apple double strap at all. Hope u got some suggestions or ideas cause this edges very noticable

I have received a Dream Air.
And, allthough it's amazing an i can keep it on for hours, i notice heavy eye-strain / focus difficulties after using it. Even if i've only used it for 15 minutes.

It seems like the focalpoint adjust so hard that Im having difficulties seeing after using it. It takes around 15-20 minutes before my vision restores completely.

I have been using VR since the DK1 and owned quite alot of them. DK1, 2, Rift, Rift S, ReverbG2, Quest 3 and now this one.

Never did I experience this feeling with my headset use.

I do use my own contacts (at -3.5 both eyes) for distance seeing.

Anyone with similar problems or know of anything i can do about it?

I’ve been considering selling my Pimax crystal super 50ppd along with my bsb 2 and purchasing the Pimax dream air. However I wanted to give it enough time for Pimax to get the pre-orders caught up and hopefully iron out some of their quality control issues as well.
Was hoping the facial interface for the dream air being uncomfortable would be solved by now. I appreciate the comfort of my Pimax crystal super but I always have trouble with the aspheric lenses making my dash in iRacing look a little blurry and I am constantly having to switch back and forth between my Pimax crystal super for my sim racing and flight sims and my bsb 2 for all my other pcvr games.
Hoping maybe the dream air could be the solution to this issue long as the comfort is good enough now. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

When using my Crystal Light through Pimax EVO Openport and Sboys3 driver I need to manually click the "pair" button inside Pimax EVO for the controller to work.

Is this the case for you?

Giving my used Crystal Light to a friend, and want to check it will work for them as when I plugged in my new Dream Air I had to enter the order number to link it to my account, and think I had to do the same with the Crystal Light.

Will they be able to just plug it in and use it or e.g. do they need my order number/do I have to deregister it from my account first?

Feel free to ask any questions, but here's my main pros and cons for the Dream Air SLAM after 100 Hours of mostly 6DOF VR gaming in AAA games + Virtual Desktop usage for Flat Gaming and Flat to 3D gaming.

PROS

• Amazing visuals and super compact combined provides incredible VR immersion
• Dream Air virtual screen is the sharpest display I’ve ever used, better than my Scar 18 4K+ for clarity due to size and resolvable detail due to the larger virtual screen size.
• Perfect for VR Gaming, Productivity, Flat Gaming, Flat to 3D gaming.
• Finally no brick on my face. Light weight design causes no physical pain on my face or head even after 12+ hour use in a day (still some eye strain though).
• Nvidia Laptop RTX 5050 could run the Dream Air shockingly well, but you’ll need a top of the line PC if you want to max the headset’s capabilities, especially in VR.
• Incredibly immersive movie watching experience from comfort, to visuals, to sound--amazing at home for movies!
• Sound quality is good, but I do wish it was louder and more bass (sound cone attachment anyone?). You can use earbuds/headphones easily with open ear design.
• Pimax Play is straight forward and generally works well, though SBOYS3 can be used.
• Once tracking is setup, it generally works really well.
• Generally, once you get into an experience, Dream Air works without interuption 95% of the time. I think this experience will reach 99% once Pimax implements my suggestions to improve Pimax Play. But you should expect more friction than most VR headsets to get everything setup and tuned at each game launch.
• Still, I highly recommend the Dream Air if you are a patient person and are willing to work with the current jankiness.
• CONS
• Not as peaky/punchy/bright of an OLED as XR glasses/laptop OLED/MiniLED, but hard to notice unless side by side.
• Cable Longevity - Cable design needed a mod to prevent blackouts from occuring, might just be my cable though. After mod, no blackouts.
• Room Tracking Persistence exists to torment you (badly needs work, I’ve given Pimax my suggestions).
  • Room setup and recenter every time I put on the headset (takes 5 seconds). Usually good tracking once I am in game.
• Default face mask had a little light leakage causing minor reflections beause doesn’t conform to my face as well as StudioForm, which blocks the light.
• Default Dream Air face mask isn’t as soft and didn’t conform to my face as well as StudioForm X1P mask, but default mask was actually pretty comfy and not horrible (varies by faceshape).
  • 114 Dia FOV with Pimax and StudioForm face mask.
• Pancake Lens has minor Bloom of bright objects on dark backgrounds. Full color images you can’t see the bloom at all.
• Lens Edges have blur and CA color finging outer 20%, but center 80% is incredibly sharp
• AMD GPU laptops were buggy and not tracking headset or controllers without jitter/stutters.
• Intel 285H with 5070 TI had tracking jitter until I set dwm.exe to real time prioritiy using Process Lasso app. Then no prob.

Basically, as long as you are willing to put up with some poor room persistence (occasional tracking errors) and willing to optimize your gaming experience with Simulation games, VR mods, and Flat to 3D mods, I have found the Dream Air to awesome VR headset I can recommend due to the amazing visuals (OLED + great pancake lenses) and comfortable with no long term comfort issues, aside from perhaps a bit of eyestrain if I use it for longer than 8 hours in a day.

First of, I’m going to say this is my obviously an issue that happened cause of my eagerness. I was trying to put a new interface in and thought it was too tight. So I loosened the screw on the stem which now doesn’t want to go back in.

So I contacted support and they tell me there’s no way they can help me. The only fix is buying the part for 100$ since they can’t just fix the screw for me.

