O-Ring and Dampener Reviews

[dustinhxc]

One fine day I was surfing the free stuff thread and Mr. Sifo was giving out some o-rings and dampeners. And I was lucky enough to score them! Thank you Sifo!! I thought I’d write a review on my thoughts of these bad boys now that I’ve finally gotten them.
 
The o-rings are from the WASDKeyboards sampler pack. I have the black rubber (50A-R), red rubber (40A-L), and pink rubber (40A-R). The pink thick rubber o-rings are the same as the blue o-rings from WASDKeyboards. The dampeners or soft-landing pads are the same ones found on EliteKeyboards. The black ones are soft and the grey ones are hard.

As pointed out in the comments, I initially used SP caps which don’t have the cross-bracing. I then installed my o-rings and dampeners into my Leopold FC700R with stock caps to retest them and give my new thoughts.  However, I didn’t want  to lose my first impressions just in case anyone was curious. Those thoughts will be bumped to the end.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) Old Article
2) New Article
3) Videos


New Article (ToC)

Show Image

The newly sorted o-rings and dampeners from left to right: Red rubber 40A-L, pink rubber 40A-R (marked with black dots), black rubber 50A-R, black soft-landing pads (hard), and grey rubber soft-landing pads (soft).

For some keyboard science, 50A means a material hardness of 50 on the Shore durometer A scale. R is the size. According to the WASD site, R reduces key actuation travel by 0.4mm and L reduces by 0.2mm; this means thats how thick these rings are. However, I measured the o-ring and dampener in regards to this question and realized that R = 0.4 cm = 4 mm and L = 0.2 cm = 2 mm. The soft-landing pads measure in at 1 mm  or 0.1 cm.

Show Image

I then installed them into the following keys:

• F1 and F2 have the thin red o-rings (40A-L) which are advertised as soft.
• F3 and F4 have the thick pink o-rings z (40A-R) which are advertised as soft.
• F5 and F6 have the black o-rings (50A-R) which are advertised as hard.
• F7 and F8 have the black soft-landing pads which are advertised as harder.
• F9 and F10 have the grey hard-landing pads which are advertised as softer.

And yes, rkinze and Leslieann were right. The cross-bracing in the Leo caps make the o-rings and dampeners feel way different.

40A-L Red O-Rings
These still feel really nice. There’s now less cushion-y-ness but still feel squishy. The travel reduction really feels different now. These o-rings now really feel like they stop actuation sooner. It seems like they stop the travel right after the click. I still really like these.

40A-R Pink O-Rings
These are the same as the blue o-rings sold at WASDKeyboards. They really stop actuation quickly; it feels like they stop at the click - almost mid click. They feel the same as the red o-rings when you bottom out. They feel nice but I really dislike how much actuation is cutoff.

50A-R Black O-Rings
These don’t hit as hard as they do when they’re installed on the SP caps. But they still feel really hard when you bottom out. The bottom out doesn’t feel like hitting the board but it’s still hard. And again, the travel stops right at the click. My least favorite.

Black Dampeners
This time I feel the dampeners way more. They definitely reduce a travel a bit; seems like a little less than the red o-rings but it definitely stops travel. These are cushiony and squishy. Definitely way softer than the red o-rings. I really like these.

Grey Dampeners
These are the harder version of the greys. A smidge less of travel distance but the bottom out still feels hard, almost like the black o-rings. They feel like they stop actuation very close to the bottom. But I kinda like them. They still have a touch of give which is kind of pleasant to the touch.



So I think that with my stock Leopold caps, the black dampeners feel the best to me. And with the SP caps installed, the red o-rings (40A-L) o-rings feel the best.

 
Videos (ToC)
So I talked a lot about how everything sounds right but what if you didn’t believe me. It’s ok, check these videos out.

This has grey dampeners installed on a QPad MK-80 with Cherry MX Blues.

This video is from WASDKeyboards Info section. It has sound comparisons of boards with MX Blues, Browns, and Blacks with and without o-rings installed.


Old Article (ToC)
I installed them onto the function row on my Filco MJ2. I have blues as you’ll see.

