My daily driver is a Filco TKL w/ Browns. I have o-rings and thick pbt caps on it. I found that the o-rings and the thick pbt caps made a huge difference in the typing feel on my Filco. A little softer when bottoming out and I liked the slightly reduced keystroke length. I found the thick pbt caps to be a huge quality of life improvement because it almost completely removed the 'clackiness' when bottoming out.
I had really mixed feelings about trying Topre switches. I really enjoy my mx browns and I didn't want topre to ruin them for me. At the same time, I had to know what they were all about.
So here I am, switching back and forth between them to see what all the fuss is about...
I find that my MX switches make a lot more noise than these topre switches do. I think a lot of that comes down the the amount of movement in the MX switches in comparison with the topre switches. The topre switches feel very solid in comparison to the mx. When I rub my finger back and forth across the top of a keycap on the mx, I can hear plastic on plastic of the components of the switch hitting each other. When I do the same thing on the topre there is almost no sound even though the actual keycap moves just as much. Even though the keycap moves as much on the topre, it feel a lot more solid and concise. It feels a little like the mx switches are wearing pants one size too big and the topre switches are wearing skinny jeans. No idea if that makes any sense...
I feel that this topre board has a very pleasant bottom out feel. It feels a little like I am bottoming out on a rubber plate. When I bottom out it feels a little like the keycap is rebounding off the plate, but in a very subtle way. It feels a little bit like the ultimate o-ring mod for an mx.
When people talk about topre they always seem to focus on the actuation point and the tactile bump. I think that feels pretty much as expected, but the overall feel of the keyboard is not really what I was expecting. I don't know how to describe it without using words that sound wrong. It feels solid, smooth and refined. It feels a little bit like a trampoline. When you jump on a trampoline, the material is not solid under you, but as you reach the bottom of your jump, you feel totally supported as it begins to lift you back up. You get a seamless sensation as you jump. Compare this to MX which feel a little more like jumping on roofing tin or sheet metal. You can put stuff under the sheet metal to make it feel better, but you are still jumping on sheet metal. Not sure if that is going to make any sense either.
I am not going to say that this is the best thing since sliced bread though. I do love the feel and I think I am probably going to get more topre boards in the future, but I still do like the clickity clack of an mx board too. They are just different. I will use my topre board when sipping fine wine and I will use my mx board when I feel like I want to break someones face... haha...
All in all I am very happy with this keyboard and I look forward to using it a lot. Now I have to figure out which keyboard goes to work and which one stays at home. I may have to game on topre switches a bit to see if it is as good as my browns for gaming. I feel like I will probably prefer gaming on my browns, so we will see...
I am still going to build my mx 60% board as well as a 40% and a GHpad when they are ready. Guess we will see how this all plays out...
And now for some pictures...
