Want to get a new keyboard for work, would blues be too loud?

[ModusPwnens]

I'm graduating university soon and starting a new job and I want to get another keyboard to use exclusively for work. I currently own a Razer BlackWidow (don't laugh , i was in college when I bought it and it was cheap) and I absolutely love it. One of my friends got a ducky with brown switches and he let me type with it for a while. I have to say, I was a little disappointed by them. I sort of thought they would just be blues without the click, but unfortunately, they are not. I almost want to say that calling them a tactile switch is a lie, because I can barely feel that little bump.

Anyways, because of that, I would prefer to have a keyboard with blue switches if at all possible. However, I do not want to annoy my coworkers and be known as that one guy with the loud keyboard. Do you think that a cherry mx blue keyboard would be too loud at work? I should mention that I am a software developer, so I will be doing a lot of typing. The environment I will be working in is essentially a cubicle farm. If it's really going to be too loud, then I will resort to getting the browns. I have been hearing about ergo clears which are apparently blues without the click, but you can't find those anywhere so they aren't an option for me, sadly.

What do people think? Are blues too loud for an office environment?

[Amarok]

Have you been in the office and seen people working yet? If it's a big room full of cubicles with people coding, there might be people already there using mechanical boards with blues or buckling springs.

[bounce]

Well, as long as the new Keyboard is going to be PCB mounted you can still consider making ergo clears yourself, which should be a quite easy yet maybe a little annoying task.

[i3oilermaker]

In my opinion, blues are too loud for cubicles.  I would wait and see if there are other clackers, and maybe stick to Browns or Reds if there are not.

[ModusPwnens]

Have you been in the office and seen people working yet? If it's a big room full of cubicles with people coding, there might be people already there using mechanical boards with blues or buckling springs.

Yes, I have. I had an internship there this summer. Nobody around me used a mechanical keyboard. Everyone pretty much used the company issued dell keyboards.

[Amarok]

Have you been in the office and seen people working yet? If it's a big room full of cubicles with people coding, there might be people already there using mechanical boards with blues or buckling springs.

Yes, I have. I had an internship there this summer. Nobody around me used a mechanical keyboard. Everyone pretty much used the company issued dell keyboards.

Yeah in that case I wouldn't use blues in an office. I never really realized how loud blues were until I bought my wife a keyboard with blues and she drove me insane, but they don't bother me at all when I use them.  )

[ValerieV]

I use blues at work and nobody really seems to mind. The clicky sound makes it sound like i am working really hard rather than surfing the internet or writing a paper for school. 

[Burz]

Yes, MX blues are too loud for a normal office or cube farm in my opinion. MX white switches might fit the bill, except virtually no keyboards are being made with them (I know only of the KBT Race, but that is small and isn't really even being marketed in the West).

You should check out the Matias Quiet Pro. It was designed to have good tactile feedback while keeping the noise down. I don't think any of Cherry's switches meet that combination of criteria, unfortunately... not even with O-rings added.

Links to some reviews:

http://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2012/09/matias-quiet-pro-for-pc-and-mac-featuring-brand-new-quiet-click-switches/

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/11/matias-quiet-pro-keyboard-review/

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32769.msg684661#msg684661

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=36595.msg693847#msg693847

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32769.msg675873#msg675873

http://deskthority.net/news-reviews-f4/http-matias-ca-quietpro-t3979.html

Mfg site: http://matias.ca/quietpro/

They also have their own forum here on GH.

Good luck with your decision...

[0100010]

I use buckling springs in my office and I get no complaints.

[itznfb]

You'll be shocked at how quiet things are amplified in an office. I work in IT and my MX Browns are considered loud.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[fohat.digs]

Browns with O-rings are probably your best option until (unless?) store-bought ergo clears (purples?) actually hit the market.

Non-clicky Alps can be very nice if you can get a good one, but the majority of pre-2000 Alps are bad.

A rubber mat under the keyboard can make a surprising difference, too.

[SmallFry]

Agreed Dante! I have one of those that my family uses as a daily driver, since I don't let them touch my boards.

[ModusPwnens]

Yes, MX blues are too loud for a normal office or cube farm in my opinion. MX white switches might fit the bill, except virtually no keyboards are being made with them (I know only of the KBT Race, but that is small and isn't really even being marketed in the West).

You should check out the Matias Quiet Pro. It was designed to have good tactile feedback while keeping the noise down. I don't think any of Cherry's switches meet that combination of criteria, unfortunately... not even with O-rings added.

