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Reviewing/comparing a bunch of switches - Update 8/20/14

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johndavis33:
I'm gonna compare and give reviews of 4 different cherry mx switches a lot of switches, giving my own personal opinion of each. I tend to like these reviews and I personally find them helpful when looking at different switches to consider. They're very much apples to apples. So, I figured, why not make my own? Everything I say here is all my own personal opinion.

Cherry MX black
Keyboard used: Rosewill RK-9000
I really like these switches! These were my first mechanical switch and going from rubber dome to these guys was a work out. Built up quite a bit of finger lactic acid when I first got this guy. These switches provide a smooth key press, with no tactile feedback. Cherry MX switches have long travel but the idea is to not bottom out, and stop after the switch actuates at around the halfway point. It's rather hard to do this at first with blacks, as your instincts tell you to keep going until you feel something. However, it is entirely possible to learn to type on these switches without bottoming out. Why not bottoming out, these switches are entirely silent. There may be some scratchy sounds, but nothing signifigantly audible. Your stabilizers will be the loudest things on your keyboard. These switches are relatively stiff. I'm primarily an FPS gamer, and I found these switches were very good because you usually don't' really need to worry about bottoming out and the force of the switches pushes your fingers up to the reset point.


Cherry MX blues
Keyboard used: Coolermaster Quickfire Rapid, AKA QFR
This may be enough to get you shot on geekhack but I hate cherry MX blues. This is pretty sad because blues are standard on pretty much every keyboard and therefore if you can learn to love them you can learn to love any keyboard. Well I can't learn to love them, no matter how many times I've tried. It's been about 8 months since I got this board and I've used this keyboard for weeks at a time, and I always just get sick of the switches. The cheif reason for this being that they are too light. They feel practically linear to me. Typing at full speed, I don't think I'd be able to tell the difference between reds and blues in a blind test. For gaming, I hated them. The big reason being the reset point. When I game, I tend to have my fingers resting on certain keys and I'll press and hold down these keys as I game. Sometimes I'll need to double tap a key in succession. These switches have this weird tactile bump as the key is lifting up and resetting. For me, this killed double tapping. These switches aren't that loud on their own, despite being the loudest cherry MX switch along with greens. What was loud for me was the sound of constantly bottoming out, because these switches are just too light for me.

Cherry MX greens
Keyboard used: Ducky G2 Pro, PBT
After trying both blacks and blues, I knew what I wanted in a switch. Greens seemed perfect for me, and I truly belive they are. To sumarize, they're like blues but with none of the problems I mentioned about them. I don't know if it's the stronger spring or a different stem, but greens don't have the reset point bump I described with blues. Well, they do, but it's not really that much of a bump at all. While on blues it was hard to get over and was always there, annoying me, on greens you'd never notice it unless someone told you to feel for it. Greens are hands down just the best switch for me. Only downside is there's no keyboards that come with it!

Cherry MX clears
Keyboard used: TG3 BL82, PBT
Clears are nice. I don't like them as much as greens. They're a silent switch, and the tactile bump on them is less "crisp" than on the greens. As the switch depresses, it doesn't ever feel like there's ever a place where the force is consistent, it's always either rising or falling. The "bump" starts as soon as you beign pressing on the switch. The force rises and rises until about halway through the press, where it just drops off. From there, however, the force begins to rise again until you bottom out. This makes it so it takes almost no practice to type on clears without bottoming out. This is odd because there's really no other MX switch with a spring that does this. Every other switch is consistent in force after it's tactile bump. Some people have taken the clear's unusual spring and put it in other swtiches, and these are called "ghost switches". I haven't tried any, but I'd be curious to try some "ghost blues", as it may alleviate my problems with blues. For gaming, these switches aren't very good for me as the force at the bottom of the travel makes it so it requires a lot of force to keep a switch held down.

Cherry MX Whites - Update 4/25/2014
Keyboard used: Ducky Shine 3, Yellow LE
These are probably the easiest to describe. At first, I felt that they were less tactile than greens. Doing a blind test with headphones on, I realized I couldn't tell the difference between the two switches. Still, in normal use, I think I still subconsciously feel that the whites are less tactile. I think this is due to the sound. If greens sound like popping bubble wrap, then whites sound like rain drops hitting a window. Eventually, this effect goes away. So when it comes to how they feel, copy and paste what I wrote about greens. The tactile bump is a *little* bit more drawn out than greens, but that's about it. I actually prefer it.