Show Image

• F1 through F4 had the grey dampeners which are advertised as hard/firm
• F5 through F8 had the black dampeners which are advertised as soft

Show Image

• F9 through F12 had the black o-rings which are called 50A-R.
• Print Screen through Pasuse have the red o-rings which are called 40A-L

For some keyboard shinfo, 50A means a material hardness of 50 on the Shore durometer A scale. R is the size. According to the WASD site, R reduces key actuation travel by 0.4mm and L reduces by 0.2mm. See the correction in the new article.

So here are my thoughts on each set:

Grey Dampeners
They don’t really dampen/soften the bottoming out. They seem only to negligibly change the travel in the switch. I guess the only thing that feels different to me is that the impact when the key is completely depressed feels slightly less abrupt and the travel distance was negligibly shorter.  And the sound was a bit muffled. Anyways, I didn’t really care for them. When I think dampener, I think of something cushiony. Like the black ones!

Black Dampeners
These felt really nice when I bottomed out. There was no jarring stop, just a touch of squishy and softness. Plus they made the board a little quieter. However I didn’t think that they really changed the actuation distance at all. They just made it feel nice to type. These are what I expected when I first heard of them.

Black O-Rings
These bad boys hit HARD. It feels like you hit a plate when you bottom out and it sounds almost the same. These rings feel like the switch is jammed as well which is really frustrating to me. They also really reduce the travel. They pretty much stop the travel right after the blue switches actuate and click, which felt very very weird. However, I learned to kind of like it. I felt like there was some kind of change going on after I put them in. Plus? They really made my board way quieter. Unlike the greys dampeners…

Red O-Rings
I think these are my favorites. They reduce the travel just a touch so it feels nice and they also soften the impact. Since they’re not as hard, they have a bit more give and when you type the feel like a little cushion. They REALLY made things quieter; probably most quiet out of the four o-rings/dampeners types I tried. If I were recommend something, these would be it.

This review was excellent thanks once again for the great information I ordered red orings!

[lyrill]

oh come on, nobody has any opinion on double red?

[CPTBadAss]

oh come on, nobody has any opinion on double red?

I no longer have o-rings so I can't experiment with this myself.

[Binge]

oh come on, nobody has any opinion on double red?

I do.  It sucks.

[SpAmRaY]

oh come on, nobody has any opinion on double red?

I no longer have o-rings so I can't experiment with this myself.

70A are like ~$2 shipped from amazon (IF you have amazon prime)

[osi]

Red o rings on my tkl and tenkeypad. Keyboard has MX blacks, keypad has mx blues.

Got a sampler set to determine what I liked best. The blue o rings reduced the key travel too much for my tastes.

[lyrill]

oh come on, nobody has any opinion on double red?

I do.  It sucks.

what do you use it for and how long have you tried it? what switch and what keyboard?

also which red o ring did you buy

[frvrngn]

I tried the Amazon black o-rings on my QFR with Reds.  At first I liked the reduced travel and sound.  What I didnt like was the bottom out feel.  I actually just took them off yesterday and what I have learned is that with the o-rings on and reduced travel it has taught me to not bottom out.  I used to bottom all the time on that board due to how light the switches are and no feedback.  Now I know the travel needed and can type at near full speed but not bottom or just very lightly bottom out.  I really like how it feels now without them. 

[badugi]

for 50A-R O-rings, if you put them on Cherry MX Reds, would they feel very similar to laptop keyboards in terms of travel distance?

[Pacifist]

for 50A-R O-rings, if you put them on Cherry MX Reds, would they feel very similar to laptop keyboards in terms of travel distance?

Not at all. Scissor switches don't have much distance

[badugi]

for 50A-R O-rings, if you put them on Cherry MX Reds, would they feel very similar to laptop keyboards in terms of travel distance?

Not at all. Scissor switches don't have much distance

No, what I mean is, would the travel distance be similar to the scissor switches when you put the 50A-R O-rings on a normal cherry mx red keyboard?

[CPTBadAss]

I agree with Pacifist, the travel distance on scissor switches is very small and o-rings + red switches won't feel like that. Maybe two o-rings but apparently that feels like garbage.

[badugi]

I agree with Pacifist, the travel distance on scissor switches is very small and o-rings + red switches won't feel like that. Maybe two o-rings but apparently that feels like garbage.

ok thank you.  My first time buying orings but they are 50A-R.  I bought them for reduced travel distance to put into my cherry red keyboard.

