Is there a such thing as Kailh Box Silent Brown switches?

[HungerMechanic]

If there's one thing these switches do right, it's the silencing. And the reds should be even quieter.

[zslane]

I think BOX silent browns would have been good for me. I kinda feel that the tactility of regular BOX browns are a bit too sharp for my tastes, and so something that sits in between Cherry MX brown (not tactile enough) and Kailh BOX brown (a bit too tactile) seems just right for me. Maybe after this stupid pandemic has died down I'll actually receive an order of these switches.

[HungerMechanic]

Well, I may not have described the tactility perfectly.

I've been testing them back-and-forth between BOX Brown and BOX Silent Brown.

It's definitely a similar structure: a tactile barrier right at the top of the switch, followed by collapse towards the bottom.

But the tactile resistance at the top might be slightly greater on the Silent Brown than on the Brown. When you break the tactile ceiling on the Silent Brown, you're already racing towards bottom-out. And you may be heading there more quickly, because of greater resistance at the top.

So I find that the bottom-out is a little harsh, given the quick collapse after the tactile event. Sure, it's dampened. But it's only 3.6mm of travel, so you hit bottom quickly. It ends up feeling like a less-tactile Zilent V2.

In contrast, the regular BOX Brown may have slightly less tactile resistance at the top. And it noticeably buckles once you clear it, and there's less momentum towards the bottom. So I find it a more fluid and less sharp/steep switch than BOX Silent Brown. But that's just my opinion.

So BOX Silent Brown isn't between MX Brown and BOX Brown. It might actually be sharper/steeper than BOX Brown.

[Bella_Hwang]

I like Kailh BOX switches, but I prefer silenced/damped switches. The only silenced MX-type switches I know of are silent red and black. Are there any silent BOX switches? And in particular, BOX Brown?

We've made the silent box red and brown switch

[Maledicted]

I like Kailh BOX switches, but I prefer silenced/damped switches. The only silenced MX-type switches I know of are silent red and black. Are there any silent BOX switches? And in particular, BOX Brown?

https://twitter.com/KailhSwitch/status/1239791913361788931  KAILH SILENT BOX SWITCH

I like Kailh BOX switches, but I prefer silenced/damped switches. The only silenced MX-type switches I know of are silent red and black. Are there any silent BOX switches? And in particular, BOX Brown?

We've made the silent box red and brown switch

Yes, we're aware, thank you. I would be typing away on the reds already if mine weren't returned to sender for some reason.

[zslane]

So BOX Silent Brown isn't between MX Brown and BOX Brown. It might actually be sharper/steeper than BOX Brown.

Maybe it's just a matter of subtle terminology differences? When I say "sharp", I refer to the fact that BOX Brown is so tactile that its tactility starts to feel and sound almost like a clicky switch over time, which is not really what I look for in a tactile switch. Is that even more the case with BOX Silent Browns?

[envyy24]

So BOX Silent Brown isn't between MX Brown and BOX Brown. It might actually be sharper/steeper than BOX Brown.

Maybe it's just a matter of subtle terminology differences? When I say "sharp", I refer to the fact that BOX Brown is so tactile that its tactility starts to feel and sound almost like a clicky switch over time, which is not really what I look for in a tactile switch. Is that even more the case with BOX Silent Browns?

The problem of box brown turning clicky i think was due to the factory lube wearing off. Multiple occasions people have reported that re apply the lube would silence the switch again, but for only a certain period. Box silent would do fine in this regard, not because of the lube getting better or anything but I think the sound of the whole switch is greatly dampened then even if the switch click a little you can totally neglect it.

[HungerMechanic]

BOX Browns employ something of a binary 'bump' during the tactile process. It goes from some tactility right at the top into nothing [collapse mode]. That can be interpreted as 'sharp' or 'steep.' Some have likened it to a 'buckling mechanism' feel.

BOX Browns do turn clicky from the lube leaving the vestigal clickbar area. It's not as loud as a dedicated BOX clicky, though. So you have a kind of 'buckling' mechanism, plus switches turning clicky in sound, which leads to the perception of it becoming a 'clicky' switch. I think it's a tactile that borrows some of its tactility from being related to the BOX clicky family.

I couldn't really say if BOX Silent Brown would turn clicky. There seem to be some mitigating factors. [New stem design, plus dampening.]

[HungerMechanic]

So BOX Silent Brown isn't between MX Brown and BOX Brown. It might actually be sharper/steeper than BOX Brown.

Maybe it's just a matter of subtle terminology differences? When I say "sharp", I refer to the fact that BOX Brown is so tactile that its tactility starts to feel and sound almost like a clicky switch over time, which is not really what I look for in a tactile switch. Is that even more the case with BOX Silent Browns?

It's hard to say. I think that BOX Browns have a slightly more of a 'buckling' feel than Silent Browns. Silent Browns are dampened and have new stems and maybe new housings. So I'm not sure if they will be able to reproduce the sound of BOX Browns gone clicky.

BOX Silent Brown feels like a top-mounted tactile with a steep drop, shortened by the 3.6mm travel.

[Maledicted]

BOX Browns do turn clicky from the lube leaving the vestigal clickbar area. It's not as loud as a dedicated BOX clicky, though. So you have a kind of 'buckling' mechanism, plus switches turning clicky in sound, which leads to the perception of it becoming a 'clicky' switch. I think it's a tactile that borrows some of its tactility from being related to the BOX clicky family.

Box tactiles are sort of their own kind of animal though, aren't they? They're not exactly like any MX I know of, although the method of creating tactility is closest to MX. They use the box design, but the vehicle for tactility is entirely different from the click bar employed in the clicky switches of the same family, which is itself entirely novel.