UPDATE/BUYER BEWARE: While my opinions on the switches I typed on have not changed, since I wrote this review I saw a LOT of people complaining of switch to switch inconsistency with whites. For some people it's been as bad as having completely silent and mx green level noise on different switches in the same board. I didn't notice anything on my board until I saw people on GH complaining. I can only see inconsistency when I try specifically to find it, and I can't tell at all when typing. I never would have known unless someone told me. My whites are still my favorite cherry mx switch. Just be warned, your mileage may vary.

Now, I'm gonna start talking about non cherry switches, so it'll be a lot harder to compare. However, I'll still try to do my best, and if you feel the same way I did about the cherry switches, you'll probably feel the same way about these.

Simplified Black Alps - Update 4/25/2014
Keyboard used: Strong Man SMK-8112JU
First off, these switches are mounted on a plastic plate, so the keyboard vibrates a lot more than my metal plate mounted boards when typing. First off, the actuation point is noticably higher than it is on cherry boards. These switches are supposed to be tactile, and not clicky, but if you're looking for a silent board, this is not for you. While the switches don't really make much noise as you press down on them, when you lift your finger off of them they make a lound, pinging sound. As you're typing, you get the "chorus of springs" sound effect. Another big difference between these switches and cherry switches is how the tactile "point" works. On a cherry switch, there is a definite point, and it requires extra force to move past it. As you innitially push down a tactile/clicky cherry switch, it's like there's a ledge. It's almost like hitting a wall, and once you push past that wall the force required to depress the switch goes back to the way it was before the wall. On these switches, however, it's more like a tactile distance than a tactile point. You still have that ledge/wall effect, but once you push past it, the force doesn't go back down initially. It stays at the same force for almost a third of the travel. For gaming, I hate this. It makes double tapping a lot harder. On the other hand, during the reset, and while you're bottomed out, the force on your fingers increases. It eliminates the problems blues have, yes, but this makes it really hard to hold down a key, say W for walking or shift for sprint in an FPS. So for gaming, these are a no. But typing is a different story. Their the only "light" switch I have that I enjoy typing on. The drawn out tactile effect makes it a lot easier to avoid bottoming out compared to blues. However, the less used switches like F13-15, feel much more tactile. This tells me there's gonna be a difference between new/lightly used switches and older, more worn ones, and I'd reccomend the newer ones.

Buckling Springs - Update 4/25/2014
Keyboard, er, typewriter used: IBM Wheelwriter 5
I never got to actually type on this thing, kind of. I can't connect it to a computer, and I don't have ink for it. However, I can still type on the keys. Just, well, nothing happens. Feeling is still captured, however. This keyboard has some little dampener rings around the barrels that hold the spings. They remind me of o rings on cherry switches. Initially I took them off, to see how they felt. First, they don't change the sound. Second, they don't really change the travel, at least not like o rings do. They're a lot thinner, and take up only a fraction of the travel. All they really do is cushion the bottom out. I heavily prefer these being on to off. Another thing that may be different with this thing is it's age. It's dated to 1984, and seems well worn. I don't have any experience with a model m, f, or a unicomp, so I can't really tell if there's any difference. These things are supposed to be tanks, so I'll assume it didn't deteriorate. This thing instantly reminded me of greens. If cherry's goal was to imitate this with the greens, they succeed. So the best way to describe it is to say what's different about it. First off, the sound is different. The sound the depressing the switch is a low pitched click, and it sounds a lot more satisfying, IMO, than any cherry switch. However, lifting my finger off of the switch, there's a high pitched, springy sound, similar to the black alps. Despite being higher pitched than the greens, it ends up sounding a lot better. It makes the switch sound a lot louder, and the double sound makes typing feel a lot more like you're operating a machine, which really is what a mechanical keyboard should feel like. The other difference between these and the greens is how the tactile bump works. It's still definately a point, like a cherry switch, and not a distance, like the alps switch. However, the "wall" feeling on a cherry or alps switch isn't here. Depressing the switch, it gradually gets into it's tactile bump, as opposed to having like a ledge or wall like the greens. It's like it starts to suck your finger into the bump. I'm not sure wheter I prefer it to the wall type bump in cherry switches or not. It definately makes it harder to type fast as it makes bottoming out harder. And it probably sucks for gaming, as it doesn't exactly feel consistent during double taps. Still, there's something that's just plain old satisfying when typing on this that I don't think cherry switches can capture. Maybe it's just that it's an old keyboard and ther's something almost historic about typing on something that was before my time. At the end of the day, however, I still think I prefer greens, but I dunno. My opinion may change. Maybe all I need to do is get a model f or an M that'll work with my computer and I'll abandon my greens. Or, maybe the charm will wear off once I've used them enough. It could go either way for me. Still, for now, this is all I can tell you.

