Topre vs holy Panda

[donnghia]

topre is one of the most (if not the most) expensive stock switch in mechanical keyboard market

in the other hand holy panda is one of the most-recommended switch for custom keyboard

How different are they?

which do you prefer, and in what circumstance they surpass each other?

thank for your opinion

[treeleaf64]

Hi,

First of all, they are completely different, made by different manufacturers (in the case of Holy Panda, it is assembled) and utilizing different designs.
I've never tried either of them, but I'd heard that Topre has a rounded and elongated bump, while Holy Pandas feel very snappy and responsive. They use different methods of generating tactility though, so of course they will feel different. I'd say try each one out and see which one you like more. The Holy Pandas are said to feel very different from Cherry switches and Mx-Compatible switches.

Sincerely, treeleaf64

[Sup]

Holy Panda very tactile mx brown with a heavier spring. Topre smooth travel with a perfect tactility with a soft bottoming out feeling like you are pressing on clouds when you bottom out. If i had to say it in words. They are completely different from each other. Only way to know what is better by trying it out since everyone has different tastes.

[ArchDill]

Topre can be very expensive BUT it is one of the best typing experiences. I do not like stock topre at all. I love modded topre.

My poison is 55g domes under lubed purple silent sliders.

[donnghia]

*snip*

Hmm, I do not know... may be it is just my own experience

it is not that I don't believe you but actually I already have topre and also a Mitsumi rubber dome in my house side by side to test

the Topre feel A LOT better

the travel is longer

the tacticle feel better (the travel of normal rubber dome budget is so short that you cannot feel the tactility)

the keycaps is like night and day (obviously for it difference in cost)

and with a Lubed Topre, no rubber dome in the world can compare...

ah, I have not mentioned it particular "thock-thock" sound yet...which to me hardly to be copy by ANY Mechanical keyboard not to mentioned the Budget rubber dome

the problem is that I now see the Holy-Panda HYPE... And I do not know if they are really worth it (it is hard to find one to try) but I prefer the sound

Mod Edit: Removed troll quote

[shadowku]

Hmm, I do not know... may be it is just my own experience

it is not that I don't believe you but actually I already have topre and also a Mitsumi rubber dome in my house side by side to test

the Topre feel A LOT better

the travel is longer

the tacticle feel better (the travel of normal rubber dome budget is so short that you cannot feel the tactility)

the keycaps is like night and day (obviously for it difference in cost)

and with a Lubed Topre, no rubber dome in the world can compare...

ah, I have not mentioned it particular "thock-thock" sound yet...which to me hardly to be copy by ANY Mechanical keyboard not to mentioned the Budget rubber dome

the problem is that I now see the Holy-Panda HYPE... And I do not know if they are really worth it (it is hard to find one to try) but I prefer the sound

Don't worry about him. He's a huge anti-Topre troll on this forum.

The general consensus is yes, Topre is a rubber dome keyboard, but not really comparable because not many (if any) normal rubber domes are made to a high quality.
Cheap case, poor slider/housing, poor keycaps makes normal rubber domes feel terrible.

I regularly type on Topre and Rubber domes.. can't compare. To me it feels as big a difference as comparing MX to Topre.

Back to the original topic - Holy Panda vs Topre.. again.. can't compare.

[dgneo]

And yeah, it's really tough to compare Topre to Holy Pandas, your best option is to try out one of each if you can.


Mod Edit: Removed troll quotes/discussion

[walie]

Well OP I hope you got anything worthwhile from this, because I sure didn't.

[deepalicious]

Topres are rubber domes.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[HoffmanMyster]

Thread has been cleaned up and tp4 has been issued a warning for his trolling.  Thanks to all who reported the thread.

Now let's get on with some legitimate discussion. 

[shadowku]

Thread has been cleaned up and tp4 has been issued a warning for his trolling.  Thanks to all who reported the thread.

Now let's get on with some legitimate discussion. 

Thanks a lot, Hoffman.

I wanted to say more about this comparison but didn't feel there was a point.

There was a podcast with 4 major keyboard enthusiasts a while ago when the Holy Panda was first conceived where one of them (I'm trying to find the podcast) said that Holy Pandas are close, or similar, to Topre. I found that a bit hard to believe, but they're really different because of the tactility, even if you consider BKE domes.

I'm at the point where I have my Topre setups (Silenced with BKE), and for my MX style I want either Holy Pandas or Zealios V2. They're completely different, but best of each of their own respective worlds.

[Sup]

Well OP I hope you got anything worthwhile from this, because I sure didn't.

I mean how can we know what someone else likes  . At least we described the switches so you can see that there is a big difference between the two.

