Considering Blue Alps...

[Row009]

Hi,

At the moment i'm using a Cherry MX Blue board, and i'm quite satisfied.
I was thinking of trying something apart from the Cherry series for a change, and was looking into different brands.
I stumbled across Alps and was wondering how the SKCM Blue ones feel compared to the Blue MXs...
Would you recommend them?, What about clones?,
Do they feel better than Cherry from your personal experience?

Thanks for your time...

[emdude]

Yes on all counts; The tactility is better (as is generally the case for Alps switches), and the click is richer and more satisfying.  I have not tried clones so I can't say anything on those.

You should be prepared to pay a lot of money if you are looking for a vintage board with them though.  If you want something more accessible and affordable, I recommend Matias switches, which I hear are pretty decent.

[chyros]

Blue Alps are better in pretty much every way, but unfortunately come with a hefty pricetag, and although they're not rare, it's not easy to find one in great condition, which is of supreme importance with Alps. I recommend checking out a white Alps board before you move to blue as white Alps are more common and much cheaper. The feel is not quite as refined as blue Alps, but the price/quality ratio is much better. Whatever you do, make sure you get a clean board! If you get one that's not clean, they won't be as good, or even feel like ****. It's better to be patient and be on the lookout for a nice board than get greedy and jump on one in dirty condition.

[Row009]

Yes on all counts; The tactility is better (as is generally the case for Alps switches), and the click is richer and more satisfying.  I have not tried clones so I can't say anything on those.

You should be prepared to pay a lot of money if you are looking for a vintage board with them though.  If you want something more accessible and affordable, I recommend Matias switches, which I hear are pretty decent.

Blue Alps are better in pretty much every way, but unfortunately come with a hefty pricetag, and although they're not rare, it's not easy to find one in great condition, which is of supreme importance with Alps. I recommend checking out a white Alps board before you move to blue as white Alps are more common and much cheaper. The feel is not quite as refined as blue Alps, but the price/quality ratio is much better. Whatever you do, make sure you get a clean board! If you get one that's not clean, they won't be as good, or even feel like ****. It's better to be patient and be on the lookout for a nice board than get greedy and jump on one in dirty condition.

Thanks to the both of you;
I guess I might get a White Alps board from eBay, they go for about 80$ - which is not bad (I actually prefer getting a vintage one since they are quite sturdier than many of the present day boards...).
And who knows, I might get lucky and stumble upon a Blue one for a reasonable price (hopefully).

[chyros]

Yes on all counts; The tactility is better (as is generally the case for Alps switches), and the click is richer and more satisfying.  I have not tried clones so I can't say anything on those.

You should be prepared to pay a lot of money if you are looking for a vintage board with them though.  If you want something more accessible and affordable, I recommend Matias switches, which I hear are pretty decent.

Blue Alps are better in pretty much every way, but unfortunately come with a hefty pricetag, and although they're not rare, it's not easy to find one in great condition, which is of supreme importance with Alps. I recommend checking out a white Alps board before you move to blue as white Alps are more common and much cheaper. The feel is not quite as refined as blue Alps, but the price/quality ratio is much better. Whatever you do, make sure you get a clean board! If you get one that's not clean, they won't be as good, or even feel like ****. It's better to be patient and be on the lookout for a nice board than get greedy and jump on one in dirty condition.

Thanks to the both of you;
I guess I might get a White Alps board from eBay, they go for about 80$ - which is not bad (I actually prefer getting a vintage one since they are quite sturdier than many of the present day boards...).
And who knows, I might get lucky and stumble upon a Blue one for a reasonable price (hopefully).

for $80 you should be able to net a pretty much top-of-the-line one. I'm sure you can get one MUCH cheaper than that if you looked. Try the Classifieds, you might well find a good, cheap one there .

[sony]

Don't blue alps boards go for upwards of $200?

[jerue]

Don't blue alps boards go for upwards of $200?

Depends, should be able to find a Leading Edge or possibly gold label Omnikey for less than that, but a straight ANSI layout in very good shape might net that price.

[klennkellon]

If you don't feel you're ready to shell out on SKCM Blue you could just get a board with SKCM White, they're much more common and cheaper. You should be able to get one with either a normal ANSI or Focus layout for under $100.

They're not as good as SKCM Blue but they're still really good and not super far off so if you want a trial run before you shell out a bit more for a SKCM blue board they're great.

I cannot stress enough to make sure the board is in good condition though, dirty alps feel nasty.

