Author Topic: To silence or not?  (Read 15276 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline DaBubbs

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 125
  • Location: NC, US
To silence or not?
« on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 08:46:59 »
So I have my current endgame 55g RF87U and 23U combo complete. The final step that I know that I will be doing is that I will be making the 23U 55g as well.

174815-0

What I cannot decide now is whether to make them silent or not. Originally I was absolutely planning on silencing them because of how much I liked the HHKB Type-S (for the short time that I had it). I already have two silent 104U's that I bought to harvest the purple sliders but I am wondering now if it is worth it.

Where I work, I have my own office so silencing is not a necessity. I don't mind the Topre thock but I am on a good number of conference calls so it would be nice to have it silent. I am just worried about going through all the work to silence them and then missing the thock and later deciding to revert them back. I guess it would not be the end of the world... just a good deal of extra work.

Any advice? Has anyone silenced their RF87U and then wished they had not? Has anyone done it and are very happy that they did? Thanks!
When you are dead, you don't know that you are dead. It is difficult only for the others.
It is the same when you are stupid.

Offline Hammithimmis

  • Posts: 6
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 10:03:22 »
Definitely silence.  Gets rid of the loud upstroke clack when you let go of the key but leaves the downward thock alone, which makes it quieter overall but feel even thockier.  It's the best of both worlds in my opinion.  I did it for both my RFs and HHKB with no regret whatsoever.  The nice purple sliders are an aesthetic bonus to boot. 

Offline kmba

  • Formerly tameone
  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1173
  • Location: Indiana, USA
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 10:31:52 »
Silence. All the thock with none of the clack. Upstroke noise is not to be missed.
keyboards.

Offline DaBubbs

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 125
  • Location: NC, US
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 10:41:29 »
Thanks for the quick responses. I am definitely leaning that way now too.

I switched to my silenced 104U for a while this morning and it sounded awesome.
When you are dead, you don't know that you are dead. It is difficult only for the others.
It is the same when you are stupid.

Offline tp4tissue

  • * Destiny Supporter
  • Posts: 13551
  • Location: Official Geekhack Public Defender..
  • OmniExpert of: Rice, Top-Ramen, Ergodox, n Females
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 11:47:53 »
Ask Spamray ,  there's a seller now selling flat style silencing rings for $25..


Don't get ripped off by Hypersphere ..

Offline avid

  • Posts: 775
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 13:01:29 »
Thanks for the quick responses. I am definitely leaning that way now too.

I switched to my silenced 104U for a while this morning and it sounded awesome.

I like how silence is described as sounding awesome  :D. But yeah, id agree with the silencing crowd. And even if you dont like it, you can always switch back. The little time it takes is worth it, since you will always be curious about it othervise.

Offline xtrafrood

  • formerly csmertx
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 2715
  • Location: Gainesville, FL
  • wildling
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 13:14:40 »
Ask Spamray ,  there's a seller now selling flat style silencing rings for $25..


Don't get ripped off by Hypersphere ..


Sauce (link)?

Offline tp4tissue

  • * Destiny Supporter
  • Posts: 13551
  • Location: Official Geekhack Public Defender..
  • OmniExpert of: Rice, Top-Ramen, Ergodox, n Females
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 13:19:24 »
Ask Spamray ,  there's a seller now selling flat style silencing rings for $25..


Don't get ripped off by Hypersphere ..


Sauce (link)?


Offline xtrafrood

  • formerly csmertx
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 2715
  • Location: Gainesville, FL
  • wildling
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 13:29:20 »
Ask Spamray ,  there's a seller now selling flat style silencing rings for $25..


Don't get ripped off by Hypersphere ..


Sauce (link)?

So very helpful.

Offline antquinonez

  • Posts: 46
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 13:39:10 »
Have you considered a uni directional mic?

What's the point of working from home and not banging away on your mechanical?

Offline DaBubbs

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 125
  • Location: NC, US
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 13:39:49 »
Thanks for the quick responses. I am definitely leaning that way now too.

I switched to my silenced 104U for a while this morning and it sounded awesome.

