Mechanical Keyboard Autism Thread - Because Cherry MX switches get you laid.

[stupidpieceofshit]

Got a Ducky keyboard for more than half it's price off on ebay and minus the rgb as a first time mechanical keyboard user, I'm a fan.
Kinda miss the numberpad though but it's nicely built.

I have a bunch of keyboards, and outside of my IBMs Ducky is my favorite brand. They have an offering for most everyone it seems (no LEDs, conservative LEDs, full blown RGB, plain sleeper boards to their more fancy Year of the X boards, etc). Decent prices for solid build quality.

 

[Max Doof]

I have a bunch of keyboards, and outside of my IBMs Ducky is my favorite brand. They have an offering for most everyone it seems (no LEDs, conservative LEDs, full blown RGB, plain sleeper boards to their more fancy Year of the X boards, etc). Decent prices for solid build quality.

I did a bit of research on mechanicals before deciding to drop some cash on this one but even then I was impressed at the weight and built. Also having usbc was an added bonus. If my keyboard ever bites the dust I would gladly buy one new.

 

[sapphire_star]

Got a Ducky keyboard for more than half it's price off on ebay and minus the rgb as a first time mechanical keyboard user, I'm a fan.
Kinda miss the numberpad though but it's nicely built.

Ducky, if you're curious, makes a pretty nice numpad but unfortunately they're $80. I have one because I do a lot of data entry

 

[Affluent Reptilian]

Ironically, the guy's keyboard is a relatively cheap prebuilt that wouldn't look too tacky if the lights were turned off.

He's missing the pièce de résistance:
View attachment 1836048

Why do so many of them love keycaps that look like toy blocks designed for a two year old?

 

[Falcos_Commisar]

I can understand that to an extent, because experimentation in this hobby is outrageously expensive. In that sense, there's nothing wrong with identifying what it is you want and trying to mimic it. Else, you'd likely spend $10,000 before zeroing in on it. What makes it annoying is the self-aggrandizement that goes along with it.

The impractical aspect comes down the hobby being filled with kids and Peter Pans. Lots of gimmicky, tacky shit that any functional adult would be embarrassed to show off. That's not unique to this stuff though. Imagine putting this monstrosity on your desk.

View attachment 1831506

Also why is there a fucking sponge.

God in heaven.... This need to be purged

So, word of advice if you're getting into this because you want your 'perfect keyboard' and you're not interested in the building process itself: get a kit.

I wish like hell somebody had warned me about this from the beginning. The (nice mid-range) kits come in at 300-350 bucks. You may think you're going to 'rough it' and spend less to get an equal quality product by obtaining the parts yourself. It's not going to work out like that. Between the murderous shipping costs + trial and error when selecting parts, you're going to end up spending far more than you would have if you just shelled out initially OR wind up with a piece of crap board that does not sound like what you want.

Even if you're interested in the building process, I'd still recommend getting a kit first so you can break it down and see first hand how things fit together, because it's not always obvious just from watching videos.

I would also strongly recommend a hot-swap kit, because until you are DEAD SET on the switches you want, (de)soldering is one hell of a lot of effort to experiment. Youtube videos can be terribly misleading of what switches actually sound like, especially after they've been worn in or the lube has settled.

Correct. Also, GMMK makes some good hot swap keyboards for pretty reasonable prices and they are usa based.

 

[Drain Todger]

Just picked up a Filco Majestouch Minila R with Red switches. It's a convertible Bluetooth mechanical with multi-pairing and the option to run corded. It takes two AAs for power (battery life is 6 months, apparently), and it has a DIP switch on the back to change some of the key configurations around.

Filco Majestouch Minila R Convertible Matte Black 60% Double Shot PBT Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Brown, Blue, Black, Red, or Silent Red switches

Switch options: Cherry MX Brown, Blue, Black, Red, or Silent Red.

mechanicalkeyboards.com

They come in three colors. Black with gray keycaps, a gray one with cyan-edged keycaps, and one with a cyan frame.

It has a fantastic key feel. Really solid, heavy keycaps and a very heavy frame. It just feels dense, and each keystroke makes a satisfying "thwock" if you bottom out. The lack of arrow keys (You have to hold FN + ESDF or FN + ALT, WIN, DEL, /) is annoying, as is the very tiny space bar. The key profile is very DSA-like. The keycaps themselves are absolutely bizarre. Filco has come up with their own keycap style with interchangeable legends.

"Yo dawg, I heard you like keycaps, so we put a keycap on your keycap so you can type while you type."



