Well, now I know what I will be messing with, tomorrow....

I set it up today. Works great for me!

Does it work any better than having a strong router in close proximity to the headset?

Tried it. Zero improvement for me over wireless using my dedicated router.

On 8/10/2026 at 12:18 AM, turnandbank said:

Tried it. Zero improvement for me over wireless using my dedicated router.

Gotta be careful, as in; updating to the beta on both the desktop and headset versions of the software and making sure your cable is up to full USB 3.0 specs and above. Then there is making sure you have switched to the proper virtual desktop codecs, made some other small changes and etc.....

I am using it now. I have not noticed any particular increase in performance numbers but what I have noticed is a more consistent performance. And I have a high end router right next to my rig and very fast internet. I will use this setup for flight simming and use wireless for everything else.

My go-to headset is the Pimax Crystal Light - but I do have also a Quest 3 that I use for no-cable stuff and as an emergency MSFS2024 backup in the event of the Crystal Light failure (although nowadays this rarely happens 👍 ). I've always run the Quest 3 through the splendid wireless Virtual Desktop.

In terms of running the Quest 3 through VD in MSFS2024, it has always seemed a decent fall back if ever I had to sort a repair or replacement for the Crystal Light. However, in a straight A/B comparison, I would always put the Crystal Light back on after using the Quest in MSFS and immediately go 'Wow!!'

So I thought it worth a try with the new Beta version of Virtual Desktop, linked with a decent USB3 cable.

It took a bit of messing around - and Norton Antivirus REALLY doesn't like it...had to disable that to get the Quest boot up - but eventually achieved a pretty reliable and repeatable boot up of the Quest through the VD Beta link-cable. I then started doing A/B comparisons with various tweaks of the VD Beta settings (especially resolution and sharpness enhancement).

This evening, I found my ideal settings - the resolution up from default 100% to 125%; sharpness enhancement OFF (at first I tried that too and, yes, it does indeed add sharpening with little impact, at my relatively modest settings, on performance. However, visually, the artificial sharpness and associated increased colour saturation looked less natural than having that setting simply turned off).

I did a take-off and short flight in the Crystal Light back-to-back with the VD Beta Quest 3 in the Fenix A320, early dusk, medium cloud. I have to say - there was such a small difference in the two visuals in that particular test that if it had been a blindfold test I don't think I would have known which was which. And the Quest was just a teeny bit smoother!!

Remarkable...

Now, clearly, it needs much, much more comparison testing with different aircraft and conditions but, so far, count me impressed!!

Oh - and one time on boot up, I inadvertently booted up Meta's own Link facility (the cable arrangement is the same). Stutter-fest and unusable at my normal MSFS settings...

Edited September 10Sep 10 by AJZip2

Hello Captains;

I also tried this new USB method and found better results compared to the ethernet cable and adaptor. Specifically, less weight on the headset and now I use better settings. (Godlike settings,H264+ 500mbirate) But I would like to ask if anyone noticed this strange behaviour as well : When I connect the usb cable to the Quest3 somehow the wifi internet connection speed on my PC discreases drastically and when I disconnect the usb cable from Quest3, my PC internet speed gets higher again. I am not sure but if Virtual Desktop is somehow tunnels the connection to the headset to maintain better connection or is this a problem on my side only ? Thanks for sharing your experiences and support.

Edited September 14Sep 14 by kt069

On 9/14/2026 at 2:27 AM, kt069 said:

Hello Captains;

I also tried this new USB method and found better results compared to the ethernet cable and adaptor. Specifically, less weight on the headset and now I use better settings. (Godlike settings,H264+ 500mbirate) But I would like to ask if anyone noticed this strange behaviour as well : When I connect the usb cable to the Quest3 somehow the wifi internet connection speed on my PC discreases drastically and when I disconnect the usb cable from Quest3, my PC internet speed gets higher again. I am not sure but if Virtual Desktop is somehow tunnels the connection to the headset to maintain better connection or is this a problem on my side only ? Thanks for sharing your experiences and support.

I would suggest asking about your issue in the Virtual Desktop Discord. The devs might be interested to know what you're seeing. I'd also suggest making sure you are using a HIGH QUALITY USB 3.0 cable, not a Chinese knockoff and ensure that it's plugged into the fastest USB 3.2 port on your computer.

2 hours ago, mkel2010 said:

I would suggest asking about your issue in the Virtual Desktop Discord. The devs might be interested to know what you're seeing. I'd also suggest making sure you are using a HIGH QUALITY USB 3.0 cable, not a Chinese knockoff and ensure that it's plugged into the fastest USB 3.2 port on your computer.

Definitely this ^^^

I had two cables in my bits drawer and first try picked the wrong one The VD info panel in the headset reported it as USB2 and the results were poor. I swapped the cables and the VD panel now reported USB 3 and the resulting visuals and smoothness were very good.

23 hours ago, AJZip2 said:

Definitely this ^^^

I had two cables in my bits drawer and first try picked the wrong one The VD info panel in the headset reported it as USB2 and the results were poor. I swapped the cables and the VD panel now reported USB 3 and the resulting visuals and smoothness were very good.

I am aware of the above details and not mentionning any of them. My cable is not the best cable but VD reports it as USB 3.0 and the performance of MSFS2024 is very good on the headset. I am trying to understand; why my internet connection speed on PC (not headset) reduces while connected to the headset ? Thanks for your feedbacks.

On 9/16/2026 at 9:56 PM, kt069 said:

I am aware of the above details and not mentionning any of them. My cable is not the best cable but VD reports it as USB 3.0 and the performance of MSFS2024 is very good on the headset. I am trying to understand; why my internet connection speed on PC (not headset) reduces while connected to the headset ? Thanks for your feedbacks.

Check to make sure you don't have Internet Connection sharing active when using the headset. Did you ever use VD wirelessly? If so, I would make sure to remove any bits from that setup in your system and see if that helps. Since USB and the network stack are separate functions, that's the only thing that makes sense.