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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: skuko on Thu, 02 November 2017, 06:40:22
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so now that the drop has shipped, what are GH thoughts on K-Type? Mine has already arrived and apart from the stabs being utter garbage (replaced them with cherry from a 750RT), the board is just awesome.
Build is rock solid, functionality is 100% (after flashing away the initial firmware), just a beautiful piece of kit all around. It's my first custom.
Will add photos later, when i'm home from work.
I don't really like the switches i chose (speed copper), but i'm just gonna switch the stems for MX browns or just buy different switches, since they are hot swappable.
Any more feedback guys?
note: i know there's been some drama between I:C and massdrop, but i've not been following it.
edit: added potato photos.
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What don't you like about the speed copper? Am I the only one shocked that this arrived on time?
I bailed on the GB when livingspeedbump said the stabilizers were good but still not as good as clipped cherry stabilizers. IMHO too much attention paid to the RGB Acid Rave show and not the basics.
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Really wanna try some speed coppers since i like tactile, but i keep hearing bad things. Are they lubed at all?
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i don't think they are. they feel a bit too gritty to me the bump is more pronounced than mx browns, i can try to take a photo of the stems side by side. also, the actuation point is like almost immediate, and i'm not sure i want to get used to it :)
dante, the stabs are not good at all, the rattling as hell. as i said, i had to replace them, they were literally driving me nuts. also, i don't care about the lighting tbh, i bought the board for the for factor and the build, now i don't have to buy a new board to test out switches, just buy switches and swap them out :)
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i don't think they are. they feel a bit too gritty to me the bump is more pronounced than mx browns, i can try to take a photo of the stems side by side. also, the actuation point is like almost immediate, and i'm not sure i want to get used to it :)
If you happen to have some, why not give it a try before swapping. For science :))
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I had to replace them, they were literally driving me nuts.
You are a better person than I. It would be easier to stomach if a no name OEM did this but this is supposed to be Input Club - the Gods/Goddesses of Keyboards - not the Gods/Goddesses of dropping Acid.
I'm going to have to chalk it up to MD or the Factory messing up on this; either that or no one at IC knows what good stabilizers feel like.
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Yeah, the stabs are probably my least favourite part about the K-Type...
We begged MD for months to fix them and it was passed off as not being important, and that was long before the Halo switch thing started. The main problem is that they didn't source the correct diameter wire for the stabs they chose.
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Yeah, the stabs are probably my least favourite part about the K-Type...
We begged MD for months to fix them and it was passed off as not being important, and that was long before the Halo switch thing started. The main problem is that they didn't source the correct diameter wire for the stabs they chose.
If I could have your children I would :(
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Yeah, the stabs are probably my least favourite part about the K-Type...
We begged MD for months to fix them and it was passed off as not being important, and that was long before the Halo switch thing started. The main problem is that they didn't source the correct diameter wire for the stabs they chose.
yeah. the wire is probably half as thick as the cherry one and there's visibly more space between the housing and the stem. i could probably try to disassemble the stabs and mix/match the wires and the housings to see if that makes a difference.
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BTW, I have added Input Club K-Type (https://deskthority.net/wiki/Input_Club_K-Type) to the Deskthority Wiki.
I think I have written what there is to tell but please do upload images and add/correct details!
... That is unless you are part of Input Club yourself, because that wouldn't be prudent.
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photos added. feels free to use them for the deskthority wiki, should you wish to do so.
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Coppers are based on browns right? That would explain why a lot of people complain. Browns are really not a very good switch, unless you happen to strangely like a tiny bit of tactile, but not enough to be satisfying, but enough to make the travel no longer smooth.
Personally, I would rather a switch be butter smooth, or very tactile. Not something in the middle. Browns feel like some dust got in my linear switch :/
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Coppers are based on browns right? That would explain why a lot of people complain. Browns are really not a very good switch, unless you happen to strangely like a tiny bit of tactile, but not enough to be satisfying, but enough to make the travel no longer smooth.
Personally, I would rather a switch be butter smooth, or very tactile. Not something in the middle. Browns feel like some dust got in my linear switch :/
That's why you should try a Dell KB-522 membrane keyboard. Much more tactile and pleasant than Browns.
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Coppers are based on browns right?
I wouldn't put it that way.