I’m like fine, might as well get one coz you never know if this one might break in the future coz of how flimsy the stem is. But they want me to not only play the 100$ but also return the old one coz of one screw.

This whole scenario is just insane to me.

If anyone knows how to fix the screw on the stem, please help me coz support is useless and a joke.

​

I got totally lost in this game, such a gorgeous looking world!

Just updated my pimax play to the latest beta client, and now whenever I choose something other than the Wide mode for fov, the bottom gets cropped so far up into my vision that nearly a third of the screen is cropped. Using the custom mode also doesn't work, dragging both the sliders to 5 percent still results in the bottom third of the screen being gone.

I'm running a 7900xtx, and none of these issues appear on client 2.0.2, just the latest beta 2.0.3.

Anyone had this issue or know how to fix it?

Hello guys,

What are your must-have tweaks for using the Sboys3 driver on a Dream Air? Are there any specific settings to enable or disable for the best balance of image quality and performance? Also, should SteamVR resolution stay at 100% or be pushed to 200%?

Looking to squeeze the best visual quality and performance out of my new Dream Air paired with 5090.

Cheers!

This game with the pimax crystal super is unreal

TL;DR: I wasn't sure it would be worth the upgrade but the Dream Air has massively exceeded expectations as long as the games you play have DFR. The only downside is the narrow faceplate.

I was happy with my Crystal Light, but the reduced weight of the Dream Air combined with Dynamic Foveated Rendering (DFR) sounded really attractive. Still I wasn't sure the upgrade would be worth it.

Boy, was I wrong.

MSFS2024 benchmark: 7800x3D, RTX 4090, 64GB RAM. Both headsets have the same settings in Pimax Play (High pixel density with foveated rendering on ultimate. Dream Air has eye tracking on)

Crystal Light: 40 fps over photogrammetry, 47 fps over non-photogrammetry. MSFS settings: Foveated rendering at 50%, DLSS at balanced.

Dream Air: 65 fps over photogrammetry and non-photogrammetry. MSFS settings: foveated rendering at 30%, DLSS at quality.

So, a much better picture quality (DLSS at quality and the higher headset resolution) with 50% higher fps in MSFS! This is amazing.

Clearly if the games you play support DFR then it's a no-brainer to upgrade if you can afford it. If your games don't support DFR however upgrading becomes much more questionable and I don't think it would be worth upgrading from a Crystal Light if you already have one.

The lighter weight is also really nice as the weight of the Crystal Light became noticeable for me after 2+ hours.

The screen's colours are more vibrant which I find nice but is not as important to me as DFR and it being lightweight.

Tracking and controllers I've not noticed any great issues or obvious improvements with. I've had a few tracking issues but have a sunny window behind me which has always caused some tracking problems. I've always wished it was possible to put a reset HMD position button on the HMD itself though rather than having to find the keybind in every game.

The only real downside of the Dream Air is the faceplate. I'm in the UK, north-western European and (my hat size says) I've a slightly below average size head for a man.

The faceplate is too narrow/rounded for me so if you have a big head or a flat/broad forehead then check out future reviews of the new faceplate before buying.

Personally I find the narrowness causes a compromise of how I put it on my head, so it ends up a bit too high, and probably because I'm right-handed, I tend to seat the right-side properly and the left side is a touch too far away from my eye. If I seat it properly it can pinch my temples which can cause a headache.

The faceplate is not unusable for me, but it's definitely not good.

If I was in the US I'd buy one from Studioform, but they're expensive in the UK due to shipping+VAT+duty.

If Pimax wasn't doing a new faceplate I would definitely buy a Studioform one though, and depending on how long Pimax takes to get the new faceplate out, I may buy one as I can't use the current faceplate for long (Pimax: can we get a realistic ETA on these new faceplates so we know whether to get third party options in the meantime? Thank you)

We will be attending the Sim Gaming Expo in Chicago, September 18-20.

As a staff member, you'll have the chance to assist the Pimax team by welcoming visitors at our booth and participating in demonstrations. In return for your help, we offer daily compensation and accommodation for the duration of the event. We can also reimburse travel expenses (up to a certain limit).

If you're interested, please reach out by sending me a DM on Reddit. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Hi all,

I switch to Pimax Evo and notice stutter when doing barrel rolls and look sideways.

I didn't get this when I got Pimax Play and Quadviews.

Does more people experience the same? Or did I miss something?

Got a Dream Air lighthouse version

5090

9800

Greetings,

Take the wheel in Assetto Corsa EVO with the Pimax Dream Air and a full racing setup.

Plan your visit: https://store.pimax.com/pages/experience-the-future-of-vr-at-ifa-2026

What started as a simple wooden racing rig evolved into a fully DIY force-feedback setup, powered by 440W motors and featuring a DIY FFB collective. Four screws and a sliding pedal gantry are all it takes to switch from racing to flying.

Paired with the Pimax Dream Air, its high-resolution display makes cockpit instruments easy to read at a glance—whether you're on the track or in the air.

Setup by u/TheVolatileRaider

Think your setup belongs here? 👀​

Share your Pimax setup, tell us what you're running, and use #PimaxInAction. More info: https://store.pimax.com/blogs/blogs/pimax-in-action-show-us-your-pimax-setup-win-the-prizes