My experience is different.
I like the AT101 and don't understand why it gets so little respect here.
My first one came new with a Dell system in the 1990s and I used it happily for several years. Then I gave it to a colleague who put it in a closet for a couple of years, and later got it back from him and used it some more. It is well worn now, and keys are getting shiny, but it still works well and is pleasant to feel and hear.
I have bought half a dozen more, over the years, at yard sales and thrift stores, and discovered a huge spectrum of difference. Some looked great and felt terrible, and vice versa. I don't know how to predict until I use it.
My workspaces have always been clean, and I never eat over my keyboard. When I get a used keyboard, I give it a thorough cleaning.
The only theory that makes sense to me is that these black switches are particularly sensitive to dust and can develop a gritty or rough feel in the wrong environment. Most airborne dust settles straight down and can be cleaned up, but I wonder if some particulates are so fine that they can find their way under and around the keycaps.
At any rate, I suspect that a lot of the people here who dis the AT101 do it because they got hold of a bad one or two, and assumed that they were all like that. A good one can be really nice. And I would not trust all NIBs to be good, frankly.
PS - To answer the OP, I like the AEK2 less and less. Still a nice board, but that is not the kind of "dampening" that I want. I love dental floss in buckling springs, and O-rings on Cherries, but I think Apple dampened the wrong part of the action.