Tactile feedback of all MX-like switches is determined by the shape of those small legs on the stem. It's fundamentally similar in all these switches ranging from browns to clears. In current Kailh Brown/Copper switches, it's more pronounced than in Cherry MX Brown and it's placed slightly differently, especially in coppers, where it's right at the top. Combined with the Speed housing, it's easy to miss the bump as it's too high. In classic Cherry MX housings, though, coppers feel extremely close to jailhouse blues and the bump/actuation alignment is much nicer IMO.
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(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1994/3097/products/IMG_5596_1024x1024.png)
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Adding to our own wiki page would be in violation of the spirit of the internet.
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###########
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yeah i don't really like the copper speed switch, to be perfectly honest.
already ordered silent red gaterons from kbdfans, hope they're much nicer.
:)
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yeah i don't really like the copper speed switch, to be perfectly honest.
already ordered silent red gaterons from kbdfans, hope they're much nicer.
:)
I think with all the bump switches, excluding blue, they take abit more breaking in to smooth/round out the bump ..
People don't actually type That-Much these days, so breaking-in in the normal course of usage is an eternity..
In that way, we've seen the phase out of brown and clears from popularity.
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Shizzam!
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hur hur hur hur hur... hur hur hur .. hur hur.
humph humph humph, humph humph...
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Shizzam!
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Ramen :D
Crrorooo.. roo roo roo ... Crrorooo. roo roo
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Adding to our own wiki page would be in violation of the spirit of the internet.
Hehehe. To be honest, I once edited the Wikipedia page for the company I worked for at the time. It was only to fix ambiguous grammar in a sentence, but still...
If you want something, just send me a PM.
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Yeah, the stabs are probably my least favourite part about the K-Type...
We begged MD for months to fix them and it was passed off as not being important, and that was long before the Halo switch thing started. The main problem is that they didn't source the correct diameter wire for the stabs they chose.
sad, so sad :(
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Yeah, the stabs are probably my least favourite part about the K-Type...
We begged MD for months to fix them and it was passed off as not being important, and that was long before the Halo switch thing started. The main problem is that they didn't source the correct diameter wire for the stabs they chose.
sad, so sad :(
It's incredible how dismissive many people seem to be about the stabilizers ("It's not too bad", "It's noticeable, but not a dealbreaker", "It's fine with some lube"). Pretty much all the cheaper boards I have tried (e.g. magicforce, MK, keycool) ALL have issues with rattling. It's absolutely not okay. Cheap rubber domes and laptop keyboards don't have an issue with their larger keys sounding so terribly off compared to the rest of their keys. How can it possibly be considered okay for something that is a minimum of 5x the price, let alone a $200 board.
I also purchased the K-type and it's currently sitting to the side as I can't stand listening to the stabilizers while I work (mine also have sticking/catching issues in addition to the rattling). Until my replacement stabilizers come in I'll continue just using my Leopold 750R, which imo basically did everything that it offered right.
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I honestly wish I liked it more. I was on the fence with the silver anodization, but seeing it in person, I definitely wish it was darker. I'm hoping someone does aftermarket cases for these.
Can't comment much on lighting and programmability since the configurator isn't fully released yet. (unless 0.3 has all the features that's been mentioned) I've been spoiled by QMK, but I doubt QMK would be able to provide in-switch RGB customization. The LEDs are definitely bright as hell.
Build quality is great other than the stabs, which have been tolerable I guess, going to swap them with Cherry stabs soon. On the switches side of things, I picked Kailh Browns and have been pleasantly surprised. The re-tooled Kailh Browns feel pretty damn good. Comparable to their Pro Purple but lighter. I wasn't as knowledgeable with switches back then and just picked a safe pick with the only Brown offering and it worked out quite well.
Hotswappability is as good as you'd expect. I already have plenty of experience with the hotswap sockets since I own a Zhuque, GMMK and an igk61. I wish it was more in the style of the igk61 though where the PCB had holes for PCB-mount pins. This way I can put 67g Zealios on the K-Type without clipping the pins.
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Are the stabs replaceable? I can't stand these rattly things. Otherwise, Halo Clears are much nicer than I thought. The board is a little "thunky", though - going to try some zealencios/QMX clips to see if I can solve that.