[Altis]

The Blue Alps are quite a bit smoother, both in terms of grittiness and length of the tactility, compared with MX switches. White alps are rather heavy and not as smooth, but can give you an idea if you like Alps switches.

Monterey Blue switches are also quite good Alp-clones.

I may end up selling my Blue Alps board in the near future as I need to downsize my collection dramatically.

[Row009]

Yes on all counts; The tactility is better (as is generally the case for Alps switches), and the click is richer and more satisfying.  I have not tried clones so I can't say anything on those.

You should be prepared to pay a lot of money if you are looking for a vintage board with them though.  If you want something more accessible and affordable, I recommend Matias switches, which I hear are pretty decent.

Blue Alps are better in pretty much every way, but unfortunately come with a hefty pricetag, and although they're not rare, it's not easy to find one in great condition, which is of supreme importance with Alps. I recommend checking out a white Alps board before you move to blue as white Alps are more common and much cheaper. The feel is not quite as refined as blue Alps, but the price/quality ratio is much better. Whatever you do, make sure you get a clean board! If you get one that's not clean, they won't be as good, or even feel like ****. It's better to be patient and be on the lookout for a nice board than get greedy and jump on one in dirty condition.

Thanks to the both of you;
I guess I might get a White Alps board from eBay, they go for about 80$ - which is not bad (I actually prefer getting a vintage one since they are quite sturdier than many of the present day boards...).
And who knows, I might get lucky and stumble upon a Blue one for a reasonable price (hopefully).

for $80 you should be able to net a pretty much top-of-the-line one. I'm sure you can get one MUCH cheaper than that if you looked. Try the Classifieds, you might well find a good, cheap one there .

Sure will. Thanks man 

[Hypersphere]

IMHO, even Matias "Alps inspired" switches are better than any Cherry mx or Cherry mx clone I have tried (including Cherry red, black, blue, green, brown, and clear; and Gateron yellow). You can get Matias-switch keyboards from Matias or from Mechanicalkeyboards.com. I don't like the design and appearance of Matias' own boards, but I like the Matias-switch V60 boards from KBP. Matias switches come in 3 varieties: Click, Quiet, and Quiet Linear. I like the Click and Quiet varieties, with some preference for the Click switches. They are probably most similar to white Alps.

Among vintage Alps boards, I have some with Monterey blues, blue Alps, and white Alps. The quality of the experience, as Chyros has noted, is highly dependent upon the build quality of the board and how clean the switches are. I have a Northgate Omnikey 101 with white Alps and a Suntouch Jr with white Alps --both of these feel and sound better to me than my Leading Edge DC-2014 with blue Alps or my Monterey blue boards. But any of these sound and feel much better to me than any Cherry mx or Cherry mx clone.

BTW, my other favorites are Topre 45 and 55g and IBM capacitive buckling spring (Model F).

[mike52787]

mx blue is disgusting skcm blue is delicious

[emdude]

mx blue is disgusting skcm blue is delicious

I knew you were going to post something like this.

[mike52787]

mx blue is disgusting skcm blue is delicious

I knew you were going to post something like this.

the irony of this is im typing it on a mx clear board

[emdude]

mx blue is disgusting skcm blue is delicious

I knew you were going to post something like this.

the irony of this is im typing it on a mx clear board

) To be fair, even though I don't care for MX in general either, I'd still like to try MX Clears at some point, probably the only MX switch that interests me though.

[mike52787]

mx blue is disgusting skcm blue is delicious

I knew you were going to post something like this.

the irony of this is im typing it on a mx clear board

) To be fair, even though I don't care for MX in general either, I'd still like to try MX Clears at some point.

To be honest theyve made me type very lightly and are somewhat enjoyable to use. my board has 2 broken switches though. Its a plu-87.

[Mattr567]

You'll enjoy them. Just found this Packard Bell with them for cheap on craigslist and I love it.

[fohat.digs]

I'd still like to try MX Clears at some point, probably the only MX switch that interests me though.

Jailhoused greens (and blues) are pretty nice, completely changes everything.

[klennkellon]

MX Blues are my guilty pleasure switch, they were my first mechanical switch (alternative was a Ducky with XM Greens which I heard suck) and I would definitely put one in my rotation if I had a functional one again.

I have a pcb with a bunch of heavily used mx blues, buttery smooth.

[SBJ]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

[emdude]

I'd still like to try MX Clears at some point, probably the only MX switch that interests me though.

Jailhoused greens (and blues) are pretty nice, completely changes everything.

Thanks for the suggestion, I realize I have not taken clones into consideration either, might want to try one of the Gateron variants.

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

[SBJ]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

[klennkellon]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

If you're in the US, look through any thrift stores and recycling centers near you, it's a lot cheaper than Ebay though do watch out for good deals there.

You could also buy a board with SKCM Blacks or Whites for much cheaper and linear mod them, they'll be just as smooth and similarly weighted. Chyros has a very informative video on his channel on it.

[SBJ]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

If you're in the US, look through any thrift stores and recycling centers near you, it's a lot cheaper than Ebay though do watch out for good deals there.

You could also buy a board with SKCM Blacks or Whites for much cheaper and linear mod them, they'll be just as smooth and similarly weighted. Chyros has a very informative video on his channel on it.

Unfortunately I'm in Denmark. A very small country. So finding any enthusiasts like me is hard. I would love to know someone close to me who's into mechs as well.

[henz]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

If you're in the US, look through any thrift stores and recycling centers near you, it's a lot cheaper than Ebay though do watch out for good deals there.

You could also buy a board with SKCM Blacks or Whites for much cheaper and linear mod them, they'll be just as smooth and similarly weighted. Chyros has a very informative video on his channel on it.

Unfortunately I'm in Denmark. A very small country. So finding any enthusiasts like me is hard. I would love to know someone close to me who's into mechs as well.

I have blues if you decide you want that instead and im in sweden.

[SBJ]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

If you're in the US, look through any thrift stores and recycling centers near you, it's a lot cheaper than Ebay though do watch out for good deals there.

You could also buy a board with SKCM Blacks or Whites for much cheaper and linear mod them, they'll be just as smooth and similarly weighted. Chyros has a very informative video on his channel on it.

Unfortunately I'm in Denmark. A very small country. So finding any enthusiasts like me is hard. I would love to know someone close to me who's into mechs as well.

I have blues if you decide you want that instead and im in sweden.

Actually wouldn't mind trying a blue alps board. How are they? Compared to greens.

[klennkellon]

Blue Alps and Green Alps are totally different switches.

Blue Alps are tactile, clicky, and somewhat stiffer.

Green Alps are linears.

[SBJ]

Blue Alps and Green Alps are totally different switches.

Blue Alps are tactile, clicky, and somewhat stiffer.

Green Alps are linears.

Oh see this I didn't know.
Would definitely be more interested in Blues than Greens then. 

[henz]

Blue Alps and Green Alps are totally different switches.

Blue Alps are tactile, clicky, and somewhat stiffer.

Green Alps are linears.

Oh see this I didn't know.
Would definitely be more interested in Blues than Greens then. 

I do only have some switches though without a board. But id be willing to help you make something. Hit me up.

[SBJ]

Blue Alps and Green Alps are totally different switches.

Blue Alps are tactile, clicky, and somewhat stiffer.

Green Alps are linears.

Oh see this I didn't know.
Would definitely be more interested in Blues than Greens then. 

I do only have some switches though without a board. But id be willing to help you make something. Hit me up.

Thank you so much for this.
I'll send you a PM once I get back from work.

[chyros]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

They're not that rare. Uncommon, but they pop up from time to time. But if you're buying greens, you're buying a Zenith, and you're buying it for the chassis, not the switches. Any other Alps can be linearised to feel just as good as greens. That said, the Z-150 and ZKB-2 chassis are excellent and they're very good-looking boards too .

[SBJ]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

They're not that rare. Uncommon, but they pop up from time to time. But if you're buying greens, you're buying a Zenith, and you're buying it for the chassis, not the switches. Any other Alps can be linearised to feel just as good as greens. That said, the Z-150 and ZKB-2 chassis are excellent and they're very good-looking boards too .

My mistake was I thought greens were tactile. But as I can work out I need a blue alps board.

[chyros]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

They're not that rare. Uncommon, but they pop up from time to time. But if you're buying greens, you're buying a Zenith, and you're buying it for the chassis, not the switches. Any other Alps can be linearised to feel just as good as greens. That said, the Z-150 and ZKB-2 chassis are excellent and they're very good-looking boards too .

My mistake was I thought greens were tactile. But as I can work out I need a blue alps board.

That's fair enough. When you do get an Alps board, try linearising it, though. Linear Alps are actually the ones that made me appreciate linear switches .

[SBJ]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

They're not that rare. Uncommon, but they pop up from time to time. But if you're buying greens, you're buying a Zenith, and you're buying it for the chassis, not the switches. Any other Alps can be linearised to feel just as good as greens. That said, the Z-150 and ZKB-2 chassis are excellent and they're very good-looking boards too .

My mistake was I thought greens were tactile. But as I can work out I need a blue alps board.

That's fair enough. When you do get an Alps board, try linearising it, though. Linear Alps are actually the ones that made me appreciate linear switches .

I'll give it a try for sure. Where do you recommend picking up a blue alps board? I live in a small country so thrift stores aren't an option really.

[chyros]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

They're not that rare. Uncommon, but they pop up from time to time. But if you're buying greens, you're buying a Zenith, and you're buying it for the chassis, not the switches. Any other Alps can be linearised to feel just as good as greens. That said, the Z-150 and ZKB-2 chassis are excellent and they're very good-looking boards too .

My mistake was I thought greens were tactile. But as I can work out I need a blue alps board.

That's fair enough. When you do get an Alps board, try linearising it, though. Linear Alps are actually the ones that made me appreciate linear switches .

I'll give it a try for sure. Where do you recommend picking up a blue alps board? I live in a small country so thrift stores aren't an option really.

You'd be hard-pressed to find one outside of eBay or the Classifieds.

[klennkellon]

I'd try the classifieds out here first, you'll probably get the better deal here.

Ebay is reliable but very pricey unless you happen to get lucky and the seller doesn't really know what their selling.

[Altis]

It would help to know where you're located. I may be willing to part with my Blue Alps board in the near future.

[SBJ]

I'm in the market for a green alps board - how rare are they and how much should I expect to pay?

Somewhat rare, I think they're most often found in vintage Zenith boards.  You should probably expect to pay around $60-80 for one, going by eBay prices.

Oh that's actually not as bad as I expected. But I am not happy you said they were rare. I guess I'll have to scour eBay once a day or something.

They're not that rare. Uncommon, but they pop up from time to time. But if you're buying greens, you're buying a Zenith, and you're buying it for the chassis, not the switches. Any other Alps can be linearised to feel just as good as greens. That said, the Z-150 and ZKB-2 chassis are excellent and they're very good-looking boards too .

My mistake was I thought greens were tactile. But as I can work out I need a blue alps board.

That's fair enough. When you do get an Alps board, try linearising it, though. Linear Alps are actually the ones that made me appreciate linear switches .

I'll give it a try for sure. Where do you recommend picking up a blue alps board? I live in a small country so thrift stores aren't an option really.

You'd be hard-pressed to find one outside of eBay or the Classifieds.

Thank you very much for your guidance.

It would help to know where you're located. I may be willing to part with my Blue Alps board in the near future.

I'm in Denmark.

[Dihedral]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

[fohat.digs]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

Probably just about halfway between white Alps and SMK "Montereys"

That is, Alps sound and feel but SMK weight.

[Dihedral]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

Probably just about halfway between white Alps and SMK "Montereys"

That is, Alps sound and feel but SMK weight.

Hmmm... assuming all Blue Alps in the world were to instantly transform into either White Alps or Montereys, which scenario would you personally prefer?

[chyros]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

IMO:

blue Alps > Montereys > white Alps > Matias

Montereys feel better than white Alps but don't sound as good.

[Dihedral]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

IMO:

blue Alps > Montereys > white Alps > Matias

Montereys feel better than white Alps but don't sound as good.

Thanks, Monterey switches seem consistently highly rated... wouldn't mind picking one up at some point.

[mike52787]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

IMO:

blue Alps > Montereys > white Alps > Matias

Montereys feel better than white Alps but don't sound as good.

Thanks, Monterey switches seem consistently highly rated... wouldn't mind picking one up at some point.

The only issue with monterey blues is that most boards they came is are pretty **** quality. If I were you I would wait until bluenalgene's Alps Party Massif TKL IC goes into group buy mode and buy a donor board for the switches. you can use the donor board until the group buy comes out.

[Dihedral]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

IMO:

blue Alps > Montereys > white Alps > Matias

Montereys feel better than white Alps but don't sound as good.

Thanks, Monterey switches seem consistently highly rated... wouldn't mind picking one up at some point.

