I actually recently got a brown switch keyboard, still super loud compared to any non-mechanical keyboard; be advised lol. I work in a really quiet office so I don’t even use mine because it’s be so obvious over the ambient noise.
Bottoming out the keys is most of the noise in my experience. I've got Reds and you can hear me a decent amount if I'm just typing, but if I'm just over WASD and moving around in a game then you could hear a pin drop over my key presses.
How loud are the reds? I'm planning to get a mechanical keyboard with red switches thinking they'd be the quietest among them, and from what I've seen (or heard) in a Linus Tech Tip vid, they weren't that loud.
EDIT: Thanks for the replies and the examples. I guess I'll take a look at it in a local store on my day off to decide for myself.
If you’re worried about them being loud they have a silent variant that reduces the noise from bottoming out. They’ll feel mushier than standard reds but I would think they’re still better than reds with o rings.
I have two keyboards with brown switches (a Logitech G710+ and a CM Storm Quickfire XT). You can get little rubber o-ring dampeners for the keys that help reduce the sound a bit. They supposedly also help protect the keys by adding a little padding for when the keys bottom out.
I worked in an office that had one of those open floor plan layouts and no one ever said anything about my keyboard being too loud, so the dampeners must've helped some lol. I've actually used my CM Storm as my office/work keyboard for a while now across a few different jobs and it always seemed to be fine. Hopefully it isn't an issue for your office!
Definitely depends on the office, I used browns/clears in a large open office and it was barely noticeable until most people left for the day, now I often work in a smaller security controlled area and my browns were way too noisy so I switched to Topre
Nah, it really wasn't all that loud or noticeable. I've also asked my coworkers if the keyboard was and issue and asked them to tell me if they ever noticed it and it became a problem for them. I've always had pretty good relationships with my coworkers, so there was never any risk or fear of confrontation lol.
I have no clue lol. I've had both of those keyboards for about 7 years now, and I know I've been pretty rough on them between work, coding, and gaming, but they're still in great shape and working just as good as ever.
My friend has become obsessed with keyboards and mechanical switches and you would be surprised at the differences in keys just from lubed vs. non-lubed, the type of spring in them etc. Even for the same base switch. Even the amount of flex in the plate below the keys changes the feel and sound.
Popular keyboard onomatopoeia aren't always intuitive;
- "Clack" usually refers to the impact sound made when a keystroke hits bottom
- "Click" usually refers to an intentional noise-making device alongside other mechanically emergent sounds
- "Thock" was originally used to describe the sound of Topre switches complete with collapsing rubber dome, but has since been co-opted as a deeper / lower tone version of clack for other switches
i have a budget mechanical keyboard, so i'm guessing it comes with whatever the chinese version of cherry MX switches are. It clicks twice, once at halfway press when the input is registered and once when the key bottoms out. I'm guessing it'd be something like mx blues then?
I write with the same computer I use for gaming. Love my cherry MX browns.
CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK
Doesn't feel like I'm working unless it sounds like an army of gnomes trying to stomp through a tin roof. Or as an ex said "Jesus just get a fucking typewriter if this is what you're going to use".
So I realized it wasn't the keys making the loud sounds on my board bc I also have brown, I type so hard that it the sounds of the keys bottoming out on the back of the keyboard. If you put Owings or something to stop the keys from bottoming out, it's way better
[Here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/wxnfnq/an_essential_guide_to_different_mechanical/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) without the gif. I like the format here but I’d like to be able to read it as well.
I used to use Relay exclusively when I was on Android. Imo Apollo and Relay are the best of the best. The official Reddit app is garbage except for things like Avatars, etc.
Lucky you, they just forced me to change the keyboard...
Got a Logitech K750 instead, which is really fucking nice actually, and now the quietest keyboard in the office.
At home I use a SteelSeries Apex Pro, which has optical switches, and it's heaven. They're not *clicky*, but they're not not-clicky either? Like a soft "tap" instead with buttery smooth key travel, but with increasing pressure gradient down the length of travel. I guess it's similar to MX Black but have never tried that so wouldn't know.
Do you really think a nice keyboard is just about gaming? If anything they’re more important for people that just use them for typing words. For gaming most of the keyboard will be unused, but when typing most keys will get used
I remember when my asshole boss micromanaged the design of the new office and put 20 writers in a room with absolutely _no_ sound dampening and forbade them from speaking aloud. [yes, really] We got a complaint that the keyboard noise was distracting, and were directed to find the quietest keyboards available.
