Mechanical Keyboard Club!

[johnt]

4 hours ago, Yone said:

Thanks to LTT and these forums, I'm half thinking about getting a mechanical keyboard. But I'm concerned about the noise. I know to avoid clicky switches and that you can mod them to be quieter, but still. 

 

I remember reading that low profile mechanical keyboards are actually louder than regular ones. Is that right?

Depends on your typing style, your casing, and FOAM. I use a Drop ALT with the tempest mod, heavy case foam, and Gateron Yellow switches with ABS caps. This combo can get super loud, but if I slow my pace a bit, it is pretty quiet. I'm typing on it now and my kid is sleeping right next to me.

 

Plastic keyboards tend to be quieter (and significantly cheaper) than metal cases. Epomaker and Nimbleback are decent brands on Amazon that will undoubtedly go on sale in about an hour... just sayingggg

 

I recommend linear switches if noise is your concern. Cherry MX Silver switches are also a high recommendation from me... but they need to be lubed. Gateron Yellow is my preferred choice so far. I tried box red from Kailh but they feel super cheap to me. Durock makes some safe and quality switches as well, but my experience is they tend to be on the louder side unless you go for the quiet versions.

 

Kep caps are another consideration. PBT tends to be a little louder, but "thockier" in general, but it can have some serious production issues like twisted or bent space bars. ABS is a little quieter than PBT, but it gets shinier faster. ABS ranges from very very cheap to holy crap are you serious (GMK *cough*). However they tend to have better production quality if you go with a premium brand like Drop or GMK. I've been trying the Drop DCX caps and they are really decent for the price when they go on sale.

[Yone]

12 hours ago, johnt said:

Depends on your typing style, your casing, and FOAM. I use a Drop ALT with the tempest mod, heavy case foam, and Gateron Yellow switches with ABS caps. This combo can get super loud, but if I slow my pace a bit, it is pretty quiet. I'm typing on it now and my kid is sleeping right next to me.

 

Plastic keyboards tend to be quieter (and significantly cheaper) than metal cases. Epomaker and Nimbleback are decent brands on Amazon that will undoubtedly go on sale in about an hour... just sayingggg

 

I recommend linear switches if noise is your concern. Cherry MX Silver switches are also a high recommendation from me... but they need to be lubed. Gateron Yellow is my preferred choice so far. I tried box red from Kailh but they feel super cheap to me. Durock makes some safe and quality switches as well, but my experience is they tend to be on the louder side unless you go for the quiet versions.

 

Kep caps are another consideration. PBT tends to be a little louder, but "thockier" in general, but it can have some serious production issues like twisted or bent space bars. ABS is a little quieter than PBT, but it gets shinier faster. ABS ranges from very very cheap to holy crap are you serious (GMK *cough*). However they tend to have better production quality if you go with a premium brand like Drop or GMK. I've been trying the Drop DCX caps and they are really decent for the price when they go on sale.

It makes sense that linear switches would be quieter, but I think I'd prefer the feel of tactile (non clicky) ones like browns. I was mostly looking at plastic cases and ABS because they're cheaper, so it's interesting to know they're quieter too.

 

I've heard of Epomaker and have also been thinking about Keychron. And yep, I figured Prime Day would be a good time to buy. 

[Volbet]

I decided to give an Alice layout a try, so I picked up a Feker Alice 98. 

I build it out with some Cherry MX Black Hyperglide switches, which have been lubed with Krytox 206g0, filmed and spring-swapped to short 75g TX springs. 

The keycaps are Drop+MiTo Canvas XDA profile keycaps. I guess the font is love it or hate it situation, but the quality of the keycaps is really nice.

 

As for the keyboard kit itself, it's decently nice. Which honestly isn't too much to ask for a plastic keyboard  that costs $200. I does come with some really nice switches and keycaps that I didn't end up using, so that's on me.  

My only really issue with the kit is the stabilizers. There's not really any good reason why such an expensive kit should use plate-mounted stabilizers. The stabilizers are really good for plate-mount stabilizers, though. No real need for band-aid modding them, but lubing them up is still recommended. 

Although, the choice of stabilizer might be for the better, as the keyboard is incredibly difficult to take apart, especially without tearing the ribbon cables keeping everything together.   