[lyrill]

I agree with Pacifist, the travel distance on scissor switches is very small and o-rings + red switches won't feel like that. Maybe two o-rings but apparently that feels like garbage.

ok thank you.  My first time buying orings but they are 50A-R.  I bought them for reduced travel distance to put into my cherry red keyboard.

look i see u everywhre on the forum and i respect your presence, but you and the other guys here clearly has bias towards 2 red o rings. regardless of whether you have tried it or not actually, they do work magic and they are far from 50%50% middle of the road coming from any scizor robber dome to straight bare mechanical cherry switches.


for simple task like typing it's all a matter of getting used to, i am no expert in typing stuff and i don't type all day long but i know that using these my tping experience has not been hampered as much as calling it ****.

as for gaming these things are pure gold.

i don't want to say any more on that and want to hear no more of the ignorant comments on  double red o rings. i saw someone recommend it on reddit mechanicalkeyboard,not sure if anyone of you visit that place, there are some veteran geeks there for sure. But I have done my research and tried a lot of o rings. the reds are the only ones that work. and I think I am using wasd reds.

[CPTBadAss]

Are you always this aggressive or what lyrill?

I literally said I've never tried it so I used the word "apparently". No need to be so passive aggressive. My opinion is just that. Ignorant? Ignorant is you not being able to present your opinion without throwing a fit like a 5 year old.

[lyrill]

Are you always this aggressive or what lyrill?

I literally said I've never tried it so I used the word "apparently". No need to be so passive aggressive. My opinion is just that. Ignorant? Ignorant is you not being able to present your opinion without throwing a fit like a 5 year old.

all in the eye of the beholder

[jeffgran]

I have a Kinesis Advantage with browns switches, and I got the sampler pack of O-rings from WASD, and tried a lot of different combinations. You can definitely put 2 O-rings on the same key and it reduces the travel.

Here's my memory of things I've tried:
- Black O-rings give you a hard landing. I actually thought that was what I wanted at first, but after typing on them for a while they kinda hurt your fingers from bottoming out on that hard surface, so I switched to the blue ones, and then to the red ones.
- I wanted short-travel at first, and so i tried putting 2 black O-rings on each key, and it worked but again, I didn't end up liking it in practice.
- I actually even put 3 black o-rings on some keys, and it worked too, but it reduced the travel so much that sometimes the key wouldn't even actuate, depending on how hard I bottomed out.

- like @badugi, at first I was naively trying to recreate the feel of the apple laptop keyboard, with the short throw (~1mm!) and hard landing. But in practice, I think that's a waste of effort and my new clear switches feel so nice that I've mostly given up on that pursuit now. But if you want short throw, the best way to do it is Jailhouse Blues. I've tried that on a few keys on another board and like it, but haven't done a whole board to try the real day-long typing experience on it.
- the only exception to the above is that I left the double-black o-rings on a few of the thumb keys, like my "enter" key and I think maybe the space key too, because I tend to really pound down on that enter with my thumb and it feels better to have it have a hard landing than a squishy one.



- between the red and the blue o-ring, my experience is exactly how WASD advertises them -- The blue ones are a little bit more squishy and reduce the travel a little more, and the reds are a little bit less squishy and reduce the travel a little less. Both feel nice, much nicer than the stock switch/cap when you bottom out.
- I ended up using blue o-rings on most keys, and red ones on some of the pinky keys so they have a little longer travel. not sure why but it felt better to me for the pinky keys.

[catnipz0098]

I have a Kinesis Advantage with browns switches, and I got the sampler pack of O-rings from WASD, and tried a lot of different combinations. You can definitely put 2 O-rings on the same key and it reduces the travel.

Here's my memory of things I've tried:
- Black O-rings give you a hard landing. I actually thought that was what I wanted at first, but after typing on them for a while they kinda hurt your fingers from bottoming out on that hard surface, so I switched to the blue ones, and then to the red ones.
- I wanted short-travel at first, and so i tried putting 2 black O-rings on each key, and it worked but again, I didn't end up liking it in practice.
- I actually even put 3 black o-rings on some keys, and it worked too, but it reduced the travel so much that sometimes the key wouldn't even actuate, depending on how hard I bottomed out.

