Does switch orientation (up/down) change keyfeel?

[Ragequit]

What's the general opinion about this issue? I'm considering the XD60 on massdrop but it has the "cheap" north facing leds PCB mounts.


After all switches are asymetrical up/down. Sure, if you press exactly on the center of the keycap at a perfectly 90° angle it shouldnt make any difference, but we we aren't robots afaik.

Therefore it's not far stretch to think that it may affect performance and "feel"


Do you notice any difference between up/down mounts?

[Findecanor]

With Cherry MX, the orientation does not matter for key feel.
That is, unless you want to install silencing clips - which will fit only in one orientation when using Cherry-profile keycaps.

With Alps, there is slightly more wobble on the vertical than the horizontal. (or was it the other way around?) I don't think there is a difference between "up" and "down" though, but someone more acquainted with linear switches might want to chime in on that because there might have been a reason why Matias chose to include an additional leaf spring in their linear version of their Alps-clone.

[Marutks]

switch orientation does matter if you use GMK kaycaps:

see this thread:   https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=86756.msg2380344;topicseen#msg2380344

[Tactile]

As mentioned, keycaps can make a difference. As to only the switches, I have a GH60 Rev C which has most of the switches this way and a few (three? four? - I don't remember exactly) turned around the other way. I built it with used MX black switches harvested from an old Cherry keyboard. There's no difference in switch feel.

[Marutks]

I have got KBD66 with GMK Dolch keycaps.   All home row keys are fu**ed!  They don't bottom out properly because switch housings interfere with keycaps.   

[mike-y]

switch orientation does matter if you use GMK kaycaps:

This is true, and there will be slight interference with the home row keys, although I have a KBD66 with GMK Plumb caps, and I can't say it bothers me, as I don't feel much difference.  But if you install LED's, I think it would make a significant difference since the LED bulb will stick out a bit.  You may need to try it yourself and see if it's a deal breaker.

[ander]

I've found that some of my friends's orientations have affected how they felt about me... That's probably not the same thing, though.

[alienman82]

removed.

[mike-y]

The north facing LEDs are quite dumb looking imo, but I can't say if worse or not since I never even imagined using those.

I much prefer North-facing LED's because with south-facing LED's, you can see the led bulb peeking out under the keycaps, which is very distracting imo.  with the LED on the North side, you don't have this issue, and the light appears more evenly dispersed.  Also, since almost all backlit keycaps having the legends on the top side, they only work properly with north-side LED's.