Project Beyondex Brings Valve Index’s Speakers To Bigscreen Beyond Headsets
Audio lovers, rejoice: a new mod kit called Project Beyondex is designed to marry Valve Index’s acclaimed off-ear speakers with the featherweight form factor of Bigscreen’s Beyond and Beyond 2 headsets. Built by the team behind the Fluid spatial computing app, this kit aims to deliver the optics and comfort of Beyond with the gold-standard sound profile many still associate with Index.
Why chase Index audio in 2025?
Valve’s Index may be aging in display tech and ergonomics, but its off-ear speakers continue to set the bar for clarity, spatial separation, and comfort—matched by few, even years later. Bigscreen does offer an official Audio Strap, but for many VR diehards, the Index drivers remain in a league of their own. Project Beyondex is a response to that demand: a way to pair modern micro-OLED visuals and pancake optics with the most beloved audio solution in PC VR.
How Project Beyondex works
The mod repurposes the Valve Index head strap and speakers for use on the Beyond. You start by removing the strap from your Index and mounting it upside-down onto the Beyond using Project Beyondex’s 3D-printed side adapters. The adapters attach with a single M6 screw on each side and were designed using connector specifications Bigscreen published for its Audio Strap. Flipping the strap turns the Index’s rear cradle into a top support, which suits the Beyond’s headgear style without needing an extra top strap.
Under the hood, the kit relies on two core electronics packed into a small rear housing that clips onto the strap:
- A custom DAC based on the open-source Picoamp design to route audio from the Beyond to the Index speakers.
- A tiny UPS with a lithium-ion cell to supplement power for peak volumes, since the Index drivers can demand more juice than the Beyond’s USB-C port reliably delivers.
Audio is carried via thin wires tucked neatly beneath the strap and connected through pogo pins in the side adapters. The added UPS isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential for preserving dynamic range at high loudness without dropouts. The team credits community advice and testing for surfacing this power quirk and helping steer the design.
Installation notes
Outside of the initial strap transplant, the fiddliest step is tidying those thin audio leads along the strap. The rest of the process is straightforward, thanks to the purpose-built brackets and enclosure. Once assembled, you get the Index’s off-ear speaker positioning right where it belongs—without adding much bulk to the Beyond’s famously light footprint.
Cost, kits, and where it ships
There’s an elephant in the room: Valve doesn’t sell the Index strap separately, so if you don’t already own an Index, you’ll need to budget for the full headset. And while your Index strap is living on the Beyond, you won’t be using the Index itself.
For the kit itself, Fluid offers two options:
- Ready-to-use package for $109, expected to start shipping before November.
- DIY-friendly bundle for $89 that omits the 3D-printed brackets and enclosures. STL files are provided for printing, but you’ll be responsible for soldering the wiring.
Initial availability covers the US, UK, Canada, and Japan. Wider rollout is on the table, and the team is also working toward making the full schematics public—including the DAC+UPS PCB—so hardware tinkerers can build the entire solution from scratch.
The bigger VR picture
Project Beyondex lands amid swirling speculation around Valve’s next headset. Over the past few years, Valve has repeatedly indicated it’s exploring new hardware with a focus on wireless PC streaming. References to a device codenamed “Deckard” and “Roy” controller models have appeared in software builds, and a trademark filing for “Steam Frame” recently stirred the pot further. Some enthusiasts wonder if Valve might reprise the surprise Index rollout strategy, timing reveals against competitor moves.
Whether or not new Valve hardware materializes imminently, Beyondex taps into a clear community desire: fusing best-in-class audio with cutting-edge optics and comfort. For PC VR fans willing to transplant their Index strap—and live without using the Index while it’s on the Beyond—this could be the cleanest path to a dream setup.
Fluid’s team puts it simply: this configuration has become their preferred way to experience PC VR. If you’ve ever wished your ultra-light Beyond sounded like an Index, Project Beyondex is the mod built for exactly that.
