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Valve is Building a Deluxe Audio Strap with Hot-swappable Battery for Steam Frame (roadtovr.com)
submitted 4 days ago by MyOpinion@lemmy.today to c/virtualreality@lemmy.world
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Valve confirmed with PC Gamer (via Skarred Ghost) that it’s working on a new headstrap with hot-swappable batteries and Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) drivers which are said to match the off-ear speakers seen in Valve Index.

Index, which was just discontinued, has long been the audio bar for VR headsets since its release in 2019.

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[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

Sign me up. Thus far I've just been using a Big Arsed Battery Bank on a short cable in my back pocket. That plus the Frame's built in battery nets me something like five hours of battery life before I need to return to reality. Inconvenience aside, I do like the battery bank itself being a commodity rather that proprietary component. The PRC will happily sell me another one any time I like, surely even long after the Steam Frame's own discontinuation.

The Frame's stock audio solution is perfectly acceptable except since the drivers are so far from your ears it's rather loud to other people in the room. I imagine this puts a damper on some users'... activities. For me, it mostly just annoys my spouse who has to listen to me shooting zombies or whatever else all afternoon.

[-] HAL_9_TRILLION@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

There was an interesting thread on reddit a while back about the loss of presence. Apologies for the reddit link, if you don't want to or can't click it, the thread basically is discussing how certain older headsets (OG Vive, PSVR) have a "presence" that seems to be lacking in some modern headsets, how the feeling of "being there" is getting somewhat lost. As someone who has an OG Vive (and has never used any other VR) and is considering getting a Frame, how would you say it does in this regard (and any others, if you've reviewed it anywhere and want to point me to it)?

[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

I don't know about that. The only point of comparison I have right now is my Reverb G2, the other headset I still physically own. I don't notice any particular loss of presence other than the fact that the Frame's speakers don't produce as much bass. Interestingly, you can perceptively improve its bassiness, or at least its loudness, by cupping your hands behind your ears to catch the otherwise wasted sound coming from the speakers since they fire backwards. This probably has some tiny impact on the spatial effect it produces, but I haven't explored that thoroughly because also need to, you know, hold the controllers.

Headsets with over-ear speakers of some description on them probably sound marginally better, but they're also much more of a hassle to put on and take off, and also to adjust for other users. That's probably why Valve didn't go with that method by default. I can tell you for sure that the speakers on my Reverb are forever causing me problems, and are easily the most failure prone component of the entire headset (aside from reportedly its cable, which I haven't ever had a problem with and seem to be the only person on Earth who hasn't).

[-] fefe00325@feddit.org 1 points 4 days ago

Valve has an article on the research they did for the speaker design of the Index. https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/index/deep-dive/ear-speakers

[-] vividspecter@aussie.zone 2 points 3 days ago

The audio side that annoys me more is the lack of 3.5mm jack, and only one USB-C port. Mind you, that is solvable with passthrough audio/power but an extra port would make things simpler and more flexible.

[-] fefe00325@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago

I wonder if the connector for the headstrap makes it possible to include speakers and an audio jack. In theory it should at least be possible to replace the speakers with jack in a custom headstrap.

There's also the connector on the front, which has one PCIe lane. Maybe someone will make a sound card or USB hub for that port.

[-] inmate_p01135809@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

I feel for Valve that they are launching in the middle of the AI bullshit that is bringing costs up, but ~$1,200 for the base model + ergonomic kit + tax. They might charge another $200-300 for this kit just to give people more than 90 minutes of playtime and more immersive audio. This doesn’t include the cost of a gaming PC, which can be $1,500+. And the best VR game is a 6+ year old game I already played on my HTC Vive. I don't know who these are for with these prices and in this market, but I wish them the best.

[-] fhein@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

Don't worry about Valve, they have sold every single Frame they've managed to produce so far, and there are more buyers lined up for future production runs well into 2027. But it sucks that this cool technology is out of reach for so many people.

[-] Yggnar@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

The ergo kit was sold out by the time I was able to purchase mine. Still no sign of when it'll be back.

[-] BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 days ago

At the very least, vrchatters who have 3 hour cuddle piles will be eating good

this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2026
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