Let the battle begin...

[isjoohn]

So, recently I bought my first mechanical keyboard, after almost 11 years of hearing one and wanting one, it wasn't on my priorities list, but the opportunity was given and even though is a budget mechanical keyboard, I'm loving the sensation already.

But that got me thinking, there's a lot of switches existing... Different sounds, different force, different brands, even different tactile sensation, and since the Blue Switches are not that loved, I wanted to know... From your POV, why don't you like the blue switches and which ones you like instead and why? Or, why do you like the blue switches?

Let's have a convo!

Btw, my keyboard is the Redragon Kumara K552 with Blue Switches*, I do love these switches and, I fell in love with the sound once I first heard them, I didn't get one before because my dumb ass thought that mechanical keyboards were really expensive and never bothered to look up budget options. Until I did. *

[GuiltySpark_]

34 minutes ago, isjoohn said:

From your POV, why don't you like the blue switches and which ones you like instead and why?

Obnoxiously loud and cheap sounding/feeling, to me.

 

All of this is personal preference but there is a LARGE helping of ignorance is bliss. You may like something else much more but you simply haven't experienced it to know any better.

 

My first mechanical keyboard back before they were a big deal was an OG DAS Keyboard and all you got were clicky switches. We all thought they were the coolest thing in the world but eventually, you realize it sounds like crap and its annoying as hell to anyone around you.

 

Personally I'm a tactile fan. I switch up a lot but at the moment i'm enjoying some Akko Lavender Purple's but am picking up some Gateron Beer's soon. The sound is far more muted than clicky switches and has a nice satisfying "bump" in the travel.

[RONOTHAN##]

39 minutes ago, isjoohn said:

From your POV, why don't you like the blue switches and which ones you like instead and why? Or, why do you like the blue switches?

You're gonna pry MX blues away from my cold, dead hands. I like the tactile bump, the click gives a nice audiotory indicator that it was hit and to me is very satisfying, and I like the slight extra force needed to press down compared to brown switches. I can still live with browns if I needed to, but I much rather blues and do consistently type faster on my MX blue keyboards for whatever reason. 

[GuiltySpark_]

2 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

You're gonna pry MX blues away from my cold, dead hands.

I used to like you. Now i'm not so sure. 

[saintlouisbagels]

The first mechanical keyboard I ever knew about was a Razer BlackWidow that my older brother purchased back in 2010. It came with Cherry MX Blue switches and I thought it was the coolest keyboard ever.

 

In late 2011, I went to college and a roommate also owned the Razer BlackWidow w/ Cherry MX Blues. We lived in a 'suite' of 4 bedrooms and 13 total roommates. We all hated him by the end of the 1st semester.

 

Blue/Clicky switches are loud and obnoxious and they sound really cheap compared to all of the modern thocky options.

[seon123]

52 minutes ago, isjoohn said:

From your POV, why don't you like the blue switches and which ones you like instead and why? Or, why do you like the blue switches?

It doesn't feel or sound as good enough to warrant that amount of noise. They just sound cheap and rattly, and the tactile bump is not as defined and sharp as it is on the Box Jade. I went to great efforts to replace the MX Blue switches on my old G710 keyboard with Kailh Box Jade switches, a while ago.

 

Sound tests below

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually I decided I wanted a quieter setup, so for my current keyboard I have Boba U4 switches. They're medium tactile, and fairly quiet.

Sound test of the Boba U4 on a KBD75 V3.1 below. Volume not comparable, as it's on a different sound setup.

 

 

[TetraSky]

1 hour ago, isjoohn said:

From your POV, why don't you like the blue switches and which ones you like instead and why? Or, why do you like the blue switches?

I don't like the clickiness of them. I don't want the entire neighborhood to wake up whenever I type something (obviously exaggerating, but seriously...)

 

Currently I have a Logitech 910 keyboard with G-romer keys. According to a super quick 5s google search that I just did, they are about comparable to Cherry Brown.

The only reason I got this one is due to the macro keys and because I also have a Logitech mouse. Meaning only needing 1 software to run in the background instead of two different ones for macros and stuff.

