Author Topic: o-rings vs soft landing pads (Read 15074 times)

WiL11o6 · « **on:** Sat, 24 December 2011, 13:49:00 »

I am using cherry reds and want to try out o-rings or soft landing pads since they are not that expensive and I tend to bottom out a lot, making the plastic clack. What are the differences between the two? I would prefer the one that would give me the most travel distance before bottoming out. Seems like the soft landing pads from elitekeyboards will reduce the travel distance more than simple o-rings from wasd?

sordna · « **Reply #1 on:** Sat, 24 December 2011, 14:02:17 »

I have tried them all.
Soft-landing pads (even the firm ones) are softer than WASDKeyboards' softest (40A) o-rings. The pads provide for the softest landing.
They are also a bit thicker, especially the black soft landing pads.
However if you don't want to alter the keydoard feel (making the landing mushy) and travel distance too much, my suggestion would be the o-rings from WASD.
My favorite are the pink 40A ones. Also note that keycaps make a difference. Some keycaps like cherry doubleshots have short stems, and therefore have their travel distance affected more than most other keycaps (such as the WASD or Kinesis keycaps which aren't affected so much).

Click o-ring in my sig for more info.

WiL11o6 · « **Reply #2 on:** Sun, 25 December 2011, 16:47:20 »

Thanks, I'll try out the o-rings first since it's pretty cheap. I just want a little softer landing, but don't want to affect the travel distance on the keys too much. I'm on a Rosewill with MX reds so I guess those keycaps are standard.

o2dazone · « **Reply #3 on:** Mon, 02 January 2012, 16:34:13 »

What I did find is that 40A (from WASDKeyboards) does take a little getting used to. It definitely gets rid of all the hollow clacking sound, but it also seems slightly more mushy to me. I'm ordering some 50A from McMaster and see how they feel in comparsion. I guess it's all a matter of preference, and I don't mind shelling out $10 to try the 50A's.

WiL11o6 · « **Reply #4 on:** Tue, 03 January 2012, 19:17:44 »

Just installed my soft landing pads from EK and I like them very much compared to without them. The reds are super light and I bottom out very, very easily so I end up hitting plastic on plastic making that clack clack noise and the feel isn't as nice since I'm bottom out onto a hard surface. The soft landing pads are about 1mm thick, so the travel distance is reduced drastically and I think that takes some time to get used to, but it's no biggie at all. My keyboard is near silent now, even more silent than rubber domes. The soft landing is a nice touch and I don't hear a thing when I press a key when it lands on the little cushion underneath the keys. I might just try o-rings next just to see. Thanks for the help here guys!

WiL11o6 · « **Reply #5 on:** Tue, 03 January 2012, 19:38:34 »

I have never tried a scissor switch so I can't answer that for you, but I will say that the distance is reduced quite noticeably, if the pad was any thicker, I would probably need to pass on the pads. Like sornda from above posted, he said the soft landing pads feel a bit 'mushy' and they do in fact, feel a little 'mushy' but it's better with than without. I'll order some o-rings from WASD and see how those compare. I like the soft landing, so that means I like the 'mushy' feel? heh

WiL11o6 · « **Reply #6 on:** Tue, 03 January 2012, 19:45:01 »

lol got that right....I can't decide between 40A and 50A. I sort of like the 'mushy' feel, that means the 40A is more suited towards me? However, I wonder how it'll feel like if it's a bit harder. Oh, this will never end. I think I'll just go with the 40A and see how that turns out.

WiL11o6 · « **Reply #7 on:** Tue, 03 January 2012, 19:54:58 »

Hmm....I must be blind. I didn't even see the firm pads when I ordered from EK. Oh well, I think I would still prefer the soft ones vs the firm ones. Damn you for telling me!

WhiteFireDragon · « **Reply #8 on:** Tue, 03 January 2012, 20:34:59 »

i don't have experience with soft landing pads, but i bought 2 custom O-ring sizes, both in 40A. the o-rings eliminates nearly all bottom-out noise. i also use extra thick ones to purposely reduce the key travel distance so it resembles my laptop, except with a nicer mechanical key feel to it. thick o-rings feels much nicer than stock bare keys. here is my full review for more details:

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:25612

sordna · « **Reply #9 on:** Tue, 03 January 2012, 23:55:12 »

Quote from: dante;482765

I don't want mush, I just want an end to the clack. I'm still 50/50 on whether I care about reduced travel or not.

So for me it's probably the Firm EK pads vs. WASD 50A's.

Even the firm EK pads are noticeably softer (and mushier) than WASD 40As. If you don't want any mush, you can rule out the pads right there.

TheProfosist · « **Reply #10 on:** Wed, 04 January 2012, 04:25:33 »

Quote from: sordna;482893

Even the firm EK pads are noticeably softer (and mushier) than WASD 40As. If you don't want any mush, you can rule out the pads right there.

Yea the firm pad a very mush and the soft pads feel like they just make the switch harder to push. The wasds original 50A nitril ones were a tad to had as they had almost no giv thats why for me and other the new 40A EDPM is perfect.

USAgent · « **Reply #11 on:** Wed, 04 January 2012, 08:57:04 »

This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_JRnKdKnRI seems to show that the sound is eliminated almost completely with o-rings, I don't know if the clack bothers me, just wondering how much it modifies the feel of typing. I guess for $10 I can try it, maybe I should spend a few more weeks since I just got my keyboard and get used to it first.

WiL11o6 · « **Reply #12 on:** Wed, 04 January 2012, 13:23:47 »

Yeah, I went ahead and ordered the 40A o-rings just for the hell of it.

USAgent · « **Reply #13 on:** Thu, 05 January 2012, 09:26:48 »

Feel free to shoot me a PM on how it goes, I'm curious if anyone knows the difference between 40 and 50s.

sordna · « **Reply #14 on:** Thu, 05 January 2012, 10:28:13 »

Quote from: USAgent;483799

Feel free to shoot me a PM on how it goes, I'm curious if anyone knows the difference between 40 and 50s.

The difference between these two is minor in practice. It's more obvious when you squeeze the o-rings in your hands, but once installed it's a small difference. The common 70A are the ones noticeably harder. Anyway, I like 40A the best, but I'm curious to try 30A ones now ...

USAgent · « **Reply #15 on:** Thu, 05 January 2012, 10:55:13 »

I just don't want to change it too much, as of now the noise doesn't really bother me at all, still only been 2 days with my new Filco. I don't want to modify anything until I've decided what my preference is.

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Author Topic: o-rings vs soft landing pads (Read 15074 times)