Ducky One TKL RGB or IKBC F87 RGB?

[Pabben]

So I've narrowed down my first ever mech keyboard to these two. They are both TKL which I prefer and they are priced the same. I'm mainly gonna use it for gaming. Thoughts on which one is better?

POLL : http://www.strawpoll.me/12192282

[chryos1029]

I think both of them are quite similar in terms of build quality.
Ducky has a detachable cable whereas IKBC has a fixed cable.

For rgb wise, I think ducky's lighting can be controlled by both its hardware and beta software whereas ikbc can only be controlled through hardware.
Both are great keyboard nonetheless, choosing either one wont't be a wrong choice

[falkentyne]

Ducky One RGB is not compatible with the ducky software controller.  iKBC F87 and F108 come with VERY nice doubleshot PBT keycaps; the white version is identical to the YOTG keycap set including the diffused light bleed, but now it's PBT.  The Ducky has better RGB fade quality by far, however, but the animations are not as smooth as on the shine 6.  So it's a wash.

[zutroy]

I can't speak to the IKBC, but I recently bought a Ducky One TKL RGB (browns), and I'm very happy with it. I also bought it mainly (~90%) for gaming, and it's serving its purpose well. Build quality is what most expect from Ducky (heavy, solid, clean design), and it's very customizable through hardware (macros, lighting, etc.). Stock caps are nothing special—decently thick ABS doubleshot backlit. If you're planning on keeping the stock caps on, however, I would say that some of the keys have a less than perfect "shot" causing them to allow less light through in small areas on a few of the caps (nothing major, just something I noticed). I put some Leopold thick PBT caps on mine, and they improve the overall feel (they aren't backlit, but the leds shine nicely through the spaces between keys). The cable is removable, but it's a micro USB and the stock cable is a bit short (my desk sits rather high and my tower is on the floor, and the cable just barely reaches—I think it's about 5 ft).

Just looking at the ikbc product page (http://www.ikbc.com.tw/f87), if details in the photos are accurate, I can make a few observations. First, I think the Ducky might have a lower profile case, just by a tad. Also, the Ducky has clear switch housing tops which seems to make the lighting a bit more vibrant, although I don't have a board with non-clear switch housings right now to compare it to. Lastly, the plate on the Ducky is white, which seems to be common in some black backlit boards (I had a backlit POK3R that had a white plate) to increase the vibrancy of the lighting.

If you have any other specific questions about the Ducky, let me know!

[falkentyne]

I believe those switches shown on the iKBC website are from their C series, not the F series, as the F Series use SMD RGB LED's and have a WHITE backplate.  The F87 pictures shown on their website that have the LED glow reflection around the keys like that can only happen on a white backplate.  So they both use clear switch housings.

I can't speak for the Ducky One or even the shine 5 (I only have a nature white shine 5 and a YOTG), but I can guarantee you that the shine 6's RGB MX blues are a newer or different batch than what iKBC is using on their F108's, at least as of late last year.  The shine 6 blues sound much quieter and the clicks sound crisper and have a dampened bottom out sound, which can only happen from the switch housing material.  I know that people had a lot of problems with RGB blues on the Shine 5, when they were almost impossible to find in stock, with inconsistent and scratchy switches.  I'm probably getting way off topic though.

[zutroy]

I believe those switches shown on the iKBC website are from their C series, not the F series, as the F Series use SMD RGB LED's and have a WHITE backplate.  The F87 pictures shown on their website that have the LED glow reflection around the keys like that can only happen on a white backplate.  So they both use clear switch housings.

I can't speak for the Ducky One or even the shine 5 (I only have a nature white shine 5 and a YOTG), but I can guarantee you that the shine 6's RGB MX blues are a newer or different batch than what iKBC is using on their F108's, at least as of late last year.  The shine 6 blues sound much quieter and the clicks sound crisper and have a dampened bottom out sound, which can only happen from the switch housing material.  I know that people had a lot of problems with RGB blues on the Shine 5, when they were almost impossible to find in stock, with inconsistent and scratchy switches.  I'm probably getting way off topic though.

Good to know. Website photos for these kinds of things are often not up to date, so I'm glad someone can speak from direct experience 

Also, do you think what you're saying about blues would apply to browns as well? The only other board I've had browns on is a Filco MJ2 TKL, and although I can't do a side by side comparison right now because I no longer have the Filco, the browns on the Ducky One RGB TKL feel/sound better than I remember the Filco's. I would say they seem to have a better bottom out sound than the Filco did, but that could also be due to other build differences between Ducky and Filco (plate material, shape of case, etc.). Also trying not to get too off topic, but I'm just curious.