I like how silence is described as sounding awesome  :D. But yeah, id agree with the silencing crowd. And even if you dont like it, you can always switch back. The little time it takes is worth it, since you will always be curious about it othervise.
Hahaha, I didn't think about it until you said it. Yes, the lack of the sound of the upstroke is nice and easier on the ears   :D

And I can already see this thread is going to dive into the silencing ring black hole. Since I already have my answer (and again, thanks for the fast responses), go ahead tp4tissue... at least till a moderator comes in and shuts it down like last time.
When you are dead, you don't know that you are dead. It is difficult only for the others.
It is the same when you are stupid.

Offline dgneo

  • Supervillain
  • * Curator
  • Posts: 2182
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 13:40:39 »

Offline xtrafrood

  • formerly csmertx
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 2715
  • Location: Gainesville, FL
  • wildling
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 13:56:15 »

Offline tp4tissue

  • * Destiny Supporter
  • Posts: 13551
  • Location: Official Geekhack Public Defender..
  • OmniExpert of: Rice, Top-Ramen, Ergodox, n Females
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 15:50:48 »
Ask Spamray ,  there's a seller now selling flat style silencing rings for $25..


Don't get ripped off by Hypersphere ..


Sauce (link)?

So very helpful.

Since TP4 is ULTRA SUPER AWESOME GTX XTX XXX BLACK EDITION


Dang, that website again. Wait a minute.. I think I saw a different link.. https://kbdfans.myshopify.com/collections/keyboard-part/products/topre-keyboard-silence-x-120pcs Cool, thanks!



You're all super welcome.. and I agree..

Offline pr0ximity

  • Posts: 2705
  • Location: Maine
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #14 on: Wed, 02 August 2017, 20:16:09 »
Recently silenced my RF with purple sliders, is pretty nice. My end happiness will depend on whether or not I can sell the resulting half-silenced 104.
| Flickr | KMAC 1.2 | Koala | GSKT-00-Z | GSKT-00-AEK | GON NerD60 | Jane V2 CE | Whale | J80S | Ibis | Pro2 | Pro1 | 356mini | 356CL DGE | G80-5000 HAMDE | IBM 1390120 | IBM F AT | IBM F122 | IBM 3101 | Zenith Z-150

Offline DaBubbs

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 125
  • Location: NC, US
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #15 on: Thu, 03 August 2017, 10:07:33 »
Recently silenced my RF with purple sliders, is pretty nice. My end happiness will depend on whether or not I can sell the resulting half-silenced 104.
I am not selling mine. I am fortunate that I do not need the cash but I also am using keycaps from my 104U.

I don't use the numpad on my 87U so I switched out keycaps with the 104U that do not have the front legends.

I then switched out the Windows keys because I like the logo and lack of indent on the 104U Windows keys.

I will be using the left control of the 104U when I silence my 87U. This is because I am going to desolder the LED on the left control, put a normal housing, and a purple slider in that space. In doing so, the orientation of the current 87U control won't fit. The 104U left control also has no hole for an LED, so much cleaner too  :D

Lastly, it will be nice to have some extra keys lying around just in case. I guess I could sell the domes... I have tried and have no use for a variable dome sheet.
When you are dead, you don't know that you are dead. It is difficult only for the others.
It is the same when you are stupid.

Offline drogoFortuna

  • Posts: 2
  • Location: Arkansas
    • iheartguys
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #16 on: Fri, 04 August 2017, 10:03:58 »
I personally would silence them. The "clack" noise can be very annoying if you're remotely even a type faster. Not to mention if you have a desktop mic or anything it would trigger it often on voice activation.

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #17 on: Sun, 06 August 2017, 16:21:17 »
Personally I've bought the hypersphere ring before (back then it was only option) and I find that silence definitely feels and sound nicer and less rattle.

BUT !!! (Huge but)

Even hypersphere is too thick, you can definitely notice the reduce in key travel and which affects the tactility a tiny bit.

So unless you can either acquire the purple slider (which has more room to accommodate the ring) or see if the other ring TP4 posted is thinner.

