Hello Everyone!
It’s that time of year again. Summer is in full swing, we’re enjoying time with friends and family, and most relevant to our shared hobbies—it’s Prime Time for more sales! We’ve got lots going on, so read on for more info.
Following the trend of the last couple of years, the complete list of sales is too large to list here (check the promo landing page when it goes live for complete info). Listed below will be some particularly noteworthy deals as a sneak peak to what’s coming. :)
▪️ #1 Sitebusters live at 11pm PT on 7/15/2024
▪️ Drop CSTM80 Mechanical Keyboard $99 limited to 100 keyboards (MSRP $149)
▪️ Drop CSTM65 Mechanical Keyboard $79 limited to 100 keyboards (MSRP $129)
▪️ Drop + Sennheiser HD6XX $169 (MSRP $219)
▪️ Drop + EPOS H3X $39 (MSRP $79)
▪️ Wobkey Rainy 75 Keyboard starting $99
▪️ GMK Mecha-01 Keycap Set $99 limited to 200 sets (MSRP $149)
▪️ DCX White-on-Black keycap set $49 (MSRP $99)
▪️ Campfire Audio Orbit Bluetooth Earphones $99 (MSRP...
So in my previous write-up, while highlighting the benefits of alternative and custom layouts, I declared without much evidence that QWERTY is not that bad at all, and also that it is in the top 2% of all the possible layouts. Well, like so many times in life: it depends.
I did my original research many years ago - the exact value was in fact 1.82% -, but I forgot to mention that this is only valid in a special case: using my personal corpus and ruleset. It makes sense since back in the day I did this to support the design process of my own custom keymaps.
Anyway, it was high time to redo my original experiment, dive in this topic a bit deeper, and reveal the logic and method behind my calculations. Spoiler alert: I was wrong! Or was I? ;)
QWERTY
Everyone knows QWERTY I guess. Christopher Sholes, Remington 2 typewriter, preventing jamming of type bars, path dependence, whatever. I'm not going to cover it here, check this previous write-up of mine if you are interested...
Hall Effect: What is a Hall Effect switch and will it turn you into a gaming god?
TL;DR: Nope, but there are reasons why you may want to use a Hall Effect Keyboard.
Hall Effect switches are the newest trend in mechanical keyboard switches. From Gateron to Geon, switch manufacturers are starting to release HE switches. With Wooting at the forefront and seemingly the best implementation of Hall Effect technology, many other brands seem to be playing catch-up. We’ve seen releases like the RAKKA, BOOG75, DrunkDeer, and MOD007 HE start to stir up competition. But do you need another keyboard? Is this one going to be the end all be all for you? Is HE Endgame? If you’re like me, a keyboard enthusiast, your answers will probably be: no(yes), no, and no. Do I think that an HE board deserves a spot in your collection? Maybe… Let’s dive into the latest technological update to mechanical switches in a long time, and you can make that decision for yourself.
First, we need to know...
Finding your groove: getting into vinyl with Audio-Technica
I’d like to think that I could’ve been friends with the late Hideo Matsushita, founder of Japanese Hi-Fi powerhouse Audio-Technica. If I could, I’d travel back in time to 1960’s Tokyo, where a young Matsushita curated “vinyl listening sessions” at the Bridgestone Museum of Arts, exposing visitors to the sounds and possibilities of high end audio and the warmth of vinyl records. I imagine sitting with him in a mod coffee shop, listening to the stories of what he witnessed in those sessions, the conversations he had with visitors, and what ultimately motivated him to head back to his small apartment above a ramen restaurant and start an audio company of his own.
In the histories I’ve read regarding AT’s humble beginnings, Matsushita’s motives seem clear. Produce high end audio at affordable prices, bringing audio excellence into spaces and to customers that simply didn’t have access to it before. His first two products, the AT-1 and AT-3 phono cartridges did exactly that, and...
Drop everything you're doing and go to your streaming account (I prefer Spotify and Tidal) and pull up (search for) Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk then find track 7 (Chasing Rainbows). Strap in and plug in your amp, and hit play. You can thank me later! No streaming account? Try this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_mE0TE9a-Y&t=1715s
We hosted our first mech keys meetup in years about a month ago (see here for a photo recap). Our team was furiously videoing everything during the event, and posted a bunch of shorts/reels to socials since then. Now they've compiled an excellent recap video showcasing the event.
Grab a coffee, sit back, and enjoy the meetup. :)
We'll see you at the next one! 🫡
Drop Mech Keys Meetup Recap - Thanks for Visiting!