 

That said, I recently (well, a few months back) tried the Corsair K100 with optical switches... And boy did I fall in love with the feel of it. But reading up on optical switches turned me off a bit... Lots of issues that can happen. I will wait another or two before pulling the trigger on maybe the next generation model... Which surely should come some day soon. That K100 has been out for, what, nearly 4 years now ? Come on. (I know Steelseries also make an Optical switches model, I have my eyes on it as well)

[isjoohn]

1 hour ago, saintlouisbagels said:

The first mechanical keyboard I ever knew about was a Razer BlackWidow that my older brother purchased back in 2010. It came with Cherry MX Blue switches and I thought it was the coolest keyboard ever.

 

In late 2011, I went to college and a roommate also owned the Razer BlackWidow w/ Cherry MX Blues. We lived in a 'suite' of 4 bedrooms and 13 total roommates. We all hated him by the end of the 1st semester.

 

Blue/Clicky switches are loud and obnoxious and now that mechanical keyboards and they sound really cheap compared to all of the modern thocky options.

That was actually the one that I first heard to, but I heard it through a YouTuber in the moment, I was like hypnotized by the sound of it, since then I thought that only those types of keyboards had those types of sounds, bear in mind I was a child, now that I know more of everything involving tech and got to know the budget option, I tried to get one, and thus far, I'm in love with the sound, but I've been trying to watch several comparison videos for blue switches and so on, and I feel like they all have different sounds, Idk if it's a thing about the switch itself or the keycap.

 

But valid point, nonetheless.

[isjoohn]

1 hour ago, TetraSky said:

I don't like the clickiness of them. I don't want the entire neighborhood to wake up whenever I type something (obviously exaggerating, but seriously...)

 

Currently I have a Logitech 910 keyboard with G-romer keys. According to a super quick 5s google search that I just did, they are about comparable to Cherry Brown.

The only reason I got this one is due to the macro keys and because I also have a Logitech mouse. Meaning only needing 1 software to run in the background instead of two different ones for macros and stuff.

 

That said, I recently (well, a few months back) tried the Corsair K100 with optical switches... And boy did I fall in love with the feel of it. But reading up on optical switches turned me off a bit... Lots of issues that can happen. I will wait another or two before pulling the trigger on maybe the next generation model... Which surely should come some day soon. That K100 has been out for, what, nearly 4 years now ? Come on. (I know Steelseries also make an Optical switches model, I have my eyes on it as well)

Yeah, I've read the same about the Optical Switches, it's a shame because they do feel really good, I wanted to know as much as I could before choosing a keyboard, but, my inner child got me to buy this one, which also has macros, but never used them, and Idk, I'm thinking on getting at least different types of switches to see what's really the difference between the sounds and sensations.

 

Bad thing is, I live in Colombia, and we don't have that type of "tech availability", so I'm thinking that I have to get those from abroad since they are Outemu switches.

[GuiltySpark_]

22 minutes ago, isjoohn said:

That was actually the one that I first heard to, but I heard it through a YouTuber in the moment, I was like hypnotized by the sound of it, since then I thought that only those types of keyboards had those types of sounds, bear in mind I was a child, now that I know more of everything involving tech and got to know the budget option, I tried to get one, and thus far, I'm in love with the sound, but I've been trying to watch several comparison videos for blue switches and so on, and I feel like they all have different sounds, Idk if it's a thing about the switch itself or the keycap.

 

But valid point, nonetheless.

Something to note is what you like is "clicky" style switches. Cherry popularized the "Blue" as their clicky style switch is/was blue, but there are now many brands that make clicky style switches. The rabbit hole or custom keyboards goes deep, very deep. 

 

The two other styles people gravitate towards are tactile and linear. Tons of information out there a google away. 

[isjoohn]

1 hour ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Something to note is what you like is "clicky" style switches. Cherry popularized the "Blue" as their clicky style switch is/was blue, but there are now many brands that make clicky style switches. The rabbit hole or custom keyboards goes deep, very deep. 

 

The two other styles people gravitate towards are tactile and linear. Tons of information out there a google away. 

