Linear complicated alps are much smoother than cherry reds or blacks. You have to lube cherry reds and blacks to get the same smoothness you get from stock linear green or yellow alps.
I dunno. I have used some boards with pretty raspy complicated Alps switches, but not the specific switches that you mention.
Alps has more friction than Cherry MX on off-centre key presses, and that is something that bugs me about them.
When it comes to the perfect linear case, Cherry MX has most friction
before actuation and Alps has most friction
after actuation. That is not just how they feel to me, that has also been reflected in the force-displacement charts that I have seen. Vintage Alps switches generally have lot of noise in their graphs below the actuation point.
I think that the smoothness of MX and Alps is affected by dust. BS and most rubber domes are less sensitive because they are simpler mechanisms that don't require that much precision to function. There are lots of RD boards that bind
awfully on off-centre key presses, though. (MS "Natural" keyboards are prime examples of that, with enormous Alt and Ctrl keys that have to pressed dead centre to work)
Topre's precision engineering and choice of materials is what makes them the smoothest and the most solid-feeling.
In any case, I prefer Cherry MX blue and clear switches because of their
force-displacement curves, with mid-point tactile / actuation point. If there were switches with either's curve and with
more dip after actuation (like BS) and them being smoother, then that would be awesome. I have been thinking a lot on how I would design my own switch... and I think I might just use a rubber dome to provide tactile feedback to obviate the need for a frictiony metal/leaf slider combo.