EDIT: aaaaannd... not compatible with either :<
EDIT2: (redacted). The stock stabs are definitely smaller diameter than cherry stabs. Not sure if the stock translucent inserts (once clipped) rattle or not, but I replaced both the wire and the inserts and the feel is much much better. Also swapped a GMK keyset in and it's a much nicer board to type on.
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Are the stabs replaceable? I can't stand these rattly things. Otherwise, Halo Clears are much nicer than I thought. The board is a little "thunky", though - going to try some zealencios/QMX clips to see if I can solve that.
EDIT: aaaaannd... not compatible with either :<
I'm going to open mine up when I have the time to check on whether those rattly stabs can be self-changed. Hopefully, they are PCB mounted type since I still have a bunch of them lying around in my drawer
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You ruined a 750R to replace the stabilizers? I find that offensive.
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... pull out all the switches (thank god for hotswap), and access the plate mount stabs. ...
You have to remove all the switches? You can't remove a stabiliser from the top once the switch it straddles is gone?
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You ruined a 750R to replace the stabilizers? I find that offensive.
At least it was something that can be easily replaced again :P
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so much misinformation here, omg!!!!! let's clarify
... pull out all the switches (thank god for hotswap), and access the plate mount stabs. ...
You have to remove all the switches? You can't remove a stabiliser from the top once the switch it straddles is gone?
No - the stab inserts slot in from below the plate mount area, and to get to that area to remove the wire you have to remove the PCB, which is held in place by all the switches. It's really not that hard though, took maybe 30 minutes popping them out from the back then using the included switch tool to pull them out. Totally worth it.
no you are wrong. you can pull out the stabilizers without disassembling the whole board, just pop the switch out with the switch puller tool and afterwards you can pop the stabilizer out. they are plate mounted, NOT PCB MOUNTED. please don't misinform people.
You ruined a 750R to replace the stabilizers? I find that offensive.
not really, it's just temporary until my cherry stabs arrive and i'm not using the Leopold atm. The Leopold is also hotswap modded, so i did not even have to desolder anything :)
Are the stabs replaceable? I can't stand these rattly things. Otherwise, Halo Clears are much nicer than I thought. The board is a little "thunky", though - going to try some zealencios/QMX clips to see if I can solve that.
EDIT: aaaaannd... not compatible with either :<
EDIT2: ok figured out how to get to the stab wires. It's pretty easy, unscrew the back, pull out all the switches (thank god for hotswap), and access the plate mount stabs. The stock stabs are definitely smaller diameter than cherry stabs. Not sure if the stock translucent inserts (once clipped) rattle or not, but I replaced both the wire and the inserts and the feel is much much better. Also swapped a GMK keyset in and it's a much nicer board to type on.
christ almighty, you are giving me a heart attack. look above, you don't have to unscrew ANYTHING, you can replace the stabilizers without any screwing/unscrewing or soldering. please please please don't tell people to potentially ruin their 200+ dollar board.
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Are the stabs replaceable? I can't stand these rattly things. Otherwise, Halo Clears are much nicer than I thought. The board is a little "thunky", though - going to try some zealencios/QMX clips to see if I can solve that.
EDIT: aaaaannd... not compatible with either :<
I'm going to open mine up when I have the time to check on whether those rattly stabs can be self-changed. Hopefully, they are PCB mounted type since I still have a bunch of them lying around in my drawer
please don't, you don't have to open anything. pull the cap off, pull the switch out with the switch puller, and then you can just push the tabs on the stabilizer on each side and and pop it out. no disassembly necessary!!!!
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Got mine a few days ago as well. Came with a damaged keycap, some dark scratch/mark on the bottom and the bad stabs.
I'll reach massdrop and try and get a replacement aluminum bottom and keycap
Other than that, I did not enjoy the Halo True. Too heavy for me, almost no tactile bump and even though I don't bottom them out, still pretty loud.
Next step will be replacing the stabs, getting a pack of zealios 65g (plate version) and some clear o-rings. Gonna make tis good one way or another!
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so now that the drop has shipped, what are GH thoughts on K-Type? Mine has already arrived and apart from the stabs being utter garbage (replaced them with cherry from a 750RT), the board is just awesome.
