geekhack

geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: 5443 on Wed, 03 July 2024, 05:51:19

Title: Should I get the quiet topre switch or the regular one?
Post by: 5443 on Wed, 03 July 2024, 05:51:19

i used to have a regular realforce topre 87U keyboard, that is the reference I have when it comes to noise. the noise was acceptable, i had no issues with it.

for the new realforce r2/r3s keyboards, I see that there is a quiet version, how is that different than the regular version? what is your opinion on this?

should i stick with regular or go with quiet?

(can the quiet version be made "regular" with some removal mod by opening up the keyboard? asking if i ever change my mind)

Title: Re: Should I get the quiet topre switch or the regular one?
Post by: Rhienfo on Wed, 03 July 2024, 08:30:55

Personally I would recommend getting unsilenced (or as you said regular). Silencing rings do reduce the travel length which I don't personally like, However I'm pretty sure that realforce boards do accomodate for this by making the switches slightly taller. But in general it's more a preference thing for ones that do not have that adjusted length, and I personally don't like it.

The thing about silenced topre though is that it's pretty easy to add and remove, since it's just rings that you put on or off depending on if you want it silenced or not, So it's not a big commitment to go with silenced.

There are also aftermarket silencing rings like deskeys ones that even have thinner ones to reduce the impact of the travel but have not used them personally, but they seem fine, so that's always an option to put on unsilenced topre.

Title: Re: Should I get the quiet topre switch or the regular one?
Post by: grids on Fri, 05 July 2024, 15:08:08

I really liked the silent Topres on the HHKB JP Type-S.
(But then I found Kailh linears and I happen to prefer them.)

Title: Re: Should I get the quiet topre switch or the regular one?
Post by: phinix on Sat, 06 July 2024, 20:49:07

Regular one. Definitely.
I mean, this is my opinion, you may like silenced, but for me silenced was so mushy, I couldn't stand it, like there was some debris in the switches.
Regular HHKB is phenomenal.
Great. Now I want one. Again.

Title: Re: Should I get the quiet topre switch or the regular one?
Post by: Riverman on Mon, 08 July 2024, 00:05:47

I've always preferred silenced Topre switches.  I could never stand the loud upstroke clack on unsilenced Topres, which is all the silencing rings fix.  They don't affect the downstroke at all, which is somewhat quiet on all Topre keyboards due to the nature of the rubber domes.  If you do get a silenced Topre keyboard, you can't make it an unsilenced one without replacing the sliders.  Silenced Topres have special purple-colored sliders that are shaped differently to accommodate the silencing rings.  That's why if you want to silence a regular Topre board, you need to use really thin rings or else you'll compress the domes and change the tactility.