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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: linaxcs on Sun, 05 March 2017, 06:19:33
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Hi all,
I currently have a Matias quiet click keyboard and i love the way the switch feels, but the lack of keycaps is bothering me.
So i'm looking at getting a Cherry (or equivalent clone) board. Which switch should i go for?
Whilst looking around i've seen Whites and Clears being mentioned, but i dunno...
Thanks.
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Does this Cherry switch need to be quiet, or is clicky acceptable? MX Blue is the closest you'll get, but there's nothing like it in Cherry's range, or any other modern mechanical switch range for that matter. (Orange Alps, maybe; I've never typed on those.)
What sort of keycaps are you looking for exactly?
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MX clears are probably the closest to Matias Quiet Clicks. However, Matias switches are internally dampened so as to reduce bottoming out and upstroke noise. Only MX silent reds and blacks are similarly padded for quieter typing. So while MX clears might feel the most like Matias tactile switches (of any of the MX switches out there), they won't be nearly as quiet.
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Do you like the way the resistance drops away after you pass the tactile bump? No Cherry MX switch does that. With MX the resistance increases after the bump. *Especially* with Clears. I kinda like it, but anyway, if you prefer the drop-off feeling you might prefer Topre, or a Topre clone. Those can be had with MX keycap support, depending on your preferred layout.
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I'd say there's really no MX switch that does what Matias Quiets do, or feel like they feel, tbh.
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buy ALPS keycaps off a scrapped alps keyboard instead?
There's not even a MX Cherry switch that's designed to be clicky and silenced, the only silent switches are MX Silent Reds and Blacks.
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There's not even a MX Cherry switch that's designed to be clicky and silenced, the only silent switches are MX Silent Reds and Blacks.
I said pretty much the same exact thing only 9 hours and 56 minutes before this.
(Does nobody read other people's posts?)
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There's not even a MX Cherry switch that's designed to be clicky and silenced, the only silent switches are MX Silent Reds and Blacks.
I said pretty much the same exact thing only 9 hours and 56 minutes before this.
(Does nobody read other people's posts?)
i definitely just read the thread title and then post pretty often, unless i think i'm about to post something obvious
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Do you like the way the resistance drops away after you pass the tactile bump? No Cherry MX switch does that. With MX the resistance increases after the bump. *Especially* with Clears. I kinda like it, but anyway, if you prefer the drop-off feeling you might prefer Topre, or a Topre clone. Those can be had with MX keycap support, depending on your preferred layout.
Yea that's what i enjoy the most. I could do with a easier to bottom out switch, though. I had Blacks at one time which sucked, and reds where too light for me.
Hm, maybe i should look into Topres then... I'll have a read later. Any recommendations?
Does this Cherry switch need to be quiet, or is clicky acceptable? MX Blue is the closest you'll get, but there's nothing like it in Cherry's range, or any other modern mechanical switch range for that matter. (Orange Alps, maybe; I've never typed on those.)
What sort of keycaps are you looking for exactly?
My former roommate had blues and i could hear them through two rooms and with headphones on, and it drove me absolutely insane... So i'm not going the blue route. S/O will likely kill me in my sleep with the keyboard. Poetic, i know.
I do however like how they feel.
I'm looking at getting the Miami keyset, and i've been eyeing it for as long as it was first sold on uh... I can't remember. And semi-recently TaiHao (i think?) are selling clones.
I could totally just get a pair of white matias and try colouring but the thing i like about the colour is the combo with the letters, something i'm pretty sure i can't do at home.
buy ALPS keycaps off a scrapped alps keyboard instead?
There's not even a MX Cherry switch that's designed to be clicky and silenced, the only silent switches are MX Silent Reds and Blacks.
See above.
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If you're interested in putting MX keycaps onto Topre switches, your options are somewhat limited:
- The highest quality option is the Topre RealForce RGB. It ain't cheap though. And you'll want to install silencing rings.
- The NovaTouch used to be a pretty good option if you liked the TKL form factor, but it has been discontinued; you'd have to buy one used from somebody now. And you'd want to install silencing rings just like on the RGB.
- A much lower quality option is a Topre clone like the Noppoo EC108Pro, but I'm not sure it is even available anymore.
- You may see suggestions to swap sliders in a traditional RealForce board (and, of course, add silencing rings), but you won't be able to do that for the eight stabilized keycaps, so that approach strikes me as rather pointless.
Full disclosure: my end-game board is a silenced RealForce RGB with Round 6 Space Cadet keycaps, and is currently my main driver at work.
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I, too, love Matias Quiet Clicks. They were my first switch (Quiet Pro Mac). I've tried a lot of different switches and have ended up back on Quiet Clicks (Laptop Pro now). In my experience Topre is the only thing that has come close to resembling the feel of Quiet Clicks. Of course, the sound is much, much different, but 45g Topre feels pretty similar in terms of tactile bump, actuation, follow through, bottom out, etc. (not sure what the science on this is, tho...). I also think an MX brown or clear switch with the right thickness of o-ring (thicker for OEM and taller profile, thinner for Cherry profile) can come sort of close to resembling the feel of a QC. The thunk/thud of QC switches is pretty unique, tho :)
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I think the closest thing to Matias Quiet is Ergo-Clears with thickish o-rings.
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Thamks for all your help! I've ordered a pack of different switches to get a better feel before i commit to buying a full board. I'll most likely end up with that realforce RGB board in the end, since i'm not entirely sure about the MX Switches. I've got some o-rings lying around so will experiment. I managed to destroy a key on my matias yesterday because i was "trying something out", so now i'm about to learn how to desolder and resolder a new switch onto that... So maybe there's a custom board in the making later on.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions!
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When you get your switch sampler in you may want to try jailhousing a cherry blue switch. If you fix the click slider with a compressible material (rubber or the like) then it gives a feeling, to me, that is closest to a matias quiet click that you can get in cherry switches. Though you do seem to have some hesitation on soldering/desoldering/custom boards, so you may have to build up to it.
But if you want to dive in to jailhousing a switch just search the forum, there are multiple ways to skin that cat. Jspacers, while currently out of stock, are nice, and I have used dental bands in the past, though recently I got some smaller orings as demonstrated here (https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/5rf8dw/jailhouse_blues_w_orings_guide/), and they feel nice as well and are much cheaper than jspacers. I would really advise giving it a shot if you have the time and want a dampened cherry stem switch with a beginning of travel tactile bump.
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I'll give you a jailhoused blue if you want.
I personally think the Cherry cream/white switch is close to a MQC.. Very little tactile bump, with the slightest of click. Even closer if you add a swipe of lube on it.
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I think Topre is always a good option, though I haven't tried the RF rgb. Meanwhile, there's an Alps keycap set up for another couple of days on Massdrop -- $20 plus shipping for 104 double-shot ABS caps, with some choices in color.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/alps-keycaps
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If you are able to mod switches I found that jailhouse blues feel similar to Matias quiet click :)
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Topre 55g, then again the keycaps are also scarce. It needs further mod like buying topre-mx adapter or scavenge from realforce rgb/novatouch slider to make it works
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There's not even a MX Cherry switch that's designed to be clicky and silenced, the only silent switches are MX Silent Reds and Blacks.
I said pretty much the same exact thing only 9 hours and 56 minutes before this.
(Does nobody read other people's posts?)
I left the thread on idle before I replied, I never listen to the "check new replies" warning when posting.
And I did say something different, that he should buy different ALPS keycaps.