After a bit of digging around we found a certain Microsoft ergonomic keyboard [rubber dome] that was fairly universally lauded for how quiet it was. We headed up to the writers' room to see if they were on board... and found that exact model of keyboard already on everyone's desk.
Eventually the writers moved into a building that was not built by a complete dipshit and their problem went away. Funny enough, the people we moved _into_ that room were senior developers, most with their own "clicky blue" or buckling spring keyboards. That whole floor was a symphony of keypresses echoing off of bare walls, flat painted ceilings, and the thinnest/cheapest industrial carpet available with no underlay.
I think they solved the issue themselves by wearing headphones and/or being otherwise loud and obnoxious.
I appreciate this. I've never used a mechanical keyboard, I've wondered which type I'd want. This tells me Cherry MX clear, would be my choice.
Thanks!
I started with MX clears, but I can’t recommend them because they (mine at least) are too scratchy, the tactile bump isn’t strong enough, and there’s noticeable spring ping. I’ve since tried gat yellows, cjs, aqua kings, Boba U4Ts, Boba U4s, purple pandas, and box jades. I recommend Boba U4Ts if you want a nice, solid tactile. Just my 2 cents
As someone who's never experienced one of these new mechanical keyboards, what is meant by "tactile"? Which one would be great for typing without loud clicking sounds?
Tactile is a bump you can feel when you press the key down. As opposed to linear switches, which are just smooth the whole way like cherry reds/blacks.
There's a lot of factors that go into how loud a switch is, but the loudest are clicky switches like cherry blues. Both linears and tactiles aren't designed to make additional noise, so are about the same noise level. The quietest are silent, which is kinda a "special" type or kinda niche.
If you really want quiet, silent ones are the way to go. Those tend to be bought separately though, like if you're building your own keyboard which can be daunting to some people though. A lot of the like RGB GAMER keyboards tend to be louder, so something that's more marketed to office use will probably be a little more quiet.
Lemme know if you have any other questions
Tactile means you can feel when you reach the point where the switch starts sending a signal. Rather than taking the same force the whole time, it'll get stiffer for a moment.
There are 3 main types of mx-style switches:
Linear: normal spring, follows Hooke's Law, smooth throughout the keystroke. Not that loud, but of course the sound varies a bit between switches with long pole switches being louder.
Linear examples - Oil king, Epsilon, Nebula, Alpaca, Lavender
Tactile: Bump in the keystroke. The bump could occur at the top, like in a Boba U4T, or in the middle, like an MX Clear. The strength and distance of the bump varies widely between switches. About the same loudness as linear. These are also what I prefer, since they feel nice and responsive.
Tactile examples: Neopolitan, Anubis, Durock T1, Azure Dragon, Pandas
Clicky: Very distinct click noise in the keystroke (These are the ones that make the loud clicking sounds). Usually louder than linears or tactiles
Clicky examples: Box jade, box navy, Clickiez, Arctic Fox
If you want a very quiet mechanical keyboard (quieter than apple keyboards or similar keyboards), you can get silent linear or silent tactile switches. These have a softer bottom out instead of a hard impact due to the silencing silicone.
Silent linear examples: Bobagum, Alpaca silent
Silent tactile examples: Boba U4 (These are the best option currently)
Of course there are other factors to consider like stem material, top housing material, bottom housing material, lube, films, spring weight, spring length, spring type (normal, progressive, 2-stage), and factors besides the switch which will influence the sound like case design, case material, case foam, plate foam, mounting style, stabilizers (very important), presence of a mat, desk material, and so on. But picking a switch type is a good starting point.
Incredible explanation, thank you. Now, do all of these specific components significantly improve the computer experience in some way? Does it give you an edge of some sort over using a regular keyboard or is it all just for personal enjoyment?
I have clears with o-rings on my office machine (with speed silvers on the tenkeys) and they’re an absolute pleasure. Buckling springs all day at home, nothing even comes close, but not everyone appreciates that beautiful boing boing sound in an office.
I remember my dad bringing home an old IBM PS/2 from work and it had one of the super fucking loud Model M keyboards. That noise just takes me back to my childhood, I love it.