- like @badugi, at first I was naively trying to recreate the feel of the apple laptop keyboard, with the short throw (~1mm!) and hard landing. But in practice, I think that's a waste of effort and my new clear switches feel so nice that I've mostly given up on that pursuit now. But if you want short throw, the best way to do it is Jailhouse Blues. I've tried that on a few keys on another board and like it, but haven't done a whole board to try the real day-long typing experience on it.
- the only exception to the above is that I left the double-black o-rings on a few of the thumb keys, like my "enter" key and I think maybe the space key too, because I tend to really pound down on that enter with my thumb and it feels better to have it have a hard landing than a squishy one.



- between the red and the blue o-ring, my experience is exactly how WASD advertises them -- The blue ones are a little bit more squishy and reduce the travel a little more, and the reds are a little bit less squishy and reduce the travel a little less. Both feel nice, much nicer than the stock switch/cap when you bottom out.
- I ended up using blue o-rings on most keys, and red ones on some of the pinky keys so they have a little longer travel. not sure why but it felt better to me for the pinky keys.

Doesn't WASD only have red and blue O-rings?

[lyrill]

I have a Kinesis Advantage with browns switches, and I got the sampler pack of O-rings from WASD, and tried a lot of different combinations. You can definitely put 2 O-rings on the same key and it reduces the travel.

Here's my memory of things I've tried:
- Black O-rings give you a hard landing. I actually thought that was what I wanted at first, but after typing on them for a while they kinda hurt your fingers from bottoming out on that hard surface, so I switched to the blue ones, and then to the red ones.
- I wanted short-travel at first, and so i tried putting 2 black O-rings on each key, and it worked but again, I didn't end up liking it in practice.
- I actually even put 3 black o-rings on some keys, and it worked too, but it reduced the travel so much that sometimes the key wouldn't even actuate, depending on how hard I bottomed out.

- like @badugi, at first I was naively trying to recreate the feel of the apple laptop keyboard, with the short throw (~1mm!) and hard landing. But in practice, I think that's a waste of effort and my new clear switches feel so nice that I've mostly given up on that pursuit now. But if you want short throw, the best way to do it is Jailhouse Blues. I've tried that on a few keys on another board and like it, but haven't done a whole board to try the real day-long typing experience on it.
- the only exception to the above is that I left the double-black o-rings on a few of the thumb keys, like my "enter" key and I think maybe the space key too, because I tend to really pound down on that enter with my thumb and it feels better to have it have a hard landing than a squishy one.



- between the red and the blue o-ring, my experience is exactly how WASD advertises them -- The blue ones are a little bit more squishy and reduce the travel a little more, and the reds are a little bit less squishy and reduce the travel a little less. Both feel nice, much nicer than the stock switch/cap when you bottom out.
- I ended up using blue o-rings on most keys, and red ones on some of the pinky keys so they have a little longer travel. not sure why but it felt better to me for the pinky keys.

Doesn't WASD only have red and blue O-rings?

also curious where he got black ones.
they do have black ones. just not available everywhere

[jeffgran]

Yeah, they must have discontinued them. They used to have them maybe a year ago when I ordered them. When I went and looked now, they don't have them any more. IIRC, they were 70A hardness, as opposed to the 50A hardness of the red and blue. Maybe so many people liked the red and blue better they discontinued them? Don't know.

[lyrill]

lolol, people who bothered to get o rings are in and of themselves not the popular crowd., talking about popular and unpopular sects inside a cult that is o rings inside a cult that is mechanical keyboard enthusiasts,
NEXT LEVEL MLG NO SCOPE

[lyrill]

Are you always this aggressive or what lyrill?

I literally said I've never tried it so I used the word "apparently". No need to be so passive aggressive. My opinion is just that. Ignorant? Ignorant is you not being able to present your opinion without throwing a fit like a 5 year old.

u ignored the opinion outlined by me and chose to go with a one liner from someone that care less to explain his one liner, did you simply take it from the one liner cus it's eye catchy?

and did I not already explained my points?how are you then still validating your post by standing behind his one liner? you literally never tried it, like you more than once admit, yet while you admit it you stand by a one liner opinion coming out of nowhere.

