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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: sitch on Mon, 02 November 2015, 09:25:14
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Hi I used to owned a deck hassium blue switch and I prefer abs keycaps than a thick pbt keycaps due to its crispiness, anyone with me on this one?
There's some very nice pbt keycaps set available in taobao and I'm afraid it will muffle down the blue switch of my coming filco majetouch keyboard..
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I prefer thinner keycaps on MX blues, otherwise the keycaps are too heavy for the switches and they seem to lose their crispness.
For MX greens I like thicker keycaps, SA for example. Or JTK.
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I always do thin keycaps with all my clicky switch, and believe me most of my keyboards are clicky :)
but not only the thinness which I'm looking for, profile really makes the difference
in terms of profile, nothing beats cherry profile. I always go with GMK
but as Rowdy said, with heavier switch like MX green, I have it with Vortex PBT cherry profile set
Though I still prefer GMK
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I don’t know. GMK muffled my Blues. When I put the Toxic set on them, they do sound much better. So, I’m with OP and rowdy on thin ABS caps for blues.
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Totally agree. Love me some SP double shots on my mx blues (or white alps ;D). That light crispiness is lost with the thicker caps, but not too badly with the JTK. I can't comment on GMK as I have never owned a set. Also, I had a set of those Vortex pbt caps on my QFR and I could not stand them. They changed the sound and I really disliked the feel of the pbt over abs. I am one of those weird people that actually likes the feel of worn smooth abs.
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OG Dolch on the "vintage" blues of a Dolch PAC keyboard are really nice. But then, vintage blues are just really nice.
I've got those hideous Vortex backlit doubleshot PBT caps on a Ducky Shine 3 with modern blues, and although ugly they do feel really nice weight-wise. But I think PBT is a lighter plastic than ABS, at least it feels that way while typing.
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Thanks guys for replying, guess I'm not the only one finding thick keycaps doesnt work well with clicky switches.
Think I should replace the blue switches to gateron black? :p
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I got a set of Ducky PBT side printed caps when I bought my 1st board, a G2 87 Pro which has MX Blues. Judging from the pictures I have seen of other PBT caps I think they are pretty thin and I actually think they match the blues perfectly. I've been pretty concerned actually about buying any other sets that I might wind up hating how think they feel in comparison.
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OG Dolch on the "vintage" blues of a Dolch PAC keyboard are really nice. But then, vintage blues are just really nice.
I've got those hideous Vortex backlit doubleshot PBT caps on a Ducky Shine 3 with modern blues, and although ugly they do feel really nice weight-wise. But I think PBT is a lighter plastic than ABS, at least it feels that way while typing.
IMO, DCS caps are a good match to Blues, but thin PBT Cherry are even better. They retain the high pitched click tone. It's not to my taste, though. I prefer the quieter tactile switches like ErgoClears and purple Zealios.
PBT is more dense than ABS, but it's also more brittle / less malleable / tough. The mass increase dampens the click, but the brittleness helps retain it, so it's a bit of a balance. POM is both denser AND less brittle, so it dampens the high frequencies the most of all keycap materials. Thin PBT are the most "clicky" to my ears, with DCS close behind, then all the others like this:
Thin PBT > Thin ABS > Medium PBT > Medium ABS > Thick PBT > Medium POM > Thick ABS > Thick POM.
Those Vortex backlit doubleshots are PBT / POM, so I'm surprised at your experience of typing with them (I'd think they'd be around the thick PBT / medium POM level of damping). I suppose it depends what you're comparing them to.
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im use Green MX now and use thin ducky PBT caps..
the sound and the feel really crunchy :p
but im agree cherry profile i think would be best..
i really want to taste it too
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by matching clicky switches, do you mean sound wise or functionality?
its diff strokes for diff folks i guess
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Wow. I thought I was a weirdo for loving thin, cheap caps on blues.
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Wow. I thought I was a weirdo for loving thin, cheap caps on blues.
everyone have personal preference
i think thin caps have a good sound for clicky switch :thumb:
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What are some think Cherry PBT sets out there to pair with my blues?