[falkentyne]

No, Cherry doesn't use 20 year old machines to make switches with 50 parts on the MX Browns like they do on the blues:

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?locale=de_EP&CC=US&NR=4467160   

Pretty much all browns should be the same as long as you don't get crappy ones with scratchy "bumps" instead of tactile bumps.  Logitech G710+ had great bumps.  Ducky YOTG had great bumps.  Shine3, which was impossible to find for awhile when Logitech bought all of Cherry's MX browns for their at the time new 710+ had crappy browns.  And I've seen some people complain about some browns being horrible and having a scratch instead of a bump.

Browns are really hard to mess up otherwise.  Gaterons, KBtalking (Greentech), Outemu browns are all good.  Some people said KBT browns (e.g. mechanicalkeyboards.com "Disco") feel more like Egro clears than Cherry browns, but had some problems with third party keycaps sticking to the switch housing.

The RGB MX browns should feel sound dampened compared to the non RGB Browns. (comparing a Ducky YOTG RGB MX Brown, to a G710+, Shine 3 and shine 4). You have to do some searching, but I haven't seen any complaints about RGB Browns feeling like they have a scratch instead of a bump.

[zutroy]

No, Cherry doesn't use 20 year old machines to make switches with 50 parts on the MX Browns like they do on the blues:

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?locale=de_EP&CC=US&NR=4467160   

Pretty much all browns should be the same as long as you don't get crappy ones with scratchy "bumps" instead of tactile bumps.  Logitech G710+ had great bumps.  Ducky YOTG had great bumps.  Shine3, which was impossible to find for awhile when Logitech bought all of Cherry's MX browns for their at the time new 710+ had crappy browns.  And I've seen some people complain about some browns being horrible and having a scratch instead of a bump.

Browns are really hard to mess up otherwise.  Gaterons, KBtalking (Greentech), Outemu browns are all good.  Some people said KBT browns (e.g. mechanicalkeyboards.com "Disco") feel more like Egro clears than Cherry browns, but had some problems with third party keycaps sticking to the switch housing.

The RGB MX browns should feel sound dampened compared to the non RGB Browns. (comparing a Ducky YOTG RGB MX Brown, to a G710+, Shine 3 and shine 4). You have to do some searching, but I haven't seen any complaints about RGB Browns feeling like they have a scratch instead of a bump.

Cool, thanks for the info! Yeah, I have no complaints about the browns on my Ducky RGB. It took awhile for me to be ok with the fact that I actually like light tactile (browns, matias quiet click, even topre some would argue) when there's always so much hype about heavier tactiles (clears, zealios, etc.). It's all in personal preference, and to stay on topic with this thread, I would just say that I intend to keep the Ducky RGB TKL as one of my mains for some time to come (if that helps OP in making a decision).

[PoLarBiRD]

I have full sized IKBC and Ducky one in my collection. I must say I've never been disappointed with any of my Ducky boards. Ducky One's frame looks fantastic, has a real solid feel. As for the IKBC, I got it off of Massdrop recently and it doesn't have a white back plate, but it does have a detachable cable. Now I don't know if this is only the CNC aluminum version or that applies to regular F108/F87.
I hope this helps, and good luck to you. 

[falkentyne]

The regular iKBC has a white backplate.

I was only interested in the iKBC boards because they come in an all white factor, when the Ducky One TKL RGB "YOTG Lite" white is virtually impossible to find.
I am NOT impressed at all by the RGB quality of the iKBC, unless you are not into color effects.  The triple palette mode and color countdown and custom modes are pretty nice.  The RGB fade effects are horrible though (look at them and see for yourself).

[PoLarBiRD]

I agree with the RGB not being very impressive and I would like to add it isn't as bright as I had expected. But that's coming off a Ducky Shine 3 where the lights could get fairly bright, even my Pok3r has some pretty powerful lighting. I am waiting for them to release the Shine 6 regular edition (don't like the floating caps on the special) I think that might have macro capability, but it might not be any good if it's implemented the same as the Ducky One.

[XMIT]

The aluminum body IKBC is a game changer at that price point.  I have both an 87 and a 108. Incredible build quality on these, I will take some notes on my own boards. Don't think these are programmable, though.