Otherwise I'd suggest you not touch it yet.  Good luck!  :thumb:

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline yuppie

  • Posts: 358
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #18 on: Sun, 06 August 2017, 17:07:37 »
hush.
"Overall, it's a good community..  wish you well on your Pokemon Journey.." - TP4
Current Trades -- Wishlist

Offline DaBubbs

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 125
  • Location: NC, US
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #19 on: Tue, 08 August 2017, 11:50:50 »
Personally I've bought the hypersphere ring before (back then it was only option) and I find that silence definitely feels and sound nicer and less rattle.

BUT !!! (Huge but)

Even hypersphere is too thick, you can definitely notice the reduce in key travel and which affects the tactility a tiny bit.

So unless you can either acquire the purple slider (which has more room to accommodate the ring) or see if the other ring TP4 posted is thinner.

Otherwise I'd suggest you not touch it yet.  Good luck!  :thumb:
I agree, thanks. The good news is that I already have a few purple slider donor boards ready to go.

Interestingly enough, I noticed that even the purple sliders state that instead of 4mm travel, they are 3.8mm. I have typed on the purple slider boards and can't tell a difference so no worries. I just found it interesting. I think it is because of the dimple on the bottom of the slider that the black slider does not have.
When you are dead, you don't know that you are dead. It is difficult only for the others.
It is the same when you are stupid.

Offline DALExSNAIL

  • The User Formerly Known as 'Formerly DudeSnail'
  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1500
  • Location: Port Wentworth, GA
  • 𝖋𝖚𝖈𝖐 𝖆𝖑𝖕𝖘
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #20 on: Tue, 08 August 2017, 12:09:05 »
Recently silenced my RF with purple sliders, is pretty nice. My end happiness will depend on whether or not I can sell the resulting half-silenced 104.

Sell to me super cheep boi

Offline Polymer

  • Posts: 1587
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #21 on: Tue, 08 August 2017, 17:40:14 »
Yeah just really depends on if you like the sound of the upstroke or not...and how important it is to silence the keyboard for your work. 

Personally I think it is quite an enjoyable sound as it feels quite random when you get little water drop type sounds...at least when talking about the HHKB...the RF less so...

Offline DALExSNAIL

  • The User Formerly Known as 'Formerly DudeSnail'
  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1500
  • Location: Port Wentworth, GA
  • 𝖋𝖚𝖈𝖐 𝖆𝖑𝖕𝖘
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #22 on: Wed, 09 August 2017, 08:07:29 »
Silenced topre = Best switch
Not Silenced topre = Worst switch
« Last Edit: Wed, 09 August 2017, 08:20:03 by DudeSnail »

Offline tp4tissue

  • * Destiny Supporter
  • Posts: 13551
  • Location: Official Geekhack Public Defender..
  • OmniExpert of: Rice, Top-Ramen, Ergodox, n Females
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #23 on: Wed, 09 August 2017, 08:37:26 »
Silenced topre = Best switch
Not Silenced topre = Worst switch

Cherry MX BLUE = Best switch..


Topre = Generic dome switch..

Offline DALExSNAIL

  • The User Formerly Known as 'Formerly DudeSnail'
  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1500
  • Location: Port Wentworth, GA
  • 𝖋𝖚𝖈𝖐 𝖆𝖑𝖕𝖘
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #24 on: Wed, 09 August 2017, 08:42:51 »
Silenced topre = Best switch
Not Silenced topre = Worst switch

Cherry MX BLUE = Best switch..


Topre = Generic dome switch..

Pls stop trolling

Offline tp4tissue

  • * Destiny Supporter
  • Posts: 13551
  • Location: Official Geekhack Public Defender..
  • OmniExpert of: Rice, Top-Ramen, Ergodox, n Females
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #25 on: Wed, 09 August 2017, 08:50:40 »

Pls stop trolling

Cherry MX BLUE = Best switch..


Topre = Generic dome switch..


Ask anyone,  I've been saying this since being let down by the 87u..