Build is rock solid, functionality is 100% (after flashing away the initial firmware), just a beautiful piece of kit all around. It's my first custom.
Will add photos later, when i'm home from work.
I don't really like the switches i chose (speed copper), but i'm just gonna switch the stems for MX browns or just buy different switches, since they are hot swappable.
Any more feedback guys?
note: i know there's been some drama between I:C and massdrop, but i've not been following it.
edit: added potato photos.
What is this keyboard below Ktype on 4th image?
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so now that the drop has shipped, what are GH thoughts on K-Type? Mine has already arrived and apart from the stabs being utter garbage (replaced them with cherry from a 750RT), the board is just awesome.
Build is rock solid, functionality is 100% (after flashing away the initial firmware), just a beautiful piece of kit all around. It's my first custom.
Will add photos later, when i'm home from work.
I don't really like the switches i chose (speed copper), but i'm just gonna switch the stems for MX browns or just buy different switches, since they are hot swappable.
Any more feedback guys?
note: i know there's been some drama between I:C and massdrop, but i've not been following it.
edit: added potato photos.
What is this keyboard below Ktype on 4th image?
Leopold 750RT
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Don't forget the coil whine when the LEDs are cranked, especially with the right usb port (at least on my board).
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K-type (with Halo Clear) is my second mech key, (first is HHKB). It substantially heavier than I thought but I am getting used to it. The tactile is pretty good. USB-c port is very solid and durable, compared with mini-usb and micro-usb, I think USB-c should be the go-to option for any future mech keys to be successful.
The stabs, to be honest, are bad even though they have been lubed before shipping. They are rattling and unbalanced. I am gonna replace them with other aftermarket ones. Can't say if they will be better but we'll see.
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Not having stab issues like everyone else. Got lucky it seems.
I got the halo clear switches which are much heavier than anticipated. Not got around to modifying them yet because it's on loan to a friend.
The thing I immediately noticed was on the "rainbow puke" mode you can clearly see shifts in color, Looks like there's very few. I expect this will be fixed with newer firmware releases.
But for a keyboard where you just buy it and use it, it's very well done. Very happy with USBc
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yesterday, i clipped the cherry stabs i used to replace the ****ty ones in the k-type.
i have one question: why the hell don't they manufacture them "clipped" already? THIS IS A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE!
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I've just replaced ktype stabs with $4 stabs from ebay. It got *SO* much better. It sounds quite silly but in a $200 keyboard like this, the manufacturer can't offer such sufficient stabs as good as $4 ones.
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i have one question: why the hell don't they manufacture them "clipped" already? THIS IS A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE!
I have got some vintage Cherry-style stabilisers that don't have any dampener legs from the beginning but I don't know where they are from or who made them. I had harvested them from various boards and just assumed that they would all have been Cherry original because the switches were, so they all got mixed up in the same bag before I noticed the difference.
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yesterday, i clipped the cherry stabs i used to replace the ****ty ones in the k-type.
i have one question: why the hell don't they manufacture them "clipped" already? THIS IS A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE!
Most likely its just cheaper to leave the bits of plastic on the legs instead of making new molds.. are setting up extra step in the process to clip the existing molds. I am just guessing but that would be my guess. As to why. Also glad to see people getting there K-Types worked out.
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The official video guide to replace stabilizers. Enjoy!
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I have a k-type, and I'm going to order some Cherry stabilizers for it, but was told by someone that the length of the spacebar stabilizer wire is actually 1 or 2 mm too long for the stabilizer cut-outs on the k-type and he had to re-bend the Cherry stabilizer wire in order to shorten it and get it to fit. I haven't heard this from anyone here. Has this been a problem for anyone, or has the length of the Cherry spacebar stabilizer wire been fine?
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I'm pretty happy with my K-Type. Here are my thoughts on the keyboard:
BUILD QUALITY & DESIGN: 9/10
I think the build quality is exceptional. It reminds me of a high-end Apple product, with the solid block of aluminum and minimalist design. There are no visible screws on top like on the Whitefox, only on the bottom, which I think is an improved design. I am not a fan of RGB lights, so I just turn them off, but the option is there if I ever need some lighting on a group of keys. I also am not a fan of the dead zones in the lighting in the acrylic layer - looks unrefined and a poor design choice if it was intended. Again, I just turn off the underlayer LED's.
