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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: arplod on Sun, 07 August 2011, 20:56:49

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Sun, 07 August 2011, 20:56:49

Howdy.

A few 'do these exist' questions for keyboard gurus:

- A full-travel capacitive-action keyboard quieter than the Topres
- ^ with backlighting
- A Cherry Brown keyboard that doesn't clatter like tapdancing class
?

As might be clear I'm looking for a as-near-to-silent 'alternative-action' keyboard as possible. My home office has a gravelike calm and I'm looking to break it as little as possible.

Thanks

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: noodles256 on Sun, 07 August 2011, 21:16:47

im a scientist, not a guru

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: didjamatic on Sun, 07 August 2011, 22:15:24

- A full-travel capacitive-action keyboard quieter than the Topres
No.  (See Topre S)

- ^ with backlighting
No, not with the above criteria.

- A Cherry Brown keyboard that doesn't clatter like tapdancing class?
Any PCB mounted cherry brown with doubleshots.  Add soft landing pads if you must.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: The Solutor on Sun, 07 August 2011, 22:35:29

Quote

- A full-travel capacitive-action keyboard quieter than the Topres

Likely some very old Keytronic

Quote

- ^ with backlighting

No, you have to choose from mechanical,  non capacitive rubber domes, scissor or if you really want a topre you can go for the poorman's way  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcr-3Al4Zv0&feature=related)

Quote

- A Cherry Brown keyboard that doesn't clatter like tapdancing class ?

Any of them with the (very easy) o-ring mod.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: TheProfosist on Mon, 08 August 2011, 02:34:35

backlight topre with full NKRO and all 45g switches http://www.geekstuff4u.com/g-tune-masterpiece-keyboard-realforce108b-mp.html

edit: scratch the back lighting. aparently it isnt though GeekStuf4u's descriptions is a bit deceiving.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: False_Dmitry_II on Mon, 08 August 2011, 03:05:11

I'd think those stickers would feel terribad.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Mon, 08 August 2011, 05:31:17

Quote from: TheProfosist;394997

backlight topre with full NKRO and all 45g switches http://www.geekstuff4u.com/g-tune-masterpiece-keyboard-realforce108b-mp.html

edit: scratch the back lighting. aparently it isnt though GeekStuf4u's descriptions is a bit deceiving.

OIC - it's backlit in that there's LED lights under the keyboard. Would make some sort of sense of the key mech was translucent... but yeah. Kinda dumb.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: TheProfosist on Mon, 08 August 2011, 05:36:07

Quote from: arpod;395026

OIC - it's backlit in that there's LED lights under the keyboard. Would make some sort of sense of the key mech was translucent... but yeah. Kinda dumb.

to ,e it just looks like the painted the plate the switches are on and in the 2 reviews i read i didnt see anything about it being backlight.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Mon, 08 August 2011, 05:51:02

O-ring mod - thanks, looked into it, looks out of the question. I'm not pulling off that many keycaps for starters and it seems to be a good deal of trial and error - I'd just like it to work. Still, something to consider if I'm desperate. Kind of regretting buying the Cherry-switched keyboards before buying the Topre's for various reasons including noise.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: The Solutor on Mon, 08 August 2011, 05:57:08

Quote

I'm not pulling off that many keycaps for starters and it seems to be a good deal of trial and error

What's the problem in pulling keycaps and placing the orings ?(sordna has already given the correct kind to have the best result)

Just buy an Xarmor U9BL-s (the brown version) and add the orings and you will have a fantastic backlit keyboard, for a reasonable price and not louder than an average rubber dome.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: TheProfosist on Mon, 08 August 2011, 06:05:08

the o-ring mod is legitimate. WASD Keyboards offers it for their keyboards al ready done. the other way to do that would be to get soft landing pads from EliteKeyboards. But many people thing the o-ring mod is better, I have yet to compare (i have Soft Landing Pads on my SteelSeries 7G and will be getting the O-ring when i pick up a WASD Keyboard).

you could go with a WASD Keyboard with blacks or browns and have him pre-install the O-rings. Topre boards are more silent and their silent keyboards even more so but their also nearly double the price if not more. Saying that i really do like my HHKB Pro 2 and think it was well worth the money.

may i ask why you want a room dead silent? some one else wanted the quietest board he could get and went back to rubber domes because of it. The sound of a keyboard so far hasnt bothered me at all nor has other stuff like computer fans (to a point). And a little music clears up most noise such as that.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Mon, 08 August 2011, 06:12:34

To be brutally honest, I'm not that involved. Perhaps I can rope someone into doing it, I'll see.

