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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: macguy80 on Wed, 09 December 2015, 03:02:52

Title: Just curious: Matias Click switches — closest to which Alps switch
Post by: macguy80 on Wed, 09 December 2015, 03:02:52
Hi,

It occurs to me that there's probably no single correct answer, but I wonder, which of the MANY variants of Alps switches would you say comes closest to the experience of the Matias click switches. Excluding any dampened varieties, of course, I have experience with a fairly small sample of the Alps switches (relative, that is, to the number of variants made), including:

Orange, as found in the Apple Keyboard M0116
Salmon, as found in the Apple Extended Keyboard M0115
Amber (most likely, as found in my late-model Apple //c)
Black, as found in the Dell at101w

I ask because the sound of the Matias Tactile Pro 4 does not seem to match any of those precisely, but then again, those are merely a small subset.

Secondly, I wonder how much the case materials of the Tactile Pro influence the sound vs. other non-Matias boards that use Matias Click switches.

Not important questions by any means, but I couldn't help being curious. :)
Title: Re: Just curious: Matias Click switches — closest to which Alps switch
Post by: Ludovician on Wed, 09 December 2015, 03:04:38
I think they're based on the design of either SKBM White or SKBM Grey.
Title: Re: Just curious: Matias Click switches — closest to which Alps switch
Post by: chyros on Wed, 09 December 2015, 05:46:08
They're based on simplified Alps, which aren't actually an Alps product. My loose Matiases don't really feel like any complicated Alps.
Title: Re: Just curious: Matias Click switches — closest to which Alps switch
Post by: CPTBadAss on Wed, 09 December 2015, 06:13:10
I think they're based on the design of either SKBM White or SKBM Grey.

They're clones of SKBM Whites (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Matias_switch#Click).

They're based on simplified Alps, which aren't actually an Alps product.

Some more reading on this (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKBL/SKBM_series#History)
Title: Re: Just curious: Matias Click switches — closest to which Alps switch
Post by: macguy80 on Wed, 09 December 2015, 23:01:23
Thank you all — very illuminating. I actually didn't know that simplified Alps weren't actually an Alps product!
Title: Re: Just curious: Matias Click switches — closest to which Alps switch
Post by: SamirD on Wed, 16 December 2015, 12:20:54
Thank you all — very illuminating. I actually didn't know that simplified Alps weren't actually an Alps product!
I didn't either until right now.  Thank you for sharing.  :thumb: