Can someone explain to me in detail the benefit of O-Rings?

[zephah]

So I played games "semi-professionally" for a while (made some considerable money from it, but it was never my lone source of income) and I honestly haven't used a mechanical keyboard until three days ago.

I was battling back and forth for weeks between trying black, and red. I went to a Fry's and did some blind typing on floor models and found the black to be so soft, so I went with Red.

Well of course since I used a membrane forever, my brain really isn't adjusting easily to this new style, so I'm starting to get some serious buyer's remorse (and am likely going to order a black just to type for a few days to see if all of the finger stress is just exaggerated.)

If I'm still unsatisfied with the black - what will adding O-Rings to my red switches really do? Will it make the key presses more responsive? More quiet?

I've tried to google some real in-depth answers but for the most part it's just people talking about getting them without really delving too far into why you would or what you would really gain from it.

I apologize if this gets asked often and I will remove this post if so; I checked the FAQ and only saw one thing about O-Rings when doing a ctrl+f through the most frequently asked questions.

Thanks guys 3:

[tp4tissue]

black is heavier than red.

Oring only makes the landing softer/ reduce landing sound, thick ones may reduce the travel of the key from the full 4mm..

Mechanical keyboard has no direct gaming benefits.

Key issue is, most games do not rely on keyboard inputs,


Most games rely on mouse accuracy and predetermined// pre-practiced play strategies, such as knowing choke points in an FPS..

[tohuvabouhou]

If you don't need the reduced travel distance, it's just up to personal preference if you like them or not. They will make your keys quieter, and depending on what your definition of responsive is, I guess having it activate sooner could be called responsiveness so yes. But really the only game I can think of that o-rings will affect in any way other than person comfort would be stepmania or other ddr clones. Anyway, you can get them for like 5 dollars from home depot or or stores like it, so you might as well pick some up and try them if you're curious.

[CPTBadAss]

I think my review does a good job explaining what goes on with o-rings and there's some nice videos/pics in it as well. Hopefully it helps: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40227.0

Also I think the fatigue from MX Blacks is overstated. They're really not that heavy. I type on Greens and Whites on my Daily Drivers at home. Never had an issue.

[rowdy]

I can feel the difference with blacks (over reds), and THB I don't mind either.  With blacks I know I have pressed the key, with reds it is much easier to accidentally press keys, especially if my finger strays slightly off the keycap.

With O-rings on blacks, you would reduce the travel distance, and that might allow the key to spring back up into place quicker, which might make for faster keypresses during frantic gaming.

[MrexD]

Only reason i ever used O-Rings was because i used to own MX Blues and it was to reduce the overall noise of the click and bottoming out.
With the O-Rings just allowing the keys to click.

As far as i'm aware this is the only benefit, to reduce noise mainly.

[fohat.digs]

Not a big Cherry user myself, but the bounce of the soft landing and reduced travel are both good things to me.

I guess the high activation point of the Jailhouse blues would make for too many false responses while gaming?