Ducky Shine II 9008 MX browns...not very tactile..which switch am I looking for

[jksteger]

I anxiously opened the box to my new Ducky Shine II 9008 with MX brown's and white keycaps when it arrived from Mechanical Keyboards this morning.  I moved my Cherry G80-3000 with blues on top of my docked Lenovo Thinkpad.  I started typing on the Ducky and it hit me!  The keys and switch do not feel "right" to me. 
These browns feel like a heavier red switch or lighter black switch to me.  I don't feel any tactile feedback at all with regular typing.  If I type really slow and press each key really, really slow and try to feel a small tactile bump i can feel a very faint bump.  I was expecting a little more of a tactile bump à la the Alps switches or possibly the blue w/o the click sound.
Am I missing something or expecting the Browns to be the same as Cherry MX _______ (fill in the blank) switch? 
I expected a switch similar in feel to MX blues but w/o the loud "click".
Which MX switch fit's that description because browns do not.

J.

[Jocelyn]

Clears or ergo clears

[SpAmRaY]

Clears or ergo clears

^ basically this

[alaricljs]

Possibly Matias Quiet Click.

[jksteger]

Well, I tried clears once and shipped the board back because the keys were too stiff, especially after the bump!  I always bottom out this may be due to years spent on IBM BS keyboards.  And once past the bump on the clears it seemed like the switch was fighting me! The force required to bottom out seemed to triple or something and I did not like it so I sent the board back.  Maybe I needed to look into the ergo clears.  Since the board was backlit and full size, I would have to desolder all 4 points per switch, change the springs in all the switches and then solder the switches back with LED's.  I just wasn't up to the work at the time.  I guess there may be no way around the work unless I can buy some ergo clears from some GH member.

alaricljs, I have a Matias Quiet Click.  I love it.  I keep my office sort of dark and really like the idea of the back light keyboard.  If Matias would come out with a backlit Quiet Click that would cure my KB needs.  Until next month I'm sure! LOL

J.

 

[jabar]

There are a handful of PCB mounted keyboards out there. Most of the Cherry G80 series is PCB mounted if you don't mind POS keyboard sizes. Another one is the PLUM-96, or the Poker. That way you don't need to deal with desoldering.

I hate when Ergo Clears are offered as a suggestion because of the expense and time commitment, not to mention voiding one's warranty. But there really is no crisper tactile slide other than the Clear or Grey, with the Clear having the lighter spring. Only a few production keyboards come with Clears onboard, such as the Deck Legend (what I'm typing on now), Ducky and some of the other Chinese manufacturers.

You might want to consider Topre which has a good (and very smooth) tactile feel.

[VesperSAINT]

Clears or ergo clears

+1

To put it simply, Clears and Ergo-Clears are your only options if you want something more tactile than Browns but without a click, but you say that Clears were too stiff for you, so that only leaves Ergo-Clears. As jabar said though, the negatives of Ergo-Clear keyboards is that it's a warranty voided keyboard that usually costs quite a bit of money. You could probably buy a Topre board for the money or with a lil' top up.

[Larken]

This is merely an opinion, but the standard (read: best version of the mod) would likely involve 62/55g springs, victoriniox multitool oil, krytox 103/205 mixture, even on a pcb mounted board. That alone would cost about:

1. springs - 8usd
2. multitool oil - approx 5 usd
3. krytox mixtures (provided you got in the GH GB) - 10 for 103, 20 for 205 - 30 usd.

That's 43 bucks not counting labor (approximately 1-3 hours, depending how fast and through you are). If you include desoldering and soldering, that's likely another 30-40 bucks in terms of labor, and that's not counting shipping if you're getting someone else to do it for you. Not to mention it voids the warranty.

There's also many subtle variations to each person's ergo clear mods, which is why I seldom put it up as a recommendation, since there's no production boards with these on to have a certain level of consistency. Considering the cost, unless you are able to get a good deal on a modded keyboard with ergo clears, you might actually want to give topre a try instead.

[Masterchief79]

If you don't like clears, did you ever try an old Apple Extended Keyboard (1 = orange ALPS, 2 = white ALPS). They are clicky too. Just to find you the right kind of switch I mean - if you neither like clears nor browns, I think you will have to build your own KB anyway.^^

[jksteger]

Thanks everyone.
I've ordered some clears for my Pure board.  I'm going to switch out the stems and keep the springs that are in there now (brown springs) and see how I like it.  I may try with different springs too.

I've had a few Topre boards and I just didn't bond with them too much.

My absolute favorite switch is the Matias Alps switch, esp. the Quiet Pro.  I really like it but want a back lit keyboard hence, the cherry switches.  I may just have to go back to the Matias keyboard and forget about the back lit keys for a while.  This Ducky Shine 2 is a great built board, heavy and top quality.  I may have to sell it to get me back into a Matias.

J.