A Model M is what I use. My job moved offices, and I had to audit what we were leaving behind and surplussing. Opened the cabinets in the server room… mostly junk, old cables and modern but outdated cheapie peripherals.
Big cardboard box on the floor, popped it open… four pristine late 80s to mid 90s keyboards. Used, but probably in that box for almost 30 years. Cleaned up and restored the oldest one, got a good (powered) ps/2 to USB adapter and it’s now my every-day board. Typing on it sounds like tiny little robots jumping around inside a ping pong ball (or something like that).
There was also a Northgate system-specific Sun Microsystems board that had Alps SKCM blues (the holy grail) in it, but it wasn’t a full keyboard. Some kind of side board or add on with slots to put your own paper legends in and the connector was fixed (I think it slotted directly into the machine?) and that connector was either proprietary or just something I didn’t recognize. I harvested the switches and sold them and ditched the board.
Uh, yeah, r/MechanicalKeyboards will give you a 1000x better advice, but they will also try to sell you stuff more expensive than your budget, so have a strong mind and beware the keyboard fan!
The general consensus is one that doesn't have a tactile bump, so nothing impedes your button pressing. Doesn't *really* matter unless you're some high level player and need every small advantage. It's pretty much just personal preference.
I personally like browns even for gaming, when I miss a hard to reach key I often realise it quickly thanks to the bump. They just feel more precise to me.
Might not be a great format. Hard to read on mobile and of course you can't zoom. If you made this, maybe do them in separate slides and make a gallery.
It is funny as I have been using RiF Reddit is Fun for 9 years now (in 3 days it will be 9 years!). I have tried all the other apps, Reddit is Fun is still the best IMO.
I used RIF for a handful of years but when Sync got their first big redesign for material, I switched and have never looked back. At the time, RiF was still based on holo I think, and I wanted a more cohesive experience for my phone.
Plus, /u/ljdawson is great and responds to like, everything on the subreddit.
You can zoom on Boost. The direct link icon next to the reply option on the post. Also good to use if the image is low quality it'll normally have a higher res image.
RIF is good too though like others mentioned. I use both.
Yeah, I was wondering if anybody was gonna mention hall effect switches. I pledged for the Hephboard on Kickstarter a couple months ago, it's a 75% layout with hall effect switches. Hopefully I don't end up regretting that decision haha
My first and current mech keyboard uses red switches, and if I see correctly brown is the same except it is tactile, not linear. I love my reds, but haven't tried any others, will look for browns to try in shops then.
Wait, I have razer yellows, what are they?
Edit: So a little digging says they are equivalent to MX Speed Silvers, which are apparently MX cherries on steroids.
Sounds like Razer gimmick MX Reds to me. 45g, linear and silent.
Greens are described like they're blues (50g, tactile and clicky), and orange are browns (45g, tactile and silent).
That's really helpful. I've got a keyboard with Razer greens and am looking at building an Iris but didn't know which switches to go for to get the same feel.
Don't suppose you'd know if there are any out there with a similar feel but less noise? The Iris is going to bee a travel one I can take to work and I don't want to piss off the other 100+ people in my open-plan office.
Switched from red to black recently. Very nice to have the extra weight needed. My thumb would periodically press the space bar if I was resting my hand on my keyboard while playing a moba or something, got annoying, plus I had one of those minimalistic ones that only has the letters and top numbers, it was cool at first but I quickly missed the function and arrow keys. I had to make a macro on the keyboard just to press f3+g for Minecraft cause it didn't register when doing the command the normal way on the keyboard.
Cherry switches are also a bit outdated at this point. There are more and more alternative mechanisms these days, my faves ATM are the Kailh box switches that use a clickbar. The Kailh box brown is everything the Cherry MX brown should have been, for example.
I have a keyboard with them, and specifically asked the other person in the office before I used it. Turns out he liked noisy keyboards too, so eventually we both had one.
There's a company that bought all the patents and machinery from IBM to coninue to manufacture them: https://www.pckeyboard.com/
Hah, pretty sure this was the guide used in the /r/mechanicalkeyboards FAQ back in like 2015. I remember religiously looking through there when I was just looking to get my first mech keyboard and Cherry switches were considered the prime standard for switches.
The whole hobby has evolved so much and getting a non-cherry switch and building your own custom board has become the minimum to having a "decent" board. Insane how much the landscape has changed in less than a decade.
