mkawa's long-term review of the CM Storm Novatouch TKL

[Veridis]

oh man. dorkvader and i were going over the novatouch with some acetal/POM cherry profile keycaps on it (felt good, definitely better than OEM), and then he put a signature plastics' SA profile key from ctrlalt on it. HOLY CRAP. it feels amazing. if you have a novatouch already, buy a set and try it. TOTAL transformation of the board. the tactile point is incredibly well defined. the entire travel is 100% haptic. the weight is perfect. i am blown away, and i only tried _ONE KEY_

Is SA profile taller than OEM? Can you describe more about your experience with it on the Novatouch?

[Hypersphere]

I am also a bit confused about the various profiles of keycaps, but there are some helpful guides.

For example, here is one from the DT wiki:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Keyboard_profile#OEM_profile

And here is one from the Signature Plastics site:
http://www.keycapsdirect.com/key-caps.php

[Hypersphere]

oh man. dorkvader and i were going over the novatouch with some acetal/POM cherry profile keycaps on it (felt good, definitely better than OEM), and then he put a signature plastics' SA profile key from ctrlalt on it. HOLY CRAP. it feels amazing. if you have a novatouch already, buy a set and try it. TOTAL transformation of the board. the tactile point is incredibly well defined. the entire travel is 100% haptic. the weight is perfect. i am blown away, and i only tried _ONE KEY_

Where can you buy sets of SA profile keycaps?

In my latest experiments with keycaps for the NT, I found the following:

+ Thick PBT dye-sub set from geng-feng: Great appearance and PBT feel; loose fit on some of the stems; bottoming-out clack, but I don't mind the sound.

+ Thin standard DCS profile double-shot ABS set from SP: Excellent fit on the switch stems; minimal bottoming out clack so that you can finally get more of a Topre "thock". To me, this set seems to work the best of any I have tried thus far on on the NT. I think that at least one reason for this is the fact that the SP caps don't have the cross-member support struts found on the underside of many Cherry mx keycaps. This may allow the keycap stem to extend more deeply into the switch stem.

Although the SP keycaps seem to work well with the NT, I wish that SP had dye-sub PBT sets in DCS profile. I much prefer the surface feel of PBT over ABS. In addition, the pure black/white color scheme of the standard SP sets is rather stark.

[SpAmRaY]

Where can you buy sets of SA profile keycaps?

Group buys.

[Hypersphere]

Could someone post a link to some examples of SA sets, even if these are not currently available?

[SpAmRaY]

Could someone post a link to some examples of SA sets, even if these are not currently available?

If you just want to see them you can check matt's site here http://keypuller.com/profile/sa/

One set I forget about that you can instabuy is filco's SA offering. http://www.keyboardco.com/product/double_shot_filco_104_key_usa_keyset.asp

[Hypersphere]

Could someone post a link to some examples of SA sets, even if these are not currently available?

If you just want to see them you can check matt's site here http://keypuller.com/profile/sa/

One set I forget about that you can instabuy is filco's SA offering. http://www.keyboardco.com/product/double_shot_filco_104_key_usa_keyset.asp

I really like the look of tall sphericals!

I checked the Filco listing, and they are out of stock. In addition, the caps for the stabilized keys have the Costar-type inserts already glued into place, so that these would only work on Filco or other boards with Costar-type stabs.

Update: Regarding the standard DCS thin ABS doubleshots from SP, previously I had not installed the complete set on the NT. All the keys work fine with one exception: the Enter key. The Enter key clacks, just as all the keys did with the thick dye-sub PBT set.

At first, I thought it was the SP keycap, so I tried other Enter keys from SP with the same result (I have 2 sets; one black and one white, so that I can get a two-tone color scheme on 2 boards).

Next, I tried Enter keys from the Leopold PBT blank set, a vintage Dolch set, and a vintage Cherry set -- all with the same result: clack!

I have concluded that the problem lies with the hybrid Topre switch/stabilizer on the NT keyboard.

To alleviate the clack on the Enter key, I installed red 40A-L O-rings. I put one O-ring on each of the 3 stems in the Enter keycap. I also tried black soft landing pads, black 50A-R O-rings and blue 40A-R O-rings, as well as just one red O-ring on the center stem. I got the best result with 3 red O-rings; one on each of the 3 stems on the Enter keycap. This treatment results in the Enter key having about the same sound as the other keys; however, this makes the Enter key feel slightly mushier than other keys, and it is raised up higher than the other keys. These differences in the Enter key as a result of the O-rings do not seem to matter to me while typing, and on balance, I prefer having the improved sound for the Enter key.