[jeffgran]

BTW I think these are the same as the black ones WASD used to sell (70A Durometer): http://www.amazon.com/109-Buna-N-O-Ring-Durometer-Black/dp/B000FMYR9S/ref=pd_sim_indust_8

[lyrill]

BTW I think these are the same as the black ones WASD used to sell (70A Durometer): http://www.amazon.com/109-Buna-N-O-Ring-Durometer-Black/dp/B000FMYR9S/ref=pd_sim_indust_8

people have been reporting that wasd stuff is different from amazon stuff

[jwaz]

Clearly o-rings do nothing for accuracy.

[jeffgran]

BTW I think these are the same as the black ones WASD used to sell (70A Durometer): http://www.amazon.com/109-Buna-N-O-Ring-Durometer-Black/dp/B000FMYR9S/ref=pd_sim_indust_8

people have been reporting that wasd stuff is different from amazon stuff

Yeah I think you're right, actually... the WASD ones are made from EPDM and those amazon ones are "Buna"/nitrile rubber. I would imagine the shore hardness is what really matters though...

[CPTBadAss]

The difference in material still might make a difference in feel. I wouldn't be able to judge until I actually tried it myself though.

[Larken]

I think these are closer to what WASD used to sell in terms of hardness - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051XWXCE/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd bought these and tried it for a period of time. Didn't like it much as it reduced travel distance too drastically for my taste. Can't compare to those from WASD red/blues as I'd never had the chance to try those.

[lemontwist]

@CPTBadAss, Thanks for such a detailed review. I need some advice and hope you can help. I have only just bought my first mechanical keyboard - Keycool 87II blue switch. But I have found that I tend to bottom out rather a lot on it and think maybe rings might work better for me.
I have found these rings on eBay, are these the same as the ones you mention in your last paragraph?

Red O-Rings
I think these are my favorites. They reduce the travel just a touch so it feels nice and they also soften the impact. Since they’re not as hard, they have a bit more give and when you type the feel like a little cushion. They REALLY made things quieter; probably most quiet out of the four o-rings/dampeners types I tried. If I were recommend something, these would be it.

I ask because try as I might I cannot understand the measurement system but your explanation sounds like ^these^ reds are exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks again. Lemons.

[CPTBadAss]

@CPTBadAss, Thanks for such a detailed review. I need some advice and hope you can help. I have only just bought my first mechanical keyboard - Keycool 87II blue switch. But I have found that I tend to bottom out rather a lot on it and think maybe rings might work better for me.
I have found these rings on eBay, are these the same as the ones you mention in your last paragraph?

Red O-Rings
I think these are my favorites. They reduce the travel just a touch so it feels nice and they also soften the impact. Since they’re not as hard, they have a bit more give and when you type the feel like a little cushion. They REALLY made things quieter; probably most quiet out of the four o-rings/dampeners types I tried. If I were recommend something, these would be it.

I ask because try as I might I cannot understand the measurement system but your explanation sounds like ^these^ reds are exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks again. Lemons.

The o-rings you linked look like they're almost 3 times thicker than what WASD has. The -L thickness rings provide a 0.2mm reduction in travel so they're 0.2mm thick. The -R thickness rings provide a 0.4mm reduction in travel so they're 0.4mm thick. The ones in the eBay link are 1.5mm thick. I also don't see a material or hardness rating on the eBay rings. I would say that they're not the same as the ones from WASD.

[lyrill]

I think these are closer to what WASD used to sell in terms of hardness - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051XWXCE/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd bought these and tried it for a period of time. Didn't like it much as it reduced travel distance too drastically for my taste. Can't compare to those from WASD red/blues as I'd never had the chance to try those.

yep that's the black one i got

[lyrill]

@CPTBadAss, Thanks for such a detailed review. I need some advice and hope you can help. I have only just bought my first mechanical keyboard - Keycool 87II blue switch. But I have found that I tend to bottom out rather a lot on it and think maybe rings might work better for me.
I have found these rings on eBay, are these the same as the ones you mention in your last paragraph?

Red O-Rings
I think these are my favorites. They reduce the travel just a touch so it feels nice and they also soften the impact. Since they’re not as hard, they have a bit more give and when you type the feel like a little cushion. They REALLY made things quieter; probably most quiet out of the four o-rings/dampeners types I tried. If I were recommend something, these would be it.