Offline DALExSNAIL

  • The User Formerly Known as 'Formerly DudeSnail'
  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1500
  • Location: Port Wentworth, GA
  • 𝖋𝖚𝖈𝖐 𝖆𝖑𝖕𝖘
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #26 on: Wed, 09 August 2017, 08:54:23 »

Pls stop trolling

Cherry MX BLUE = Best switch..


Topre = Generic dome switch..


Ask anyone,  I've been saying this since being let down by the 87u..

This is opposite day apparently boiz

Offline Gentoo

  • Posts: 2
  • Location: Chatham, Kent, UK
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #27 on: Thu, 10 August 2017, 19:57:07 »
I've tried my HHKB completely stock, dental banded, stock lubed, and dental banded lubed. No doubt dental banded / silencing rings make it completely silent and it's a pure thock sound, but using a thick lube (I used lith-moly grease) on the stabilizers, and spraying silicone lube on the slider housing and sliders themselves can silence the upstroke too. You still retain the extra bit of tactility and mine's almost completely silent even without dental bands.

I think lubing the stabilizers well is the most important thing for getting the left shift / enter and especially spacebar rattle free, and also the rectangular housing around the enter key (as there isn't the standard slider guide to lube) - this removed the wobble and rattle from my enter key doing this.

Offline Polymer

  • Posts: 1587
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #28 on: Thu, 10 August 2017, 20:29:25 »
Got a vid or sound bite of this?

Offline Gentoo

  • Posts: 2
  • Location: Chatham, Kent, UK
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #29 on: Fri, 11 August 2017, 15:21:19 »
I recently removed the dental bands, but here is a vid of lubed with no dental bands: https://streamable.com/msq8u

Excuse the aperture on the vid, the keys do have an upstroke clack but compared to stock with no lube they're less noisy / rattly feeling in my opinion (not that they're very rattly in the first place). Dental bands remove all clack and a lot of rattle as it is, but the keys do feel a lot softer with them on due to the spring being partially compressed, and they feel less bumpy / tactile. I'm quite heavy handed, but just resting my hand on the keyboard with dental bands on I kept pressing llllllllll while resting on home row they're that soft. I couldn't choose what to go for but at the moment I've settled on no dental bands. Might just be because I've had it dental banded for nearly 2 years and it's something new but I like it more so far without them.

The spacebar still slightly bugs me, the rattle is completely gone but the clack will take some getting used to although it doesn't happen much while typing. It's a lot more silent than no lube though.

Offline Giorgio

  • Posts: 1846
  • Location: Italy

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #31 on: Sat, 12 August 2017, 12:41:27 »
Super cheap topre orings

https://m.it.aliexpress.com/s/item/32800084682.html?spm=a2g0n.search-cache.0.0.2e3c7c1bTe6cCj#autostay

Those look really thick though, will probably reduce key travel quite a bit and result in less tactility.

We need something as thin as possible.

Someone on youtube once pointed he stamped 0.01 mm thick silicon sheets and it worked really well.  I wonder if there's any company out selling something similar.

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline losing_ctrl

  • Posts: 190
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #32 on: Sat, 12 August 2017, 14:06:09 »
Currently I've got three RFs, a variable silenced 104u, 10th anniversary silenced all 45g 87u, and a non-silenced 55g 87u. I take turns using these KBs at work. The floor where I work is very quiet, so I am super aware of how much noise I'm making while I'm typing. My initial experience had been that the non-silenced 55g KB was a bit too loud, however when I put folded napkins underneath the footpads, the noise went down quite a bit - to where I am comfortable using it as my full-time work keyboard. Also, for me, the 55g domes give by far the best typing experience, so I am usually choosing it over the other two silenced KBs. That being said, I still give plenty of time to my all 45g 87u, as the extra level of quietness and slightly different feel provides me with a great alternative experience (even if 45g is still a bit too light for my taste). I guess I just need a change of pace sometimes. However there is no substitute for the snappy-ness of 55g. I do plan to create a silenced 55g KB eventually, to see if that might be the best of both worlds, however life is so good right now KB-wise, that I'm not sure the extra work (and risk) would be worth it.

So I'm eagerly awaiting feedback from anyone that creates their own 55g silienced to hear their opinions...