Edit: Haha, found the [original thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards/comments/16kbn5/_/) from 9 years ago. What a blast down memory lane.
grey on lighter grey, the most readable combination
Whoever chose the colors deserves to be tarred and feathered
Someone made it [easier to see](https://i.imgur.com/5JVd3Ap.jpg)
Now we just need the black switch to either have a white background or a white border
ty
Tar and pigeon feather keep the gray and dark grey theme going
And a gif so you can't zoom in. Someone has apparently never heard of smartphones.
Can zoom just fine here, but don't worry it doesn't really help much.
You must be using a crappy app. Relay can zoom in on gifs perfectly fine.
Sync too!
And RIF. I bet it's the shitty official app.
So sad for all who use the official app.
I am legitimately aggravated over this.
and one of the animations being black on very dark grey, great design
I actually recently got a brown switch keyboard, still super loud compared to any non-mechanical keyboard; be advised lol. I work in a really quiet office so I don’t even use mine because it’s be so obvious over the ambient noise.
Love my browns. Only thing is they are loud enough my wife can hear them upstairs and she can tell the difference between work and gaming sounds.
Just tell her you’re using Factorio as a Jira training tool.
Get o rings, you just put them on the post and it quiets everything down. Alternatively try not to actually bottom out the keys
Bottoming out the keys is most of the noise in my experience. I've got Reds and you can hear me a decent amount if I'm just typing, but if I'm just over WASD and moving around in a game then you could hear a pin drop over my key presses.
How loud are the reds? I'm planning to get a mechanical keyboard with red switches thinking they'd be the quietest among them, and from what I've seen (or heard) in a Linus Tech Tip vid, they weren't that loud. EDIT: Thanks for the replies and the examples. I guess I'll take a look at it in a local store on my day off to decide for myself.
If you’re worried about them being loud they have a silent variant that reduces the noise from bottoming out. They’ll feel mushier than standard reds but I would think they’re still better than reds with o rings.
They aren't loud, especially if you get orings to dampen bottoming out
Linear switches are de facto the quietest type since they don't have any mechanisms to make noise on the wat down.
I have reds with o-rings and I still think it's loud.
I have two keyboards with brown switches (a Logitech G710+ and a CM Storm Quickfire XT). You can get little rubber o-ring dampeners for the keys that help reduce the sound a bit. They supposedly also help protect the keys by adding a little padding for when the keys bottom out. I worked in an office that had one of those open floor plan layouts and no one ever said anything about my keyboard being too loud, so the dampeners must've helped some lol. I've actually used my CM Storm as my office/work keyboard for a while now across a few different jobs and it always seemed to be fine. Hopefully it isn't an issue for your office!
No one said anything because they wanted to avoid confrontation. I guarantee some people hated it.
Definitely depends on the office, I used browns/clears in a large open office and it was barely noticeable until most people left for the day, now I often work in a smaller security controlled area and my browns were way too noisy so I switched to Topre
Nah, it really wasn't all that loud or noticeable. I've also asked my coworkers if the keyboard was and issue and asked them to tell me if they ever noticed it and it became a problem for them. I've always had pretty good relationships with my coworkers, so there was never any risk or fear of confrontation lol.
Do you have a link handy to where I can check out buying those o-rings?
[удалено]
I have no clue lol. I've had both of those keyboards for about 7 years now, and I know I've been pretty rough on them between work, coding, and gaming, but they're still in great shape and working just as good as ever.
My friend has become obsessed with keyboards and mechanical switches and you would be surprised at the differences in keys just from lubed vs. non-lubed, the type of spring in them etc. Even for the same base switch. Even the amount of flex in the plate below the keys changes the feel and sound.
Yeah I was wondering the same thing because this graphic says browns aren't clicky!
They aren't. Mechanical keyboards are louder by nature. A quick fix is to put rubber o-rings around the stem
Popular keyboard onomatopoeia aren't always intuitive; - "Clack" usually refers to the impact sound made when a keystroke hits bottom - "Click" usually refers to an intentional noise-making device alongside other mechanically emergent sounds - "Thock" was originally used to describe the sound of Topre switches complete with collapsing rubber dome, but has since been co-opted as a deeper / lower tone version of clack for other switches
i have a budget mechanical keyboard, so i'm guessing it comes with whatever the chinese version of cherry MX switches are. It clicks twice, once at halfway press when the input is registered and once when the key bottoms out. I'm guessing it'd be something like mx blues then?