UPDATE: GOT AN M13 - Awesome board, love the switches. My opinion is still the same, basically. Just keep a 2nd keyboard for gaming, the 2kro is a dealbreaker for that.

45g Topre - Update 8/20/2014
Keyboard used: Happy Hacking Pro 2
I initially stayed away from Topre. 45g just sounded wayyyy too light for someone who's used to greens and whites. However, I was proven wrong the instant I got my board in my hand. The big difference is I find it perfectly pleasant to bottom out on Topre switches, while I avoid it at all costs on MX switches. Therefore, the switches don't need to be as heavy. Don't get me wrong, they're still relatively light and I'd love to try 55g ASAP. It's just that their lightness doesn't really matter all that much. Along with being able to bottom out, Topre switches are very tactile, easily exceeding 45g at their peak force. The biggest difference between Topre switches and other switches, however, is the texture. Topre switches just feel soooooo smoothhhhhh. Even linear switches like blacks now feel scratchy compared to Topre. The only analogy I can think of is one that you've probably heard before: Topre feels like typing on boobs. Hell, I even assumed they'd be rubbish for gaming, and they're not that bad at all. I had no real complaints using my HHKB for gaming, other than the layout. I feel like almost anyone can enjoy Topre unless you're a hardcore linear switch user.

I'm willing to write up a more detailed review on any of these keyboards if anyone wants me to.

Pacifist:
How much do you think the differences in build quality affect the feel?

eth0s:
If you like blacks, you're going to LOVE vintage blacks.  Get some blacks made before 1996, and you're fingers will be very happy.

LOL, you didn't like clears.  urrbody loves 'em (except me).   And greens are very nice indeed.  Bit stiff though, tbh.

johndavis33:

--- Quote from: Pacifist on Thu, 20 February 2014, 01:13:53 ---How much do you think the differences in build quality affect the feel?

--- End quote ---

It affects the feel of typing, definately. My ducky just feels more solid than any of the other boards, and therefore the experience is better. However, I tried to leave anything I thought was board related out of my reviews of each switch. The goal was an apples to apples comparison of the switches, not the boards. Still, I dont' think it's possible to entirely seperate the two, that's why I stated the board that I have with each of the switches.


--- Quote from: eth0s on Thu, 20 February 2014, 01:50:51 ---If you like blacks, you're going to LOVE vintage blacks.  Get some blacks made before 1996, and you're fingers will be very happy.

LOL, you didn't like clears.  urrbody loves 'em (except me).   And greens are very nice indeed.  Bit stiff though, tbh.

--- End quote ---

Clears were fine, just not for gaming for me personally. I thought they were very nice for typing. And I hear that vintage blacks are smoother? Is it from a worn down spring or were the sliders made differently back then? Anyways, I didn't really like blacks enough to make them my daily driver, but it's a very nice switch to keep in the rotation of boards. Some days you just want something linear.

SpAmRaY:

--- Quote from: johndavis33 on Thu, 20 February 2014, 01:07:11 ---Cherry MX clears
Keyboard used: TG3 BL82, PBT
Clears are nice. I dont' like them as much as greens. They're a silent switch, and the tactile bump on them is less "crisp" than on the greens. As the switch depresses, it doesn't ever feel like there's ever a place where the force is consistent, it's always either rising or falling. The "bump" starts as soon as you beign pressing on the switch. The force rises and rises until about halway through the press, where it just drops off. From there, however, the force begins to rise again until you bottom out. This makes it so it takes almost no practice to type on clears without bottoming out. This is odd because there's really no other MX switch with a spring that does this. Every other switch is consistent in force after it's tactile bump. Some people have taken the clear's unusual spring and put it in other swtiches, and these are called "ghost switches". I haven't tried any, but I'd be curious to try some "ghost blues", as it may alleviate my problems with blues. For gaming, these switches aren't very good for me as the force at the bottom of the travel makes it so it requires a lot of force to keep a switch held down.

--- End quote ---

Does that particular TG3 model have a splash guard?

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