Howdy folks,
I'm sort of an old ass member round these parts, haven't logged in in nearly a decade though, much has changed. Back then Mechanical Keyboards as a whole were still very niche. I remember us trying to get Deck to produce the Deck Legend for Germany and make it available again or sell us their double shot keycaps and stuff. Me getting a custom made switch-testing-board sent to Germany from a US member and me forwarding it to the next guy so forum members could test out different switch types. Good times.
Back then I somehow ended up with one of the last produced DAS Keyboards with media keys, was very lucky, still have and use it, never really needed another KB (do own a Deck 82 with MX Blacks though), it is awesome.
So what is all this about you ask?
Well, my DAS is using MX Blues and thus loud as **** (the MX Blacks from my Deck are better but it is US layout and I am a big advocator of the German DE layout. Kind of like metric vs imperial for me
). Since my new desktop will sit in my bedroom and I don't want to disturb the wife n kids, I mainly need a silent alternative.
Around 10 years ago when I was last active here, the only 3 Keyboards I ultimately considered were the DAS, Deck and Topre.
I distinctly remember that Topre was the outlier and since they were one of the few "switch" types I could never test out (and the high price...), I decided against them.
Read up on it again a bit and I remembered correctly, Topre seems to be known for being very silent.
Regarding the stroke feel etc. I think I'm willing to give em a try now since I do enjoy the MX Blues over the other switches I have tried (maybe safe for the IBM spring), yet I have also had a thing for a good, fresh out of the box Rubber Dome... But mostly not... But sometimes yes... guess you know what I mean ...
But the price and where to buy from and which model?
Here's the TLDR list:
- Seeking
SILENT keyboard for bedroom activities (top priority), currently leaning towards Topre
- Full Keyboard preferred , Backlit preferred, Tenkeyless ok
- German DE layout
highly preferred, UK/US layout
ok actually not ok... but would probably consider when price difference is massive..
- Vendor that sells both the board and keycaps preferred
If it's a Topre halp me find a good vendor plz.
If there have been better/more economical products over the last ten years that fit the bill, plz forgive my ignorance and share with me your knowledge
Help us Geekhack forums, you are our only hope
/Edit
upon further investigation due to all y'all's silence, I believe to now understand that Topre and German DE Layout are not existing combinations. Can anyone confirm?
If that is indeed the case, anyone know a silent alternative?
/Edit 2
Is DIY an option? If someone can help me source the parts and gimme a youtube video, I should be able to manage
/Edit 3
Alrighty then, did some more digging and it looks like the keyboard co has Topre in German Layout. So I guess I just order it from them.