Links to some reviews:

http://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2012/09/matias-quiet-pro-for-pc-and-mac-featuring-brand-new-quiet-click-switches/

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/11/matias-quiet-pro-keyboard-review/

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32769.msg684661#msg684661

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=36595.msg693847#msg693847

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32769.msg675873#msg675873

http://deskthority.net/news-reviews-f4/http-matias-ca-quietpro-t3979.html

Mfg site: http://matias.ca/quietpro/

They also have their own forum here on GH.

Good luck with your decision...

Wow, that seems like it might be ideal. However, I haven't tried one and it doesn't seem like that are any brick and mortar stores I could go to and try them out . Does anyone know how they compare as far as feel to one of the cherry switches?

[Neo.X]

Red with o-ring is the better choice, after all, you don't want to leave topre silent  in the office.

[ModusPwnens]

Red with o-ring is the better choice, after all, you don't want to leave topre silent  in the office.

I don't think I could take the plunge for a $300 keyboard right now anyways :/

[khaangaaroo]

Just because no one comes up to complain to you about your mx blues doesn't mean they don't hate your guts for using one

I used an mx red with o-rings at work, and it wasn't any louder than the other dell keyboards around me.

But if you can somehow lock up your keyboard or don't mind taking it to/from work, I would recommend springing for the Topre. Even the non-silent topres are less noisy than cherry.

[ModusPwnens]

Just because no one comes up to complain to you about your mx blues doesn't mean they don't hate your guts for using one

I used an mx red with o-rings at work, and it wasn't any louder than the other dell keyboards around me.

But if you can somehow lock up your keyboard or don't mind taking it to/from work, I would recommend springing for the Topre. Even the non-silent topres are less noisy than cherry.

Would an employee actually steal another employee's keyboard? That actually happens?

[bounce]

Maybe the cleaning crew

[khaangaaroo]

Would an employee actually steal another employee's keyboard? That actually happens?

Unlikely. But I've seen a post or two about coworkers using and spilling stuff on others' keyboards. Sometimes I forget to save things onto the server, and my coworkers would have to jump on my computer to get the files while I'm at home. I know IT moves my stuff around when they're updating things too.

I just lock my Topre in my desk and leave out the company supplied keyboard and mouse when I leave. Better safe than sorry.

[TheQsanity]

ever heard of clears? or ergo clears?

[ModusPwnens]

ever heard of clears? or ergo clears?

I've heard about clears, but they are just stiffer browns. And I mentioned ergo clears in my original post.

[TheQsanity]

ever heard of clears? or ergo clears?

I've heard about clears, but they are just stiffer browns. And I mentioned ergo clears in my original post.

They also have a larger bump. You could lube up your blues so they don't click.

[Larken]

I used to use a cherry red mx without o-rings and filco profile keycaps in the office - i think it must have bugged the hell outta my colleagues, or at least those who don't listen to music at work. It's still bloody loud even though there's no click, because of the bottoming out. That non-stop clicking of blues will annoy some people, while others might be okay with it, but it's definitely audible in a cubicle office. Whether it's tolerable depends on the people in that specific office. I never did get any complaints about my keyboard while I was using it, but none of my colleagues were extremely bothered by it either.

As a side note, I don't really feel the extra tactility that blues have over browns, but I've using browns for a few years now and I'm extremely used to going for that bump. It might a matter of getting used to it, or you could go for one of these.

http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/keyboards/POS/8113/index.htm

Comes with clears which are stiffer browns, iirc it requires  more force than blues to actuate. That tactile bump will likely be stronger, and as an programming dabbler myself, those extra buttons and trackpad is pretty sweet. I believe there's some stock in the GH groupbuy leftover too, or ebay has it pretty affordable. I haven't tried one myself so far, but it might be up your alley.

[stingrae]

Depends on how you type most of the time...In my small cubical another persons rubber dome makes more or as much noise, funnily the rubber dome on my desk is near silent and not bad compared to others. Browns and reds are better since you lose the pitch of the blues. Decibel wise blues aren't that much louder than browns. O-rings probably help but I haven't bothered getting any.

[furosuto81]

Personally, I don't think Blues are that "loud", per se. It's more that the click is high-pitched and more "piercing". I'd say that buckling spring and clicky ALPS are "louder", but less piercing. If that makes any sense. Seems that the quietest tactile switches out there are Topre and Matias Quiet switches.

[HolidaySHRIMP]

I used blues and no one complained. If anyone would have I would have told them to **** off. I use topre now and they say it's more noticeable than the blues because of the thud sound.

[WhiteFireDragon]

Blues will be too loud for an office setting. No one needs to know you're typing from 10 cubicles away. And like you already experienced, browns half-assed it when it comes to tactility. The closest thing to a silent mx blue is ergo clear, but even that feels a little different. What you can also do is put lubricant inside the switch and that will drown out the click. Blues + lubricant is nearly the same as ergo clears. Both require desoldering though.