I fast-forwarded this video to the good part so you don't have to hear this bearded wacko with vitiligo on his hands yammer on about his sponsors.

Listen to how dense the plastic in this thing is. It's heavy. Even with the tiny layout, it tips the scales at a massive 782 grams. This "travel" keyboard could be used as a bludgeon in an emergency. The weight may be a drawback for some. Toss this in a backpack with all your other shit and watch as you slip a disc.

10/10 on build quality and overall presentation. 8/10 on usability. Would be 10/10 if they opted for a slightly larger layout with actual arrow keys and a full-size space. Like the original Minila, the DIP switch on the back lets you disable the function keys and convert them into extensions of the space bar, but that just feels weird and wrong, and you lose a lot of functionality that way. It would be nicer as a 65% keyboard than a 60%, IMHO.

If they did a full-size keyboard like this, I'm pretty sure I'd get that, too. Actually, there is a glaring lack of quality full-size Bluetooth keyboards out there. They certainly exist, but honestly, we need more of them. Wireless boards have gotten good enough and low-latency enough that there's no excuse not to cut the cord even with your desktop and do away with some clutter. A lot of newer mobos have onboard Bluetooth, so you can free up some USB ports and simplify your cable management without even having to plug in a 2.4 GHz USB dongle. Changing batteries every half a year? Who gives a shit? Just pop in some Eneloop rechargeables and pop the dead ones into the charger. Done and done.

 

[Rusty Crab]

Actually, there is a glaring lack of quality full-size Bluetooth keyboards out there. They certainly exist, but honestly, we need more of them. Wireless boards have gotten good enough and low-latency enough that there's no excuse not to cut the cord even with your desktop and do away with some clutter. A lot of newer mobos have onboard Bluetooth, so you can free up some USB ports and simplify your cable management without even having to plug in a 2.4 GHz USB dongle. Changing batteries every half a year? Who gives a shit? Just pop in some Eneloop rechargeables and pop the dead ones into the charger. Done and done.

It's true bluetooth has come a long way, but it HUGELY jacks up the price for something that most people in the hobby apparently just don't care much about (the custom cable scene is big for a reason). I really don't like bluetooth anything, personally. Just another opportunity for things to go wrong (and they often have with bluetooth products for me).

 

[malt ipecac]

I really don't like bluetooth anything, personally. Just another opportunity for things to go wrong (and they often have with bluetooth products for me).

Not even Bluetooth headphones/earbuds? After switching to wireless headphones, I find it really hard to go back to a wired setup.

With keyboards, on the other hand, I'm in total agreement. Why is this even a desirable feature? Are people constantly picking up their keyboards and moving them around their desks?

A while back, I got around to installing a keyboard tray under my desk (see attachment). Obviously, I'm using a wired keyboard (and because it forever stays on the tray, I'm even using a wired connection for my Bluetooth-compatible trackpad).

I think about the keyboard tray as a sort of anti-RGB keyboard. It serves a tremendous practical purpose by allowing you to properly position your arms when typing, and at the same time it hinders your ability to show off glow-in-the-dark keyboards with gamer-font keycaps.

 

[sapphire_star]

Not even Bluetooth headphones/earbuds? After switching to wireless headphones, I find it really hard to go back to a wired setup.

With keyboards, on the other hand, I'm in total agreement. Why is this even a desirable feature? Are people constantly picking up their keyboards and moving them around their desks?

A while back, I got around to installing a keyboard tray under my desk (see attachment). Obviously, I'm using a wired keyboard (and because it forever stays on the tray, I'm even using a wired connection for my Bluetooth-compatible trackpad).

I think about the keyboard tray as a sort of anti-RGB keyboard. It serves a tremendous practical purpose by allowing you to properly position your arms when typing, and at the same time it hinders your ability to show off glow-in-the-dark keyboards with gamer-font keycaps.

Wireless headphones for mobile are nice, but I can't bluetooth into my mixer at home

 

[stupidpieceofshit]

Not even Bluetooth headphones/earbuds? After switching to wireless headphones, I find it really hard to go back to a wired setup.

With keyboards, on the other hand, I'm in total agreement. Why is this even a desirable feature? Are people constantly picking up their keyboards and moving them around their desks?

A while back, I got around to installing a keyboard tray under my desk (see attachment). Obviously, I'm using a wired keyboard (and because it forever stays on the tray, I'm even using a wired connection for my Bluetooth-compatible trackpad).

I think about the keyboard tray as a sort of anti-RGB keyboard. It serves a tremendous practical purpose by allowing you to properly position your arms when typing, and at the same time it hinders your ability to show off glow-in-the-dark keyboards with gamer-font keycaps.