 

The software that you use to remap the keys and add graphics to the screen is also uniquely terrible. It's one of the best arguments for why all keyboards should have support for QMK and/or VIA. 

[AC3VA1000]

I have a radragon Dragonborn (I think) 10 keyless with blue swithes

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

Though I'd share mine here as well: two builds at home, and one for the office:

 

Office: Keychron K10, Domikey SA Dolch, Gateron milky yellows. Thing is also filled with a layer of Noico dampening material, plus another layer of 3mm foam tape. Between PCB and ABS plate are some single foam modules from KBDfans.. Stabs are stock, but added a bit of lube and some soft Poron foam under the wire to help with rattle. Surprisingly effective!

 

Issues are that I broke off the plastic pin off of one of the small pcb switches, so it is wired only right now; battery is disconnected anyway. The USB C port is also not compatible with most cables, since the clearance around is is quite tight. So it works with the cable that came with it, but I found other cables (even from Keychron) don't fit.

Also I don't know why, but it feels like the switches are getting more 'pingy'. Not sure why or if it is just my imagination. Keyboard is relatively quiet though, so my colleagues haven't complained (yet). Which I can't say about the next one....

 

The never-finished-project: Keychron Q6. With Drop+Matt3o MT3 Susuwatari and currently Gazzew Boba U4T plus Durock v2 stabs. Also has poron foam in it instead of the standard keychron stuff, plus the FR4 plate instead of the regular aluminium one. Again, used some poron film pieces to cushion the wire of the stabs.

This thing is loud, and while technically not clicky, you can really hear every single key press. Also not your stereotypical thock or marblely clack loud, more plastic clack. Definitely not for a shared office space, unless your colleagues like typewrites.

 

 

Where to start... One the one hand I love this thing, I put a lot of work and money into it and I had a lot of fun building it and working on it. On the other hand, I also learned about stuff that I apparently do not like, even though I thought I would. And, that ridiculously expensive keycaps are expensive for other reasons than just marketing. Overall, diminishing returns are real though.

 

In the future I'll likely look for a PC plate and go back to either yellows or blacks, maybe splurge for something fancy like Oil Kings or Northpoles. For now I will give tactiles another chance. That is, if I don't stick to my actual favorite one....

 

Completing the keychron trio: Keychron V6, with a mixture of keycaps but mostly keychron's PBT white on black, plus some white/red accent pieces stolen from other kits. Plate is an aftermarket POM plate (very soft and flexible) plus a lot of poron foam from the same vendor. Oil Kings and Durock v2 stabs with the usual foam cushion.

 

 

Speaking of cushion, this whole thing is the result of some experiments with unintended consequences. After replacing the silicone dampener with the foam pads I realized that this actually will not easily fit and most of the foam will be compressed. So I thought about not screwing in all the little tray mounting screws and only friction fit the whole thing. That did not work.

 

The USB port naturally has only a small window, so I'd either have to cut out a larger whole, or fix at least the top left corner. Also the M3 screws holding the top on the bottom case are not long enough to hold it on with a gap. Therefore I did the only logical thing: screwed it in on the two sides and left the center not attached. Actually worked and it felt like it had somewhat of a cushion effect. Kinda nice.

 

Over time, though, the foam 'cut itself' (hard to describe) into the required shape to perfectly fill in the reinforcement pattern in the lower case, giving the thing more slack again. When I took it apart recently, I noticed the whole PCB/plate sandwich now has a distinct bow to it, so much so that the whole sandwich feels spring mounted when just placed on a table. In the meantime I found longer M3 screws, now this thing mutated in its own form of a cushion/pseudo-gasket mount with its misshapen PCB/plate and the abundance of foam in there.

Makes me wonder whether I should patent the "pre stress-formed PCB/plate mounted on a foam cushion" mounting system, results seem nice.

 

Well, enough shilling for Keycrhon. Anyone have any good recommendations for full-sized keyboards that don't cost an arm and a leg (relatively speaking)?

[Naijin]

Does any one of you know or have experience with MageGee?

