Which of the following 2 keyboards to buy? (Advice)

[Cronaz]

Hello everyone!

So I want to get my first mechanical keyboard. I already tried out a few but really didn't like the noise they made, so I'm planning to buy a silent one.

I can't decide between the following two:

Filco Majestouch 2 with Silent MX Red Keyswitches ->  http://www.keyboardco.com/product.asp?PRODUCT=1510

or

UK Matias Mini Quiet Pro -> http://www.keyboardco.com/product.asp?PRODUCT=1132

The Matias Keyboard claims to be the most quiet mechanical keyboard on the market. I've seen some videos on YT to compare the sound of the keyboards, but honestly, it's hard to tell since they're recorded with different cameras. So my question is, are those 2 keyboards equally as silent or is the Matias really the quiter one between the two?

I'm mainly going to use the keyboard for MOBA Games.

Thanks already in advance for the advice!

[suicidal_orange]

Hi Cronaz - welcome to GH

I'm pretty sure that Matias' marketing material was written before MX quiets existed and I've never tried an MX quiet so can't comment which is quieter, but I can say you're not going to annoy anyone with the Matias.

There is another difference between those two boards - the switches.  MX reds are linear so smooth all the way through the keypress while Matias Quiet Click is tactile with a bump so you know when the keypress has registered.  If you tried an MX brown board the QC feel like that but with a better bump.  Tactile switches are generally considered better for typing while gamers usually prefer linear, but it's personal preference...

You may also wear out the keycaps and if you do there are more replacement options available for MX switches, though Matias have been promising nice replacements for a long time and there are some Alps keysets available (Matias switches are Alps mount) so hopefully won't be an issue by the time yours wear out.

[llisandro]

Is a Volt quieter than a Tesla? I think the point is that they're on a different level of quiet than a gasoline car (blues). How is a prius different than a tesla? How it feels to drive one   

Ditto suicidal_orange: you said tried some boards- which felt the best, regardless of sound? If it was a linear (reds/blacks.silvers, etc), go with silent reds. If you liked feeling a "bump" on the key travel, maybe you'd prefer the Matias.

I'm typing this on the Matias you mentioned. It's really quiet. It's by far one of the quietest tactile switches (and one of the most tactile mainstream switches). I also own a non-damped MX-Red board. Big difference is if you bottom out- both "silent" switches you mentioned are damped in a similar way- if you bottom out, I bet they'll be about the same noise level (on par with a rubber dome). Acoustics will be different due to different chassis/materials/keycaps. That's really subjective and you'd have to hear both to form an opinion.


Neither are truly silent if you bottom out- rubber hits the bottom of the switch, vibrates into the plate/PCB, resonates in the case, etc. (the "road noise") If you don't bottom out at all, the reds will be quieter, as the matias has a tactile leaf and it makes a bit of sound. However, it's hard to avoid bottoming out on reds, as it's a really light switch with zero tactility. But both boards are significantly quieter if you don't bottom out. You can also dampen sound by putting any board on a neoprene gaming pad (giant mouse pad).

The Matias has a builtin USB hub that I find really convenient as well. But the arrow cluster isn't separated from the rest of the keys, and fn is in a funky spot. If you need to move your hands quickly to the arrow keys, it's harder to orient without looking.

[Puddsy]

i will always say filco, i used one for years and i loved it

still do

[Hyde]

I own the Quiet Pro (typing on it right now actually) and have briefly tried my friend's MX Red Silent.  There are a few things to consider:

1.  Do you like tactile or linear, Quiet ALPS is tactile and MX Red Silent is linear.
2.  Do you plan to do any form of customization in the future?  If yes then go with Cherry, much easier to find parts.
3.  Do you prefer "regular layout" for muscle memory, for me I prefer regular layout any special layout bugs me, for example the Matias Mini Quiet Pro have their own layout so which will throw me off.  In that case I'd recommend the Filco.
4.  Neither are truely "quiet", at best it's about same volume as rubber dome keyboard (still a little bit louder actually).
5.  This is just personal preference, best "quiet" keyboard I like is Silent Topre, none silent is about same volume as the other 2 you listed.

Loudness From Quiet to Loudest:
Scissor Switch (Laptop Keyboard)
Topre Silent
Chiclet Keyboard (Apple Keyboard)
Rubber Dome (Regular Keyboard)
MX Red Silent (Filco)
Quiet ALPS (Quiet Pro)
Topre
MX Red
MX Brown
MX Blue
Clicky ALPS
Buckling Spring
Typewriter

I guess it depends on you value more?  If you want customization I say go with MX Red Silent.  If you type a lot tactile switch might be better (Quiet Pro).  Personally my favourite quiet switch is Topre so I'd even suggest Type Heaven if you don't want to spend a lot.  If you game a lot linear is better then in that case go with MX Red Silent.

Read over the pros and cons and let me know what you think.




EDIT:  I just re-read your thing and realize this is for MOBA, in that case DON'T get Topre which is horrible for gaming (slower rebound time).  To be honest all things considered I'd probably lean slightly on Filco due to future compatibility and also Filco is like "the bar" for mechanical keyboards, it's a little bit future proof.

[Cronaz]

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I've tried out 2 Razer Keyboards, 1 had green switches (tactile) and the other one had orange switches (silent, but also tactile). I didn't like them too much and went back to my membrane keyboard after a few days, maybe I just had to get used to it.

That being said, I think I'm going to try the Filco, since it has linear switches, which actually might fit me better and like suicidal_orange and Hyde mentioned, is usually better for gaming. Also the sound level of the 2 keyboards seems to be identical, I didn't realise that the Matias keyboard is already a few years old and at this time, there weren't too many silent ones on the market.

[ander]

Hi Cronaz - welcome to GH

I'll second that!

There is another difference between those two boards - the switches.  MX reds are linear so smooth all the way through the keypress while Matias Quiet Click is tactile with a bump so you know when the keypress has registered.  If you tried an MX brown board the QC feel like that but with a better bump.  Tactile switches are generally considered better for typing while gamers usually prefer linear, but it's personal preference...

Indeed, can there really be such a thing as a silent tactile switch? The bump mechanism has to add a certain amount of sound, doesn't it—even if it's not a lot?

[rich1051414]

Hi Cronaz - welcome to GH

I'll second that!

There is another difference between those two boards - the switches.  MX reds are linear so smooth all the way through the keypress while Matias Quiet Click is tactile with a bump so you know when the keypress has registered.  If you tried an MX brown board the QC feel like that but with a better bump.  Tactile switches are generally considered better for typing while gamers usually prefer linear, but it's personal preference...

Indeed, can there really be such a thing as a silent tactile switch? The bump mechanism has to add a certain amount of sound, doesn't it—even if it's not a lot?

I have never known of cherry switches adding any sound from tactility, even the more aggressive stems based on clears. The 'bump' is round, meaning nothing ever leaves the slider in order to actually make a sound. It can make it more difficult not to bottom out, since the tactile bump can cause you to overshoot, something that the original cherry clear switches actually were designed to counteract.

This is true about matias switches though, but the click from the tactile leaf is VERY tiny, less than the sound of a rubber dome bottoming out, but since the switch is silenced so much by the dampeners, you can hear the subtle tick, but from my experience, even this fades in time. I think it takes a few thousand presses before the lube makes it to the right spots to silence the tactile leaf. You can also add some wet/dry lube to completely silence any alps based clicky or tactile leaf xD Some of learned this the hard way The only way to get them clicking again to to totally disassemble them and clean them, lol.

I could totally see someone doing that intentionally though.