Mechanical keyboard with no "ring" - found

[davidc]

For some years, I have been trying to find a mechanical keyboard that doesn't ring with each keystroke. I have tried various Unicomps, an actual UK Model M, a Filco, various Cherry models and two gaming mechanical keyboards from QPad.  I have tried various MX switches - red, blue and brown.  All rang - pinged - when a keystroke is executed.  I think it is the circuit board resonating with the metal construction.  I even tried flossing the keys of a Unicomp Spacesaver to get rid of the ring but it didn't really work.  I knew the keyboard I wanted existed because I had one while working in an office in the 1990's - unfortunately I can't remember the name of it though I am pretty sure it was from a large manufacturer like Dell or HP.  It was in the days of Windows 3.1.

I am happy now because I have found a keyboard that uses MX Blues and does not ring at all.  It is the Cherry : G80-3000LSCGB-0 .  Strangely, I had a G80-3000 (G80-3000LSCGB-2) in 2008 and it rang very noticeably but this latest version doesn't.  I think it is because the keyboard is all plastic apart from the fibre circuit board.  Normally plastic construction is not an attractive proposition but the build quality of this keyboard is fine and it produces no ring at all just keystroke sound.  It is not heavy, not very expensive, and is made in the Czech Republic.  It is wonderful to use.  No extras with it, quite Spartan really, just a great typing machine.

I wanted to share this because I posted here some years ago seeking a pingless keyboard and one was not available then.  I have found one now.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I've never noticed any ping with my Filco with blues. With the Filco with browns that I used to use at work, some keys would sometimes have audible ping, which was actually annoying. I never hear any ping with my Poker II either. All plate-mounted.

[False_Dmitry_II]

I don't really notice that with SMK/NMB/Alps either....

[dorkvader]

I think it is because the keyboard is all plastic apart from the fibre circuit board.

The PCB is plastic as well.

I suspect the "ping" sound comes from resonances with the spring and switch mounting. If you seek another keyboard that doesn't "ping". You may consider topre or matias silent. There are others too (mentioned above) but I think different people have different sensitivites to such things. Myself, I enjoy a good ping and have a keyboard that pings louder than any other.

Glad you found one that works for you!

[davidc]

I am still very happy with my new Cherry which just makes a "chick" when keys are hit and a "clack" when the space bar is hit.  Thanks for suggestions but I don't need to use another keyboard now.  I have what I have been looking for.  The Filco definitely did ping (or ring might be more accurate) after a key was hit.  So did the others I mentioned in my first post (buckling spring models too).  As you say, it's something that either bugs you or it doesn't.  I think the more metal in the construction the more likely the switch mechanism is to set off a sympathetic ring on keystrokes. 

[daerid]

Favorite sounding keyboard that used springs was an old Dell AT101W. The closes to that would be a Matias.

[davidc]

Are the "springs" in the AT101W Alps switches?  I've only heard of springs as in buckling spring...

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Would it be at all inaccurate to say that, if it's mechanical, it has springs?

I feel like this is a stupid question...

[davidc]

Ah.  I thought it was some special type of mechanical switch.  Language gets pretty rarefied here...

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Would it be at all inaccurate to say that, if it's mechanical, it has springs?

I feel like this is a stupid question...

What is a mechanism? Are rubber domes and membranes excluded from being mechanisms — is there some requirement for exactly what types of parts are allowed in a mechanism? This has been debated before without resolution. For example, Matias refer to the Quiet Pro as the quietest mechanical keyboard, suggesting to some that they do not class Topre as mechanical. Some people equate "mechanical" with "high end", which becomes problematic when you consider that metal contact keyboards in particular can be disastrously cheap, with controller, switch, keycap and PCB failure.

Are the "springs" in the AT101W Alps switches?  I've only heard of springs as in buckling spring...

Alps switches have several springs. There's a helical (coil) return spring that provides the force and pushes the keycap back up. The click sound and tactile feel are provided by a folded metal spring at the front of the switch that catches the slider. In complicated Alps switches, the switch contacts are pressed together by a flat metal spring acting on a plastic spring; the contacts themselves are both rigid, and they're electrically connected during actuation by a metal membrane. In simplified Alps switches and the clones, one of the contacts itself is a flat spring that is pressed against the other contact.

It's all detailed here, but there are not yet any diagrams that indicate how they actually work:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCL/SKCM_series