Time to Vive in Style – Upgrading Your VR Experience

A Closer Look – Vive Deluxe Audio Strap

There are few add-ons for the Vive that are as essential than the Deluxe Audio Strap. Basically, when they made the Vive, they half-arsed the mounting system, most likely to keep the price down. However, this not-so-cheap upgrade aims to turn your Vive 1.0 into Vive 2.0.

This is a premium bit of kit, and comes nicely boxed much like the Vive headset does.

Under the cover, you’ll find mounting instructions. Don’t worry, you won’t need any tools or really much experience, it’s a simple twist-off the old one, click the new one in place. Couldn’t be easier!

In the box, you’ll find everything you need, including a Velcro strap to keep the cables tidy.

There’s a lot going on with this hardware, but it’s designed in a way that it just works with minimal fuss. What’s the old phrase? KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.

Putting on your headset then fumbling with your headphones is a two-part process. The Deluxe strap has high-quality built-in headphones that alleviate that problem. They’re nicely padded and plenty powerful for all your gaming needs.

A slider on the side allows them to be height adjusted with just one hand.

And my favourite feature is that they can be popped out too. If you want to take them away from your ears so you can hear around you, or even make it easier to remove/put on the headset, this is a cool feature.

Even more so, if they’re still in your way, you can fold them backwards or forwards too!

Cable Routing

When the old strap is on, the cable runs right over yyour head. This puts unwanted weight and strain on your head, can be uncomfortable and annoying. Now the cable routes around the side thanks to that stick up cable tab above the headphone mount.

The original headphone wire is replaced completely too with this springy cable. Plus this into the headset ports, and you’ll never have a headphone cable dangling around your neck again.

Adjust the Fit in Seconds

On the old strap, adjustments were a balancing act between the three Velcro straps. That’s no longer the case with the Deluxe. Simply turn this dial and the side arms change their tension, extending the length of the whole unit. This works both ways too, as you can put the headset on, and tighten the dial a little to lock it firmly in place.

The biggest change to the fit is how far the strap goes down the back of your head. The greatly increased surface area will help the headset stay firmly in place.