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What are some think Cherry PBT sets out there to pair with my blues?
everybody said cherry profile its the best profile.
so its worth a try.
me myself considering to buy it too.
skidata+ with green MX cant wait too taste the feel. :p
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My clicky keyboard is a ducky shine 2 w/cherry blues. I like the thin stock abs keycaps. With cherry browns I very much prefer thicker keycaps tho.
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for me GMK and Thick PBT keycap with Cherry Profile,
they are the best in the clicky switch..
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I like thin keycaps on clicky switches so it feels crispier. ABS thin keycaps really feels good before they got "shine".
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I always do thin keycaps with all my clicky switch, and believe me most of my keyboards are clicky :)
but not only the thinness which I'm looking for, profile really makes the difference
in terms of profile, nothing beats cherry profile. I always go with GMK
but as Rowdy said, with heavier switch like MX green, I have it with Vortex PBT cherry profile set
Though I still prefer GMK
I agree with this, on clears I'll like something thicker but on clicky switches I like SP DCS.
Didn't think I'd like thin keycaps more until I tried it.
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I use thick SA keycaps on my MX Whites, and they sound and feel amazing! It's gives like a nice thock sound with an additional soft click.
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I hate the cheap, high-pitched noise of modern, typically plate-mounted clicky MX switches with thin keycaps.
OTOH, I don't mind PCB-mounted vintage MX Blue—keycaps don't make that much of a difference then, but I generally prefer the texture of keycaps, that also happen to be thick (e.g., Cherry POM, Vortex PBT).
The other clicky switches… actually, there aren't many choice, when it comes to keycaps.
You can only pick one-/-two-piece PBT caps for buckling springs (I don't think I've used one-piece caps).
Then there's Alps mount, but I don't like clicky Alps SKCM anyway and I haven't been bothered enough to replace caps on clones.
And then the rest… For example, I sort of like Oki Gourd Tactile switches and they're bundled with one-piece rather thick PBT dyesubs, that I like.
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SP DCS is the best for clicky switces, GMK is the best for linear, and Dyesub thick pbt for tactile switch. But hell no nothing can beat the good ole cherry profile
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Thick does not equate to quality, I have found. Among my favorite caps are those on my IBM Model F boards (definitely clicky) and my Topre-switch boards (tactile, but not clicky). The IBM and Topre caps are on the thin side, but they are ideally suited to the switches for which they were made. These caps are also constructed from PBT plastic, and I much prefer PBT over other plastics, mainly for the way the caps feel.
Perhaps my "clickiest" keyboard is my V60MTS-C. I've put Matias caps (ABS) on the mods and spacebar and vintage IBM 5140 caps (PBT) on the alpha and number keys. These caps are thin, but they seem well suited to the Matias Click swtiches.
Another consideration is the profile of the caps. I like many of the sets that are made in Cherry or Leopold profile, but I found that they are too low for some of my keyboards, such as the Novatouch or those that have Costar-type stabilizers and/or LEDs. Because of this, I am trying to find high-quality keycap sets in the higher "OEM" profile.
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Everyone is mentioning about cherry profile keycaps, are there any cheap set other than GMK?
Taihao keycaps are OEM profile i guess?
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Gateron, some Vortex, PLUM and some others are essentially Cherry profile.
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Everyone is mentioning about cherry profile keycaps, are there any cheap set other than GMK?
Taihao keycaps are OEM profile i guess?
Yeah, Gateron & JTK are at a good price.
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Everyone is mentioning about cherry profile keycaps, are there any cheap set other than GMK?
Taihao keycaps are OEM profile i guess?
Yeah, Gateron & JTK are at a good price.
+1 for JTK!
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Just want to chime into this thread. I just installed some Vortex Doubleshot PBT + POM backlight on my Backlit Poker II. Definitely noticed that the sound is quite a bit muffled and also lost crispiness.