 

Since I was doing some research for a mechanical keyboard and ordering a Keychron K8 pro barebone and black switches, I got a lot of keyboard ads since (mainly on Instagram). I saw an ad for Temu, looks like an AliExpress but much faster delivery. The ad was about a mechanical keyboard for new accounts, it was a MageGee Star 61 for only 3.59 EUR. It's got red switches (or blue) and is a 60% layout with a light blue backlight. Since I wanted to replace a very one Dragon War membrane keyboard that I use as a spare when I'm building pc's, I thought I'd give it a go. Not even 4 euros for a mechanical keyboard seems like a good deal, even if it may only last 2-3 years. MageGee has more keyboards though, all in different sizes. Even RGB ones.

 

This is it. It's now 35.98 EUR but was 90% off.

https://share.temu.com/NoRuu82sjMA 

 

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

14 hours ago, Naijin said:

Not even 4 euros for a mechanical keyboard seems like a good deal, even if it may only last 2-3 years. MageGee has more keyboards though, all in different sizes. Even RGB ones.

 

This is it. It's now 35.98 EUR but was 90% off.

https://share.temu.com/NoRuu82sjMA 

I mean, for 4EUR you can't really do much wrong, unless it is outright e-waste. I've googled it a bit and it seems to be around 25-35EUR everywhere.

 

Keycaps are apparently double-shot ABS, but I've had a keyboard (this one I believe https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BD6X9TQZ/ref=twister_B0B9J88ZL5?_encoding=UTF8&th=1 ) from amazon sent by accident, which had the same style of keycaps. So if they used the same supplier or mold, then these are functional but nothing to write home about. Returned it pretty much immediately, so don't remember much.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be hotswap, otherwise I'd think it would be nice for just a random side project to try some weird mods on.

[Naijin]

10 hours ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

I mean, for 4EUR you can't really do much wrong, unless it is outright e-waste. I've googled it a bit and it seems to be around 25-35EUR everywhere.

 

Keycaps are apparently double-shot ABS, but I've had a keyboard (this one I believe https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BD6X9TQZ/ref=twister_B0B9J88ZL5?_encoding=UTF8&th=1 ) from amazon sent by accident, which had the same style of keycaps. So if they used the same supplier or mold, then these are functional but nothing to write home about. Returned it pretty much immediately, so don't remember much.

 

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be hotswap, otherwise I'd think it would be nice for just a random side project to try some weird mods on.

I'm waiting for a Keychron K8 pro to arrive, that I will customize to my liking. It's just that right now I'm using a very large Cherry keyboard at work so thought it could be a good replacement and since it's portable, can bring it home if needed (like once a month). I hope it's a good deal, should arrive next week. I'm not expecting much for quality, if I can type on it, it's probably fine

 

Currently use this at work, which is a bit large on my desk, but it does have MX black switches:

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

On 7/19/2023 at 10:00 AM, Naijin said:

I hope it's a good deal, should arrive next week. I'm not expecting much for quality, if I can type on it, it's probably fine

Would you mind posting a minireview or some thoughts on it once it arrives? Looks like a nice starting point for fun little builds where you don't have to worry about ruining something expensive, at least compared to the usual 100$+ options.

 

[Naijin]

1 hour ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Would you mind posting a minireview or some thoughts on it once it arrives? Looks like a nice starting point for fun little builds where you don't have to worry about ruining something expensive, at least compared to the usual 100$+ options.

 

Oh I will, it should arrive around the same time as the Keychron K8 Pro

[geo3]

On 7/16/2023 at 12:58 AM, Volbet said:

I decided to give an Alice layout a try, so I picked up a Feker Alice 98. 

I build it out with some Cherry MX Black Hyperglide switches, which have been lubed with Krytox 206g0, filmed and spring-swapped to short 75g TX springs. 

The keycaps are Drop+MiTo Canvas XDA profile keycaps. I guess the font is love it or hate it situation, but the quality of the keycaps is really nice.

 

God damn, I want MiTo Canvas in something other than XDA, preferable KAT or MT3, more than any other custom keyboard product. 

[Volbet]

12 hours ago, geo3 said:

God damn, I want MiTo Canvas in something other than XDA, preferable KAT or MT3, more than any other custom keyboard product. 

I second that. The closest I've found is the Drop + Biip MT3 extended 2048, but the font is quite different and the colored accents are quite a bit more saturated. 

 

On 7/16/2023 at 8:07 PM, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

The never-finished-project: Keychron Q6. With Drop+Matt3o MT3 Susuwatari and currently Gazzew Boba U4T plus Durock v2 stabs. Also has poron foam in it instead of the standard keychron stuff, plus the FR4 plate instead of the regular aluminium one. Again, used some poron film pieces to cushion the wire of the stabs.