TYPING EXPERIENCE: 8/10
I got my K-Type with Halo Trues. I did not like the Halo Trues at first, but they are growing on me. It's a weird feeling tactile switch, with the bump at the very top of the press. The rest feels like a linear switch with two layers of force: a low force period up until activation, then a heavy force period the rest of the way to prevent you from bottoming out. The switch sounds good in theory, but I'm probably going to end up switching them out for some clicky switches.
The stabilizers are not the best, but also not as bad as people are making them out to be. My daily driver has Costar stabilizers, and I would say the rattle is about on par with a Costar stabilizer. The stabilized keys do feel more wobbly and unstable than Costar or standard Cherry stabilizers, but under normal typing with proper technique, it's not unusable at all. I am a bit of a completionist, and will eventually get genuine Cherry stabilizers just to swap out the stabilizer wires and lube them. The K-Type does feel a bit incomplete without proper stabilizers, and for a $200 keyboard, I would have expected genuine Cherry. Either way, not an expensive or hard swap.
KEYCAPS: 6/10
The keycaps are just plain UGLY, but I understand it's difficult to get a nice set of backlit compatible PBT keycaps (basically non-existent at this point), and RGB is one of the main selling points of this keyboard. I would have preferred if they just gave some plain, cherry profile, dye sublimated keycaps that weren't backlit compatible... perhaps something in the same style as the ones on the Whitefox, but all white with black font.
The feel of the keycaps are actually not as bad as they are made out to be, but they won't be as good as keycaps from GMK, Signature Plastics, or feel as good as other high end PBT keycaps. The keycaps do have a gritty, sandpaper like feel which will probably be hit or miss for people - for me personally, I don't mind the texture as I've used other PBT keycaps with a similar rough texture.
Either way, if you are willing to spend $200 for a keyboard, chances are you have other keysets anyway which you will use to swap these keycaps out.
SOFTWARE: 6/10 as of 11/19/2017
On day one, the keyboard was buggy and the lighting options did not work until you flashed the initial firmware. The instructions for flashing the firmware was basically not existent too, and I had to dig around on Input Club's website and gather information from message boards to get it done. As of 11/19/2017, the software is still SH*T. Lighting options are very limited with version 0.3.1 of the configurator, and the configurator still doesn't recognize my keyboard properly as a K-Type. We were promised a lot more, and so far haven't seen it after having the keyboard for almost a month now.
ACCESSORIES, PACKAGING, OTHER FEATURES: 9/10
The packaging is a pretty standard cardboard box with a foam insert for the accessories. Some people on Massdrop noted damaged packaging, which caused damage to their keyboard. I was lucky and mine came in pristine condition.
The keyboard comes with a high-quality wire keycap puller, and a switch removal tool. The accessories it came with are pretty awesome, no complaints here. Hot swapping is surprising easy, just squeeze the plastic tabs on your switches with the switch removal tool and pull. The USB-A to USB-C cable is not braided, which I would have expected out of an expensive keyboard. Not a deal breaker, but it's roughly $8 more that I shouldn't have to spend on a $200 keyboard.
OVERALL: 8/10
It's a great keyboard that's lacking some polish. The good thing is, everything that is wrong with the keyboard is easy to fix. The keyboard has good "bones", you just have to swap out the keycaps to your keycap set of your choice and swap out the current stabilizers. If you don't like the Kailh switches that the keyboard came with, then even that is easily changed as well. Over time, the software should improve.
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I'm pretty happy with my K-Type. Here are my thoughts on the keyboard:
You forgot the most important thing..
After having witnessed ur 1337 K3yb023d, The females who visit your computer room could not resist the urge to mate with you.
Thanks Input-Club !!
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I'm pretty happy with my K-Type. Here are my thoughts on the keyboard:
Actually, I pretty much agree with everything you've said. I'm also going to be swapping the stabilizers, also turn off the underlayer LEDs, and am not crazy about the keycaps, though they seem worse by comparison rather than if you just use them and don't compare the feel to other options, if that makes sense.