I ask because try as I might I cannot understand the measurement system but your explanation sounds like ^these^ reds are exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks again. Lemons.

if you bottom out a  lot and that actually gets IN the way of typing then cherry red is your best bet as opposed to using o rings, just sayin--or you should try green/white, not sure if i understand you correctly--cus, if you cannot change the fact you just want to use slamming force to type and that's your thing, then you have to go with heavier switches, except maybe those heavy switches will instead encourage you to use more force, depending on how much you already use--which is already more than obviously the blue, but there is a slight chance it's smaller than the 85g switches HAHA

[badugi]

I have a Kinesis Advantage with browns switches, and I got the sampler pack of O-rings from WASD, and tried a lot of different combinations. You can definitely put 2 O-rings on the same key and it reduces the travel.

Here's my memory of things I've tried:
- Black O-rings give you a hard landing. I actually thought that was what I wanted at first, but after typing on them for a while they kinda hurt your fingers from bottoming out on that hard surface, so I switched to the blue ones, and then to the red ones.
- I wanted short-travel at first, and so i tried putting 2 black O-rings on each key, and it worked but again, I didn't end up liking it in practice.
- I actually even put 3 black o-rings on some keys, and it worked too, but it reduced the travel so much that sometimes the key wouldn't even actuate, depending on how hard I bottomed out.

- like @badugi, at first I was naively trying to recreate the feel of the apple laptop keyboard, with the short throw (~1mm!) and hard landing. But in practice, I think that's a waste of effort and my new clear switches feel so nice that I've mostly given up on that pursuit now. But if you want short throw, the best way to do it is Jailhouse Blues. I've tried that on a few keys on another board and like it, but haven't done a whole board to try the real day-long typing experience on it.
- the only exception to the above is that I left the double-black o-rings on a few of the thumb keys, like my "enter" key and I think maybe the space key too, because I tend to really pound down on that enter with my thumb and it feels better to have it have a hard landing than a squishy one.



- between the red and the blue o-ring, my experience is exactly how WASD advertises them -- The blue ones are a little bit more squishy and reduce the travel a little more, and the reds are a little bit less squishy and reduce the travel a little less. Both feel nice, much nicer than the stock switch/cap when you bottom out.
- I ended up using blue o-rings on most keys, and red ones on some of the pinky keys so they have a little longer travel. not sure why but it felt better to me for the pinky keys.

I totally agree with you.  I just received the rings and they feel good with only one ring for each keycap.  I tried to put two, but in practice, it really doesn't feel that great. =\

[midnight2903]

IIRC, IMSTO also have black ones that are quite small.
How does those compare to the ones in WASD or the red ones at IMSTO?

http://www.imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=50

[lemontwist]

if you bottom out a  lot and that actually gets IN the way of typing then cherry red is your best bet as opposed to using o rings, just sayin--or you should try green/white, not sure if i understand you correctly--cus, if you cannot change the fact you just want to use slamming force to type and that's your thing, then you have to go with heavier switches, except maybe those heavy switches will instead encourage you to use more force, depending on how much you already use--which is already more than obviously the blue, but there is a slight chance it's smaller than the 85g switches HAHA

Lyrill, I'm sure you are correct. I need to work on my technique, mechanicals are new to me and I'm obviously a little heavy handed. That's why I'm thinking the 40LA's will be good for me. I think that, because the 40L-A's are so small they will have less effect on the actuation but dampen the clack. Sometimes, not often, I hear the echo of metal. Can't say I like that either. I intend to place a soft rubber mat under the pcb in the hopes that helps a little too. But at this stage there is no way I can swap switches as I bought the board from China and sending it back from the UK just isn't worth it. That's why I thought to ask to CPTBadAss=btw thanks for your help.

[riotonthebay]

Thanks for the great review on these various options!

I just installed the black dampeners on top of browns, under thick PBT caps. I've only been typing on it for a few hours, but these are my initial impressions:

- Sound reduction: I don't tend to bottom out much and browns are already relatively quiet, but there is still a noticeable reduction in sound – likely the lack of periodic clacks from bottoming out.