This thing is loud, and while technically not clicky, you can really hear every single key press. Also not your stereotypical thock or marblely clack loud, more plastic clack. Definitely not for a shared office space, unless your colleagues like typewrites.

 

 

Where to start... One the one hand I love this thing, I put a lot of work and money into it and I had a lot of fun building it and working on it. On the other hand, I also learned about stuff that I apparently do not like, even though I thought I would. And, that ridiculously expensive keycaps are expensive for other reasons than just marketing. Overall, diminishing returns are real though.

 

In the future I'll likely look for a PC plate and go back to either yellows or blacks, maybe splurge for something fancy like Oil Kings or Northpoles. For now I will give tactiles another chance. That is, if I don't stick to my actual favorite one....

I use a Keychron Q6 at work, and I'll agree that it's quite loud (and not in a good way) out of the box. It's basically a platform that requires you to mod it. And depending on who you are, that might be a good thing. 

 

Ended up kitting my Q6 out with Gateron Blizzard switches, a PC place, full forcebreak mod and filling the bottom up with poured silicone.  

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

7 hours ago, Volbet said:

Ended up kitting my Q6 out with Gateron Blizzard switches, a PC place, full forcebreak mod and filling the bottom up with poured silicone.  

Sounds like an interesting option to me. I definitely like the POM plate on the V6, so PC might be a good option as well (though I know POM and PC are quite different materials in a lot of respects).

Currently I switched back to the aluminium plate from FR4, but it did not really improve the results. I also switched back from the U4T switches to regular G Pro yellows, which already helped a lot with the sound and feel. So it might just be that U4Ts with this style of keycaps is just really.... loud.

 

Might I ask you for more details on the full force break mod? Mine already came with a series of silicone dampeners on the top half of the case and I added a few snippets from leftover switch pads, which does help somewhat I believe. So it does not sound like some videos I have seen of early Q1 that sounded like metal boxes.

 

I have never poured silicone in any keyboard, but I have already tried adding foam etc. and it mostly just ends up interfering with the gasket mount and not changing the sound at all imho. After all, the bottom case is insanely thick (that chonker currently weights 2.5kg) and little room is left inside for the PCB to move. Did you experience anything similar?

[Volbet]

36 minutes ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Sounds like an interesting option to me. I definitely like the POM plate on the V6, so PC might be a good option as well (though I know POM and PC are quite different materials in a lot of respects).

Currently I switched back to the aluminium plate from FR4, but it did not really improve the results. I also switched back from the U4T switches to regular G Pro yellows, which already helped a lot with the sound and feel. So it might just be that U4Ts with this style of keycaps is just really.... loud.

 

Might I ask you for more details on the full force break mod? Mine already came with a series of silicone dampeners on the top half of the case and I added a few snippets from leftover switch pads, which does help somewhat I believe. So it does not sound like some videos I have seen of early Q1 that sounded like metal boxes.

 

I have never poured silicone in any keyboard, but I have already tried adding foam etc. and it mostly just ends up interfering with the gasket mount and not changing the sound at all imho. After all, the bottom case is insanely thick (that chonker currently weights 2.5kg) and little room is left inside for the PCB to move. Did you experience anything similar?

The U4T's are generally really loud. The combination of the long pole, the plastic composite and the tactile bump really makes them present sound-wise. My U4T's are currently spring-swapped to some 100g dual-stage springs, and while that did help with the bottom-out sound, the return became exponentially louder. it's a switch that just wants to be loud, it seems. 

 

Well, with "full" force break mod I just mean that I've placed electrical tape at all the points where the bottom case screw unto the top case. 

I've seen people only to the center or corner point, so I just wanted to specify that I coveres all the points. 

The silicone pads on the Q-series isn't really enough to dampen the chatter between the top and bottom case, in my experience. Nothing really beats the tried and tested forcebreak mod. 

 

I partially did the whole silicone pour in the Q6 to dampen the flex from the gasket mount. I know it might be considered sacrilege, but I don't really like my typing surface to give under my fingers. 