Below are my two KBs...

175719-0


175721-1
« Last Edit: Sat, 12 August 2017, 14:12:55 by losing_ctrl »

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #33 on: Sat, 12 August 2017, 14:20:40 »
^ Nice keyboards.  :D

Though I've been hearing that 45g HHKB and 55g RF provide the best feel/thock.

Someone comment that FC980C is the best of both worlds (retaining the thock) while still retaining all the keys.  I'm really tempted to try that next.  :thumb:

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #34 on: Thu, 28 September 2017, 21:57:25 »
Sorry to revive this thread but I've been using my hypersphere silenced Realforce then recently tried my Topre Type Heaven (stock) and noticed the Type Heaven has WAY MORE tactility than the Realforce.

I guess the ring really pressed on the dome too much.

Anyone else have experience with official silent Realforce (purple slider) vs stock Realforce?

Someone earlier pointed out it's 4 mm vs 3.8 mm.  Was it enough to affect the tactility or am I better off just getting non-silent for that full thockiness?  Also sounds like FC980C is even thockier than regular Realforce.

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #35 on: Sat, 21 October 2017, 21:17:34 »
^ lol anyone have any insight to this?  It's been almost a month and no reply.

I have since then took off the silence rings, but now I'm wondering is it worth it for me to try the official silence Topre in the future (purple slider)?

OR should I just accept the fact that all silencing will kill tactility and we should stick to non-silent?  :(

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline zslane

  • Posts: 2297
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #36 on: Sun, 22 October 2017, 01:03:56 »
I have found that the small silencing rings like the ones you get in Plum keyboards, and the kind you can buy from KBDFans, are just like the ones in the factory silenced Topre boards, and they don't kill tactility even with sliders that aren't the purple Topre sliders. I use them in every Topre and Topre-clone board I own and the tactility is just fine.

Offline sodiumjoe

  • Posts: 85
  • Location: Portland, OR
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #37 on: Sun, 22 October 2017, 01:25:40 »
I did a slider and housing swap for my fc660c with an older RF board. Comparing side by side with a stock fc660c, there is no difference in tactility. I thought about trying the kbdfans rings, but decided to go with silenced sliders, since they have the extra room for the silencing rings.

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #38 on: Sun, 22 October 2017, 17:09:21 »
Ohhhhhh thanks guys good to know either solution works. I guess getting the kbdfans ring would be cheaper but at the same time I wonder if I should just get a realforce silent and call it a day.

At this point I'm a bit lazy to reopen my keyboard again also too tired of trial and error in case if anything goes wrong.

But the price difference is huge maybe I'll think about it over the next few days but good to know both works though.

Thanks guys!

 :thumb:

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline xtrafrood

  • formerly csmertx
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 2715
  • Location: Gainesville, FL
  • wildling
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #39 on: Sun, 22 October 2017, 18:21:10 »
Soo, I have these blue stem things now. How to silence? ^-^

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #40 on: Sun, 22 October 2017, 21:00:45 »
Like the third party Topre stem?  Or did you mean MX Blue?

Also I gave in and pulled the trigger on KBDFans rings (LOL didn't take me long).  Figure it's a bit cost effective to do both my keyboard (Realforce 104UW) and my wife's (FC660C).

Will update once I get them.  :)

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline xtrafrood

  • formerly csmertx
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 2715
  • Location: Gainesville, FL
  • wildling
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #41 on: Mon, 23 October 2017, 00:37:02 »
A little poke about my mx blues that will haunt me when I ultimately have to switch to something more silent. I've read lots about Hypersperes, it would be cool to know more about the other side of the fence so to speak. :)

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #42 on: Mon, 23 October 2017, 19:35:47 »
To be honest I think Topre is a good quiet solution, I've tried Matias Quiet ALPS and Cherry MX Silent while it's quiet but I find the feel just isn't as nice as Topre.  Topre is a good middle ground for feel and sound.