Yesssirr, exactly, so yeah, I guess it's pretty much a "taste" from whoever is getting it, if they liked it or they just want to try it out.

 

I just wanted to see what were other people's choices in terms of mechanical keyboards, I can't be the only one that loves the clicky sound and sensation of it.

 

Bear in mind, I have tried a Linear and Tactile mechanical keyboards before, but never owned them.

[Doobeedoo]

Odd you waited so long. Any mech cheap better then some random rubber dome crap.

As for those switches they feel and sound broken. I use speed switches.

[isjoohn]

4 hours ago, Doobeedoo said:

Odd you waited so long. Any mech cheap better then some random rubber dome crap.

As for those switches they feel and sound broken. I use speed switches.

Well, bear in mind I live in Colombia in a city where tech stuff, is not that relevant, I had to order this one from another city.

And on top of that, add that I didn't care about a mechanical keyboard because I was using mostly laptops, I bought it because the keyboard from my laptop started to act up and I had to buy another panel for it, but then I thought about expanding the setup, that's when I was looking to buy just a normal keyboard, but I looked at some listings and saw this one. So yeah, long story short, it wasn't at the top of my priorities.

 

Valid point, valid point.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

On 7/17/2024 at 9:11 PM, isjoohn said:

From your POV, why don't you like the blue switches and which ones you like instead and why? Or, why do you like the blue switches?

I used blue switches for a while in an office, I found it to be too loud and even though my office neighbors didn't complain, I could tell it wasn't popular.

It might have been the crappy corsair board I was using at the time (years ago, everything else was out of stock except the gamer stuff and I needed it then and now), but blue switches felt really scratchy and inconsistent. 

 

Years later it started with my first hotswap keyboard (Keychron K10) and regular red switches, moving on to other red switches before going to yellows. Tried a few more tactile and even clicky switches in the meantime, Kailh box white v2 are probably my favorite of the few clicky switches I tried.

 

Now, for office use I am leaning heavily towards long-spring linears, moved recently to HMX Xinhai linears (https://unikeyboards.com/products/hmx-xinhai-linear-switch-factory-lubed-edition-10pcs).

I really like those and I am overall very impressed with HMX, planning to get a few other of their lineup to test. They feel very smooth, have a tight housing with little stem wobble (great when you use tall keycaps like MT3 or SA, where any wobble gets amplified by the height of the switch) and have a pleasent subtle, clacky sound profile in my Q6. 

I do have to compare them  again against the Oil Kings in there prior to my last swap though, since during that work I also removed the switch pad foam from the PCB. 

 

At home I use Cherry MX2A blacks, with custom long springs, lubed and filmed as well. They sound pretty nice and I do like the feel. Could be because I spent a whole afternoon/evening doing that with 110 switches though.

 

One type of switch I also tried and need to get more from are roller linear switches (https://kbdfans.com/products/roller-linear-switches). They basically use small bearing balls for the contact between the stem and the housing, instead of relying on sliding flat surfaces as most other switches I know off. They feel nice and smooth, unfortunately I only got a few in my board at this point in time so no real impression yet on whether they are worth it. I will test more though.

 

In case you want to go deeper down the rabbit whole, the one thing almost everyone seems to agree with is that stabilizers suck. After Durok V2 I know also tried the Wuque Studio ones (the version with TPU in the sliders), as well as some TX AP rev. 4 and the new fangled Typeplus YIKB stabilizers.https://kbdfans.com/collections/keyboard-stabilizer/products/typeplus-x-yikb-screw-in-stabilizer

Still no magic bullet, though the TX AP space bar together with a GMK set really works well. The Typeplus I haven't figured out how to lube properly yet, the spacebar I am typing this on still feels scratchy (but no rattle, so that's a plus).

[isjoohn]

On 7/19/2024 at 3:43 AM, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

I used blue switches for a while in an office, I found it to be too loud and even though my office neighbors didn't complain, I could tell it wasn't popular.

It might have been the crappy corsair board I was using at the time (years ago, everything else was out of stock except the gamer stuff and I needed it then and now), but blue switches felt really scratchy and inconsistent. 

