Topre Type Heaven vs Chinese Topre clones in $100-130 range

[buffpandabear]

Hi guys, first time poster.  Recently been looking heavily at Topre and Topre clones.  Currently own a Ducky One Cherry Blue, which is fine, but I've noticed that the distance and force it takes to press the keys actually makes my typing slower (touch typist) vs regular rubber membrane.  On something like typeracer, I'm usually in the 110-130 range on the ducky board, but have been getting 120-140 wpm at the crap dell keyboard at work.  I know, it's not a huge difference, but it's noticeable.  I think it's because I have to lift my fingers a little bit higher after pressing down farther which actually makes a difference. 
Anyways, am wanting something a little faster to type on but still with good feel, which brought me to Topre.

I am willing to spend $100-130 on a board - only Topre board in that range is Type Heaven (is that price on ebay).  Only issues is that it's 108 keys, and I was hoping for something a bit smaller. Other boards I've seen are the Chinese knockoffs like Royal Kludge, Plum, or Noppoo, which can be found on aliexpress, ebay, and sometimes on massdrop or mechanicakeyboards.com.  Only issue with aliexpress is that for some reason they ask for a scan of your driver's license, bank statement, and photo of your CC when you try to buy, which really turned me off.

Anyways, after a long-winded intro, my question is, which board would you personally get between a Type Heaven or a Chinese knockoff (and which Chinese knockoff specifically?).  I'm aware that feel is very subjective, but remember I already have a cherry blue which I like (much more than cherry red and brown I tried). Want something to type fast on, don't care about rgb/led either way, don't want to buy keycaps, just want to spend my money once and be done, but I want it to feel awesome.
Thoughts from those who have tried the Type Heaven or the knockoffs?

[tp4tissue]

it won't make you slower or faster,

any up and down on speed is merely the slight difference in input timing between keyboards that you're familiar / unfamiliar with.



There's nothing special abut Topre made by Japan, or the Clones.


This is VERY LOW-Tech electronics..

It's akin to asking who makes the better spoon...   While there may in fact be an ultimate spoon out there..  Most spoons work just fine.

[buffpandabear]

I would have to respectfully disagree - it's nothing like a spoon.  Typing requires some skill, and what you type on makes a huge difference in speed.  Just imagine a ipad keyboard vs any regular keyboard.  Well, maybe what I mean is that my fingers fatigue faster on a cherry mx blue (although it feels nice to type on initially), the fatigue makes me slower over time.  There's a reason stenographers require very soft actuation for their chorded typing, because it increases their speed and endurance. 
Well, either way, if Topre or Topre clones aren't any good, do any folks have recommendations for high quality rubber membrane keyboards then?  I realized that in some ways I don't mind rubber membrane - but would like more tactility and feel, which is why I am gravitating toward Topre or Topre-like.  Please, any recommendations would be great (well, keyboards that are actually available for sale)

[opensecret]

I haven't tried the Type Heaven, but I've used Realforce (unweighted) boards, as well as a Plum.  I've seen one person post on Geekhack who actually prefers the Plum to the Realforce, but I think the Realforce is a better typing experience -- a little smoother (or less scratchy), slightly longer travel, better keycaps, and a softer landing.  That said, the Plum is a good board and i enjoy typing on it, and it has the advantage of programmability (once you track down the programming app as well as English language instructions; it's a little klunky to use, but it works).  The Realforce boards have a very solid, high-quality feel, and the Plum is fine but it feels as if it's in a lower price range.

From what I've seen other users report, I'd guess that the basic typing experience on the Type Heaven is similar to the Realforce.  The caps are abs instead of pbt (though I personally don't think that's a big deal in itself), and the build may not feel quite as solid, but the switches are still genuine Topre.

[Puddsy]

I really like the type heaven and would recommend it over any other cheap topre option.

[klennkellon]

Perhaps a better option would be to buy a used Realforce from a user here or /r/mechmarket on reddit.

[happylacquer]

Having had every kind of mechanical switch, I can't really think of Topre as a board I ever felt that I typed fast on..... It's very satisfying but not the fastest I can type on.

[Puddsy]

Having had every kind of mechanical switch, I can't really think of Topre as a board I ever felt that I typed fast on..... It's very satisfying but not the fastest I can type on.

I knocked out 150+ WPM on my RF

[buffpandabear]

Very nice, thanks for the replies.  I think I'll be going for the Type Heaven - it certainly looks like it'll meet all my criteria - for those Topre-haters, can you give any suggestions for membrane type keyboards that come close to the Topre feel?  (Since the Topre-lovers will most likely say there aren't any worthy substitutions). 

[klennkellon]

Very nice, thanks for the replies.  I think I'll be going for the Type Heaven - it certainly looks like it'll meet all my criteria - for those Topre-haters, can you give any suggestions for membrane type keyboards that come close to the Topre feel?  (Since the Topre-lovers will most likely say there aren't any worthy substitutions).

There's some pretty good rubber domes known as BTC Dome With Sliders that are quite common and found on a lot of older BTC and Packard Bell keyboards. 51xx usually

They feel pretty good, and actually have a more "mechanical" feel than Topre do. But some users have reported that the keyfeel drastically worsens with use so I guess the rubber domes don't hold up.

I also tried Acer Dome With Sliders and thought they were excellent. Were smooth and not mushy in the slightest.

EDIT: Also there are Alps SKCM Green but they are one of the rarest Alps switches.

[mrvco]

I have a Plum 87 that I'm very happy with (and a second one on the way).  The programmability and MX stems are nice since I use it with a Mac.  I really like how this keyboard feels and sounds.  The 35g keys with the additional springs installed are much better than I would have imagined.

