Figure 1: This is the keyboard of someone (0range) who clearly knows how to ask proper questions.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been lurking around the channels of a couple of different entry level keyboard forums and I have to admit that the experience is quite bleak. I’m not saying this because of “toxicity” or people being given wrong information, rather I see so many people’s questions going unanswered… and to be honest they’re kind of to blame for it. While I recognize that not everyone coming freshly into the keyboard space enters it with the same level of inquisitiveness that I did when I first joined back in 2017, these questions going unanswered really feel way under-thought or over-thought compared to where I was. On one hand, you get questions like this:
What is best gaming keyboard?
And on the other hand, you get questions like this:
Hi, there everyone! I am just now starting to look into mechanical keyboards as an avid gamer and I need some help in...
Layout Optimization Best Practices: The Corpus (Part 1)
In this series we are designing our own custom keymaps, logical layouts, you name it. We’ve laid the groundwork by looking into how good/bad QWERTY is, the power of layers (SpaceFN), and also the huge potential of alternative layouts and custom keymaps. Today, we take the first step in designing your ultimate keymap by exploring our options for compiling a corpus.
What's a corpus? Essentially, it's just a fancy term for a big chunk of text. In this context it means a usually large collection of textual data used directly or indirectly as an input for our layout optimization algorithms. Often literally a single text file.
Why does it matter to you? Because a well-crafted, personalized corpus is crucial for keymap wizards. If you're aiming to design your own custom logical layout, the corpus plays a key role in determining the language statistics that reflect your typing habits, thus the outcome of the optimization. These statistics, which we extract through analysis of...
Fear and loathing on a PCB
At a recent keyboard meetup I was talking to someone very new to the hobby and they said that they bought a board and were surprised to discover that it was not hotswap. They were really intimidated by the idea of soldering their switches into their keyboard. Turns out, for some people, whipping out a blazing hot metal stick and possibly wrecking your expensive purchase gets them jittery.
All kidding aside, for the first year or so in the hobby, I purchased exclusively hotswap keyboards, avoiding soldering for a couple reasons. Firstly, I didn’t want to commit to any one switch. I liked clicky a lot early on (still do if I’m being honest) but I saw that the folks who had been in the hobby for longer moved away from clicky, and I predicted accurately that I too would do the same. Secondly, I was just coming to terms with what it cost to buy and build a keyboard, and soldering seemed like an unnecessary risk.
I can trace my initial...
I Think My Switch Is Stuck! - The Tale of Cherry MX Locks
Over the years of collecting mechanical keyboard switches, I’ve been lucky enough to have encountered dozens upon dozens of rare and unique ones that have stuck in my mind to this day. Prototypes, factory errors, and even a few switches so rare that there is literally zero documentation about them anywhere in the world all fill that personal list from top to bottom. However, I realize that talking about switches so far outside of most people’s reaches, and even sometimes my own grasp, doesn’t make for the most exciting of articles about switches. To this newest generation of keyboard enthusiasts, though, there is one pretty rare MX-style switch which has made its way to the top of everyone’s “must try” lists – Cherry MX Locks. These often undiscussed and even more rarely seen switches are something that few people have seen and even fewer have had the chance to try at a meetup before. However, the list of people who really know how these unique Cherry switches work is even shorter...
I must have watched this GMMK Pro pre-sale build video from a YouTuber named IO Sam a dozen times before I pulled out my wallet and pre-ordered it.
In retrospect, I learned a great deal about building keyboards from Sam’s straightforward, professional delivery. I watched and re-watched sections I didn’t understand, and certain phrases and moments in the video stuck with me in ways where I still think about them. Especially at 23:10, when he compliments the MT3 White on Black keycaps with an actual chef’s kiss, locks eyes with the camera and says “Perfecto.” (I still do that whenever I put MT3 WOB on a board.)
In that video, IO Sam introduced me to DROP, when he referenced the MT3 WOB’s and the GMK Kaiju keycaps that he set the Glorious GMMK Pro up with. I was in love with the look and feel of the MT3 profile. (I still am, as you can read in my previous article “In defense of MT3”) As a life-long Godzilla fanatic, I fell head over heals for GMK Kaiju. In the latter parts...
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...
Typing out all the Harry Potter books would be crazy, right? What would be the point? Seems like a weird flex even by keyboard enthusiast standards. Yep, that's right. Typing it out once makes no sense. That's why I'm going to type out the books a few million times! For the benefit of humanity and especially of you, fellow keymap wizards.
This demonstration of the power of alternative/custom layouts is a shortened version of the original article at kbd.news. Given the huge extent of this topic, we can barely scratch the surface here so consider this write-up a mere teaser.
Imagine you are an aspiring writer with a brilliant idea, just about to start typing out your magnum opus, staring at a yet empty document on your screen. Cursor blinking, annoying orphan relatives locked up in the cupboard under the stairs.
Your story, about a young boy who ends up saving the world, is quite complete. You "just" have to type out heaps of your manuscripts and notes: about 6.5 million...
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...
Image credit @zhugunic https://drop.com/talk/67372/gl-2-k
Do I need an amp? What are these acronyms like DAC, DSP, or DSD? What even are all the components that make up an audio chain? Let’s take a beginner’s look at the core, essential building blocks of a digital audio chain, and lay it plain what each piece does. We can cover the major pieces separately, but I’ll still include a few tips to optimize playback here. Please hit the little bookmark button and feel free to check and share this guide whenever you need a reference!
For people who need a visual and audible explanation, or are worried it would take too long to get a working knowledge of the audio chain, here is my YouTube video on this subject that is just 7 minutes long! I like writing though, so let’s get started with an overview, then break it down into what each piece does and how an upgrade would benefit the final sound quality.