So yes, the silicone pour will, depending on how much you pour, interfere with the gasket mount. But it definitely is possible to pour little enough to not interfere with anything. It's just important to cover the two indents for the daughter-board cable and the potentiometer. 

But the main reason for the silicone pour was to make the keyboard sound denser. For all its heft, the Q6 sounds rather hollow and brittle. I did try both poly-fill and car dampener in the past, but it didn't really help. The silicone I used is rather high in density, so it does make it sound substantial.   

 

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

Hey thank you for the quick and detailed reply!

 

I think it is not just the U4Ts, I also tried Gateron's Baby Kangaroo switches, and those are equally loud with a slightly higher pitch. I think the pronounced tactile bump and the 'trigger like' style of the bump just make it really hard to not bottom them out hard.

 

Interesting to learn about a "half" force-break mod, I only ever saw it applied on all points of contact. I might try to go back to no force break on mine before replacing the pieces of switch pad with electrical tape. Interesting to see what the difference will be. Currently I don't really hear any metal chatter, apart maybe of the space bar.

I still have the silicone dampener of the V6 around, maybe I give it a try to use that in the Q6, but as you said I'll probably need to figure out how to deal with the

daughter board.

 

Honestly I don't find it that sacrilegious to not want to have a gasket mount. When I first tried it felt really weird, guess I am just way more used to it. It does help with bottoming out though. A good compromise I found was to basically foam or cushion mount the plate/pcb sandwich (like the V6 I mentioned earlier). Depending on how much you tighten it the flex is more or less pronounced to non-existent, but it still cushions the impact and does change the sound quite a bit (hard to describe though).

 

On my work K10 I actually found a good way to make it feel substantial and thocky (at least to me), by adding just a few spread out but somewhat random foam pads (these are the ones I used: https://keygem.com/products/kbdfans-module-foam) to the pcb. My idea was to partially fill up the volume and reduce reverb and any dampen any 'resonances' of the plate/void, but to retain some of the deep, hollow sound. The bottom tray was filled with a layer of Noico automotive dampener, above which I placed a layer of 3mm foam tape. Together with the SA keycaps it sounds quite hefty (the car dampener added a lot of weight though).

[Volbet]

11 hours ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Hey thank you for the quick and detailed reply!

 

I think it is not just the U4Ts, I also tried Gateron's Baby Kangaroo switches, and those are equally loud with a slightly higher pitch. I think the pronounced tactile bump and the 'trigger like' style of the bump just make it really hard to not bottom them out hard.

 

Interesting to learn about a "half" force-break mod, I only ever saw it applied on all points of contact. I might try to go back to no force break on mine before replacing the pieces of switch pad with electrical tape. Interesting to see what the difference will be. Currently I don't really hear any metal chatter, apart maybe of the space bar.

I still have the silicone dampener of the V6 around, maybe I give it a try to use that in the Q6, but as you said I'll probably need to figure out how to deal with the

daughter board.

 

Honestly I don't find it that sacrilegious to not want to have a gasket mount. When I first tried it felt really weird, guess I am just way more used to it. It does help with bottoming out though. A good compromise I found was to basically foam or cushion mount the plate/pcb sandwich (like the V6 I mentioned earlier). Depending on how much you tighten it the flex is more or less pronounced to non-existent, but it still cushions the impact and does change the sound quite a bit (hard to describe though).

 

On my work K10 I actually found a good way to make it feel substantial and thocky (at least to me), by adding just a few spread out but somewhat random foam pads (these are the ones I used: https://keygem.com/products/kbdfans-module-foam) to the pcb. My idea was to partially fill up the volume and reduce reverb and any dampen any 'resonances' of the plate/void, but to retain some of the deep, hollow sound. The bottom tray was filled with a layer of Noico automotive dampener, above which I placed a layer of 3mm foam tape. Together with the SA keycaps it sounds quite hefty (the car dampener added a lot of weight though).

Adding bits of plate foam is actually not a bad idea. It's not something I'd thought of myself, but it makes sense to add or subtract a bit of foam to achieve the desired balance between muting the sound and retaining the resonance of the case.

It's especially interesting in a roomy plastic case.

Thanks a lot for the idea.

 

Using foam to soften a bottom mount is also a really neat idea. I've done that with rubber O-rings before, and I've done something similar with foam to a top mounted PCB on my keyboard at home.