The only issue with monterey blues is that most boards they came is are pretty **** quality. If I were you I would wait until bluenalgene's Alps Party Massif TKL IC goes into group buy mode and buy a donor board for the switches. you can use the donor board until the group buy comes out.

It sucks that the boards are low quality. I was hoping I could try them on a budget... if I were going to buy an expensive GB board I would probably just go for the pricey Blue Alps switches to match. Thanks for the advice anyhow.

[mike52787]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

IMO:

blue Alps > Montereys > white Alps > Matias

Montereys feel better than white Alps but don't sound as good.

Thanks, Monterey switches seem consistently highly rated... wouldn't mind picking one up at some point.

The only issue with monterey blues is that most boards they came is are pretty **** quality. If I were you I would wait until bluenalgene's Alps Party Massif TKL IC goes into group buy mode and buy a donor board for the switches. you can use the donor board until the group buy comes out.

It sucks that the boards are low quality. I was hoping I could try them on a budget... if I were going to buy an expensive GB board I would probably just go for the pricey Blue Alps switches to match. Thanks for the advice anyhow.

I can send you one loose switch to try if you are in conus.

[Dihedral]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

IMO:

blue Alps > Montereys > white Alps > Matias

Montereys feel better than white Alps but don't sound as good.

Thanks, Monterey switches seem consistently highly rated... wouldn't mind picking one up at some point.

The only issue with monterey blues is that most boards they came is are pretty **** quality. If I were you I would wait until bluenalgene's Alps Party Massif TKL IC goes into group buy mode and buy a donor board for the switches. you can use the donor board until the group buy comes out.

It sucks that the boards are low quality. I was hoping I could try them on a budget... if I were going to buy an expensive GB board I would probably just go for the pricey Blue Alps switches to match. Thanks for the advice anyhow.

I can send you one loose switch to try if you are in conus.

UK, but thanks for the offer.

[Hypersphere]

The sound and feel of Alps are highly dependent on the construction of the keyboard and the cleanliness of the switches.

I have a SIIG 84 with Monterey blues. Unfortunately, the design of the Return key seems to require hitting it dead center to avoid a very wonky feel. I also have an Ortek 84 with white Alps clones and a SIIG Suntouch Jr. with white Alps -- either of these sounds and feels better to me than the SIIG 84 with Monterey blues.

My experience with blue Alps is very limited. I recently bought a Leading Edge DC-2014 with blue Alps. I like the smooth feel and subtle click, but the overall sound of the board is somewhat plasticky and hollow. At about the same time, I got a Northgate Omnikey 101 with white Alps, and I am typing on it now. The overall sound and feel of the Omnikey is solid -- as expected from the extensive use of steel in its construction. I also prefer the standard ANSI layout of the Omnikey, but I would prefer a smaller board -- TKL, or even better, 60%. As it is, I remap all my keyboards to a HHKB-like layout.

As for the "Alps-inspired" Matias switches, I've tried all three varieties (Click, Quiet, and Quiet Linear). Of these, I prefer Click and Quiet, with some preference for the Click. However, the Click switches are loud and rough, and the Quiet switches feel mushy when bottoming out. Nevertheless, Matias provides the only way to purchase a new keyboard with Alps-type switches, and I have a KBP V60 with Matias Clicks and another with Matias Quiets.

Putting all this together, my to-do list includes building at least one custom 60% board with Alps blue or white switches, dye-sub PBT keycaps, and HHKB layout. But here again, I need to prepare for some disappointment, because the sound and feel of a keyboard does not scale as one might hope when going from full-size to 60%. I have seen more than one report from someone who has built a 60% with blue Alps expressing some dismay that it was only "meh" compared to a full-size blue Alps board that they had tried previously.

[klennkellon]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

IMO:

blue Alps > Montereys > white Alps > Matias

Montereys feel better than white Alps but don't sound as good.

I'm curious, do you like the Matias in general? Would you still recommend them over MX switches?

[Dihedral]

To those who have tried them, in which order do the following rank when it comes to closeness to Blue Alps?

(Assuming all switches in prime condition)

- White Alps

- Monterey Blues

- Matias Clicks

IMO:

blue Alps > Montereys > white Alps > Matias

Montereys feel better than white Alps but don't sound as good.

I'm curious, do you like the Matias in general? Would you still recommend them over MX switches?

Don't let my opinion carry much weight, I've only tried Matias on switch testers and not on a full board but they feel very good indeed, if you like the very low travel before actuation I'd say they might be nicer than MX. chyros knows much more than mortals like me though