Das vs Matias opinons.

[bradgillap]

Hello, I wouldn't otherwise be here but my spouse has had enough of my Chicony 5181. I love this keyboard but I do find that it has a hard time keeping up with me from time to time.  I take it apart every year or two and clean it out so it is well maintained.


Anyway. our living arrangements have put us right next to each other in the computer room and the noise of my typing is driving her crazy. She has given me the go ahead to go buy whatever keyboard to keep the noise down. She understands I prefer the mechanical keyboards so I have good budget as long as it isn't nearly as loud as this chicony.  I think it's the high pitched sound that comes out of it and I have a tendancy to hammer away so I don't expect any mechanical keyboard to be whisper quiet.  Just quiet enough that she can hear youtube still when I'm having a conversation beside her.


I narrowed it down to two modern mechanical keyboards. 

http://www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-ultimate-silent/


The cherry mx brown is supposed to be quieter or a more dampened dull sound. I'm concerned with how it feels. I'd like a little bit less resistance than what I have now and I want to feel the keys bottom out in that satisfying way.  The stealth style is really appealing. I have no need for characters on my keyboard. I'm a tech and I have a lot of friends in the industry that do pop over from time to time. I think they'll get a kick out of it.

The other one I was looking at is the Matias

http://www.matias.ca/quietpro/pc/


This company is actually based out of a city about 2 hours away from here. Cool right? I contacted them to see if I could pop in and try one but they declined.

I like the idea of supporting a Canadian company still and I'm wondering if this one is any quieter than the DAS keyboard.  I'm a bigger fan of the stealth look on the DAS but the matias claims to be the quietest mechanical keyboard.  By what margin is hard to say from my own research.


Can anyone comment on the difference in noise vs my chicony with either keyboard or have any general opinions about either product with the cherry brown? Have you come from older traditional mechanical keyboards or do you have only newer mechanical keyboards as a basis of comparison?

Hah, look at me I sound just like those nutty mechanical keyboard nerds today.  No offense, honestly it's kind of a really interesting hobby the more I read about it.

Also the forum question threw me off. I wrote ATT and then I wrote ps2... showing my age here.  I guess the word bus didn't ring in my head very strong right away.

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

I fnid that the keys bottoming out is louder, sometimes significantly, than the tactile click of the MX blues.

Browns, so I hear, have a very, very slight tactile bump, so if you are used to that with MX blues you might miss it.

O-rings can be used to somewhat dampen the sound of bottoming out.

[tjcaustin]

Isn't the chicony a monterey blue or an alps blue, not MX?

[wetto]

Check the comparison between the modded o-ring keyboards and those without it:

Modding a Cherry MX Brown, Black or Red makes them quite quiet...

[Burz]

The Das w/browns failed to impress me. The tactility barely exists and is imperceptible when typing at a good clip. IMO they feel nothing like blues, which are the only Cherry switches I've tried with acceptable tactile feel for typing.

I haven't tried the MQP, though there are a few others here who have bought some and love them. However its safe to say the Matias switches are stiffer than browns and offer more tactile feedback. They're dampened on both the bottom-out and the return, so the MQP should be quieter than an MX brown board with O-rings.

If I had to choose between the Das and MQP I would get the MQP without a second thought. It hasn't had a 'miss' yet with the people here who have tried it, the company is known to have good customer service and Edgar Matias himself keeps up a presence here on Geekhack (check out his posts in the Matias subforum).

Personally, I do not want to buy a new/full price keyboard that has a numeric keypad; TKL or smaller is the way to go. 'Normal' sized keyboards are lopsided and that has an anti-ergonomic effect (home position tends to shift to the left of my screen, reaching for mouse and returning is harder and arm position for mouse causes more pain). I probably won't get the MQP for this reason, though I'm sure I'll have a TKL with the Matias switches at some point.

[clickclack]

Isn't the chicony a monterey blue or an alps blue, not MX?

I don't know what he actually has, but, Chicony in addition to making what you mentioned also used genuine cherry MX blues at one point as well as using MX blue copies that were actually white in color with a stronger click and stronger spring (one of my favorites). The stem on those copies was also a teeeeeny tiny bit different in size. So the keycaps were not as easily interchangeable as you might think.

...Can anyone comment on the difference in noise vs my chicony with either keyboard or have any general opinions about either product with the cherry brown? Have you come from older traditional mechanical keyboards or do you have only newer mechanical keyboards as a basis of comparison?...

The Chicony is louder than the other keyboards you mentioned. Chicony mechanicals are by and large louder than most other similar mechanicals. Not by a ton necessarily but it is noticeable.

Hope that helped a little bit.

-cc   =)

[Binge]

In my honest opinion I would not buy a new Das.  I have an older costar model and the quality is by far more superior.  If you are willing to spend the money the matias board is easily one of my favorite purchases this year.

[bradgillap]

This entire thread was extremely helpful. 


I'll purchase the matias and let you guys know what she thinks after a few days. Wish me luck.  If she thumbs down the noise from my side of the desk it may be the death of my mechanical keyboarding until our computer arrangement can change.  Think I'll take my chicony to work. I'm secluded most of the day from people so it'll be a better fit in that environment.