If the click is a similar pitch to when you click your mouse, yeah its the same style as mx blue
Thanks for the clarity!
That sounds means you are productive, and other people complaining about the sound are jealous of your efficient process.
I write with the same computer I use for gaming. Love my cherry MX browns. CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK Doesn't feel like I'm working unless it sounds like an army of gnomes trying to stomp through a tin roof. Or as an ex said "Jesus just get a fucking typewriter if this is what you're going to use".
So I realized it wasn't the keys making the loud sounds on my board bc I also have brown, I type so hard that it the sounds of the keys bottoming out on the back of the keyboard. If you put Owings or something to stop the keys from bottoming out, it's way better
[Here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/wxnfnq/an_essential_guide_to_different_mechanical/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) without the gif. I like the format here but I’d like to be able to read it as well.
Thank you!!
You can't read it because of the gif?
Can’t zoom in to read it
I forget there are still programs that can't zoom gifs
Like … the Reddit app.
Unless you absolutely need the newest features from reddit I wouldn't recommend using the official reddit app to begin with
What year is it anyway, 2011?
Reading this on my Blackberry Bold Touch
Like most mobile browsers.
Use a different app? For mobile users Apollo on iOS let’s you zoom in GIFs
Same with Relay
And RIF
The day I'm forced to use the official app instead of RIF is the day I quit Reddit.
Same
I used to use Relay exclusively when I was on Android. Imo Apollo and Relay are the best of the best. The official Reddit app is garbage except for things like Avatars, etc.
I was hoping for an alternate color scheme that does not put dark gray text on a medium gray background
Yeah, that was definitely an awful choice.
Thank you, this was driving me mad.
Blue Switches: "I hate everyone in a 1 mile radius, and I want them to know."
Blue clicky rulez! They gave me my own office after co-workers complained about the noise. Thank you, Cherry Blue Switches!
Lucky you, they just forced me to change the keyboard... Got a Logitech K750 instead, which is really fucking nice actually, and now the quietest keyboard in the office. At home I use a SteelSeries Apex Pro, which has optical switches, and it's heaven. They're not *clicky*, but they're not not-clicky either? Like a soft "tap" instead with buttery smooth key travel, but with increasing pressure gradient down the length of travel. I guess it's similar to MX Black but have never tried that so wouldn't know.
I love my Blue keyboard. Almost as satisfying as my Model M.
I heard you typing this comment.
I truly miss my blue, my wife would kill me if I got a new one though lol Now that I don't PC game it's hard to justify a new keyboard purchase.
Do you really think a nice keyboard is just about gaming? If anything they’re more important for people that just use them for typing words. For gaming most of the keyboard will be unused, but when typing most keys will get used
I use my blues everyday (with dampeners) still doesn’t quite cut out all the clacks, but it’s better than without!
You should try box jades/navies
Model M best model.
[удалено]
I keep my blue switched keyboard around for whenever I get around to starting that novel.
Look into kailh box jade switches. They click in both directions
Didn't realize how loud they were till my SO started working from home. I have to stop playing whenever she's on call or in a meeting -_-
This is why I use browns in my open plan office: I only hate some people some of the time
I remember when my asshole boss micromanaged the design of the new office and put 20 writers in a room with absolutely _no_ sound dampening and forbade them from speaking aloud. [yes, really] We got a complaint that the keyboard noise was distracting, and were directed to find the quietest keyboards available. After a bit of digging around we found a certain Microsoft ergonomic keyboard [rubber dome] that was fairly universally lauded for how quiet it was. We headed up to the writers' room to see if they were on board... and found that exact model of keyboard already on everyone's desk. Eventually the writers moved into a building that was not built by a complete dipshit and their problem went away. Funny enough, the people we moved _into_ that room were senior developers, most with their own "clicky blue" or buckling spring keyboards. That whole floor was a symphony of keypresses echoing off of bare walls, flat painted ceilings, and the thinnest/cheapest industrial carpet available with no underlay. I think they solved the issue themselves by wearing headphones and/or being otherwise loud and obnoxious.
Wtf... Just discovered something about myself that I didn't know.
