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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: braben on Thu, 26 August 2010, 05:36:09
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Hello. First of all thanks for the forums and the new insight I got about something I have been always enthusiast (more than ten years with my IBM model M, a keyboard that makes anyone automatically a fanatic).
I just got a G80-3000LSCGB-2 (can publish picture of the label if needed). The keyboard is a true dream to type on despite what looks like a cheap building. But I'm surprised by the subtle sound of the switches. There are keys that depending where you press they produce or not the click sound.
My question is if this is normal, if switches settle in the first days of use (as some people say), if all the blue switches are equal or if it's just defective.
Do you have different keyboards with blue cherries that sound differently?
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Cherry blues seem to be somewhat susceptible to dust due to their fairly complicated mechanism. People have corrected the problem by removing the affected keys' caps, pushed down the stem, and using an air duster to blow out the inside of the switch. You may just want to type on it for a week or so, too, just to make sure things get loosened up before you start "surgery."
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But I'm surprised by the subtle sound of the switches. There are keys that depending where you press they produce or not the click sound.
I 'm not sure if I get this. Are you saying some switches make different sounds, or are some switches not clicking at all?
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Are you saying some switches make different sounds, or are some switches not clicking at all?
I'll say it even if the other won't. Older Cherry blue "clicky" keyboards often have keys with different quiet sounds throughout, from Cherry brown imitators through totally silent. Yah. TEH SUXORRZ.
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It's not dust because the keyboard is brand new. The keys doesn't sound plain different, they are slight variations. In some keys it pepends on where you press. If you press in the back corner the metalic sound is clear and if you press in the front you almost hear it. The click overall is very quiet, sometimes hard to hear. I just wanted to know if other people had the same experience and just have to wait some weeks for the mechanics to settle.
Thank you very much, guys.
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It's not dust because the keyboard is brand new.
This would be a bad assumption.
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The keys doesn't sound plain different, they are slight variations.
Generally, keys on different rows make slightly different sounds. The sound of the switch is strongly amplified by the keycap, without a cap it's barely audible. Different rows have differently shaped keys, giving the klick a higher or lower pitch.
Within rows, sounds differ a little too. I suppose that's due to different positions on the PCB and in the case, which acts as a resonance chamber to some extent.
The click overall is very quiet, sometimes hard to hear.
This is a bit puzzling to me. Usually new Cherry boards with blues are pretty loud. But I doubt all switches on a new board are broken.
I have no experience with black keys though. Are they generally more quiet, maybe made of softer plastic?
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Just in case anyone is interested, the sound of the keyboard was slowly fixed in the next days. Now every key produces a clear click.
I haven't used it much more because some days after I received a Das Keyboard S and realized that the importance of the metal frame mount is huge. When you press hard a key in the Cherry, the whole board curves. Also (I guess) the resonance makes them sound looser and cheaper. It's a very nice keyboard, but this may be an inconvenience for some people among I am.
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I was inquiring that same thing on other thread http://geekhack.org/showpost.php?p=227523&postcount=318
It seems that these blue switches needs lot of work before they do work as intend. I still havent found answer to that question. It seems that all keys do klick now, but still not all of them klicks a same way... it's kind of hard to tell, but they do feel somehow different:/