Problem is price, Topre are generally expensive.  But if you can afford it I'd say get Stock Silent Topre for the reasons listed in earlier conversation in this thread.  If not option 2 is to buy the KBDFans rings and install them yourself (Don't get Hypersphere it's too thick and will reduce tactility).

If that's still too expensive then maybe try Topre Type Heaven, while it's not the authentic Topre experience but to be honest I use them at work and I think they're not bad at all.

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline davkol

  •  Post Editing Timeout
  • Posts: 4994
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #43 on: Tue, 24 October 2017, 06:43:51 »
A little poke about my mx blues that will haunt me when I ultimately have to switch to something more silent. I've read lots about Hypersperes, it would be cool to know more about the other side of the fence so to speak. :)
Soo, I have these blue stem things now. How to silence? ^-^

JSpacers?

Offline psiclone

  • Posts: 33
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #44 on: Tue, 24 October 2017, 09:37:19 »
I don't know how to compare this to the "thock" of topre, but I put aquarium sealant on my Gateron Yellows in the housing where the switch collides at the top.  It's completely silent on the upswing, but I still get a the bottoming out sound.  I lost the linearity and now they're a little tactile, but hey...I was going for silence.  I then added QMX clips to them and now they're mostly silent when bottoming out, but I get a "thud" sound.  Not sure if this is comparable, but thought I would add, since it might be a good experiment for someone who has a topre to compare it to.

Offline Riverman

  • Posts: 430
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #45 on: Tue, 24 October 2017, 11:02:05 »
I've been playing around with a few silent keyboards lately.  I have two Cherry MX brown boards with QMX Clips, a Topre with some factory silent stems and some that were swapped out with standard stems with hypershere rings; an Apple Extended Keyboard II with silent Alps switches, and a I recently got rid of a Matias Quiet Pro keyboard.  I've had a fair number of other  MX boards with o-rings, too, and a couple of Topre Type Heaven keyboards, but I've since sold them.  My personal favorite is the silenced Topre, but the QMX clipped Cherry board is an extremely close second.  If you don't want to blow your budget on a Topre board, I'd go with the QMX Clips any day of the week, assuming they show up on Massdrop again and you can wait a couple of months for them.  They're very nice, and at least on the Varmilo and Cherry G80-3000 boards I have, they're very effective.  The Cherry does still have a somewhat noisy space bar, at least compared to the Varmilo.  The Varmilo is just dead silent, and very comparable to the silenced Topre, although with very slightly reduced travel.  The Matias board was my least favorite of all of them.  Even compared to a 20 year old Apple keyboard with dampened cream Alps, the Matias quiet switches are mushy, wobbly, and loud.

Offline zslane

  • Posts: 2297
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #46 on: Tue, 24 October 2017, 11:46:21 »
A board with MX silent reds (or blacks) is also a reasonable alternative (to Topre) for the price-conscious. However, the internal dampening makes other elements more audible, such as the sound of the slider moving. Some call it "scratchy", but instead of the usual clacking you get from a normal MX red you mostly just hear a soft shup shup shup as you type.

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #47 on: Sun, 05 November 2017, 22:57:28 »
I have found that the small silencing rings like the ones you get in Plum keyboards, and the kind you can buy from KBDFans, are just like the ones in the factory silenced Topre boards, and they don't kill tactility even with sliders that aren't the purple Topre sliders. I use them in every Topre and Topre-clone board I own and the tactility is just fine.


Okay my KBDFans rings arrived, I've installed them on my wife's FC660C and as you have mentioned, voila tactility is back!!!

:D

To be honest after seeing how thin the rings are I had some doubts as to if it even works but after trying it out and it definitely works great.  And it still retains the tactility, I can't compare to official Topre silent since I don't have one (only tried it at a store on my Japan visit).

But I'd imagine maybe in an ideal scenario it's probably official Realforce silent > KBDFans rings > Hypersphere rings > dental bands > other o-rings.

Only tiny complaint is that those rings are somewhat sticky (kind of like rubber suction cups).  So I had 2 keys where it didn't slide all the way down and result in 2 keys stuck in mid stroke position.

After wiggling it with a keycap puller and re-pressed the keys a few times seems to have fixed the issue.