[rowdy]

I have MX blues at work, and so far no-one has complained.  Actually it is usually fairly noisy, so I don't think anyone has noticed much.  Occasionally it is quiet, and to me the keyboard sounds a tad loud, but anyway.

Actually the mouse clicks are louder than the MX blues tactile click, and the sound of bottoming out is louder than both of those.

[MissMurd3r84]

Sadly I hammer the hell out of rubber domes so badly that if I am typing near people they look over just to see if I am actually typing words or just randomly hitting buttons, or smashing, should I say

[rayuki]

seriously if i worked in a cubicle and someone next to me had blues, or probally even a buckling spring keyboard and was typing more then 60WPM on it i would go mad and be hard pressed not to destroy it/steal it when they wern't looking, or worse yet in a fit of rage bash there skull in with it lol

[ValerieV]

Good thing you don't work with me. Besides, i really don't type that much. It's mostly clicking a mouse and some light typing. The advantage we have at work is we have ipods on our ears so we aren't even listening to other noises in our office. 

[rayuki]

Good thing you don't work with me. Besides, i really don't type that much. It's mostly clicking a mouse and some light typing. The advantage we have at work is we have ipods on our ears so we aren't even listening to other noises in our office. 

hhaha your lucky, my work confiscates all electronics including mobile phones and radio or music is not allowed

[furosuto81]

Good thing you don't work with me. Besides, i really don't type that much. It's mostly clicking a mouse and some light typing. The advantage we have at work is we have ipods on our ears so we aren't even listening to other noises in our office. 

hhaha your lucky, my work confiscates all electronics including mobile phones and radio or music is not allowed

Ahh. One of those "Unhappy people are more productive" kind of companies. Smart.

[metalliqaz]

I officially disbelieve the claim that blues are louder than browns.  I cause quite a racket with my browns at work.  I own a keyboard with blues as well and the 'click' is not as loud as the 'clack', if you know what I mean.

[rayuki]

Good thing you don't work with me. Besides, i really don't type that much. It's mostly clicking a mouse and some light typing. The advantage we have at work is we have ipods on our ears so we aren't even listening to other noises in our office. 

hhaha your lucky, my work confiscates all electronics including mobile phones and radio or music is not allowed

Ahh. One of those "Unhappy people are more productive" kind of companies. Smart.

shame no matter how many studies i show them saying music in the workplace creates a more productive environment etc they wont change. oh well, they cant stop me using my loud music and loud keyboards on nightshifts when im alone lol

[ModusPwnens]

If anyone here has used the matias quiet pro, can you tell me how it compares to cherry mx brown and blue switches?

[salmo]

I officially disbelieve the claim that blues are louder than browns.  I cause quite a racket with my browns at work.  I own a keyboard with blues as well and the 'click' is not as loud as the 'clack', if you know what I mean.

Amen!  The person next to me sometimes is a little bugged by my browns, but I think blues would be the same to her.  The bottoming out is worse than the click.  Of course, she mumbles in Tamil, so I give her a hard time about that.

And really she's more (vocally?) annoyed by her husband's keyboard (on the other side of her) anyway, and it's just a clacky Keytronics rubber dome.  I'm trying to talk him into getting an ISO model M, just for the laughs.

[GMC]

Good thing you don't work with me. Besides, i really don't type that much. It's mostly clicking a mouse and some light typing. The advantage we have at work is we have ipods on our ears so we aren't even listening to other noises in our office. 

hhaha your lucky, my work confiscates all electronics including mobile phones and radio or music is not allowed

Is it a secure environment?

Back to topic, I put o-rings on my pure as zinc caps on browns were noisy as I bottom out all the time.

[furosuto81]

If anyone here has used the matias quiet pro, can you tell me how it compares to cherry mx brown and blue switches?

I own all three...MQP is considerably quieter. There's no "clack" due to the dampening, and there no mechanism to create a "click" sound. It's much more tactile than Browns. It might even be more tactile than Blues, though I have yet to compare side to side.

The recordings posted on this page are 100% representative of how they sound.

Back to topic, I put o-rings on my pure as zinc caps on browns were noisy as I bottom out all the time.

I tried WASD 40A-R o-rings on my Brown board and hated it. It dampened the sound a little bit, but the feel was horrible. And I didn't much care for the Brown feel to begin with. Maybe I should have gone with 50A-Rs instead.

[ModusPwnens]

If anyone here has used the matias quiet pro, can you tell me how it compares to cherry mx brown and blue switches?