Why would I want Bluetooth headsets when I can get often superior sound quality for the same price/lower?
That said I do have two pair of wireless headsets, for specific useage (e.g. work/video chatting).

I hate keyboard trays but that is because I always nail my knees on them and a surgery i had on my knees over a decade ago fucked them up so they are super sensitive to pain.

LEDs are not bad if done conservatively (i.e. single color no effects), I often type in darker environments and it helps me make sure I position my hands correctly the first time.

 

[sapphire_star]

LEDs are not bad if done conservatively (i.e. single color no effects), I often type in darker environments and it helps me make sure I position my hands correctly the first time.

Everyone gets horny to hate on RGB but this was the original intent and what they're best used for. If I decide I want my PC to have a completely different accent colors I don't need to buy new fans, motherboard, RAM etc, just swap coolant and change the LED programming

 

[AmpleApricots]

Still happy with the G80-1800. I actually like the default keycaps more than I thought I would. They're quite rough. The printing really is not perfect though and I can understand that critique, some legends are kinda wonky regarding placement, not a lot but still. With typing on the extreme low profile Cherry ML keyboard for so long I kinda forgot how much I actually like the feel of higher profile keys. I wonder if I'd enjoy SA profile keycaps. The selection for this keyboard regarding these isn't huge as it has a few weird keys, there are some sets though, I've been kinda eyeing the Maxkey SA Retro set I found on alixepress. (If the provided space bar is actually 6u which I am not sure of) Has something C64-esque and I think the contrast of the keycaps would work nicely with the off-white case of the keyboard. It's really hard to navigate the keycap market.

 

[malt ipecac]

Why would I want Bluetooth headsets when I can get often superior sound quality for the same price/lower?

Won't disagree with you there. Those are the trade-offs.

I hate keyboard trays but that is because I always nail my knees on them and a surgery i had on my knees over a decade ago fucked them up so they are super sensitive to pain.

I don't know anything about the situation with your knees, but that strikes me as a peculiar reason to hate keyboard trays as a decent keyboard tray will be height-adjustable. Unless you have an adjustable desk (which will run you quite a bit more than a traditional desk), it seems a keyboard tray is required to achieve something resembling standard ergonomic recommendations for your computer workstation. That means:

• Feet flat on the floor
• Knees bent at ~90-100 degree angle
• Back at ~90-100 degree angle relative to thighs
• Elbows bent at ~90 degree angle with biceps more or less parallel to torso

My comfort/pain issues are mostly related to my back, though. So maybe I'm just biased toward addressing that instead of my knees.

LEDs are not bad if done conservatively (i.e. single color no effects), I often type in darker environments and it helps me make sure I position my hands correctly the first time.

Homing keys do the trick for me...what fucks me up is when I try to do a one-handed keypress in the dark. Come to think of it, that really only happens when I'm on my laptop, which has a backlight keyboard that I've permanently turned off.

Maybe it's a pride thing. Like, I'm spiting myself to prove I'm not one of those RGB people. Who am I even proving this to?

With typing on the extreme low profile Cherry ML keyboard for so long I kinda forgot how much I actually like the feel of higher profile keys.

So there would be two changes from ML to MX, right? MX travel distance (the height difference between a pressed & un-pressed key) is significantly longer than ML, and it looks like your MX board comes with sculpted-profile keycaps (as opposed to flat keycaps on Cherry's ML boards).

Do you care about the keycap profile? Or the travel distance? Or both?

I wonder if I'd enjoy SA profile keycaps. The selection for this keyboard regarding these isn't huge as it has a few weird keys, there are some sets though, I've been kinda eyeing the Maxkey SA Retro set I found on alixepress. (If the provided space bar is actually 6u which I am not sure of) Has something C64-esque and I think the contrast of the keycaps would work nicely with the off-white case of the keyboard. It's really hard to navigate the keycap market.

Each time I've bought keycaps that aren't Signature Plastics PBT (or first-party Topre, though if SP produced Topre-stem keycaps I'd buy them in a heartbeat), I've eventually regretted it. Their web store's domain (pimpmykeyboard.com) makes me hate myself for recommending them, but they're the Coca-Cola of DSA profile & SA profile keycaps. Everything else is Sam's Choice.

My favorite is DSA Granite, which fairly similar to SA-P Industrial. They're pretty subtle, especially if you don't use the colored accents.

 

[AmpleApricots]

Do you care about the keycap profile? Or the travel distance? Or both?