I did, however, try some Ducky shine-through PBT keycaps on the k-type instead of the stock keycaps, and there was good an bad. First off, they felt much, much better, and typing actually felt as if it was less-fatiguing, though I realize that was probably only an illusion. Rougher PBT keycaps like this seem to amplify any feeling of scratchiness in a switch, and I think this just makes thing feel a little more fatiguing since things feel less smooth.
Second, unfortunately, very little light shone through the legends with the Ducky keycaps, compared to the stock ones. The difference was actually really drastic. With the stock keycaps on, there's a balance between the backlighting around the keys and the illumination of the legends themselves. With the Ducky keycaps, however, the legends were hardly visible on lower brightness settings, and, essentially, to get the legends fairly well-illuminated, I had to bump up the backlighting so high that the light level surrounding the keys was pretty blinding.
I would have loved to have kept the Ducky caps on the k-type, but it was a matter of keeping the brightness level reasonable and not being able to see the legends, or bump up the brightness so that I could see the legends clearly and get blinded by the overall brightness. So, I opted for the stock keycaps for now.
I have my first two keysets coming in the future, Maxkeys Lime and XDA Godspeed. Both should look nice on the k-type, and I'm looking forward to hopefully getting the Lime set before too long, so I can see how it feels on the k-type.
I do wish, though, that there was a shine-through keyset that I could use in place of the stock keycaps that felt better and actually let a fair amount of light shine through the legends at reasonable brightness levels.. Maybe something like that exists, but I really have no intention of ordering things just on the hope that they will work better than the Ducky caps.
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i've heard pretty mixed things overall
i think it might be a bit overrated, hence some people's initial disappointment
personally haven't gotten a chance to use one yet, so can't cast judgement
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i've heard pretty mixed things overall
i think it might be a bit overrated, hence some people's initial disappointment
personally haven't gotten a chance to use one yet, so can't cast judgement
Its kinda reminded me of Topre where people seen a name and heard hype just went wild. This just happened to have Input club and Halo Switches ((which hearing are all over the board. I got a feeling The Box versions we will see the same response. Where everyone has to have them.. then some people just hate them and others can't live with out them.))
I don't have any doubt that the K-Type is a good hot swap TKL w/rgb lighting. That is reasonably good quality for the price ((Minus the Stabilizers)). Its not some mythical creature that suddenly going to make you type 100-150 wpm.. while being completely silent..
Just as Topre is a well made Tactile keyboard offering a unique feeling switch. That some people might prefer. Topre isn't going to be magical fluffy clouds of fluff that you type on. That message your fingers and sing your favorite songs. As some people might hype :P..
I am typing this on a Topre board so its not like don't like topre just realistic about expectations.
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I don't have any doubt that the K-Type is a good hot swap TKL w/rgb lighting. That is reasonably good quality for the price ((Minus the Stabilizers))....
yes it is and that's exactly what i personally bought it for. being hotswap and floating keys design aluminium build. RGB lighting is a gimmick imo and i turn it off anyway :)
maybe later i will get into programming it a bit, but it's perfectly fine for me at the moment.
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Backlighting often means that the switches are oriented with the LED window up -- which unfortunately means that QMX clips or Zealencios are not compatible.
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Backlighting often means that the switches are oriented with the LED window up -- which unfortunately means that QMX clips or Zealencios are not compatible.
not forgetting cherry profile caps from ePBT and GMK. They hit the switch housing just before bottoming out at least when using cherry or gateron switches, I haven't tried box switches yet.
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Backlighting often means that the switches are oriented with the LED window up -- which unfortunately means that QMX clips or Zealencios are not compatible.
not forgetting cherry profile caps from ePBT and GMK. They hit the switch housing just before bottoming out at least when using cherry or gateron switches, I haven't tried box switches yet.
Yeah this is such a rarely-discussed topic in the community for some reason. It bothers me to no end that I can't comfortably use cherry profile on north facing boards and as such I've pretty much sworn off buying them anymore and use SA exclusively on the ones I do have.
The difference is so noticeable if you ever get the chance to try them side by side.
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K-type is back up on Massdrop- ugh, so conflicted. Fully programmable + hot-swap TKL is really compelling to me (hotswap whitefox would be even better), but the whole dustup over the Halos gives me pause. And since they have them in stock, I'm assuming no stabilizer fix, right?
Is buying a K-type via MD still giving $ to I:C? Is there another way to get this PCB?
