Question about different Topre keyboard sounds.

[axiosjackson]

Well I think I will have enough money to purchase a Topre keyboard soon. I was wanting to know how the Realforce TKL and HHKB Pro 2 sound. In some videos I hear a wooden thud while in others I hear a high pitch sound. I would rather have the wooden thud sound. I know that the Realforce has a metal backplate so does this make the deaper sound or does the plastic? From videos it seems fairly inconsistant from keyboard to keyboard(one video the hhkb  will have the wooden sound and then in another one it won't).

[cphead]

IDK what the wooden sound is but some topres are silenced and others are not. The difference between these two being that you can hear the loud plastic clack as the key comes back up on unsileneced topre.

[Justintoxicated]

Get a realforce 660C and silence mod it.  IT sounds great.  It has a metal plate too.  Not sure on the wood sound though more reminds me of cobble stones.

[rowdy]

The sound can vary greatly depending on desk surface and thickness, room acoustics, whether the keyboard is silenced or not, plate- or case-mounted.

Your Topre board, should you get one, will probably sound different to every video you have heard.

[axiosjackson]

Get a realforce 660C and silence mod it.  IT sounds great.  It has a metal plate too.  Not sure on the wood sound though more reminds me of cobble stones.

I can't find anything about a Realforce 660C. Would any of the Realforce keyboards be the same? Like would the below keyboard be the same? Also is there any way to replace the ugly Windows key with something better, like a blank key?

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,rftenkeyless&pid=rf_se070s

[rowdy]

Get a realforce 660C and silence mod it.  IT sounds great.  It has a metal plate too.  Not sure on the wood sound though more reminds me of cobble stones.

I can't find anything about a Realforce 660C. Would any of the Realforce keyboards be the same? Like would the below keyboard be the same? Also is there any way to replace the ugly Windows key with something better, like a blank key?

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,rftenkeyless&pid=rf_se070s

It's actually a Leopold keyboard: http://www.elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,compact

Reviews here: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42825.0

[Justintoxicated]

Get a realforce 660C and silence mod it.  IT sounds great.  It has a metal plate too.  Not sure on the wood sound though more reminds me of cobble stones.

I can't find anything about a Realforce 660C. Would any of the Realforce keyboards be the same? Like would the below keyboard be the same? Also is there any way to replace the ugly Windows key with something better, like a blank key?

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,rftenkeyless&pid=rf_se070s

Leopold got my brain twisted up for a second

I think the silenced Realforce is going to sound the best though, too bad it's only available in the ergo weighted version.  Of course you might be able to mod it yourself but I do think I read something about the stems losing too much travel with the dental band mod.  Then again that might have just been with particular dental bands.

[cphead]

Get a realforce 660C and silence mod it.  IT sounds great.  It has a metal plate too.  Not sure on the wood sound though more reminds me of cobble stones.

I can't find anything about a Realforce 660C. Would any of the Realforce keyboards be the same? Like would the below keyboard be the same? Also is there any way to replace the ugly Windows key with something better, like a blank key?

http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=topre_keyboards,rftenkeyless&pid=rf_se070s

Leopold got my brain twisted up for a second

I think the silenced Realforce is going to sound the best though, too bad it's only available in the ergo weighted version.  Of course you might be able to mod it yourself but I do think I read something about the stems losing too much travel with the dental band mod.  Then again that might have just been with particular dental bands.

I definitely recommend the dental band mod. It's cheaper than getting a silenced version and it feels/sounds great  Make sure you get 1/8" bands though.

[Justintoxicated]

here is the thread I found about the realforce having tighter tolerances with the keys and landing pads, not sure if dental bands would run into the same problem or not.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49046.msg1063207#msg1063207

[spiceBar]

I have done a few videos showing the difference between silenced and non-silenced Topres. You can hear the sound of silenced vs non-silenced in the same video, which helps to abstract from differences coming from the desktop resonance, the room, and so on...

Silencing Topres means that you do not change the bottoming-out sound (the wood sound, we call it a "thock"). You only mute the high-pitched sound of the key returning in its "released" position. This sound is produced by plastic hitting against plastic, and it's really annoying.

Silenced Topres are really great.

It must be noted that the HHKB is the Topre that you can silence the least. It does not have a metal plate and the keys are held by a hollow plastic case.

Leopold FC660c: in the following video, you can hear the difference between silenced keys (the two top rows of the keyboard) and the non-silenced ones (two bottom rows):
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/Silenced_FC660C.mp4

Standard RF vs the silenced FC660C.
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/RF88_vs_Silenced FC660C.mp4
At the start of the video I have used a blue Cherry MX as a kind of reference sound over the two keyboards, just to show that the sound of the two keyboards is picked up evenly by the mic.

Silenced RF87U vs non-silenced one:
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/RF87_silenced_before_after.mp4

How to silence a Leopold FC660c:
  http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49046.msg1063207#msg1063207

You silence all the Topre keyboards the same way, but I recommend that you use a clothing iron to slim down the landing pads to half their width, which I do not show (I started doing it later).

[cphead]

I have done a few videos showing the difference between silenced and non-silenced Topres. You can hear the sound of silenced vs non-silenced in the same video, which helps to abstract from differences coming from the desktop resonance, the room, and so on...

Silencing Topres means that you do not change the bottoming-out sound (the wood sound, we call it a "thock"). You only mute the high-pitched sound of the key returning in its "released" position. This sound is produced by plastic hitting against plastic, and it's really annoying.

Silenced Topres are really great.

It must be noted that the HHKB is the Topre that you can silence the least. It does not have a metal plate and the keys are held by a hollow plastic case.

