PCB vs plate mount noise + KB suggestions

[FireSlash]

Hi guys!

I've spent the last few days researching keyboards on this site mostly, after a long overdue itch to go back to mech keyboards. I recall the Model M I used once upon a time (and my parents still use) being a bit too loud and stiff for my tastes.

So after much deliberation, I snagged a Adesso MKB-135B from microcenter. This was two fold: One because it seemed to have everything I wanted, and two because if I didn't like it; it was still the only Cherry tactile keyboard I could get and easily return if it came down to it.

I should start by saying I love typing on this thing. If my post seems somewhat long and rambly, thats why. However, the board itself has major issues out of the box, to the point of defect and design flaw. For starters some keys don't always come all the way back up (The Y key is particularly nefarious). The key heights are a bit inconsistent, and the heights don't jive well in spots in comparison to the case height. Also it has media keys on F1-6 but as far as I can tell, they're impossible to use as there's no Fn key. Most of the modifier keys feel pretty bad as well, mushy or hard to press. So I'm going to return this sucker, but I'm not sure where to go for the replacement.

The switches themselves feel good for typing, but a bit hard for gaming. The volume is fine, though this board is PCB mount so I imagine any plate mount board will be louder.

So according to my research, Cherry MX browns have a similar feel but are lighter, meaning they're just what I'm looking for! The question is mostly noise at this point. I'm fine with PCB mounted blue noise, but I wonder if plate mounted browns would actually be louder due to the mounting difference? This is about as loud as I'd want to take a keyboard before it starts becoming annoying.

I'm mostly on the fence on models. Das silent seems to be the best choice, but I'm NOT a fan of that glossy finish. What I'm looking for is a full size board with browns and media keys. Headset and/or USB passthrough would be nice but it's by no means a dealbreaker. I know the Filcos are basically impossible to find now, and Deck uses clears I think? So I'm not aware of any other good options beyond the Das.

[theferenc]

There's the Rosewill RK-9000, but that's blue. There are the Ducky's, as well, but they are basically impossible to return.

The Decks use clears, which are like a firmer, more tactile brown. Personally, I vastly prefer the clears.

If I'm not mistaken, the Ducky is your best bet. You could try the classifieds here, I see to recall a 104 key filco being for sale recently.

[manfaux]

ya if you are not in a hurry definitely wait for the Leopolds, they look quite promising.

as far as media keys go, it shouldn't be a worry at all since there are plenty of tools that let you remap any key on your keyboard to a media key. I don't ever use my scroll lock, pause/break, right windows keys and I remapped them all into volume keys etc.

[theferenc]

But are the leopolds going to be available full size? Last I checked, they only had tenkeyless in korea.

[FireSlash]

I'm quite fond of that number pad. I read somewhere that EK would be shipping the FC200R, which is tenkeyless, but I don't know if they will be shipping any other models.

Other than the annoyingly shiny coating, are there any known issues or QC problems with the das? I was also looking at the Decks, but I'm not sure what to think about clears. The wiki claims they're "soft" but they have a higher actuation force than the blues; though I've heard a lot of people comparing them with browns as slightly harder.