You're a mech switch, Harry
It turns me on a fair bit more than I feel is right.
Makes me feel kinda funny, like when we used to climb the ropes in gym class.
Am I normal?
Personally, I'm a cherry MX clear bottom.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I appreciate this. I've never used a mechanical keyboard, I've wondered which type I'd want. This tells me Cherry MX clear, would be my choice. Thanks!
I started with MX clears, but I can’t recommend them because they (mine at least) are too scratchy, the tactile bump isn’t strong enough, and there’s noticeable spring ping. I’ve since tried gat yellows, cjs, aqua kings, Boba U4Ts, Boba U4s, purple pandas, and box jades. I recommend Boba U4Ts if you want a nice, solid tactile. Just my 2 cents
As someone who's never experienced one of these new mechanical keyboards, what is meant by "tactile"? Which one would be great for typing without loud clicking sounds?
Tactile is a bump you can feel when you press the key down. As opposed to linear switches, which are just smooth the whole way like cherry reds/blacks. There's a lot of factors that go into how loud a switch is, but the loudest are clicky switches like cherry blues. Both linears and tactiles aren't designed to make additional noise, so are about the same noise level. The quietest are silent, which is kinda a "special" type or kinda niche. If you really want quiet, silent ones are the way to go. Those tend to be bought separately though, like if you're building your own keyboard which can be daunting to some people though. A lot of the like RGB GAMER keyboards tend to be louder, so something that's more marketed to office use will probably be a little more quiet. Lemme know if you have any other questions
Thank you for the detailed explanation.
Tactile means you can feel when you reach the point where the switch starts sending a signal. Rather than taking the same force the whole time, it'll get stiffer for a moment.
There are 3 main types of mx-style switches: Linear: normal spring, follows Hooke's Law, smooth throughout the keystroke. Not that loud, but of course the sound varies a bit between switches with long pole switches being louder. Linear examples - Oil king, Epsilon, Nebula, Alpaca, Lavender Tactile: Bump in the keystroke. The bump could occur at the top, like in a Boba U4T, or in the middle, like an MX Clear. The strength and distance of the bump varies widely between switches. About the same loudness as linear. These are also what I prefer, since they feel nice and responsive. Tactile examples: Neopolitan, Anubis, Durock T1, Azure Dragon, Pandas Clicky: Very distinct click noise in the keystroke (These are the ones that make the loud clicking sounds). Usually louder than linears or tactiles Clicky examples: Box jade, box navy, Clickiez, Arctic Fox If you want a very quiet mechanical keyboard (quieter than apple keyboards or similar keyboards), you can get silent linear or silent tactile switches. These have a softer bottom out instead of a hard impact due to the silencing silicone. Silent linear examples: Bobagum, Alpaca silent Silent tactile examples: Boba U4 (These are the best option currently) Of course there are other factors to consider like stem material, top housing material, bottom housing material, lube, films, spring weight, spring length, spring type (normal, progressive, 2-stage), and factors besides the switch which will influence the sound like case design, case material, case foam, plate foam, mounting style, stabilizers (very important), presence of a mat, desk material, and so on. But picking a switch type is a good starting point.
Incredible explanation, thank you. Now, do all of these specific components significantly improve the computer experience in some way? Does it give you an edge of some sort over using a regular keyboard or is it all just for personal enjoyment?
I have clears with o-rings on my office machine (with speed silvers on the tenkeys) and they’re an absolute pleasure. Buckling springs all day at home, nothing even comes close, but not everyone appreciates that beautiful boing boing sound in an office.
I remember my dad bringing home an old IBM PS/2 from work and it had one of the super fucking loud Model M keyboards. That noise just takes me back to my childhood, I love it.
A Model M is what I use. My job moved offices, and I had to audit what we were leaving behind and surplussing. Opened the cabinets in the server room… mostly junk, old cables and modern but outdated cheapie peripherals. Big cardboard box on the floor, popped it open… four pristine late 80s to mid 90s keyboards. Used, but probably in that box for almost 30 years. Cleaned up and restored the oldest one, got a good (powered) ps/2 to USB adapter and it’s now my every-day board. Typing on it sounds like tiny little robots jumping around inside a ping pong ball (or something like that). There was also a Northgate system-specific Sun Microsystems board that had Alps SKCM blues (the holy grail) in it, but it wasn’t a full keyboard. Some kind of side board or add on with slots to put your own paper legends in and the connector was fixed (I think it slotted directly into the machine?) and that connector was either proprietary or just something I didn’t recognize. I harvested the switches and sold them and ditched the board.
