I couldn't help myself by trolling a bit with the title and calling them "short" videos
Why?More
I've always been curious about which ABS keycaps sound similar to others, which are higher pitched, which are deeper sounding, and whatnot. So, I decided to gather a few different ones (all cherry profile) and make a few compilation videos! Leaving everything else the same (switches, typing environment, internals of the board) and just determining which ABS keycaps sound like x, and which sound like y, and so on.
We all know that sound tests aren't always accurate, because there's more to how a keycaps make a board sound than just different keycaps in general (mics, mic placement, whether mics are attached to the typing desk, if the room is treated, the list goes on), and I never advertise my sound test videos as being recorded in a recording studio that's professionally treated or anything like that, but I also think that at the very least, you can determine which keycaps sound higher pitched or deeper than others.
Part fun entertainment ASMR-ish, part useful resource was what I was going for!
BoardsMore
I did include two fully foamed (bottom case foam/dampening, IXPE/switch pad foam, mid-plate foam) boards in the Rainy 75 and CSTM 65 (one alu and one plastic) and two foam-free/dampening-free keebs in the aluminum Jixte and PC Jixte.
Rainy75
- FR-4 plate
- All foams
- 1.6mm Hotswap PCB
- Stock stabs (205g0 for housings, XHT-BDZ for wire ends)
- Gateron Milky Yellows spring swapped with Geon 22mm single-stage 67.5 gram springs. Springs jar lubed w/GPL105. 205g0 on switch stems only.
CSTM65
- POM plate
- All foams
- 1.6mm Hotswap PCB
- Stock stabs (205g0 for housings, XHT-BDZ for wire ends)
- JWK Splash Bros spring swapped with Geon 22mm single-stage 67.5 gram springs. Springs jar lubed w/GPL105. 205g0 on switch stems only.
PC Jixte
- Custom PP plate
- Internal & external stainless steel weights
- 1.6mm Soldered PCB
- Cherry clip in stabs (205g0 for housings, XHT-BDZ for wire ends)
- KTT Roses spring swapped with Geon 22mm single-stage 67.5 gram springs. Springs jar lubed w/GPL105. 205g0 on switch stems only.
Alu Jixte
- Alu plate
- 1.6mm Soldered PCB
- Cherry clip in stabs (205g0 for housings, XHT-BDZ for wire ends)
- Internal and external brass weights
- Cherry HG MX Reds spring swapped with Geon 22mm single-stage 67.5 gram springs. Springs jar lubed w/GPL105. 205g0 on switch stems only.
KeycapsMore
They're all cherry profile, with some of them being blends of ABS. It's not every single ABS keycap manu/brand, but it's a decent list of a few common ones.
- GMK Striker
- JTK Griseann
- Key Kobo Jindo (didn’t buy the spacebar kit, so got a 6.25u from KKB BoW)
- Wuque Akuamarin (ABS)
- DCX Garnet
- DCS WoB
- PBTFans Ronin (ABS)
- Shurikey Hanzo 002
- Domikey Semiconductor
- EnjoyPBT (ABS) WoB
- Mode Tomorrow (ABS Blend)
- Linworks Burgundy (ABS Blend)
- Swagkeys Very Peri (ABS Blend)
- Aifei R2 (ABS Blend)
Sound Test/Recording SpecsMore
- Recorded in an untreated room, so background noises can sometimes be heard (and outside noise)
- Glorious 4mm thick desk mat on a solid wood desk
- Panasonic HDC-TM90 Camcorder
- Audio normalization in DaVinci Resolve for easier listening, but no other sort of EQ or alterations were made to the audio
- Recorded in Reaper and rendered in 24-bit/48 kHz
- Audio interface sample rates at 48 kHz
Mic specs
- Lewitt 040 Matched pair of small diaphragm condenser mics in AB configuration mounted on a mic stand not in contact with the desk that I type on running into an Audient Evo 8, gain set at two thirty
- Rode VideoMic GO II mounted on my camcorder, 3 feet diagonally from the keyboard and not in contact with the desk
- Rode NT1 5th Gen condenser mic mounted on a boom arm attached to the desk used to type on running into an Audient Evo 8, gain set at 2 O’Clock
- Audio Technica AT2020 condenser mic mounted on a boom arm attached to the desk used to type on running into an Audient Evo 8, gain set at 2 O’Clock
- Samson Q2U dynamic mic mounted on a boom arm attached to the desk used to type on using USB mode, gain set at 45%
- Samson Q9U dynamic mic mounted on a boom arm attached to the desk used to type on using USB mode, gain set at 45%, no filters or mid-boosts on
- Google Pixel 7 Pro mounted on a gooseneck mount not connected to the desk used to type on
- The Samson Q2U, Samson Q9U, Rode NT1 5th Gen, and AT2020 are in some way attached to the typing desk. The Pixel 6a and the Lewitt 040 mics are not
- Lewitt and phone 15 cm away from the top of the keycaps (rough distance between my ears and the keycaps when measured directly vertically)
- All other mics 15 cm away diagonal from the top of the keycaps to my ears (thanks for the tip, Ray)
- No windscreens or pop filters are attached to any of the mics
KBCompare?More
I usually upload clips into KBCompare in case someone wants to listen to just the audio and be able to hide the titles and mix the audio clips around to see if they can pick out what keycaps are to which audio tracks, but I keep running into errors doing so.
IF I figure it out, I'll update this topic with the KBCompare links, as in my opinion, that's the best way to try and compare sounds, but for now, here are the links to the comparison videos.
YouTube ate up the timestamps in the descriptions to the point where if I added too many timestamps, the chapters wouldn't work, so please look for my comment in the comments section for a list of all timestamps. The ones in the video descriptions are just the maximum that YT allowed.
Enjoy!
Short Explanation
All 5 Hours of Footage
Lewitt Mics Only (Best For Comparing IMO)
Alu Jixte
PC Jixte
Fully Foamed CSTM 65
Fully Foamed Rainy 75