[HungerMechanic]

Maybe it's just a matter of subtle terminology differences? When I say "sharp", I refer to the fact that BOX Brown is so tactile that its tactility starts to feel and sound almost like a clicky switch over time, which is not really what I look for in a tactile switch. Is that even more the case with BOX Silent Browns?

I've tested it some more, and I would have to say that the BOX Silent Brown is more of a 'clicky' tactility than something like MX Brown. It's more 'binary,' in that it moves from 1 to 0 pretty quickly after the initial resistance. It isn't as jarring as with a clicky switch, but it borrows somewhat from that kind of tactility.

So these might not be the switch for you, unfortunately.

Have you tried OUTEMU Sky / Silent Sky? They are based on MX Clear tactility, especially the original non-silent Sky. They are definitely more tactile than MX Brown, but not outrageously tactile, at least in the non-silent variant.

Box tactiles are sort of their own kind of animal though, aren't they? They're not exactly like any MX I know of, although the method of creating tactility is closest to MX. They use the box design, but the vehicle for tactility is entirely different from the click bar employed in the clicky switches of the same family, which is itself entirely novel.

Yes, I have to say they are their own animal. They are relatively distinct from the Cherry-family tactility, and you can often tell BOX designs apart in blind-testing.

[zslane]

It looks like my quest for an acceptable MX-style tactile switch continues.

I'm primarily a Topre user, and so I'm basically looking for something with 45g resistance and full 4mm travel like MX Red, but dampened/silenced and with tactility somewhere between Cherry MX Brown and Kailh BOX Brown.

[envyy24]

It looks like my quest for an acceptable MX-style tactile switch continues.

I'm primarily a Topre user, and so I'm basically looking for something with 45g resistance and full 4mm travel like MX Red, but dampened/silenced and with tactility somewhere between Cherry MX Brown and Kailh BOX Brown.

Then im afraid you will find none for now. The preferable method of dampening mx style switches are putting soft material on the stem to silence the upstroke, thus the total travel distance is reduced. This happens to silent mx black, silent mx red, and now the box silent.

[zslane]

Good point.

I can relax the key travel constraint. That's less important to me than quiet operation.

[Riverman]

These sound like just the switches I've been looking for, so I just ordered 110 of them from Novelkeys.  I'll be curious to see how these compare to Cherry browns with QMX Clips.  Time for a soldering project!

[Maledicted]

Mine look to finally be in the United States. I wonder how many weeks it will still take for the "partner facility" to actually get it to USPS. Almost nothing that I have ordered weeks prior to re-ordering the switches that were returned to sender has arrived yet, so I wonder why these are coming so fast all of a sudden.

[HungerMechanic]

Now that Kailh has demonstrated that they can build using the circular BOX stems, I would like to see a BOX Brown V2. One that doesn't lose lube, which seems to cause the switch to go clicky. BOX Brown felt fine, it just had some flaws that perhaps could be corrected in a V2.

[Riverman]

I just finished soldering these into a Das Keyboard 4 last night.  I have to agree with a lot of what's been said before.  They're very tactile right at the top, considerably more so than Cherry browns, but then they just collapse.  After typing on them for a while this morning, my silenced Topre Type Heaven feels almost linear.  The box browns really have that much of a bump at the top.  These are definitely quiet enough to have in the office.  They're not quiet as Cherry browns with QMX Clips, but the travel isn't reduced as much, and the box browns obviously silence the upstroke and downstroke, regardless of the keycaps used.  I can't say that about the QMX Clips.  They don't silence the downstroke on far too many keycaps I've tried.  For now, they're keepers, and I'm not instantly dying to replace them, which is how I felt about Cherry silent blacks on this same keyboard.  The weight seems about perfect.  The tactility will just take some getting used to.  One thing I noticed is that these are easier to solder in crooked.  It seems like the large alignment nub on the bottom of the switch is shallower than the one on Cherry switches, or possibly not quite as big in diameter.  The zero key on the numeric keypad was crooked enough to make the stabilizer inserts bind, so I had to unsolder it and straighten it out.  One Alt key is a little crooked, too, but maybe not enough to get me to disassemble the keyboard to correct it.

[Maledicted]

I just finished soldering these into a Das Keyboard 4 last night.  I have to agree with a lot of what's been said before.  They're very tactile right at the top, considerably more so than Cherry browns, but then they just collapse.  After typing on them for a while this morning, my silenced Topre Type Heaven feels almost linear.  The box browns really have that much of a bump at the top.  These are definitely quiet enough to have in the office.  They're not quiet as Cherry browns with QMX Clips, but the travel isn't reduced as much, and the box browns obviously silence the upstroke and downstroke, regardless of the keycaps used.  I can't say that about the QMX Clips.  They don't silence the downstroke on far too many keycaps I've tried.  For now, they're keepers, and I'm not instantly dying to replace them, which is how I felt about Cherry silent blacks on this same keyboard.  The weight seems about perfect.  The tactility will just take some getting used to.  One thing I noticed is that these are easier to solder in crooked.  It seems like the large alignment nub on the bottom of the switch is shallower than the one on Cherry switches, or possibly not quite as big in diameter.  The zero key on the numeric keypad was crooked enough to make the stabilizer inserts bind, so I had to unsolder it and straighten it out.  One Alt key is a little crooked, too, but maybe not enough to get me to disassemble the keyboard to correct it.

If you consider box browns (assuming these are very close to the undampened version) to be really tactile, you should try box royals, or some thick clicks.