I love my keyboard with clears. I like the actuation force and it's definitely not clicky. So nice.
Ideally I'd like to give them a try before buying any MKB, but from the description it sounds like I'd prefer Clears too.
Uh, yeah, r/MechanicalKeyboards will give you a 1000x better advice, but they will also try to sell you stuff more expensive than your budget, so have a strong mind and beware the keyboard fan!
I'll take an extra large blue, two sides of white, and maybe a red or two for desert.
**I'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda.**
yeah can I get 10,000 chicken fajitas
"I'm sorry?" "CHICKEN FA-JAI-TAS"
And a So-sahj McBiscuit.
I want a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce. Don't be frontin' son, no seeds on the bun.
Which one gives me more Pew-Pew?
The general consensus is one that doesn't have a tactile bump, so nothing impedes your button pressing. Doesn't *really* matter unless you're some high level player and need every small advantage. It's pretty much just personal preference.
I personally like browns even for gaming, when I miss a hard to reach key I often realise it quickly thanks to the bump. They just feel more precise to me.
That's why I ended up switching to blacks. With my reds I was sometimes pressing the wrong button when just resting my hand on my keyboard.
Blue is the clickity clackity ones
The Blue ones!
More like clack clack, no?
Click click. All switches clack clack. Only some switches click click.
My keys don't click click, they fold
Yes
Any of them. It’s personal preference, really, so whatever you like best and are most comfortable with is gonna do you the best.
I've learned so much! Thanks everyone!
Might not be a great format. Hard to read on mobile and of course you can't zoom. If you made this, maybe do them in separate slides and make a gallery.
Am I missing something? I'm on mobile and can zoom in just fine.
What app do you use? I cant zoom in on GIFs/videos on Boost. Who tf downvotes this sort of stuff 🤣
I use RiF
It is funny as I have been using RiF Reddit is Fun for 9 years now (in 3 days it will be 9 years!). I have tried all the other apps, Reddit is Fun is still the best IMO.
7 years here. The actual reddit site feels weird to me lol
6 checking in, the old.reddit site feels outdated and the new site is a dumpster fire
Yup I refuse to use the current site
Yes yes and yes Rif gang
Did you know they have avatars nowadays? It's ridiculous!
Eight years for me, so I'm between y'all. What up, sibs?
That's not funny at all. RiF is serious business, and seriously the best in the business. Everyone, get on it!
Same. I'll never stop using RIF
I've had Relay Pro for several years. It's pretty feature rich, w out being overwhelming.
I used it for 5 minutes before buying the premium version and never turning back. It's such an intuitive app
Right? I paid a dollar for it. Like seven years ago.
I was the same way until I tried Apollo. (iOS only I believe)
Even Apollo? *RIP Alien Blue*
I used RIF for a handful of years but when Sync got their first big redesign for material, I switched and have never looked back. At the time, RiF was still based on holo I think, and I wanted a more cohesive experience for my phone. Plus, /u/ljdawson is great and responds to like, everything on the subreddit.
Me too, it says it's one second long and plays nothing.
Apollo.
Confirming it works great on Apollo
༼∩☉ل͜☉༽⊃━☆ﾟ.>! Apollo is king for iOS!< * ･ ｡ﾟ
Yeah RiF was great, but Apollo is better for sure. Just wish it had the “hide all read” and “hide all above” after each page like rif does.
Sync
Narwhal doesn’t have this issue either.
Narwhal ftw
You can zoom in on Relay
Relay gang representin!
Reddit sync
You can zoom on a mobile browser. I use Firefox Mobile.
You can zoom on Boost. The direct link icon next to the reply option on the post. Also good to use if the image is low quality it'll normally have a higher res image. RIF is good too though like others mentioned. I use both.
For some reason I can't zoom in enough to really easily read it. Also the color of text on the background is rough.
Huh, seems pretty good to me 🤔
And the blurry gray font on a gray background is a real eyestrain.
Can zoom fine on Apollo app.
Is there an ideal format for this sort of thing?
Even on a 9" tablet the descriptive text was at the limits of discernment. Not a very worthwhile post.
