Peripherals Mechanical Keyboards

‘Silent’ switches/noise were one of the things that got me into custom keyboards. If you’re going down the hotswap/custom route then there are lots of switches described as silent, some of which are more-so than others.

As others have said though, it’s very much a package of the switch, plate, board, etc that contributes to the sound. And sometimes it’s just the tone of that sound that makes all the difference.

And once you have the holy grail of a silent keyboard, you’ll suddenly find the switches in your mouse are just a little too loud, so you’ll have to do something about them as well..

 

Dear god, one obsession at a time please!

 

I fancy some pudding keycaps for my Corsair K70 Mk2. Now I've seen a YMDK set with extra keys for the Corsair bottom row (tiny Windows key for example) but all the layouts I've seen, I think, are US English. I think this mostly affects #, £ and @ so it's not the end of the world but is anyone aware of a 'proper' UK layout?

 

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So, following up my post in the Recent Purchases thread… I put my Noctua key caps on my Tokyo60 as I thought it would be a good colour match, but that’s a bit loud given what Noctua are known for, so thought they should probably be on a truly silent board - my Q2 with Silent Alpaca V2 switches modded with heavier springs, lubed and filmed.

Noctua Tokyo60 by BeauchN posted 6 Sep 2022 at 10:29

Noctua Q2 by BeauchN posted 6 Sep 2022 at 10:29

 

#coffeencreammasterrace

 

That'd look nice in your collection though...

 

He's not Rick Wakeman, y'know?!

 

Question keeb fans, eyeing up a new board my current uses proprietary switches you can't replace fair few keys double striking now.

Anyway, looking at a couple of options, I use a numpad for work but could probably get away with a standalone.
I'd like wireless part of a long term plan so been mainly looking at the K4 in 96% hotswappable flavour. Any other suggestions?

 

The K4 is nice, I'm using one now. But finding the arrow keys without looking down takes some getting use to. There are other similar sized boards but with space around the arrow keys to allow easier finding by feel. I think those designs will be easier to use.

The key caps on K4 isn't PBT, so feels a bit cheap. I've yet to replace them but plan to do so eventually. Missed out on recent keycap donation that looks like will fit the K4.

Alternatives? There's the GMMK 2, there's also many no-brand alternatives I've seen on the big rainforest.

 

I ended up getting a GMMK2 barebone. Stabilisers, sound and typing experience are way better than a clipped, band aid and holee modded GMMK1. Very happy with it so far, and would happily recommend. No wireless though.

I can't compare to a keychron either, as never used one. And no clue what the GMMK prebuilds/keycaps are like.

 

Arrow keys are not super important for me thankfully. I could live without them, main QOL features I'm after would be wireless and hot swappable, PBT would be nice but in theory I could life the pudding caps I have now over. Just annoys me on the Steelseries the warranty is awful I'm not long outside and its starting to ghost on the i, l and s keys plus the escape key sometimes just refuses to return. Its shame its a nice board the OLED display has handy info on the PC temps but I can make do without it.

I don't even mind a bare kit long as I can get the combo I would prefer.

 

I'm considering that set but with black tops for my G512. Girl's gotta tweak her personal RGB hell a bit

 

Aaand back to the top this thread goes.

I recently arranged to loan this from @Gareth Halfacree and it landed today (excuse the state of my desk mat, I know it needs a clean!). The MoErgo Glove80:







Good lord, it's a wild ride to type on... I've just switched back to my regular Keychron after doing some touch typing practice on the Glove80, and damn it's hard to type "properly" on a regular keyboard.... On the Glove80 the hand position just feels natural, but trying to do that on my Keychron is incredibly uncomfortable.

Things wot I think could be better that I've spotted so far: there are no external charging indicators that I can see, and it would be nice to have tactile bumps on the "home keys" to help placement. There's a function key that will show charge status of both halves using the LED backlight, but when they're connected to USB both of those indicators show as full regardless of the batteries' actual charge status. I'll check the manual more thoroughly on this. None of the spare caps have tactile bumps, so no help there - although the natural resting position of your hands gets you pretty damn close.

 

Just made my 1st foray into 'decent' mechanical keyboards.
This is the Keychron K8 Pro with brown switches.
By far the best typing experience I have ever had.

 

The IBM Model F is BACK!

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...ate-ibms-iconic-model-f-for-modern-computers/

 

The key colours remind me of my Amstrad CPC 464 of my childhood! Coincidence?

 

I'm now up to 4 mech boards, all off the shelf models.
My original Corsair K65 was upgraded to a Ducky TKL [Reds] with lighting.
Cheap 75% with off brand Brown's, love the layout, but don't use it that much. It would be perfect with lighting as I like backlit keys for gaming.
Ducky Full Size with blue backlit browns at work.
CM 60% wireless mini SK622 I think, currently on LAN night duty as it's so portable.

I keep looking at 75% ISO boards and kits, but can't see anything that grabs me sufficiently to jump.
The Asus ROG Azoth looks amazing and ticks all the boxes, including the oled screen. BUT that £275
price tag!