[rowdy]

Good luck!  I hope you experience mechanical keyboard joy

[hazeluff]

Welcome to GeekHack = )

[Binge]

This entire thread was extremely helpful. 


I'll purchase the matias and let you guys know what she thinks after a few days. Wish me luck.  If she thumbs down the noise from my side of the desk it may be the death of my mechanical keyboarding until our computer arrangement can change.  Think I'll take my chicony to work. I'm secluded most of the day from people so it'll be a better fit in that environment.

I work within 2 ft of a single mom, 4 ft from a pregnant woman, 4 ft from a middle aged woman, and 3 ft from a woman who is always reading and hates noise.  Data entry!  I make less noise with my matias than with their domes... then again I don't use my nails to tap on keycaps all day long.

btw... welcome

[bradgillap]

 


So today I received a package at work. My coworkers didn't really understand why I was so excited to plug in a keyboard to my system that I had ordered off the Internet. My first impressions were that of speed and comfort. This keyboard feels mechanical but takes no effort to type. My next impression was the feeling that I can only describe as typing on glass. The letters flowed onto the screen so quickly and smoothly that my hands felt they were inline skating on the smoothest grade road on the planet. I failed to describe these differences to my coworkers that made them understand why I would spend so much money on a keyboard. So I invited them to sit down and type a paragraph. The comments that came after were great. " I feel like I should be wearing a very nice tuxedo while typing on this keyboard " was one. 


It was a lot of money and it's definitely not for everyone but when I considered how much time I spend programming and doing other various projects from home it was clear that this was not overly expensive. Buying  a good quality mattress is sound advice most people will not argue. If you're on computers all day then it only makes sense to invest in good input devices.  My wife has not commented on the sound from my keyboard today and I have found her mushy logitech is actually louder than my typing now.


There are other benefits. I'm one of those people that definitely had trouble with ghosting because I'm no longer having to correct mistakes other than my own terrible grammar and spelling of course. The keyboard now feels like it's waiting for me rather than the other way around. This is something that just has to be experienced first hand to really be understood how great it feels. Freeing up some extra USB ports on my machine through the built in USB hub on the keyboard is a nice addition as well for low power devices like computer mice. I wouldn't try an external hard drive on it though.

It won't change my life but it has made me look for new projects just so I can have more reasons to type.  Thanks again everyone for steering me in the right direction.  I had been referring to you guys as the snoody keyboard crowd in conversation when talking to friends jokingly.  I will now refer to you as the sane keyboard crowd.  Obligatory one of us comment and so on.

[rowdy]

Glad you found a keyboard you like

Now get some custom key caps on there!! 

[bradgillap]

OMG How far does the rabbit hole go?!

[rowdy]

You have no idea ...

[n0rdlad]

Should I get a das quiet red mx.. Or a matias quiet pro? I am new to mech keyboards and need be to educated

[wetto]

Should I get a das quiet red mx.. Or a matias quiet pro? I am new to mech keyboards and need be to educated

Das Quiet MX Red comes with crap keycaps, unlike the discontinued old Professional model (without media keys) and the Ultimate model. PLEASE, if you're going to choose Das Keyboard, do not buy the model with Media Keys or the Quiet.

I know that Costar (company who manages several factories) is quite expensive and slow, but the result of the bad OEM (original equipment manufacturer) changes can be hideous, which is just about their case, the keyboards just got FAR worse and the price didn't even went down for the customer. They just went from selling quality keyboards to selling plain crap with lots of marketing 

Anyways, both have this really bad glossy finish, but overall, comparing my Das Keyboard Professional Silent (old Costar model, far more superior than the new Quiet and Professional w/Media Keys) and the Matias Mini Quiet Pro, the Matias wins by far... 

[n0rdlad]

Gah. Thats sad. Thanx for ur info. I just liked the das 'look' more than matias but feel
is more important. Having tactile feel similar to mx blue but quiet and even a heavier actuation are all big pluses for me. Are there any other quiet/damp design boards with tactile feel you know..?

[jeffsui]

I can only speak for Das Blue vs Matias Quiet switches and the matias are pretty quiet.  I really like the feel of the switches and that is what i use at home where the office is next to the baby's room. 

I've used browns and the matias is much quieter.  Das has much better looks but the matias switches are pretty nice.

[jacobolus]

Note that this is a 2.5 year old thread. :-)

[Ludovician]

How did that happen?

[jeffsui]

Cause I posted

[LeTrollMazter]

I once considered the Matias; however, I have read that the build quality is not the best for its price. Also, I don't quite like the idea of it being bluetooth.

[jacobolus]

I once considered the Matias; however, I have read that the build quality is not the best for its price. Also, I don't quite like the idea of it being bluetooth.

There are wired and non-bluetooth (“secure” wireless, via USB dongle) Matias keyboards. The build quality is pretty good, but some people don’t like the aesthetics of the polycarbonate cases.