[eniigma]

Holy Pandas are better than topres. They have a sharper bump (which I prefer), and the Topre is smoother, IMO. In terms of ram tactility, I think the HP wins by a mile.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[shadowku]

Holy Pandas are better than topres. They have a sharper bump (which I prefer), and the Topre is smoother, IMO. In terms of ram tactility, I think the HP wins by a mile.

Yeah, Topre can only be tactile with BKEs but while I like it, I feel like it doesn't quite match as well as tactile MX switches.
I'm planning on doing an MX build just for Zealios V2 or HPs.

OP,
I like Topre for the overall experience because HHKBs and RFs have the best sound profile to me. The smoothness is great too and I've gotten several people into the hobby with my Topre boards. The HHKB in particular is my daily at work.

HPs (and Zealios V2, which I think are similar) are great and are the most hyped MX style switches. Best for custom builds or custom keycaps and/or if you just want good tactility. Topre's a bit of a closed environment so you always have more options with MX. I don't care for keycaps anymore so I really just want a HPs/ZV2s for the tactility.

[donnghia]

Thread has been cleaned up and tp4 has been issued a warning for his trolling.  Thanks to all who reported the thread.

Now let's get on with some legitimate discussion. 

Thanks a lot, Hoffman.

I wanted to say more about this comparison but didn't feel there was a point.

There was a podcast with 4 major keyboard enthusiasts a while ago when the Holy Panda was first conceived where one of them (I'm trying to find the podcast) said that Holy Pandas are close, or similar, to Topre. I found that a bit hard to believe, but they're really different because of the tactility, even if you consider BKE domes.

I'm at the point where I have my Topre setups (Silenced with BKE), and for my MX style I want either Holy Pandas or Zealios V2. They're completely different, but best of each of their own respective worlds.

for normal gaming + hard typing will you prefer topre or holy pandas ?

[shadowku]

for normal gaming + hard typing will you prefer topre or holy pandas ?

This is hard to say because it depends on how many keyboards you can/plan to have. Most people here tend to get more than 1 keyboard eventually.

If you have multiple, then you can have one for gaming and one for typing.. or one for when you want a silenced keyboard.
HPs are not quiet, and may not be good for work or at home during the night. Another thing - Topre is easy to silence because you just need to add cheap silencing rings and it doesn't alter the feeling too much (Silent-X/Deskey).

For general stuff and work (coding) I use my HHKB, which I'm fine without the arrows. I do game on my HHKB as well, but the main deterrent is the layout. I occasionally take out my Novatouch if I need the F-keys for MMOs, but I don't think it really matters.

Much of this is just preference.
 

[romevi]

Apples vs. oranges.

[Sup]

Thread has been cleaned up and tp4 has been issued a warning for his trolling.  Thanks to all who reported the thread.

Now let's get on with some legitimate discussion. 

Thanks a lot, Hoffman.

I wanted to say more about this comparison but didn't feel there was a point.

There was a podcast with 4 major keyboard enthusiasts a while ago when the Holy Panda was first conceived where one of them (I'm trying to find the podcast) said that Holy Pandas are close, or similar, to Topre. I found that a bit hard to believe, but they're really different because of the tactility, even if you consider BKE domes.

I'm at the point where I have my Topre setups (Silenced with BKE), and for my MX style I want either Holy Pandas or Zealios V2. They're completely different, but best of each of their own respective worlds.

for normal gaming + hard typing will you prefer topre or holy pandas ?

Linears.

[dgneo]

Thread has been cleaned up and tp4 has been issued a warning for his trolling.  Thanks to all who reported the thread.

Now let's get on with some legitimate discussion. 

Thanks a lot, Hoffman.

I wanted to say more about this comparison but didn't feel there was a point.

There was a podcast with 4 major keyboard enthusiasts a while ago when the Holy Panda was first conceived where one of them (I'm trying to find the podcast) said that Holy Pandas are close, or similar, to Topre. I found that a bit hard to believe, but they're really different because of the tactility, even if you consider BKE domes.

I'm at the point where I have my Topre setups (Silenced with BKE), and for my MX style I want either Holy Pandas or Zealios V2. They're completely different, but best of each of their own respective worlds.

for normal gaming + hard typing will you prefer topre or holy pandas ?

I found my 55g Realforce fantastic for gaming & typing - imo 55g is the perfect weight for Realforce boards.

[romevi]

55g is the perfect weight for Realforce boards.

Spoken like a true deity

[rxc92]

55g preference is too mainstream! Silenced 45g is my favorite, heavier switches don't really do it for me.

[Kevadu]

"X is like Topre" is probably the single most overused description in the entire mechanical keyboard community.  Worst of all because 99% of the time it's complete BS.  No MX-style switch really feels anything like Topre...and certainly not holy pandas, they're completely different.  Probably the MX switch that feels closets to Topre that I've ever tried are V2 Zilents.

But you know what I don't think being like Topre is the end-all be-all of switches either...but I'm a clicky switch fan so what do you expect?