What kind of keys are silent but feel clicky?

[Actual_Criminal]

I am after a new keyboard for streaming. I have a Razer keyboard and there is nothing wrong with it, however it is 3 years old and the keys are very loud and can be heard on the microphone when streaming.

 

So, I am after a new keyboard. I have heard good things about the Corsair keyboard. I have looked at this one so far:

 

Corsair K70 MK.2 Rapid-fire RGB MX Speed Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

 

My budget is sub £150.

[trag1c]

I have that same keyboard but with the G keys on the side. Mine uses Cherry MX brown key switches which are supposed to be tactile but non clicky sounding. I find they're quiet enough to not be picked up by my Mod Mic provided I do a little bit of tuning with the minimum activation level. I don't stream but I do play online a lot and no one has complained to me so far about going ham on the keys.

[AndreiArgeanu]

To answer the question in the title of the post, you're looking for a switch that has a tactile bump. Below there's a list with a few tactile switches that do not have a loud click, the type of switch you're looking for is a brown switch (it's not the only type of tactile, non-clicky switch but it's the most common), and they are available from various brands but they should be similar overall.

[SupaKomputa]

37 minutes ago, Actual_Criminal said:

 I have heard good things about the Corsair keyboard.

Brand got nothing to do with the loudness, go with the switches.

If you want mecahinal keyboards it will make a sound, if you want silent keys go with membrane keyboards.

Here are the comparison:

 

[Middcore]

>Silent

>Clicky

 

Pick one

 

"Clicky" switches (ones that have a noticeable bump at the actuation point like the Cherry MX Blues and their clones and competitors) are by nature the noisiest of the three main categories of mechanical keyboard switch (clicky, tactile, and linear). You can reduce the noise somewhat by putting O-rings on them but they will never be "silent."

 

The Corsair keyboard you mention has Cherry MX Speed switches. While they would probably be quieter than some, they are not "clicky" at all, they are linear switches with very low actuation force, almost like a "hair trigger."

[Dr0y]

12 hours ago, SupaKomputa said:

If you want mecahinal keyboards it will make a sound, if you want silent keys go with membrane keyboards.

That is not completely true ... the sound of a mechanical keyboard will mostly depend on the type of switches followed by the keycap and the case and some other minor factors.  you can have a mechanical keyboard as quiet as a rubber dome keyboard, you just have to get the right switches to begin with. 

 

 

[SupaKomputa]

18 minutes ago, Dr0y said:

That is not completely true ... the sound of a mechanical keyboard will mostly depend on the type of switches followed by the keycap and the case and some other minor factors.  you can have a mechanical keyboard as quiet as a rubber dome keyboard, you just have to get the right switches to begin with. 

Have you read my statement?

12 hours ago, SupaKomputa said:

Brand got nothing to do with the loudness, go with the switches.

All i'm saying mech keyboard will always makes noise even the brown one.

Don't be surprise if you ordered a brown still have that tick-tack.

[seon123]

13 hours ago, Actual_Criminal said:

What kind of keys are silent but feel clicky?

Clicky means it makes a sound when it's being pressed, which is not from just bottoming out. It has nothing to do with how it feels. Are you confusing it for switches that are tactile?

13 hours ago, Actual_Criminal said:

keys are very loud and can be heard on the microphone when streaming.

If you have your mic just sitting on your desk, consider somehow isolating it, so that sounds don't travel directly from the table into the mic.

13 hours ago, Actual_Criminal said:

I have heard good things about the Corsair keyboard.

You should probably avoid the people you heard that from. The K70 Mk2 in particular, uses horrible, rattly stabilisers; super cheap, thin, laser etched ABS keycaps (worse than you get on $30 mechs); a non-standard bottom row (so it's harder to find replacement sets); mediocre/bad switches; and the worst software out there.

13 hours ago, Actual_Criminal said:

My budget is sub £150.

You could look for a Leopold keyboard with MX Silent Reds, or maybe look into e.g. the GMMK, and get silenced switches. If the keyboard does not have lubed stabs, you should lube them with e.g. superlube, as they will be loud otherwise.

What form factor do you want?

13 hours ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

the type of switch you're looking for is a brown switch

If they want an actually tactile switch that is also silenced (and not just not clicky), they are not looking for Cherry MX Browns.

13 hours ago, SupaKomputa said:

If you want mecahinal keyboards it will make a sound, if you want silent keys go with membrane keyboards.

Ah, yes, tell me more about how the IBM Model M is quieter than the HHKB Type-S. Membrane is just the sensing mechanism. It has no impact on how the keyboard feels or sounds.

[LTHKDEV]

I like the same kind of keyboard feel--tactile but quiet--but still mechanical. After a ton of experimenting I settled on gateron browns (because they have the tactile bump and are quiet) and added thick o-rings to help dampen the "click" even more. I got everything from GMMK. Also, if you aren't stuck on mechanical keyboards then you might think about trying a membrane keyboard; of the stuff I tried I liked HyperX membrane a lot, it was quiet and had a nice "bump".

 

Hope this helps

[Dr0y]

Actually silent switches with tactile bump ... kailh silent box brown ... put that in the gmmk barebone of your choice with a nice set of keycaps and you're set for as long as you don't get tired of it.