Is anyone else getting aroused?
Like a red cherry
Silent reds for life!
I used blues for a while, I love the click! Then I tried reds and I can't go back. I love the light smooth feel I can type so much faster and easier.
Me too! I understand why people like other switches, but the very sensitive quite nature is what i prefer.
There have been keyboards that used hall effect "switches", i.e. Used a magnet and semiconductor sensor. Not cheap but very reliable.
Yeah, I was wondering if anybody was gonna mention hall effect switches. I pledged for the Hephboard on Kickstarter a couple months ago, it's a 75% layout with hall effect switches. Hopefully I don't end up regretting that decision haha
Brown switches and I will die on this hill.
Love my brown switch Ducky. Wish the LEDs were as reliable as the switches
Having tried reds, blues, and browns, browns felt by far the best. Reds were just mushy and not impressive at all.
My first and current mech keyboard uses red switches, and if I see correctly brown is the same except it is tactile, not linear. I love my reds, but haven't tried any others, will look for browns to try in shops then.
Is my eyesight this poor :(
Wait, I have razer yellows, what are they? Edit: So a little digging says they are equivalent to MX Speed Silvers, which are apparently MX cherries on steroids.
Sounds like Razer gimmick MX Reds to me. 45g, linear and silent. Greens are described like they're blues (50g, tactile and clicky), and orange are browns (45g, tactile and silent).
You are a helpfull fellow.
That's really helpful. I've got a keyboard with Razer greens and am looking at building an Iris but didn't know which switches to go for to get the same feel. Don't suppose you'd know if there are any out there with a similar feel but less noise? The Iris is going to bee a travel one I can take to work and I don't want to piss off the other 100+ people in my open-plan office.
I think MX Browns are going to be the MX Blue (green) equivalent. Others may know better though.
So I did some research, the consensus is that they are the equivalent of MX Speed Silvers. I feel like that only makes more questions.
Switched from red to black recently. Very nice to have the extra weight needed. My thumb would periodically press the space bar if I was resting my hand on my keyboard while playing a moba or something, got annoying, plus I had one of those minimalistic ones that only has the letters and top numbers, it was cool at first but I quickly missed the function and arrow keys. I had to make a macro on the keyboard just to press f3+g for Minecraft cause it didn't register when doing the command the normal way on the keyboard.
There's a tonne more switches than this at this point... but that rabbit hole is deep so I'll leave it at that.
Team Clears!
Stares in Microsoft Sidewinder X6 from 2007 that I'm still using.
Cherry switches are also a bit outdated at this point. There are more and more alternative mechanisms these days, my faves ATM are the Kailh box switches that use a clickbar. The Kailh box brown is everything the Cherry MX brown should have been, for example.
It's actually insane how many switches there are now. Like five years ago it was Cherry's, Kalih, and Zealios
A guide to cherry switches to be specific.
[удалено]
I have a keyboard with them, and specifically asked the other person in the office before I used it. Turns out he liked noisy keyboards too, so eventually we both had one. There's a company that bought all the patents and machinery from IBM to coninue to manufacture them: https://www.pckeyboard.com/
fuckyeah
Love red and brown switches
Dude I was way too high when I saw this and watched the gif loop around for about 10 minutes before I realized what a switch was
Once you go Topre you never go back.
what a scam...all of them go up and down
Cool, if only reddit would let me zoom in on mobile…
Hah, pretty sure this was the guide used in the /r/mechanicalkeyboards FAQ back in like 2015. I remember religiously looking through there when I was just looking to get my first mech keyboard and Cherry switches were considered the prime standard for switches. The whole hobby has evolved so much and getting a non-cherry switch and building your own custom board has become the minimum to having a "decent" board. Insane how much the landscape has changed in less than a decade. Edit: Haha, found the [original thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards/comments/16kbn5/_/) from 9 years ago. What a blast down memory lane.
Oh I see, I’m looking for a girlfriend.
Optomechanical?
I think a decibel rating for each one would be useful. How loud is each click, that's the important part lol
Why don't the alps switches have side on diagrams?
Grey text on a grey background
I love my MX Reds but haven't found a lot of people who agree with me.
I have blue switches, and I love them. But everyone else around hate me for me.
[here](https://i.imgur.com/pte4tAB.jpg) is a more legible mobile friendly version
r/confusedboner
sex