Leopold FC660c: in the following video, you can hear the difference between silenced keys (the two top rows of the keyboard) and the non-silenced ones (two bottom rows):
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/Silenced_FC660C.mp4

Standard RF vs the silenced FC660C.
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/RF88_vs_Silenced FC660C.mp4
At the start of the video I have used a blue Cherry MX as a kind of reference sound over the two keyboards, just to show that the sound of the two keyboards is picked up evenly by the mic.

Silenced RF87U vs non-silenced one:
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/RF87_silenced_before_after.mp4

How to silence a Leopold FC660c:
  http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49046.msg1063207#msg1063207

You silence all the Topre keyboards the same way, but I recommend that you use a clothing iron to slim down the landing pads to half their width, which I do not show (I started doing it later).

Thanks for posting great info! How hard would you recommend to press with a clothing iron? Just press down and flatten it all the way?

[spiceBar]

I have done a few videos showing the difference between silenced and non-silenced Topres. You can hear the sound of silenced vs non-silenced in the same video, which helps to abstract from differences coming from the desktop resonance, the room, and so on...

Silencing Topres means that you do not change the bottoming-out sound (the wood sound, we call it a "thock"). You only mute the high-pitched sound of the key returning in its "released" position. This sound is produced by plastic hitting against plastic, and it's really annoying.

Silenced Topres are really great.

It must be noted that the HHKB is the Topre that you can silence the least. It does not have a metal plate and the keys are held by a hollow plastic case.

Leopold FC660c: in the following video, you can hear the difference between silenced keys (the two top rows of the keyboard) and the non-silenced ones (two bottom rows):
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/Silenced_FC660C.mp4

Standard RF vs the silenced FC660C.
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/RF88_vs_Silenced FC660C.mp4
At the start of the video I have used a blue Cherry MX as a kind of reference sound over the two keyboards, just to show that the sound of the two keyboards is picked up evenly by the mic.

Silenced RF87U vs non-silenced one:
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/RF87_silenced_before_after.mp4

How to silence a Leopold FC660c:
  http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49046.msg1063207#msg1063207

You silence all the Topre keyboards the same way, but I recommend that you use a clothing iron to slim down the landing pads to half their width, which I do not show (I started doing it later).

Thanks for posting great info! How hard would you recommend to press with a clothing iron? Just press down and flatten it all the way?

It's a boring work, but it's not difficult. You will have to practice with a few ones. I set the iron on "Silk", which is as precise as I can get here, and put the landing pad between two sheets of paper. Then I press on it, applying like 2Kg of pressure. The most important parameter then is how long you press on it.

You need to try with a few pads to get them right. They must also be slimmed down evenly.

I would say the slimmer they get, the better. But the limit is that a very thin landing pad will tend to fold when you put it on the stem, and it will not be good.

The landing pads are approx. 1mm thick out of the box. You can slim them down to 0.3mm with some practice.

You will lose a little bit of the tactility of the switches, but the smooth and silent action you get in return is very classy.

If you love to pound on a keyboard, don't do it.

[axiosjackson]

I have done a few videos showing the difference between silenced and non-silenced Topres. You can hear the sound of silenced vs non-silenced in the same video, which helps to abstract from differences coming from the desktop resonance, the room, and so on...

Silencing Topres means that you do not change the bottoming-out sound (the wood sound, we call it a "thock"). You only mute the high-pitched sound of the key returning in its "released" position. This sound is produced by plastic hitting against plastic, and it's really annoying.

Silenced Topres are really great.

It must be noted that the HHKB is the Topre that you can silence the least. It does not have a metal plate and the keys are held by a hollow plastic case.

Leopold FC660c: in the following video, you can hear the difference between silenced keys (the two top rows of the keyboard) and the non-silenced ones (two bottom rows):
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/Silenced_FC660C.mp4

Standard RF vs the silenced FC660C.
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/RF88_vs_Silenced FC660C.mp4
At the start of the video I have used a blue Cherry MX as a kind of reference sound over the two keyboards, just to show that the sound of the two keyboards is picked up evenly by the mic.

Silenced RF87U vs non-silenced one:
  http://www.chesstiger.com/images/keyboards/RF87_silenced_before_after.mp4

How to silence a Leopold FC660c:
  http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49046.msg1063207#msg1063207

You silence all the Topre keyboards the same way, but I recommend that you use a clothing iron to slim down the landing pads to half their width, which I do not show (I started doing it later).

Thanks for posting great info! How hard would you recommend to press with a clothing iron? Just press down and flatten it all the way?

It's a boring work, but it's not difficult. You will have to practice with a few ones. I set the iron on "Silk", which is as precise as I can get here, and put the landing pad between two sheets of paper. Then I press on it, applying like 2Kg of pressure. The most important parameter then is how long you press on it.

You need to try with a few pads to get them right. They must also be slimmed down evenly.

I would say the slimmer they get, the better. But the limit is that a very thin landing pad will tend to fold when you put it on the stem, and it will not be good.

The landing pads are approx. 1mm thick out of the box. You can slim them down to 0.3mm with some practice.

You will lose a little bit of the tactility of the switches, but the smooth and silent action you get in return is very classy.

If you love to pound on a keyboard, don't do it.

Yea even on my MX Blues and Buckling Springs I bottom out every time so I don't think this mod is for me. How bad are the ergonomic Realforce keyboards? I have heard different success and horror stories. Some complain about the surrounding keys not being lightweight for the pinky and some say that it is more comfortable.  Also how does the Leopold compare to the Realforce in terms of quality? It looks good. http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=leopold,compact&pid=fc660ceg