- Travel: There's a small but noticeable reduction in key travel. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. As I mentioned, I didn't feel like I bottomed out much before, but now it almost feels like I do it more often. I likely just need time to get used to the new travel distance.

- Feel: Bottoming out is definitely softer, but I don't love the change quite yet. The keys feel a bit mushy, which was definitely not a feeling I had before and not one that I particularly enjoy.

I'll post again if these opinions change after using the board with these for a few days.

Edit: Day 2 and I'm definitely more positive on these. I've gotten used to the softer landing and the reduced travel, and I no longer feel that they're overly mushy.

[Lammie]

No. I never thought of it since I didn't want to dampen the sound anymore. I also don't have o-rings anymore so the only experiment I could do is with soft landing pads.

Ok just curious! I just received a board with greens now so maybe I just need to do my own experimenting!

Hi, I'm new here. Great discussion! Just bought a new CMStorm XT with Green switches. I find the travel is a bit too long and the bottoming out sound is a bit annoying. Wonder what customization will be best for Greens. Can't decide between the red or blue o-rings. Many seem to favor the red o-rings. Cause the Greens are very similar to the Blue's, maybe no O-ring at all and go for a dampener? What is your advise on the Greens? tnx

[terran5992]

No. I never thought of it since I didn't want to dampen the sound anymore. I also don't have o-rings anymore so the only experiment I could do is with soft landing pads.

Ok just curious! I just received a board with greens now so maybe I just need to do my own experimenting!

Hi, I'm new here. Great discussion! Just bought a new CMStorm XT with Green switches. I find the travel is a bit too long and the bottoming out sound is a bit annoying. Wonder what customization will be best for Greens. Can't decide between the red or blue o-rings. Many seem to favor the red o-rings. Cause the Greens are very similar to the Blue's, maybe no O-ring at all and go for a dampener? What is your advise on the Greens? tnx

I would say go with red o-rings if you absolutely have to

[CPTBadAss]

Lammie, I'd suggest the dampeners/soft landing pads. At this point, I really dislike the travel reduction that o-rings give. I think it's too much. But maybe that's what you're looking for.

[Sifo]

Man I remember when I gave these to you and you were just some random scrub looking for free stuff... not much has changed. Who are you again?

<3

[CPTBadAss]

Sifo can I have a free keyboard to go with my dampeners and o-rings? <3

[Sifo]

wow sure thing here's a legendary 1 of a kind korean custom tenkeyless dt-35

[CPTBadAss]

Wait, but I really do want a DT-35 T_T

[CPTBadAss]

Swill has posted some numbers on travel distance and keycaps. It's great info and I think might help compliment this review. Shoutouts to swill for that keyboard science .

Hope you don't mind me referencing your post swill ^__^.

[luminor]

just ordered 40A-L from WASD for my brown

[geniekid]

I've tried all 5 dampeners mentioned in the review and I agree completely with CPTBadAss.  Red O-rings and grey landing pads are the most comfortable.  Even on MX Red keys where there isn't tactile feedback during actuation the blue rings still felt too large.  However, one thing I recommend is using a heavier dampener (blue O-ring or black landing pad) for the space bar since 1) it tends to be hit harder and 2) hitting the key from the side with your thumbs makes the loss in actuation distance much less noticeable.  For reference, I've tested all 5 dampeners on a QFR MX Red with OEM profile caps from WASD.

FYI, I still prefer the sound and feel of my HHKB Type-S as far as typing is concerned.  I don't know about noise in terms of volume, but the muffled thock of a silenced Topre switch is just less jarring than a dampened MX Red.  I'm not sure if there's a difference between the quiet versions of the HHKB vs the RealForce.

[Melvang]

CPT, have you thought about trying out the sorbothane dampers that mkawa is working on?

[jacobolus]

Also, has anyone tried any various types of dampeners on Alps switches (other than the ones built in to dampened switches)? I’m curious how well some sorbothane cut to the right shape would work there, too.

[CPTBadAss]

Also, has anyone tried any various types of dampeners on Alps switches (other than the ones built in to dampened switches)? I’m curious how well some sorbothane cut to the right shape would work there, too.

I haven't but I still have some soft landing pads I can test on some of the Alps boards I have.

[ideus]

just ordered 40A-L from WASD for my brown

I am going to try mines on my Leo 66 with browns as well.