Another minor issue is also that since they're so thin, they're a little bit harder to handle and takes longer to install than Hypersphere rings.  But once you get them done it works great.

I will find time this week to install them on my Realforce 104U then I'll report back later.  :thumb:
« Last Edit: Sun, 05 November 2017, 23:00:26 by Hyde »

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden

Offline rasmusx

  • Posts: 59
  • Location: Estonia
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #48 on: Tue, 07 November 2017, 07:15:33 »
Recently also installed KBDfans topre silencing rings to FC660C and they are nice.

Offline Hyde

  • Posts: 2643
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • White Tofu Extraordinaire
Re: To silence or not?
« Reply #49 on: Wed, 08 November 2017, 20:18:54 »
OK so I've installed the KBDFans rings on my Realforce too and this is what I've noticed.

As I've mentioned the KBDFans rings are stickier so you have to make sure you push the rings all the way down before reinstalling the slider otherwise it might stick then your keys might not come back up properly.

To be honest doing 104 keys was such a torture I'd probably not want to do this again.  :confused:  So guys I'd say just pay the extra money and get the official one and save the time and headache.

But anyway here is what I noticed in terms of tactility:

Type Heaven (no silence) = Most Tactile, Most Wobbly
Realforce with KBDFans Rings = Less Tactile, Less Wobbly
Realforce with Hypersphere Rings = Least Tactile (though you can still feel a little bit), but very solid feeling (wobble is non-existent)


So basically KBDFans rings sits somewhere in the middle.

Here is something else that I notice, Realforce somehow feels like there's more "room" compare to FC660C.  Maybe due to keycap height so it give a false sense of travel difference.

So on Realforce even if I use Hypersphere rings the travel reduction didn't bug me that much, but on FC660C it feels like it reduced travel so much I much prefer the un-dampened version.

From what I read NovaTouch and Topre RGB also give the sense of "more" travel so even when using silence rings people find it ok.

NovaTouch / Topre RGB = Most travel, so adding rings will not bug you as much, I don't own these but from what I read people even enjoy them with Hypersphere rings, and people actually recommend damping they think stock is too wobbly.
Realforce = Medium travel, adding rings might or might not bug people depending on how sensitive you are, KBDFans rings do reduce travel a tiny bit and dampen decently, Hypersphere I find it reduce tactility quite a bit BUT it completely eliminate wobble so it might be a fair trade off depending on what you like (makes the keyboard feel super premium).
FC660C = Least amount of travel, to be honest with this even KBDFans rings bugs me a little bit, with Hypersphere I find it kill the travel too much but again with the same argument as above since it completely eliminates wobble.  I'd actually not recommend silent mod it.


In any case, so mileage may vary depending on people to people.

At this point I'd say KBDFans ring is sort of jack of all trades master of none.  It doesn't reduce travel much but also doesn't dampen as well.  Hypersphere reduce travel a lot but completely eliminate wobble (feels premium).  It's up to you to decide if it's worth the trade off.

Though I have yet to try the official Realforce Silent, but I suspect that will be the best of both worlds.

So at this point I'd recommend either leaving it stock or just buy official Silent (purple slider).

:thumb:
« Last Edit: Sun, 26 November 2017, 12:41:42 by Hyde »

Archiss ProgresTouch Retro - Gateron Yellow  |  Topre Realforce 104UW - 45g Silent  |  Topre Type Heaven  |  Beige Filco Ninja 104 - MX Red  |  Das Keyboard - MX Brown  |  Poker II - MX Red  |  Race II - MX Brown  |  Matias Quiet Pro - Matias Dampened ALPS  |  Logitech K840 - Romer G  |  Cherry MX Board 2.0 - MX Red  |  Cherry G84-4100 - ML  |  IBM Model M
Roccat Kone Pure  |  Logitech G203  |  Logitech G303  |  Logitech G302  |  Razer Naga  |  CM Storm Xornet  |  Razer Goliathus Mobile Stealth  |  Razer Goliathus Control  |  Artisan Hien  |  Artisan Hayate  |  Artisan Shiden