I own all three...MQP is considerably quieter. There's no "clack" due to the dampening, and there no mechanism to create a "click" sound. It's much more tactile than Browns. It might even be more tactile than Blues, though I have yet to compare side to side.

The recordings posted on this page are 100% representative of how they sound.

Back to topic, I put o-rings on my pure as zinc caps on browns were noisy as I bottom out all the time.

I tried WASD 40A-R o-rings on my Brown board and hated it. It dampened the sound a little bit, but the feel was horrible. And I didn't much care for the Brown feel to begin with. Maybe I should have gone with 50A-Rs instead.

Awesome. I knew about the sound levels because I found that page before, but it's really nice to know that they are more tactile than browns. I love the tactile bump on the blues, and if the MQP is anything like that, I am sold. Thanks a bunch guys

[nullstring]

You can hear sound samples here:
http://matias.ca/quietpro/mac/

I've never heard quiet pro and tactile pro, but the cherry sound samples sound right on.
Notice the blues are that much louder than browns, but they do have that high pitched click that is likely to get on other peoples nerves.

[Larken]

If anyone here has used the matias quiet pro, can you tell me how it compares to cherry mx brown and blue switches?

I own all three...MQP is considerably quieter. There's no "clack" due to the dampening, and there no mechanism to create a "click" sound. It's much more tactile than Browns. It might even be more tactile than Blues, though I have yet to compare side to side.

The recordings posted on this page are 100% representative of how they sound.

Back to topic, I put o-rings on my pure as zinc caps on browns were noisy as I bottom out all the time.

I tried WASD 40A-R o-rings on my Brown board and hated it. It dampened the sound a little bit, but the feel was horrible. And I didn't much care for the Brown feel to begin with. Maybe I should have gone with 50A-Rs instead.

I've tried the 50A o-rings on  my brown - and changed the feel of the keys alot, so much as to actually change the actuation distance. I hated it. Removed those after 1 week (left them on for a while to see if they'd grow on me, but they didn't.) Wouldn't recommend the 50A.

[schizrade]

Nobody where I work cares, one lady uses a Buckling spring and nobody notices. We are all too busy to care.

[rowdy]

A while back someone said that my typing was hypnotic.  I was probably repetitively copy/pasting CVS email extracts into releases note at the time, that is the same 7 or 8 key strokes repeated over and over.

[TheQsanity]

Nobody where I work cares, one lady uses a Buckling spring and nobody notices. We are all too busy to care.

Sounds like a nice place.

Browns are louder than blues. You press harder and bottom out more. Blues are nice because I dont bottom out as much. It also depends on your caps. Without them you would not make much noise. I would assume different caps amplify the sounds differently.

[Rinsaku]

I would imagine it would depend on how close the coworks phyical distance is, and what noises bother them lol. I think red or browns with dampners would be better. But some people say to hell with that, hear my blues!

[Bry]

I hate the sound of blues. It gives me a headache.
If the office environment isn't naturally louder than your keyboard, it's best to not use that keyboard.

I think Topre would be the absolute best bet. I personally use a Filco with browns at work. I'm not a huge fan of browns but it gets the job done. At home I have a Filco with reds because most of my time spent on that PC is gaming.

[hotlikedimes]

I love the sound of my blue's too! My roommates aren't as fond of them as they can hear them over my music sometimes, but also it's generally a good indicator not to bother me if I'm typing a lot because they assume that I'm doing some code or other school work, or playing video games (especially SC2) then they definitely don't bother me.  At my old internship they had a couple of the old mac mechanical keyboards, which I think were just using Alps, don't remember which ones specifically, but they were kinda clicky and I was pretty close to my boss and he told me within 10 minutes that it had to go back or it was going to get broken over my head haha.  I would say bring it in one day after you get to know your coworkers around you and be like hey I really like my keyboard from home but I'm afraid it may be too loud, but I'm going to use it today, let me know if it bothers you at any point and I'll stop.  Chances are either they'll like you enough to let it slide (if they're passive aggressive it'll all come out one day which would suck but you get to enjoy your blues) or they'll immediately be like yeah no... And then go get reds or something. 

Also I'm typing on my BWU which I love, all though I can understand why they are probably disliked on the forums xD. 

[Binge]

If anyone here has used the matias quiet pro, can you tell me how it compares to cherry mx brown and blue switches?

It is much more quiet than browns and blues.  This is arguably the most quiet keyboard you can use that isn't a silenced topre.

[m00nshake]

I brought my Ducky Shine 2 with red mx to work for Halloween and you could barely hear it. Or you could get blacks if you usually type really hard on the keys. Some people experience hand fatigue on blacks but I didn't have a problem with them.