I'll still probaby buy a HHKB for that 'real' Topre feel, but I really didn't want to leave a $200+ keyboard sitting in the office.  My initial thought was to go with the Type Heaven, but I didn't want a full size keyboard and I read some mixed reviews on whether the Type Heaven design really did justice to the Topre switches.  Regardless, I don't think you can go wrong either way.

[drakche]

Plum 87 user here.

I can say that I actually prefer the feel of the Plum to a Novatouch that I tried on several occasions.

It has better keycaps, and if 35g are your thing go ahead. they were too soft for me, so I swapped them for 55g domes.

A whole world of difference.

It's a great daily driver, and it's actually really sturdily built.

As for the scratching, just a dab of some lube on the sliders and your golden.

[macguy80]

I haven't tried the Type Heaven, so I can't comment on that.

The following is strictly my opinion.

If by Chinese "Topre clone" you mean other electro-capacitative keyboards, such as the "55g" Royal Kludge RC930-87 on which I'm typing this right now, I would state that they do not deserve the term "Topre clone", because they don't even come anywhere close. They may be good rubber domes, and even fun to type on, but they are not even worthy of comparison to genuine Topre. In the case of my RC930, even the weighting is completely different, unless the Chinese definition of a gram is different to the rest of the world. It feels *much* lighter than my 55g RF87u. No contest which one I'd want if I had to choose only one of the two.

[zslane]

I'm hoping that a 45cN Plum (Nano 75) will feel "close" to a NovaTouch. However, if it feels like my 40 +/- 5 Noppoo 108 then I will be extremely disappointed, because it feels like a 35cN MX silent red (if a 35cN version existed, that is). It has zero tactility and is way, way too light for me.

[drakche]

I'm hoping that a 45cN Plum (Nano 75) will feel "close" to a NovaTouch. However, if it feels like my 40 +/- 5 Noppoo 108 then I will be extremely disappointed, because it feels like a 35cN MX silent red (if a 35cN version existed, that is). It has zero tactility and is way, way too light for me.

Grab a Hansung 55g dome sheet and swap it.

I had a 35g, and it felt nice and ok.
But 55g really transformed it.

For me at least the 35g felt better than Novatouch.

55g blows it out of the water.

Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk

[saxophone]

I have never tried any of the real topre ones but I have a Hacker k965P (55g) and a Plum84 (35g) and I greatly enjoy typing on both of them. Both of them come with rubber rings preinstalled to dampene the return stroke.

Right now they are actually my main favorites. The only downside I've noticed is that some of the keys makes a light spring sound when you release the key but it's not noticeable unless if you release a key slowly and try to pay particular attention towards that.

The only downside that I've experienced is that some keys may make a slight spring like sound when released, I don't know if the expensive topre boards suffer from this problem. It's not really noticeable unless if you pay particular attention to it however.

[drakche]

I have never tried any of the real topre ones but I have a Hacker k965P (55g) and a Plum84 (35g) and I greatly enjoy typing on both of them. Both of them come with rubber rings preinstalled to dampene the return stroke.

Right now they are actually my main favorites. The only downside I've noticed is that some of the keys makes a light spring sound when you release the key but it's not noticeable unless if you release a key slowly and try to pay particular attention towards that.

The only downside that I've experienced is that some keys may make a slight spring like sound when released, I don't know if the expensive topre boards suffer from this problem. It's not really noticeable unless if you pay particular attention to it however.

The pinging sound is due to probably some of the springs under the domes are misaligned.

You could open it, clean it and re-align the domes and it would go away.

I had the same problem first time I opened the board and didn't pay enough attention to the spring alignment.

[zslane]

It's good to know that a 55cN dome swap is an option.

Where do you get the domes? Aliexpress? I've seen dome sheets offered there. Are those the ones you're referring to?

[drakche]

It's good to know that a 55cN dome swap is an option.

Where do you get the domes? Aliexpress? I've seen dome sheets offered there. Are those the ones you're referring to?

Ebay.
Just look for an Hansung electro capacitive dome sheet.

It was 18$ or so. And it's an easy swap.
I posted a tutorial on /r/mk if any help is needed.

Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk

[zslane]

How many domes come in a sheet? I can't find anywhere that is specified in the auction description.

[drakche]

Here's the item

http://www.ebay.com/itm/112137004390

It's a full size dome.sheet.

You need to cut it up for 84/75 but for 87 you need to cut off the numad.

Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk

[dante]

I would love to see a review of the Hansung GTune CHF4 XRGB 62G.

Nothing but typing videos on Youtube.

[drakche]

Several guys on /r/mk had them, but they said that the keys feel to stiff at 62g.

Maybe they're light typists, or something.

My 55g feel great, I figure 62g would be ok. A bit more rebound.

Next time I'm cleaning my board I'll probably remove the dental bands to try it like that.

Supposedly it's​ much more tactile like that.

But all in all, it's the same board as Plum and other Plum copies.

Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk

[klennkellon]

Next time I'm cleaning my board I'll probably remove the dental bands to try it like that.

Supposedly it's​ much more tactile like that.

It should. If I recall the dental bands put the rubber dome in a partially depressed position so removing the bands should increase the tactility AND the key-travel.

I've had a few people on the /r/mk discord swear that once the dental bands are removed and the sliders are lubed the keyfeel is much more similar to Topre.

Do keep in mind I have never even tried Topre or these clones

[zslane]

I took the bands off the sliders of my Noppoo EC108Pro and doing so did not change/improve the tactility at all. They remain indistinguishable from MX silent reds in feel and sound, except they are even lighter in resistance.

[ander]

I just bought a Hansung CHL8 capacitive keyboard directly from Korea, via GMarket (cheaper than eBay), and couldn't be happier. It's just as fun to type on as my Type Heaven, and a lot more cheerful looking. I'll post a complete review as soon as there's time.