As you may have seen, we just hosted our first meetup in quite a while here at Drop HQ (Corsair HQ, but they seem to like us enough :) )!
It was a blast to get to meet so many enthusiasts local to the bay area—it had been 10 years since I was last hanging out with keyboard nerds in the bay, at KeyCon 2014. We had a great time hosting everyone at the offices, checking out all the very nice boards y'all brought, and sharing some of our own projects/spaces! I knew it would be fun to host in the Game Room when I first saw it in person, but seeing it come to fruition was still so cool.
Alright, I'll stop blabbering on now. xD Picture time!
(Oh, real quick - there will be more of these! Stay tuned for more info and to catch the next one!)
A brief reflection and look at how far our community has come since joining.
I’ve been in the mechanical keyboard hobby for a very long time. It started as a high school student’s search for a keyboard for writing novels back in the 2008-2009 school year. I thought I wanted to be an author and I felt I needed a keyboard that I could sit down to at my desk and just write. After researching, joining forums, and saving money, I made my first purchase in the hobby, a blank black Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional 2. I still own this keyboard and while it is heavily modded now, it remains one of my all-time favorites.
My HHKB Pro2 with MitchCapped Accents
Many people would have stopped there, but keyboards became a hobby. I enjoyed learning about them, and early on, I enjoyed hunting for them in thrift shops. I would dig through bins at Goodwill and Salvation Army while popping keycaps off with paperclips looking for mechanical switches. I searched for a birthday Model M...
The cable on my HD6xxs started to malfunction and after contacting support I was explicitly promised a new unit free of charge but instead was issued a refund. When I asked for the original agreement to be honored I was told there is nothing they were willing to do and: "Feel free to place a new order for the headphones if you wish though." After a few more emails I was given a $20 credit and conceded to "[feeling] free to place a new order" but because of current exchange rates and duty I had to pay an additional $65 or so. They refuse to reimburse me. Very unlikely I will be ordering from here again.
Be careful claiming warranty, I was explicitly promised a new unit free of charge but instead was issued a refund. When I asked for the original agreement to be honored I was told there is nothing they were willing to do and:
"Feel free to place a new order for the headphones if you wish though."
After a few more emails I was given a $20 credit and conceded to "[feeling] free to place a new order" but because of current exchange rates and duty I had to pay an additional $65 or so. They refuse to reimburse me. Very unlikely I will be ordering form here again.
So I bought the HD6xx a few weeks back and when I finally got the packages i got some Noir 99.
ever happened to any of u guys and how did it get resolved
Our good friends over at Elgato (also part of the Corsair family) are launching a new product line today, Elgato Neo. We thought these would be a great fit for the Drop community, considering the attention to both function and form.
We're very excited to be able to host this suite of creative-focused products on Drop.com. To celebrate the occasion, we're hosting a launch event of our own with daily coupon codes and a giveaway at the end!
Head on over to the event page if you haven't already to check it out.
All Elgato Neo products can be found on the event page linked above, or on their individual pages below—note that any Elgato Neo products purchased through Drop will get 10% back through Drop Rewards:
▪️ Elgato Stream Deck Neo
▪️ Elgato Game Capture Neo
▪️ Elgato Key Light Neo
▪️ Elgato Wave Neo
Be sure to join the giveaway on the event page! (Direct link to giveaway)
What coupon have you rolled so far?
And as always, our usual reminders:
▪️ Drop Keyboard Club—see...
Should I exchange the PC38X for better headphones?
I bought the PC38X headphones FOR GAMING and they are great, but I have NO use for a Microphone since I don't do competitive gaming and I was wondering if there were better headphone options at a similar price without a headphone, where (presumably) more of the cost was put into making it sound better. I also find that my PC38X don't get quite as loud as I would like and I was wondering if a cheap amp like the iFi Go link would draw a little more volume out of my phones.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN6MM822?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
I went with the PC38X since it was considered the best bang for buck headphones. I care most about using spatial apps like DOlby Atmos and DTS Headphone:X. Suggestions are welcome.
Every time I build a new keyboard, I go hunting for keycaps. And every time I go hunting, it eventually devolves into a desperate search for SA (or equivalent) profile keycaps with a smooth finish. SA is the ultimate profile, IMHO, and they're relatively hard to come by.
Signature Plastics, which is where a lot of SA sets come from like the T0mb3ry SA Carbon
set (they might actually hold the trademark on the SA profile if I'm not mistaken), is reportedly going through some management/ownership struggles (last I heard, they're looking for new ownership), and along with apparently the rest of the industry, they seem to be neglecting this superior keycap profile in their own stocks. If you order direct from them, they have a couple themed sets in stock (maybe), but generally you can have any color you want, as long as it's black or white.
