The Uniformity of Cherry MX White

[Art of Payce]

Despite wishing they were a little lighter, like MX Blues, I favor the subdued click on these. However, I recently saw a review of MX Greens and MX Whites on the KBParadise V60. Click here for review at 6:00. The difference in click and non-click Whites is evident and IIRC MechanicalKeyboards.com noted something similar on their website, that this was an intended variance during manufacturing. Does anyone have any experience to confirm that the switches vary this much (click vs no click)?

Whites are a little more expensive than other defaults like black and blue; perhaps it will take buying many extras for my own quality control prior to switch replacement on a TKL.

[SpAmRaY]

Yes the variable click vs no click is a known issue with MX white switches. I believe someone posted about a fix at some point but I can't recall who at the moment.

[Art of Payce]

Hmmm, thanks SpAmRay. Do you remember to what extent the solution resolved or compensated for the no-click Whites? Among the clicky Whites, should I expect deviations in click volume and tactility from switch to switch?

[IvanIvanovich]

They are by far the least uniform MX switch. If you want something approaching uniformity I would definitely suggest buying the switches alone, with a 30% extra over what you need and doing your own click QC before installing them. Otherwise... hunt down some true vintage blues. These also have a much less noisy click, and can be differentiated by not having the notch on the keymount, as well as generally being a different shade of blue.
See here http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/cherry-mx-blue-variant-identification-t10147.html to see what I am talking about.

[katushkin]

I didn't know about this issue. The whites I have in my YOTH seem pretty uniform. I'm not as big a fan as I thought I would be, whites feel very linear underneath the click, and they also feel a lot lighter than you would expect.

[tbc]

you could try gateron blues.

i call them pieces of knockoff ****, but i like loud switches and these are slightly quieter than mx blues.  so these may be what you were looking for

[SpAmRaY]

Hmmm, thanks SpAmRay. Do you remember to what extent the solution resolved or compensated for the no-click Whites? Among the clicky Whites, should I expect deviations in click volume and tactility from switch to switch?

From what I recall some people had success simply opening and reassembling the switches to restore the click. The board I had with mx whites had some that didn't have any click and some that just had a sort of in between nothing and normal, hard to explain but very noticeable in use.

There has been debate on both sides some of the mx whites some come factory lubed and some do not, to what extent this affects the click I can't say.

My search skills are lacking this afternoon.

You can read about lubing whites in the vicinity of this post -> https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=34332.msg1172831#msg1172831 maybe find some useful info that might help

[CPTBadAss]

The Pure I'm trying to sell has the QC issue you're referring to. I've been too lazy to swap in properly clicking Whites. I still really like Whites but it's a PITA to try and QC them every time I build or buy a board.

[tankfulloffoxes]

I've heard that the plastic they use for the slider affects the switch as well.  I just got 50 milks, washed the factory grease/lube out, and put in 45g springs in hopes of a more uniform skim milk.  What I found was that the switches are in fact slightly quieter.  The click isn't as sharp as blues, but its still there.  If you want quieter blues, do what cptbadass says. 

[falkentyne]

I didn't know about this issue. The whites I have in my YOTH seem pretty uniform. I'm not as big a fan as I thought I would be, whites feel very linear underneath the click, and they also feel a lot lighter than you would expect.

MX blues and MX greens are ALSO linear under their click.  It's how the spring is designed.
MX milk whites are sometimes called "albinio greens."  The tactile feel and actuation are almost identical.  Just the feel of the actuation bump and click itself are a bit different.

it sounds like you want "MX click greys" if you want the switch to not have a "linear" feel under the click.  Am I correct that you want the resistance to INCREASE under the click as you bottom out?

Ifi you want the click : Try these:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_MX_Click_Grey

You can also try the more common (but still rare) tactile greys.  At least you can find them in some keyboards (Vortex and some others), while you would have to get a click grey board most likely made by yourself--if you can even find the switch.

[katushkin]

I didn't know about this issue. The whites I have in my YOTH seem pretty uniform. I'm not as big a fan as I thought I would be, whites feel very linear underneath the click, and they also feel a lot lighter than you would expect.

MX blues and MX greens are ALSO linear under their click.  It's how the spring is designed.
MX milk whites are sometimes called "albinio greens."  The tactile feel and actuation are almost identical.  Just the feel of the actuation bump and click itself are a bit different.

it sounds like you want "MX click greys" if you want the switch to not have a "linear" feel under the click.  Am I correct that you want the resistance to INCREASE under the click as you bottom out?

Ifi you want the click : Try these:
http://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_MX_Click_Grey

You can also try the more common (but still rare) tactile greys.  At least you can find them in some keyboards (Vortex and some others), while you would have to get a click grey board most likely made by yourself--if you can even find the switch.

Sorry, what I mean by that, is that there isn't a very distinctive tactile bump where the click is. With blues and greens, there is distinctive feedback along with the click. But with whites, I don't feel like there is any tactility, or any sort of feedback, other than the click. That's what I meant by linear behind the click.

I don't want it to increase, I was just hoping for something behind the click.

I would say after using both whites and greens, they are very very different. Admittedly I have a Granite set on my greens, and stock caps on my whites, but I don't think that would make that much of a difference.

I have just had a load of tactile greys transplanted into my Keycool (in my signature) and I've been using it for about a week and a bit, and I do like them. But I think I'm going to swap back to my V60 with greens because I think I like them more... I have so many switches to choose from and I actually like them all a lot =/

[falkentyne]

Ah I understand now.
Most likely you have a defective switch, like the one that was linked in the video.
I've seen mx browns with almost no tactility also (had THREE of them on my first ducky shine 3, while the second shine 3 was fine).

On my Ducky shine 69 fire board, there is very good feedback besides the click.  The MX white (milk) I have on the scroll lock (the only key with a MX milk white) has a sharp click (just slightly more muted than the MX greens) and a very obvious bump at the click, too.  In fact, I will say that the tactile feedback feels the exact same as on my MX milk white and on the MX greens.  So maybe you have a bad sample?

or did you have multiple whites?

[katushkin]

Ah I understand now.
Most likely you have a defective switch, like the one that was linked in the video.
I've seen mx browns with almost no tactility also (had THREE of them on my first ducky shine 3, while the second shine 3 was fine).

On my Ducky shine 69 fire board, there is very good feedback besides the click.  The MX white (milk) I have on the scroll lock (the only key with a MX milk white) has a sharp click (just slightly more muted than the MX greens) and a very obvious bump at the click, too.  In fact, I will say that the tactile feedback feels the exact same as on my MX milk white and on the MX greens.  So maybe you have a bad sample?

or did you have multiple whites?

I have a keyboard full of them