Good question. I do care at least about the traveling distance, the MLs really bottomed out quickly. The flat keys I think also lead to more typos for me. I generally like resting/fiddling around my keys and enjoy sitting down at my C64 for that reason. The keycaps there have a similar height to SA, maybe even a bit higher, although they're not sculpted quite like them. It's mostly a form that you saw on some of the more modern typewriters.

My favorite is DSA Granite, which fairly similar to SA-P Industrial. They're pretty subtle, especially if you don't use the colored accents.

I saw some gorgeous sets that were of course all group buys from times ago I missed. I was actually thinking about a stark contrast to the off white case in some "retro" tone, like a very dark brown or a dark green.

Also yes, I did get the impression that the experiences with china are hit and miss. I actually figured out the keycap set I eyed is sort of a clone of some C64-themed SP group buy thingie. It looks close to one of the earlier revision C64 keyboards. (these computers went through a lot of revisions) I have one of these here and if it's actually the same color live, I think it could look good. I haven't really decided what to do yet. I feel the original keycaps will also be good for quite a while.

 

[Grand Fucktard]

Wireless headphones for mobile are nice, but I can't bluetooth into my mixer at home

Why not, you can get those transmitter adapters to take headphone audio out and pipe it across BT

 

[sapphire_star]

Why not, you can get those transmitter adapters to take headphone audio out and pipe it across BT

because if I wanted skullcandy quality I'd spend $10 on my audio setup, not thousands

 

[Grand Fucktard]

because if I wanted skullcandy quality I'd spend $10 on my audio setup, not thousands

That's a different issue than not being ABLE to BT
but BT these days isn't just skullcandy quality esp since you can even BT on the other end and use whatever phones you want if you want to go all that way

'member BT is just the over-air protocol, it doesn't define the audio codec

 

[Sonichu-choo trainwreck]

That's a different issue than not being ABLE to BT
but BT these days isn't just skullcandy quality esp since you can even BT on the other end and use whatever phones you want if you want to go all that way

'member BT is just the over-air protocol, it doesn't define the audio codec

tru dat. or CD (I actually still have a dat)
I wound up getting a pair of the sony 1000MXXMXMX4s which are decent
they support LDAC and some of the other stuff.
If it's the audiophile thing, that doesn't have to do with the fact the output is from a mixing console. could be anything. sample rate, bit depth -- people will always get bunched until you hit quantum foam. Analog purist. Fucking shit tube purists.


I will say tho, living in the mix on consumer phones is part of it.
consumer phone checks have replaced when we used to check mix in a car

Grace slick talked about listening straight, drunk, stoned, and tripping to make sure it was good



but ladies prob better to move this convo to another thread tho. This is for KB sperging

 

[stupidpieceofshit]

I don't know anything about the situation with your knees, but that strikes me as a peculiar reason to hate keyboard trays as a decent keyboard tray will be height-adjustable. Unless you have an adjustable desk (which will run you quite a bit more than a traditional desk), it seems a keyboard tray is required to achieve something resembling standard ergonomic recommendations for your computer workstation. That means:

• Feet flat on the floor
• Knees bent at ~90-100 degree angle
• Back at ~90-100 degree angle relative to thighs
• Elbows bent at ~90 degree angle with biceps more or less parallel to torso

My comfort/pain issues are mostly related to my back, though. So maybe I'm just biased toward addressing that instead of my knees.

I have both knee and back issues (Thank you life you fucking bitch). The issue is that when ever I come across a desk (i.e. work / school) with a tray with my height for me to have the least pain my chair needs to be on the higher side (and ideally an additional cushion on the chair), which causes issues with desks to start with now add something that is even lower and my natural ability to only roll 1s on luck checks, and my knees often end up hitting the tray.

Homing keys do the trick for me...what fucks me up is when I try to do a one-handed keypress in the dark. Come to think of it, that really only happens when I'm on my laptop, which has a backlight keyboard that I've permanently turned off.

I normally keep my room darker, my typing position is more game centered (left hand is on shift, a,s,d) then proper home row. The other issue is that though out the day I find my self on at minimum two keyboard styles, 60ish% laptop, and a numpad laptop keyboard, and depending on what computers have issues different desktop and laptop layouts, so my hands often get lost just by going by nature/mussel memory.

but ladies prob better to move this convo to another thread tho. This is for KB sperging

What if you are listening to a recording of a keyboard typing?

 

[Sonichu-choo trainwreck]

What if you are listening to a recording of a keyboard typing?

I think that goes in autistic ASMR self-stimulation thread along with hugboxes and beating your head against a wall