 

Also, this is my Q6 as it is currently:

While GPBT do look good on it, I can't say the quality is all that good. They're rather thin, so the sound isn't all there.

I also loath that the Nordic ISO version of All GPBT set use all lowercase letters for the modifier keys.

[johnt]

9 hours ago, Volbet said:

While GPBT do look good on it, I can't say the quality is all that good. They're rather thin, so the sound isn't all there.

I also have not been impressed with glorious key caps. I saw keychron makes caps now but I haven’t tried them. The skylight series from Drop were way better than I thought. They often fall to $35 on Amazon which makes them really tough to beat. 

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

1 hour ago, johnt said:

I saw keychron makes caps now but I haven’t tried them.

I have a few: some are very good, others less so.

In short: JM-101 are great, especially for the price. PBT-10 and T8 are really good as well, costs 40-50$ currently, can recommend. Avoid PBT-12 and all related color schemes unless uneven thickness of the legends don't bother you.

 

JM-101: Double-Shot ABS OEM profile, "retro" color scheme (beige/off white with darker grey modifiers and red accents). Overall one of my favorite, they sound great to me, they feel nice and the legends are crisp and evenly sized on mine (I have two sets, used one at home and one in the office until recently). Not the thickest keycaps, but I was bored so I used a kitchen scale to weigh the numblock keys really quick (didn't feel like dumping and sorting everything, but that would be more precise): 23g vs 20g of the stock K10 keycaps. They definitely feel more premium than the price suggests to me!

Price is currently 20$, 25$ regular price. Totally worth it imho!

(https://www.keychron.com/collections/all-keycaps/products/double-shot-abs-full-set-keycap-set?variant=39417055707225 )

 

PBT-02: I couldn't find those on the store anymore, but the PBT-40 are the closest ones I could find (in light and dark grey). Overall OK, no real thoughts on those. Legends are clear and even, if you like the style these are fine. A bit more "plastic" sound imho compared to the JM-101

23g for the numblock.

https://www.keychron.com/collections/all-keycaps/products/double-shot-pbt-osa-full-set-keycap-set?variant=40315983364185

 

PBT-39: Double-Shot PBT OSA. I have to admit, I bought those and haven't used them yet. Even worse, I barely remembered I ordered them.... like the PBT-02 they look fine in the box, no thoughts on long-term use though. Nothing wrong with them though it seems, unlike others...

https://www.keychron.com/collections/all-keycaps/products/double-shot-pbt-osa-full-set-keycap-set?variant=40315983200345

 

PBT-10: Cherry Profile Double-Shot PBT white on black. Really nice keycaps, currently the one on my V6. Legends are great, they feel and sound nice and thocky with the Oil Kings, a bit higher pitched since they are smaller and lighter due to the being cherry profile. I am pretty sure I have seen these around a lot, like on the Drop Sense 75 they currently offer. They look very much the same.

40$ is pretty fair for them, especially considering the kit comes with 219 keys! So no need to buy extra packs or look for the correct size modifier keys. No international keycaps though (except ISO layout).

https://www.keychron.com/collections/all-keycaps/products/cherry-profile-double-shot-pbt-full-set-keycaps-white-on-black-wob

 

PBT-12: Cherry Profile Double-Shot PBT in grey, white and blue. I don't like these, and I can't recommend these!

Material is fine, they sound good with a higher pitch that I found characteristic for most cherry profiles (which are lower, less material, less inner volum etc., guess that is why).

My issue is that after a few days you will notice: the fonts are uneven. Some letters/legends are just thicker than others, which can give the feeling that random keys are bold font. No, not just the F and J, but also others. Maybe they have resolved this in newer iterations, however, I can not recommend them!

I would assume that the other color versions likely use the same molds/process and therefore likely have the same issues. So I would stay away from all the cherry-profile PBT color sets.

https://www.keychron.com/collections/all-keycaps/products/double-shot-pbt-cherry-full-set-keycap-set-grey-white-and-blue

 

T8: OEM Dye-sub PBT 'Developer' : Not bad, the legends are relatively crisp for dye sub (a little fuzzy compared to double shot) and they look pretty close to the picture in color. A bit more muted in person, but that might just be my monitor blowing colors out of proportion. Again, haven't used them a lot, but liked the material, though they have a rougher texture.

