I am in love.
I am using this set on MX Clears, and it feels like the perfect combination of profile and weight to me. Coming from a DSA set, this is a huge step up in terms of accuracy and typing speed after only 24 hours, I am finding I am hitting the center of the keys without trying because the scoop guides you to the right place. I am also loving the scooped F and J over the 'nipple' version, very easy to locate.
From an appearance point of view, these are a very attractive but understated set; the legends are clear and crisp, and there are zero alignment issues, so it would appear all the issues from R1 are fixed. The font is nice and bold, easy to read, and makes it stand out from the Gorton Modified I have gotten used to on other sets. I love the muted colorway, but wish I had purchased some of the brighter keys; I really wish the RGB or CMKY modifiers had an ISO enter.
The caps are very thick, with zero burrs or defects, and although they are snug on the stems I had no issues. I had to remove a few keys because I forgot to use my ISO kit, and had no problems getting them off with a bit of a wiggle, and that was on clear switches that had never been used. There is a very slight texture to them which is pleasant to the touch.
Overall these are an incredible set, and I can't wait to see it in other colorways!
https://massdrop-s3.imgix.net/img_comment/POIOlgBdR6O7iE6VQjnX_00000PORTRAIT00000BURST20180917165351031.jpg
This is easily the nicest set I own right now. Being made out of very thick PBT, these caps look, feel and sound extremely solid.
https://massdrop-s3.imgix.net/img_comment/ETdKdk2OQpDyRBSMkszP_titty.jpg
The legends are nice and crisp, though upon closer inspection you can still notice they're not perfectly aligned. I'd expect MD to get this fixed after the R1 fiasco, but I'm personally not that bothered, you can't really see it from typing distance and it's something that I learned to accept with dye-sub legends.
Regarding the profile, MT3 is not very easy to use from the get-go, the keycaps are very cuppy and punish inaccurate typing with their "sharp" edges. Conversely, they also reward accurate typing, so once you get used to them (about 2 days for me) they become extremely comfortable. The sculpt is perfect, not too aggressive and the flat bottom row makes it easy to use with your thumbs.
The texture of the keycaps is very pleasant as well, it is somewhat coarse and grippy (but not to the point of being obnoxious), which works well with the deep top.
The only issue I have is that my order has been shipped late despite multiple drop delays with poor communication on MD's side.
The two most popular kinds of plastic are currently used for keyboards are:
ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) - the most common keycap plastic used, tends to feel smooth, is durable, a tad cheaper and easier to manufacture than PBT
PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) - tends to have a “matte” texture, a bit stiffer than ABS, a bit more durable than ABS, and doesn’t develop a “glossy” look with use over time like ABS, harder and more expensive to manufacture than ABS
Sublimated dying infuses the ink with the plastic through a manufacturing process Elder Sage perfectly describes:
https://drop.com/talk/27150/what-does-it-mean-that-these-are-dye-sublimted-pbt/2582700
The ink sinks into the keycap just a bit so the font doesn't wear out even if the keycap gets worn down.
Hence “Dye-Subbed PBT”.
Sublimation is the process of turning a substance from a solid directly to a gasious state without passing through a liquid phase. During dye sublimation, the solid dye is exposed to high heat and turned into a gas. In the gas state it is able to permeate the crystaline structure of the PBT keycap. The end result is a legend that goes below the surface of the plastic thereby making it very durable.
Any chance of adding a 2u shift to the extra mods or any kit this round? Seems like the only other option if I want to see them on the gk64 is get a numpad set and use one of the 0 keys, which are alpha colored :-(. It seems the mold exists for the right key, please put it somewhere? There isn't even a blank that would work.
Here's what I think of the set so far; it shows amazing promise, and I'd probably buy another drop again if printing issues are resolved; though I'd be more enthusiastic with a slight mod to dishing. I commend @Matt3o and @YanboWu and Massdrop for bringing another option to the plate! These keys are like a time capsule, yet feeling very new and luxurious at the same time.
The home and QWERTY rows (not sure how to count rows on this profile; rows 3 and 4?) have really deep dishing, more than any keyboard I've used since the Commodore 64 -- its spherical profile is frankly my touchstone (although literally their switch mechanism was terrible) since I learned to type on it. But those two rows are noticeably deeper than the other rows, which begs the question of consistency. It feels like those rows are all homing-dished... It's distracting now but hopefully that distraction would go away with use, so I'll have to wait and see, but since the other rows are less dished I'm pretty sure it's always going to be an issue.
The feel of the plastic itself is top notch, velvety textured, and the keys arrived spotless and without a scratch, foam-protected or individually bagged (!) and the profile (while problematic for some non-standard key layouts) is amazing and pairs well with a modest slant to the keyboard. I initially put them on an XD75 with a 5 or 6 degree slant and it's perfect. I like that the FN key row is still sculpted, and also I hate it because I can't use any of that row custom keys I ordered yet! I'll need to get a TKL or something...
The sets have enough alternates to do some odd boards like XD75 and Planck but not necessarily the keys you want in the profile row you want. You may also find the dishing a bit hard on the thumbs for the 2U or 1U spacebars; I had two alpha kits and used the extra ZXCVB-row 1U blanks that are included in that set, mounted upside down, to let my thumbs more naturally rest; they are really good for this application! I was kind of surprised that nothing I ordered (alphas, mods, ortho, extra mods, and novelties) included a home-row CTRL key at 1U or any 1U BS... but I think people have already discussed the ortho set limitations. Anyway, there was considerably variety available though having way more "END" keys than "HOME" made me scratch my head a bit until I realized some layouts stick other keys between them vertically. BTW, I didn't even try to order this set for Ergodox since when I ordered the large blanks weren't part of the drop and by the time I noticed they were added it had ended. I would have ended up with about as many extra kits and as many keys I'm not able to use. I have a LOT of END keys btw.
Here's a real bummer: the printing, while consistent in tone and durability, is otherwise... subpar. Many of the legends are slightly off center, many moved slightly to the right. The fuzziness of the legends is a bit more noticeable than in other sets I have and makes the number+symbol keys look out of character with the rest. Even the /dev/tty novelty key is muddy and hard to read. My W and K keys are just slightly rotated from level and some keys have slightly lower baselines. Whatever printing system was used was not registering the key locations well enough. It's a tragedy because otherwise they are just amazing, and I hope the next drop will be able to rectify this.
does the prrofile has molds for convex bottom row 1u and 2u keys? on an ortholinear, ideally at least space+raise+lower (and possibly the next pair of keys, menu?) should be convex for ergonomic reasons.