Drop carries a fair number of MT3 profile sets, which are very similar to SA. But just like SP's SA-P profile, they're made with a different...
I lost my dad last year (2023) and have been finding ways to include keepsakes/memories in my workstation. I've dabbled here and there with doing small woodworking projects and attempted a wrist rest from a piece of oak I picked up with him from my great uncles wood shop. I milled it to fit a 60% keyboard as I hadn't decided what keyboard I would be using it on and thought that's where most of my wrist would be in contact even typing on a full keyboard. I gave it a torched/burn appearance as I really was lost in what to do. I found an old shell casing from going hunting with my dad in my hunting pack and decided to imbed it into the end of the wrist rest so it would just have a little difference and a small story behind it as well. I have other things around my workstation from family and friends, but it just feels a little more special having worked on it and adding something small that has a memory for me to it. (Purple was my grandmothers favorite color and I have kinda now...
They should make one in the same style as their SHIFT/CTRL/ALT keyboards. Both in the low profile and high profile styles. They should include a knob and a couple of extra buttons.
Hey DKC, as much as I hope you all are enjoying the membership and want to stick around for another year, I also understand that for a variety of reasons some people want to unsubscribe and not renew the membership—and that's fine! Historically this has been done by clicking "Cancel Subscription" on the Keyboard Club transaction found in one's Transaction history. This can be tricky to find, especially if you have a lot of transactions to sift through, so we've added a cancellation button to the Keyboard Club Member page.
Navigate to the Keyboard Club Member page by hovering over (desktop) or clicking on (mobile) your profile photo, then click Keyboard Club about halfway down the list.
This is the page where you can view your current and past DKC coupons, as well as cancel your membership renewal.
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, below your DKC Discount History.
Click "Cancel Membership Renewal" if you wish to do so (sorry to see you go! ❤️). Note...
It's been a while since we've hosted a meetup at Drop. We want to change that, and are inviting folks to come hang out at our offices (Corsair HQ) in May!
The Details
Date: Saturday, May 11th
Time: 1-5pm
Location: Corsair HQ (Milpitas, CA)
If you're interested in attending this event (or any future events!), please fill out the google form below. Attendance will need to be capped at roughly 30 attendees given the space (edit: we can accommodate a fair bit more than 30 - only mentioned this to manage expectations as this won't be a mega-event with hundreds; will lean more toward the "intimate" side of things, sub-100).
https://forms.gle/3Q8fwCKp4hjkVdv18
Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.
I bought my Tokyo60 a year ago and the RGB light worked when I first finished building it. I turned it off after a while cause it was distracting using Fn + Q. But recently, I tried to turn it back on with Fn+Q, W, E, R, T, and Y, but none worked. I tested Fn, Q, W, E, R, T, and Y; each worked individually. Do you guys run into this problem and know how to troubleshoot it? Any advice will be helpful! Thanks!
Habitat keycaps are now open for pre-orders
"Inspired by nature, greenery and the profound impact it has on our mental wellbeing, "Habitat" brings harmony to your keyboard setup while fostering a sense of tranquility in our digital lives.
It blends botanical elements with soft shades of green, beige and earthy tones with a minimalistic approach, evoking a sense of calm and serenity."
Schedule
28 Feb - 28 Mar
Fulfillment: Q3 2024
Pricing & Add-ons
$89 All-in-one Base kit that includes novelties, 40s, Mac mods
Add-ons:
- Deskmat
- Keyboard mat
- HIBI Artisan
- Custom themed cables by LoobedSwitches
Vendors
US - LoobedSwitches
CA - Ashkeebs
SEA - Switchlab
KR - Monstargear
UK - Proto[Typist]
EU - Keygem
OCE - Allcaps
Just joined, I am a fan of FiiO, and Shure SE series Earphones.
I have used Shure earphone for over 10 years and FiiO DAC/Amp's for almost as long. primarily with my iPhones and BT. With Apple finally going to the USB C connection I can connect my FiiO BTR7, and BTR15 up with a direct DAC connection. I plugged the BTR7 into my Mac Studio with my Shure SE-535's. I was astounded by the sound. At this point I realized that a desktop DAC/Amp was a necessity because these FiiO portable DAC/Amp do not really have to power for headphones. FiiO makes powerful desktop DAC/Amps but I am looking at what is out there. I used to run ASUS Xonar Essence DAC/Amps but they are not longer made. I will lurk and learn.
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