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K-type is back up on Massdrop- ugh, so conflicted. Fully programmable + hot-swap TKL is really compelling to me (hotswap whitefox would be even better), but the whole dustup over the Halos gives me pause. And since they have them in stock, I'm assuming no stabilizer fix, right?
Is buying a K-type via MD still giving $ to I:C? Is there another way to get this PCB?
Sure there is some type of royalty quota... they wouldn't not pay I:C if there is. Thats about the only way at present to get the board short of just waiting to see if it I:C releases it directly. Most likely these will have he bad Stabilizers but then again.. over 3000 where sold in the first drop.. we seen maybe 100 people total with stab issues so it could be isolated incident.
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I'm okay with fixing the stabs myself, I guess I'm actually more concerned with the state of the KLL configurator. I really want unicode keymapping support for a special characters layer. If the configurator were a finished product, I wouldn't be waffling. :-\
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K-type is back up on Massdrop- ugh, so conflicted. Fully programmable + hot-swap TKL is really compelling to me (hotswap whitefox would be even better), but the whole dustup over the Halos gives me pause. And since they have them in stock, I'm assuming no stabilizer fix, right?
Is buying a K-type via MD still giving $ to I:C? Is there another way to get this PCB?
Sure there is some type of royalty quota... they wouldn't not pay I:C if there is. Thats about the only way at present to get the board short of just waiting to see if it I:C releases it directly. Most likely these will have he bad Stabilizers but then again.. over 3000 where sold in the first drop.. we seen maybe 100 people total with stab issues so it could be isolated incident.
3000 is such a small order that I find it extremely unlikely that they would have sourced stabs from multiple manufacturers, also I:C have stated that MD specifically went with the ****ty stabs against their opinion, making a ’isolated incident’ scenario very unlikely. Most people just don’t write to forums or are maybe so dazzled by the R G B that they just don’t notice.
Good thing that they did not offer ISO, or I’d be in this mess as well. Saved by a superior layout ;)
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I'm okay with fixing the stabs myself, I guess I'm actually more concerned with the state of the KLL configurator. I really want unicode keymapping support for a special characters layer. If the configurator were a finished product, I wouldn't be waffling. :-\
i don't think people should accept bad stabilizers even if it is easily replaceable since it's touted as a high end product (and it is in many aspects!)
rattling is perhaps the most distracting and un-premium sound you can listen to while typing.
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I'm okay with fixing the stabs myself, I guess I'm actually more concerned with the state of the KLL configurator. I really want unicode keymapping support for a special characters layer. If the configurator were a finished product, I wouldn't be waffling. :-\
i don't think people should accept bad stabilizers even if it is easily replaceable since it's touted as a high end product (and it is in many aspects!)
rattling is perhaps the most distracting and un-premium sound you can listen to while typing.
I can't even understand what cherry was thinking when they did their own stabilizers..
Such an over complication for crap-tacular performance.
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Backlighting often means that the switches are oriented with the LED window up -- which unfortunately means that QMX clips or Zealencios are not compatible.
not forgetting cherry profile caps from ePBT and GMK. They hit the switch housing just before bottoming out at least when using cherry or gateron switches, I haven't tried box switches yet.
i'm using GMK classic retro on my k-type and have not noticed any kind of problems. i have a batch of gateron silent reds coming in this week, will check them.
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Backlighting often means that the switches are oriented with the LED window up -- which unfortunately means that QMX clips or Zealencios are not compatible.
not forgetting cherry profile caps from ePBT and GMK. They hit the switch housing just before bottoming out at least when using cherry or gateron switches, I haven't tried box switches yet.
i'm using GMK classic retro on my k-type and have not noticed any kind of problems. i have a batch of gateron silent reds coming in this week, will check them.
Silent switches might work ok due to the slightly reduced travel.
Try flipping some keys on the shift and capslock rows and try to hear the difference in sound. If the switches are leds south, the bottoming out happens inside the switch, if the other way around the bottoming out is between the switch housing and the front inside lip of the keycaps. This results in a mushier feeling similar to what happens if you use too large leds as well as in a difference in sound.
