Capacitive buckling spring is pretty expensive to potentially find out you don't like them. Hopefully meetups start becoming more common again for situations like this.
I just got a cheap 2017 Unicomp Model M with MBS. I'm willing to put 50 bucks down on a Model M even if I don't like the switches
Very different animals. I was still a Cherry MX zombie when I first bought a venerable Model M. I disliked the weighting, mushy bottoming out and inconsistency of feel and sound (don't recall if that particular one needs a screw or bolt mod). It was enough to send me straight back to MX blue of all things. It was a cheap F XT that finally sent me through a time machine to the 80s for good.
Having tried way more unique mechanisms these days, I can't go back to MX blue ... but I'm still not particularly fond of membrane buckling spring either.
Well I just got it in today. The keyfeel is a bit inconsistent and I wasn't a fan of the tactility at first, but after typing a bit on it I'm very happy with my purchase! Really makes me want to try the model F when I can get the chance
So you've already gone from hating clickies to beginning down the rabbit hole of vintage clickies. It is an abyss from which you can never escape ... and you'll probably not want to anyway.
Matias Silent Tactile switches are superior to Alps SKCM. The “bump” at the bottom helps avoid bottoming out and the rubber helps return the key so typing is easier. I’m over clickiness.
Why is it important to not bottom out? You shouldn't have any trouble with the key returning either way. If you're hitting the dampeners ... you are bottoming out. You do know that there were dampened tactile Alps SKCM switches, right? They're typically considered to be superior to Matias switches. I would agree with that sentiment, even if Matias switches are still very nice in every category they produce. Still prefer clickies in this family of switches myself either way. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Have you tried swapping dampened sliders into the clicky variant of the switch, or the clicky leaves into the tactile switches? Those are pretty nice too.
How's the quality control for Matias boards? I ordered a Quiet Pro in 2012 and ended up returning it because the build was quite shoddy, and the switch feel was all over the place.
2012 is just about when Forward stopped making Alps clones and Matias went to Gaote (Outemu) for their switches. The one old Matias board that I know has Forward switches in it has chatter across at least half of the whole freaking board. I have had no such problem with the Gaote switches, and they seem very consistent to me. It also seems like maybe QC wasn't so great for a while in terms of soldering the legs of the switches on perfectly straight so that the contacts functioned properly 100% of the time, although I haven't had any minor chatter issues that haven't resolved themselves magically with a little breaking in. The micro USB connectors on their boards are also literally screwed to the controller now with chunky plastic straps, since those breaking off was a problem in the past as well.
Isn't the UNICOMP version a little lighter? Maybe try that.
I've been meaning to give Matias silent tactile a serious try. I remember the loud clicky tactile being good with some tuning, but some say the silent switches are underwhelming.
Do they have the nomenclature backwards? Like the silent clicky is actually a no-click tactile, and the Matias Tactile Pro is actually a clicky?
It seems to be, but any membrane buckling spring is just a little too stiff for me ... even having gotten used to things like box navies.
Matias' nomenclature is all kinds of
FUBAR. Their "quiet clicks" are dampened tactiles, their "tactile" switches are undampened clickies. The "quiet linear" switches aren't even totally linear. They have a tiny/gradual tactile bump near the end of travel, far more noticeable to me than something like MX brown or direct clones. Their "linear" and tactile switches are both
very smooth right out of the box and the tactiles have a nice sharp bump. I'm not sure what changes the clickies would need besides being complicated Alps instead.
I love all 3 without modification, more than anything else similarly mass market made today I have ever tried.
I would say that's probably the most popular opinion. People seem to tend to write off clickies entirely before they've ever tried any good ones ... unfortunately. I was weird and actually liked MX blue (people make mistakes), but it isn't like much besides MX red in that family is common enough to appeal to the senseless masses anyway as an alternative. MX clear and black are too niche, MX brown is ... well ... MX brown.
The fact that I was once a mutant space alien who actually liked MX blue is probably all that allowed me an open enough mind to go down the wonderful rabbit hole of niche and/or vintage clicky mechanisms ... many of which are simply fantastic. Unequaled, in my opinion ... and I'm pretty sure that is the minority opinion in places outside of Deskthority.
MX clickies, having now had a more rounded/broader experience, are pretty objectively bad. I wouldn't put them below the worst MX tactiles ... but not far behind. If you haven't tried any good alternative mechanisms, however, you don't really have a leg to stand on in making that statement.
As a noob as well, what would you recommend for clicky switches to try out? I've played with a couple tactiles and I'm starting to get into linear, but I do want to try some clicky switches, I just don't know where to start with them.
hvontres knows what he's talking about. I would just add that the click bar switches feel and sound radically different from each other based on spring weighting and click bar thickness. The pinks and jades are pretty snappy/tactile and sound pretty low pitched (lower than any other modern switches besides maybe Matias). I think how high pitched most clickies are is one of the things a lot of people are turned off by out of the gate. Increased spring weighting decreases perceived tactility, click bar thickness increases it. I love the jades the most myself, being a big fan of Alps SKCM blues. Pinks come in a close second (if you needed something less stiff). Navies are entertaining too if you don't mind their high pitch, but they're too stiff for most people.
Another thing, on the topic of modern manufacture switches, is Matias switches are
dirt cheap and I like them just a bit more than even click bar switches. They're just totally incompatible with MX boards, (most) plates and caps.
Everybody has different tastes, but just about anybody that ends up liking clickies at all will probably like some flavor of buckling spring, some flavor of Alps and/or Matias and some flavor of click bar switches. If you must try MX clickies, Gaterons and Outemus are best ... and Outemu blue boards are extremely cheap and conveniently available on Amazon.
- Clickies are the worst type of switch.
I would say that's probably the most popular opinion. People seem to tend to write off clickies entirely before they've ever tried any good ones...
That's because they can't appreciate the fun of typing on clickety clackety switches that make everything they type seem vivid, important, and attention-getting! Whee!
It's an emotion-based thing. There's no logical reason anyone would prefer to type on a clicky keeb. It's an animal pleasure—like walking on the beach with bare feet, or running your hand through a cold stream. Or eating Magnum Bars, which no rational person who cares about their health would have more than, say, one of a month. But does that stop the rest of us? Nooo!! Nor does it stop us from delighting in typing on clicky keyboards. It's just something you've got to do, when it's something you like that much. Clickety-click!
I suppose that's an Unpopular Keyboard Opinion, then. How unusually appropriate.
I think that's definitely a factor. I still think most of the dislike for clickies is based on having only ever tried MX blue (or clones) though, or worse, making choices based solely on the subjective opinions of the most popular streamers of the moment.