The NT now seems more "Topre like", and subjectively at least, it now seems even quieter than my 55g RF 87ub. I am very pleased with the spacebar, which is quiet, and it responds evenly no matter where it is struck along its length.

The downside to the standard DCS thin doubleshot SP keycaps is that to me they look cheap. In particular, I have white alpha keys with black mods, and the black keys look like cheap pad-printed caps, despite the fact that they are doubleshots. Moreover, the keys have that clammy ABS feel rather than the slightly textured dry feel of PBT.

     

[Veridis]

Where can you buy sets of SA profile keycaps?

Group buys.

Darn if only there wasn't a need to wait for group buys @_@

Interested in SA profile because high profiles seem to be more snappy on the Novatouch.

[mkawa]

SA profile caps are very tall sphericals. they're also very highly tiered, so i'm not sure how i'll feel about an entire board full of them, as i tend to prefer cylindricals over sphericals, but ehhhh. the responsiveness per key was so much better, it's hard to argue.

i think the point of this is not which cap profile, finish and material is best on the novatouch, but which one you like best. this the first time that a high quality topre board has been compatible with MX style keys. the possibilities are endless, and it shows off a whole world of the topre tactile feel that we've never had the privilege of trying before. everyone's going to come up with their preferences, as they will, but now you have the opportunity to.

i really think this board is a home run. i could care less how many MX compatible switches try to modify the actuation point by how many fractions of mms but retain the same basic design. this board and the matias quiet click are the best in-production keyboards that money can buy.

[Hypersphere]

Speaking of personal preferences, after doing more typing on the NT with SP ABS caps, I finally decided I just couldn't stand the feel of ABS any longer. I was also looking for better mods than the SP black caps, which look as if they were pad printed despite the fact that they are doubleshots. I tried a Wyse Moogle set and found that some of the mods were so loose, they would pop off while typing.

Currently, I have ended up with the alphanumeric keys fitted with a dye-sub thick PBT set, off-white with blue legends. The arrow keys are off-white with black legends, and all the other keys are fitted with the dark navy blank PBT set from Leopold. These PBT caps are noisier than the SP ABS caps when bottoming out, but I would rather have a bit of noise in order to enjoy the dry feel of the PBT.

While I am fairly happy with my present setup, I wish that Leopold would come out with a set of dye-sub PBT keycaps in a light background and perhaps dark navy blue legends in a profile to match their blank navy PBT set.

My Realforce 87ub 55g and 45g boards strike me as finished and refined, like luxury cars that I can drive without any compelling need for tinkering. In contrast, my Novatouch feels relatively unfinished, but more fun, like a hot rod that continually invites modification to achieve a certain look, sound, or speed.

[mkawa]

i think it's all in the keycaps. other than the actuation force, there isn't a big difference between my realforce and the novatouch. but, the realforce keys are fantastic, while the novatouch keys are just sitting there waiting to be replaced with some exotic something or other.

well, maybe not that exotic. i've paid way more for topre caps than i'm willing to admit.

[mkawa]

totally irrelevant to this particular review, but my realforce 87u 10ae just effectively broke.

i am brutal to keyboards, people.

[Veridis]

totally irrelevant to this particular review, but my realforce 87u 10ae just effectively broke.

i am brutal to keyboards, people.

Wow, how did you break it? Punching exercises?

[Flyersfan1]

totally irrelevant to this particular review, but my realforce 87u 10ae just effectively broke.

i am brutal to keyboards, people.

YOU MONSTER.

[mkawa]

oh don't worry, it's just the internals. i've banged on it so much that they are flexing past the point at which the topre controller can compensate for the fluctuating capacitance at each switch. all i need to do is swap in a new set of 55g internals and i can continue typing on kawa keyboard for another few years. the case and keyset is obviously reusable. this is also a fun excuse to mod the novatouch with 55g domes and springs

but seriously though, i'm incredibly brutal to keyboards.

[HoffmanMyster]

oh don't worry, it's just the internals. i've banged on it so much that they are flexing past the point at which the topre controller can compensate for the fluctuating capacitance at each switch. all i need to do is swap in a new set of 55g internals and i can continue typing on kawa keyboard for another few years. the case and keyset is obviously reusable. this is also a fun excuse to mod the novatouch with 55g domes and springs

but seriously though, i'm incredibly brutal to keyboards.

pls stop abusing keyboards

[mkawa]

NO!

eta: point of fact; for the time being, i'm replacing it with a novatouch. the 55g domes will eventually migrate over to the novatouch as well.

eta2: the heck? this was apparently caused by a corrupted bios. poor voltage regulation on the usb +v or something? absolutely no clue...