Now, I don't have that many keyboards. Barely any compared to some hardened veterans, but I have a few and I'm very much into the ones I own!
This just started as a desire to test the sound between my linear boards. I forgot to take a sound test of the Zenith Z-150 I have with yellow alps or my Fame keyboard with blue alps (both with thick plastic cases and metal bottom panels).
First up is my Duck Octagon. It has plate-mount vintage large logo MX blacks with 62g SPRiT springs, stickers, lube, Gateron clear switch tops, and SIP sockets mounted on a stainless steel plate. It has somewhat stiff shelf-liner as a dampening pad beneath the PCB.
Excuse the poor video quality. They weren't taken with anything special in mind, just to provide visuals for the sound. No editing because I'm too lazy for that. :3
At the end of each video is a discrete demonstration of each stabilized key.
Next up is the Duck Lightpad with "vintage" ergo clears. 62g, stickered, lubed, SIP'd, with Gateron clear switch tops and mounted on a stainless steel plate. Same as above. Very smooth and pleasant to type on. Sorbothane was used as a dampening pad beneath the PCB.
Lastly, for now, is my Infinity with NOS Green Alps switches. These switches are pristine, coming from a board that had no dust or grit in it and was practically NIB. The Infinity is also modded. Sorbothane sheet is used beneath the PCB, using an acrylic plate to anchor it to the board. Also added are non-slip strips of silicone foam which probably aid in vibration dampening. Of course, the case itself is the plate, and it is stainless steel as well.
One thing that I always notice with Alps, regardless of variety, is that there is always some degree of spring ping. Now, in my time modding Cherry MX switches, I've always killed ping by lubing the springs. I didn't really want to do that with such untouched, mint switches, but I might give it a go eventually.
It's hard to say which linear switch I have is the smoothest. I've always heard that Green Alps are a heavenly amount of smooth, but honestly, my vintage blacks are incredibly smooth and feel great. There is definitely a difference between them, but that might just be related to actuation and bottom out distance. It's very hard to say if either is superior or inferior. I really cannot give a definite answer.
The fact stock Green Alps feel just as good as heavily tuned Vintage MX Blacks is pretty significant though.
Overall, I think I do prefer the Green Alps, but it's just a matter of preference.
