Why do my KBT Pure keycaps feel so good?

[shibbyllama889]

Apologies for the weird title, but I couldn't think of a more straight forward way to ask it. Anyways, I have an OG KBT Pure (http://deskthority.net/wiki/KBT_Pure), PCB mounted with Reds, and anytime I change keycaps on this board, I keep going back to the stock keycaps. They're thin, OEM profile, ABS keycaps with the black coating for backlighting--not a combination that is usually worth of praise. But on this board they have an amazing bottoming out sound and smooth feel. I've tried putting Vortex thick PBT, GMK thick doubleshot ABS, and SP DCS-profile ABS keycaps on them, and they all feel like crap compared to the stock keycaps. Now one thing in common with those other three keycap sets is they are Cherry profile, or at least shorter profile than OEM.

Perhaps PCB mounted keyboards don't do as well with shorter profile keycaps? Or is this all just a preference thing on my part? Apart from the SP keycaps (SP DCS is complete **** IMO), I enjoy those keycap sets immensely on other keyboards. But those keyboards are plate mounted (QFR with Blues and Novatouch for those interested).

Has anyone else experienced this? PCB mounted + Linear switches + OEM keycaps is a particularly good combination? Or was the run of keycaps on the KBT Pure especially nice? Curious if anyone has any thoughts on this.

[InflamedToaster]

I'd love an answer to this, too. I've got a Pure with browns, and I love the feel of the key caps. I've swapped them out a few times, but always come back to the stock caps after a while. It's disappointing, because they're starting to shine a bit.

For me, I think it's mostly the texture of the caps. I'm not familiar with all of the terminology of it all. All of my other key sets are a lot more smooth, and it's nice to have that textured feeling under my fingers.

[shibbyllama889]

I'd love an answer to this, too. I've got a Pure with browns, and I love the feel of the key caps. I've swapped them out a few times, but always come back to the stock caps after a while. It's disappointing, because they're starting to shine a bit.

For me, I think it's mostly the texture of the caps. I'm not familiar with all of the terminology of it all. All of my other key sets are a lot more smooth, and it's nice to have that textured feeling under my fingers.

Yeah it's odd since the texture of the stock keycaps feels smoother to me thank say GMK ABS or PBT, but it's almost like there's more friction on the Pure keycaps. My fingers stick to them better, which in this case I consider a Pro. Do you have other backlit keyboards with similar keycaps? This is my only backlit keyboard, so I'm not sure if this is common.

[InflamedToaster]

I'd love an answer to this, too. I've got a Pure with browns, and I love the feel of the key caps. I've swapped them out a few times, but always come back to the stock caps after a while. It's disappointing, because they're starting to shine a bit.

For me, I think it's mostly the texture of the caps. I'm not familiar with all of the terminology of it all. All of my other key sets are a lot more smooth, and it's nice to have that textured feeling under my fingers.

Yeah it's odd since the texture of the stock keycaps feels smoother to me thank say GMK ABS or PBT, but it's almost like there's more friction on the Pure keycaps. My fingers stick to them better, which in this case I consider a Pro. Do you have other backlit keyboards with similar keycaps? This is my only backlit keyboard, so I'm not sure if this is common.

I don't actually have a backlit keyboard yet, but I'm adding LEDs to my pure. I'm not sure how the backlit keycaps feel, but I would assume they're pretty similar. I pre-ordered a backlit Pok3r, so I'll get to feel my first set of backlit keycaps sometime next month. I have a QFR, and the stock keycaps on that look like they'd feel really textured but they actually feel pretty smooth. I have a set of blank WASD keycaps on the letter keys, and they're completely smooth. There's no texture on those caps at all.

[Hyde]

Yes glad to know I'm not the only one think this way!!!

I've also gone through my fair share of keycaps and ultimately always coming back to stock ABS keycaps.

Here are the keycaps I've tried:

Filco stock ABS
Das stock ABS
Blackwidow coated back-lit ABS
Imsto thick PBT cherry profile
GMK thick ABS double shot
Rainbow thin PBT
Vortex double shot PBT
Vortex thick PBT OEM profile
Poker 2 ABS back-lit keycap
SP DSA PBT
SP SA thick ABS double shot
Leopold FC900R thick double shot ABS

In order of preference I'd say I like:

Coated back-lit ABS > double shot thick ABS > stock ABS > thick PBT > thin PBT

Basically coated back-lit ABS give the deepest nicest "thock" out of all the keycaps I tried.  Reason being softer material whole wear out fast but gives a nicer deeper sound.  PBT is very brittle so it gives very sharp sound.

As for PCB mount, I find PCB mount on smaller keyboard gives a nice echo similar to HHKB's case mount.  However I tried a full size PCB mount it just doesn't have the same echo.

Another example of very good sounding PCB mount keyboard is KBT Race II.

The last keycap material I want to try is POM, but as of now I wish they make coated ABS blank keycaps (even though the reason they coat keycap is so they can engrave out the letters).

Oh the only exception that I know of is that I prefer PBT on Topre, my guess is that since Topre domes already dampen the keycap sound so it doesn't come off as sharp anyway.

I feel like we might be the minority here but for deeper sound definitely aim for softer and thicker keycaps. 

[shibbyllama889]

I'm not sure I would go so far to say that coated ABS are my favorite feeling keycap, but rather specifically on the KBT Pure, they feel much better than other options. For instance, I'm typing on thick PBTs on a silenced novatouch (with a towel underneath to dampen the sound which makes worlds of difference), and I enjoy this more than the keycaps on the Pure.

But if I were to put these thick PBTs on the Pure, then they just wouldn't feel right. So that's what puzzling me, I'm not quite sure what about the Pure makes the coated ABS keycaps feel better.

[Hyde]

Yeah as I've mentioned I think Topre switch is an exception.  Because Topre switch are naturally soft, so it dampens the harshness PBT keycaps give.

But on Cherry MX I find PBT way too harsh and doesn't provide deep sound either.

For me it's almost like there is a fine balance of soft material + hard material.  Cherry MX (hard) works well with ABS keycaps (soft), and Topre switch (soft) works well with PBT keycap (hard).

Though ultimately everyone likes different things so there's no real formula.  Just gotta try them out and see what you like haha.