Pretty thick material at 33g for the numblock.

https://www.keychron.com/collections/all-keycaps/products/oem-dye-sub-pbt-full-set-keycap-set-developer

[Volbet]

2 hours ago, johnt said:

I also have not been impressed with glorious key caps. I saw keychron makes caps now but I haven’t tried them. The skylight series from Drop were way better than I thought. They often fall to $35 on Amazon which makes them really tough to beat. 

You make me jealous of how little you can get quality keycaps for, when you shop for ANSI layout keycaps. 

When you need Nordic ISO keycaps, you're picking up the scrap for a premium. For example, find a good SA keycap set has basically left me with two options that are both around $200. Although, one of them is an almost perfectly replica of the Space Cadet's keycaps, so I might have bought them anyway:

[demondeader]

Hi all keyboard gurus I'm not sure if I'm posting on the right place but

I need your help I am looking for a 75% compact hot swappable like the pictures but in white.

That's QMK/via compatible that has wireless capability/ try mode to allow me to connect to multiple devices at once.

RGB,Box jade switches, with white and blue pudding caps.

 

I need suggestions of part to look at as I am not finding anything that matches.

 

This can be barebone or even just pcb

Can you get wireless/trimode module and just add them to a wired pcb?

 

Just need advise. Buget about £200 (GBP)

Am wanting DIY be if someone suggests a prebuild that ticks all the boxes thats great.

 

Please help.

 

 

[seon123]

8 hours ago, demondeader said:

I am looking for a 75% compact hot swappable like the pictures but in white.

That looks like the KBD75 V3.1, which was available in E-white for $250 iirc, and had an option for a hot swap PCB, but is now discontinued. Are you just looking for a 75% keyboard, or did you want something that looks as similar as possible to the KBD75 V3.1? 

[demondeader]

14 minutes ago, seon123 said:

That looks like the KBD75 V3.1, which was available in E-white for $250 iirc, and had an option for a hot swap PCB, but is now discontinued. Are you just looking for a 75% keyboard, or did you want something that looks as similar as possible to the KBD75 V3.1? 

I am looking for a 75% keyboard but I really like the compact nature of the KBD75 V3.1

 

The most important things are

QMK

Hotswap

RGB

White

 

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

34 minutes ago, demondeader said:

I am looking for a 75% keyboard but I really like the compact nature of the KBD75 V3.1

 

The most important things are

QMK

Hotswap

RGB

White

There's the Monsgeek M1, though the white version was discontinued:

https://www.monsgeek.com/product/monsgeek-m1/

Found also this one: https://akkogear.eu/products/5075s-diy-kit

And this one: https://drop.com/buy/drop-sense75-mechanical-keyboard/details?defaultSelectionIds=970027#details

 

Those don't have the exact same, dense layout of the KBD75 though.

 

Epomaker has some that fit the layout:https://epomaker.com/products/epomaker-ep84-triple-modes

https://epomaker.com/products/epomaker-ep84?variant=31719559888969

It has no QMK though.

 

 

[demondeader]

25 minutes ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

There's the Monsgeek M1, though the white version was discontinued:

https://www.monsgeek.com/product/monsgeek-m1/

Found also this one: https://akkogear.eu/products/5075s-diy-kit

And this one: https://drop.com/buy/drop-sense75-mechanical-keyboard/details?defaultSelectionIds=970027#details

 

Those don't have the exact same, dense layout of the KBD75 though.

 

Epomaker has some that fit the layout:https://epomaker.com/products/epomaker-ep84-triple-modes

https://epomaker.com/products/epomaker-ep84?variant=31719559888969

It has no QMK though.

 

 

I really don't like how chunky the Monsgeek, akko and Drop are.

 

love the eponmaker look but the software seems really dodgy (happy to be educated)

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

1 hour ago, demondeader said:

love the eponmaker look but the software seems really dodgy (happy to be educated)

Question is, how important is that QMK compatibility? Because there are lot like these out there:

https://www.yunzii.com/products/yunzii-kc84-mint-84-keys-hot-swappable-wired-mechanical-keyboard

https://www.meckeys.com/shop/keyboard/80-keyboard/royal-kludge-rk84-wireless/

 

And of course this: https://nuphy.com/collections/keyboards/products/halo75?variant=40300388941933

No clue about the software on NuPhy boards though