In terms of e.g. the Topre action, the holy grail ideal I'm looking for is to be able to reduce it to a scissor-action level. I already have a damping pad under the keyboard but the action itself still clatters a little more than I'd like.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Mon, 08 August 2011, 06:18:17

Quote from: TheProfosist;395035

the o-ring mod is legitimate. WASD Keyboards offers it for their keyboards al ready done. the other way to do that would be to get soft landing pads from EliteKeyboards. But many people thing the o-ring mod is better, I have yet to compare (i have Soft Landing Pads on my SteelSeries 7G and will be getting the O-ring when i pick up a WASD Keyboard).

you could go with a WASD Keyboard with blacks or browns and have him pre-install the O-rings. Topre boards are more silent and their silent keyboards even more so but their also nearly double the price if not more. Saying that i really do like my HHKB Pro 2 and think it was well worth the money.

Hmmm. WASD eh? I'll look into it, thanks.

Quote

may i ask why you want a room dead silent? some one else wanted the quietest board he could get and went back to rubber domes because of it. The sound of a keyboard so far hasnt bothered me at all nor has other stuff like computer fans (to a point). And a little music clears up most noise such as that.

It's a zen thing :tongue:

My primary desktop is quieter than a laptop on load. With the window cracked open, I can't hear it above the wind and birds. Even in the dead of night with the room buttoned up tight I still can only hear a low whirr. My "adjunct elbow PC" sat on a stand, the Thinkpad also hums quietly in all but the warmest days. In fact, I dread turning on the Macs as they're like a tornado in comparison.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: The Solutor on Mon, 08 August 2011, 06:34:26

Quote

My primary desktop is quieter than a laptop on load.

My desktop is totally silent, zero fan in power supply, cpu and vga, sdd as primary disk and a couple of WD green (completely inaudible) as data disks.

But my keyboard are mechanical and although the idea of the silicone o-ring is mine i decided to not keep them, just because, unlike the annoying noises of a classic PC, the sound of a mechanical keyboard is just a pleasure, no one want to silence an Harley Davidson, it's a zen thing too...

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Mon, 08 August 2011, 07:01:05

Yeah - I think there we'll have to agree to differ. If I hear the Cherry Blues going off my teeth go on edge.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: Crazy9000 on Mon, 08 August 2011, 21:01:52

Quote from: arpod;395026

OIC - it's backlit in that there's LED lights under the keyboard. Would make some sort of sense of the key mech was translucent... but yeah. Kinda dumb.

There is not LED lights under the keyboard. What they mean is it has a red backplate. Perhaps something got lost in translation.
(http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa348/Crazy9000/P2020537.jpg)

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Tue, 09 August 2011, 04:54:25

Quote from: Crazy9000;395557

There is not LED lights under the keyboard. What they mean is it has a red backplate. Perhaps something got lost in translation.

Show Image

(http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa348/Crazy9000/P2020537.jpg)

I get it now.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: Lanx on Tue, 09 August 2011, 07:18:24

it's difficult to imagine that for someone who likes having a quite computer that can be compared to being quieter than a laptop, which means that some amount of fan/powersupply maybe even water cooling was put into place to ensure quiet , that you can can't be "bothered" to do a cheap less than 10$ mod.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Tue, 09 August 2011, 11:46:03

Quote from: Lanx;395748

it's difficult to imagine that for someone who likes having a quite computer that can be compared to being quieter than a laptop, which means that some amount of fan/powersupply maybe even water cooling was put into place to ensure quiet , that you can can't be "bothered" to do a cheap less than 10$ mod.

Who said I built it? :tongue:

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Fri, 12 August 2011, 07:45:41

Quote from: ripster;395866

Your requirements list is what is known as a Null Set.

It's looking that way. After more reads of this forum following the above posts I decided to bite the bullet, called our hardware suppliers and got them to send some thin rubber sheets and o-rings. I had a minion (showing a distinct pout) then cut the sheets and pack different ones into several of the spare keycap sets that I have, then stick some of them on some test Filco Browns.

The result is that while yes, there is reduction of noise it's fairly minimal, not even e.g. putting the Filco in the domain of the Topre, which is the noisiest keyboard in constant use at home. The added problem I think is that the weight of the O-ring or rubber sheet negatively affects the typing feel.

I have said minion slicing & dicing some much less dense solid packing foam at the moment for the final 'cuz I'm curious' test. He is *so* pissed :pound: I think this will solve or at least reduce the weight problem but it wouldn't offer any further reduction in noise, so I think we can safely rule this workaround out of the choices.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: N8N on Fri, 12 August 2011, 07:57:21

I need minions.  How do I acquire minions?  I don't even have any direct reports.

Title: Do these exist?
Post by: arplod on Fri, 12 August 2011, 08:20:23

Quote from: N8N;397589

I need minions.  How do I acquire minions?  I don't even have any direct reports.

Well, you can acquire them pretty much anywhere but apparently they all need money to stick around, which is a major bummer.