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Backlighting often means that the switches are oriented with the LED window up -- which unfortunately means that QMX clips or Zealencios are not compatible.
not forgetting cherry profile caps from ePBT and GMK. They hit the switch housing just before bottoming out at least when using cherry or gateron switches, I haven't tried box switches yet.
i'm using GMK classic retro on my k-type and have not noticed any kind of problems. i have a batch of gateron silent reds coming in this week, will check them.
They "work" fine, they just hit awkwardly and don't produce the same ideal feel/sound that you'd get on south facing switches. To the *elitists* out there (like myself) this is unacceptable :)
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So I bought one these from massdrop's surprise we have more stock sale.
I have a can of genuine cherry plate stabilizers from long ago when i was building phantom's, is the stabilizer thing the only thing I should be concerned about?
Its hard to tell when people are angry at massdrop for being massdrop or when there is a defect these days--I know some of you guys have serious issues but the comments section on there sometimes becomes cancer; I only saw the stabilizer thing and issues with flashing firmware.
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So a quick review
1. Stab inserts are garbage and replacing them with cherry ones along with cherry bars is EZ, the milk stab holder can still be used just fine
2. Large amount of features makes this board very impressive and sad that we pretty much will never see a revision 2
which leads me to 3
3. The board is impressive, and from a hobbyist perspective it is great board, easy to repair, scratch resistant, hot swap, programmable, etc etc. But if I was someone who was new to all this and wanted a "cool keyboard", this is not that keyboard. You are on the hook for all programming and repair. The no soldering part does not mean this is not a enthusiast board.
4. HALO clear switches are not worth all the fuss that went into the IC/MD drama. They are not terrible and the typing experience feels vintage. Already I can say that if heavy tactile switches are your thing, Kaihua Speed burnt orange (not BOX, though those are also good and hard to get) are super cheap and provide a better experience; they are hiding in plain sight. though this is only my opinion.
I have some HALO True's coming in also so maybe those are the god like switches the community put pitch forks out for.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4526/38632822946_c50a8ea421_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/21RRjjf)2017-11-27_07-04-51 (https://flic.kr/p/21RRjjf) by almightyglod (https://www.flickr.com/photos/panicfx/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4526/26913080999_a361256b3c_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/H1dzkV)2017-11-27_07-04-36 (https://flic.kr/p/H1dzkV) by almightyglod (https://www.flickr.com/photos/panicfx/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/26913076499_5bce282aab_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/H1dy1k)2017-11-27_07-04-24 (https://flic.kr/p/H1dy1k) by almightyglod (https://www.flickr.com/photos/panicfx/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4569/37806261465_21456343a5_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ZANYoe)KTypeLED (https://flic.kr/p/ZANYoe) by Philip Glod (https://www.flickr.com/photos/panicfx/), on Flickr
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2017-11-27_07-04-24 (https://flic.kr/p/H1dy1k) by almightyglod (https://www.flickr.com/photos/panicfx/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4569/37806261465_21456343a5_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ZANYoe)KTypeLED (https://flic.kr/p/ZANYoe) by Philip Glod (https://www.flickr.com/photos/panicfx/), on Flickr
Honestly I think the switch thing is the sheep mentality... someone popular said they where good are they where created by someone special in the community. They must be amazing and beyond words perfect. Subjectively there no good are bad switch and I really don't think there is any true magic bullet switch. I think 99% of switches are over hyped and people just buy into that hype thus sheep mentality.
Personally I have my first set of Zealio coming in to try. I am going in subjectively. I don't expect them to be the best thing to ever exist nor end game. I do expect higher quality of manufacture that should translate into a better quality switch but quality is only one part of the full equation.
Same goes for Topre I got my first topre switches are amazing. There the best feeling tactile switch that I have felt. Why did I get a Topre curious got a good deal and could have flipped it made a tiny bit of profit. I like my FC660C to the point where going back to a non topre tactile will most likely be impossible. Thats just me I don't think Topre is for everyone nor a one shot wonder switch that anyone who comes in contact with will fall in love. I don't think people are wrong if they don't like topre.
I got a set of Halo True's I am planning on selling the switches! after I try the board.. honestly expect will hate them. I don't understand how there suppose to be Topre like since Topre can't really compare to the feel of a MX switch. One feels like it has manufactured Tactile feedback the other is Organic. Its like comparing Apples and Oranges.. there both fruits but that where the similarity ends.