 

Years later it started with my first hotswap keyboard (Keychron K10) and regular red switches, moving on to other red switches before going to yellows. Tried a few more tactile and even clicky switches in the meantime, Kailh box white v2 are probably my favorite of the few clicky switches I tried.

 

Now, for office use I am leaning heavily towards long-spring linears, moved recently to HMX Xinhai linears (https://unikeyboards.com/products/hmx-xinhai-linear-switch-factory-lubed-edition-10pcs).

I really like those and I am overall very impressed with HMX, planning to get a few other of their lineup to test. They feel very smooth, have a tight housing with little stem wobble (great when you use tall keycaps like MT3 or SA, where any wobble gets amplified by the height of the switch) and have a pleasent subtle, clacky sound profile in my Q6. 

I do have to compare them  again against the Oil Kings in there prior to my last swap though, since during that work I also removed the switch pad foam from the PCB. 

 

At home I use Cherry MX2A blacks, with custom long springs, lubed and filmed as well. They sound pretty nice and I do like the feel. Could be because I spent a whole afternoon/evening doing that with 110 switches though.

 

One type of switch I also tried and need to get more from are roller linear switches (https://kbdfans.com/products/roller-linear-switches). They basically use small bearing balls for the contact between the stem and the housing, instead of relying on sliding flat surfaces as most other switches I know off. They feel nice and smooth, unfortunately I only got a few in my board at this point in time so no real impression yet on whether they are worth it. I will test more though.

 

In case you want to go deeper down the rabbit whole, the one thing almost everyone seems to agree with is that stabilizers suck. After Durok V2 I know also tried the Wuque Studio ones (the version with TPU in the sliders), as well as some TX AP rev. 4 and the new fangled Typeplus YIKB stabilizers.https://kbdfans.com/collections/keyboard-stabilizer/products/typeplus-x-yikb-screw-in-stabilizer

Still no magic bullet, though the TX AP space bar together with a GMK set really works well. The Typeplus I haven't figured out how to lube properly yet, the spacebar I am typing this on still feels scratchy (but no rattle, so that's a plus).

That was a hell of an adventure for sure, lmao! At least you discovered as much as you could!

 

For me, it was like love at first sight, the sound it made back then I remember falling in love with it, I don't think I will change my opinion towards clicky switches, but I do have to say, other switches feel good, mostly the Tactile ones, I do like them. I'm even thinking of buying some Outemu Tactile switches so I can try them on my keyboard and see how's the sound difference because for me, the sound of this keyboard is all bro. I love it.

[Stahlmann]

I love the feel of clicky switches, but hate the sound. The closest I found to the feel of clicky siwtches without the sound problem are the Cherry low-profile scissor switches on my work keyboard.

 

I don't like linear switches either, so on mechanical keyboards I tend to go with the tactile switches (brown).

[Motifator]

Blue is way too click clanky. Clank clunk click clunk that's all you bang with those switches, same goes for Green which is less commonly found today. I know some people love them so much and explicitly want Cherry Blue boards but... it is what it is. Also as was mentioned, the actuation feels kind of cheeky. It does not give you the impression of a well built tactile board. Like the old Alps switches were also clicky, such as stuff found on IBM point-of-sale machines down supermarkets. But they didn't sound as bad or seemed to give an as-cheap impression.

I've got a proper Silent Red board from Ducky as well, it feels a whole lot better than Blue.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

On 7/29/2024 at 5:57 PM, Motifator said:

It does not give you the impression of a well built tactile board. Like the old Alps switches were also clicky, such as stuff found on IBM point-of-sale machines down supermarkets.

I've heard from the clicky faction that Kailh Box white or Jade/Navy are considered to be superior in almost any way (except if you like the OG blue for exactly its characteristics), but have little personal experience. 

Gateron Melodic switches could also be interesting, they are basically a linear switch with a small metal leaf spring in them as the click mechanism. Quite sharp tactile actuation, single loud click.

 

And people banging on switches/keyboards is always an issue, but I suspect that is due to the uneven and mushy response of most rubberdomes. It trains people to use way too much force in order to have a consistent bottom out experience.