Signal Path
Image credit @SpeleoFool https://drop...
As we publish more articles in the "Mech Keys How-To" series currently ongoing, navigating the various topics and finding previous articles will only become more difficult. This thread will serve as a table of contents to help add some structure to the whole project.
Feel free to also suggest future topics in this thread, as it will surely be easier to identify gaps and opportunities for further exploration when viewing everything as a whole.
Mechanical Keyboards
Introductory Topics
Mechanical vs Membrane
Sizes and Layouts of Mechanical Keyboards
Short Intro Into Split Keyboards (dovenyi)
Staggered and Ortholinear Layouts
Low-Profile vs High-Profile Keyboard Designs
Build Materials and Other Case Design Considerations
Selecting Your First Mechanical Keyboard (The_Manic_Geek)
Keyboard Layouts
Support for Alternate Layouts (dvorcol)
What is SpaceFN and why you should give it a try (dovenyi)
Keymap Layout Analysis (Keymap wizardry: Typing out the Harry Potter saga)...
DCX Bim is launching today, so to help celebrate the occasion we have called upon the creator of Bim to peek out from behind the curtain and share a bit about himself and his design process. Welcome balance, and thank you in advance for taking the time to answer our questions!
With that, let’s take a dive into the mind of balance!
How did you get into mechanical keyboards as a hobby? Was there any particular event that caused you to seek it out, or was it a slow burn over time?
I got into mechanical keyboards through one of my friends as he was really fond of keyboards and 3d design.
What caused you to take the next step in the hobby, moving from enjoying keyboards to designing keysets and taking on more of a “making” role?
Actually, I was really interested in designing and 3d modelling and I have discovered people who designed keycaps. While doing this, I fell more in love with the hobby and designs around them, influencing me to make my first ever custom keyboard....
Having just returned from That Windy City Keeb Meet (a long-winded way of saying "The Chicago Meetup"), still recovering from the whirlwind that is a meetup weekend, I wanted to quickly put keeb to talk post (as they say) and share a bit about the event.
Drop's vendor table at That Windy City Keeb Meet 2024
First off, if I ran into you at the meetup, it was great to meet you! I had a blast (as always) getting to know and reconnect with keyboard fanatics from all around the country. It never ceases to amaze me how many overlapping and interconnected hobbies we all share—certainly helps keep the conversations interesting as we veer off into retro gaming, photography, music, and anything else that comes up.
All eyes on the announcement podium for giveaways 🫡
We were joined at the vendor tables by Sneakbox, Switch Oddities, and Tactile Zine—all run by amazing individuals. I wish I had taken pictures of all of their setups to share here. The only one I have is of...
We could all use a personal assistant. Why not make that personal assistant a robot with a bright personality? That’s the inspiration behind Bim: a colorful robot-turned-DCX-keycap set, designed by Balance. Because our fingertips could always use another friend, too.
Bim will now show you around.
Bim welcomed you!
Bim is opening Settings...
→ Settings
→ General
→ Kits (Partial)
Base Kit
Novelties Kit
Bim closed kits
Bim opened Settings again...
→ Settings
→ General
→ Renders
Renders
Info: 29 July | Saturday | Board: FROG TKL BY GEONWORKS
Info: 26 July | Wednesday | Board: Amano by h40.io
Bim closed renders
Bim is now exhausted and wants to go to sleep.
Bim thanks you for checking the IC.
Bim says "See you later for more updates!"
Bim Status: OFF
Figure 1: Are these even long pole? I don't know, but they're really serving 'long pole vibes'. Something tells me I should probably be a little more rigorous about them than that though..
Honestly, I’m a tad bit compelled to kick off this article by once again hammering on the meme that everyone newer to the hobby loves to repeat in that “all linears are basically the same”. While my aptly named last article from Drop titled ‘Not All Linears Are The Same!’ likely did a good enough job of dissuading most readers of that age old falsehood, this one may help put it to rest for the remaining few of you who weren’t so convinced. Don’t worry to all of you reading this who don’t care that much for linear switches, either, as the idea of ‘long pole’ switches can also apply to tactiles too! Once an odd design quirk developed to help emphasize sharp, forceful, and pointed bottoming out sensations in BSUN and Tecsee switches back in 2020, ‘long stem poles’ have since morphed into a...
Introducing Bees.Keys, designer duo behind DCD Hundred Acres
With the launch of DCD Hundred Acres imminently on the horizon, we wanted to introduce the designers of this fantastic set to the Drop community! Welcome Bees.Keys, and thank you both for so generously giving us your time to chat about yourselves, your process, and the Hundred Acres keycap set! For those unfamiliar, Bees.Keys is a team made up of Beesley and Cthalupa - both fantastic designers and a joy to speak with.
Without further ado, let's get things started!
Tell us a bit about yourself and your history - relevant to mech keys or not. Where are you from, what is your “day job”, what are your other hobbies and interests aside from keyboards?
[Beesley]
I’m from the UK, and my day job is producing marketing renders for mechanical keyboards and keycaps. I have always had a passion for CGI since I was kid, getting a subscription to 3D World magazine for my 10th birthday.
Other hobbies? What are other hobbies? I’m lucky enough to enjoy doing something for work so much...
Figure 1: Not even all of these (mostly) KTT-made linears are the same!
After all of my years of collecting, reviewing, and obsessing over switches, I can say with certainty that linear switches are the most misunderstood of all of the switch types. No, I’m not talking about mechanically either, as all of the claims of them “just going straight up and down” are somewhat kind of true. (Not too much though, don’t get that excited.) The part that is often misunderstood, though, is usually in what is being implied when people say that these switches just go straight up and down – “All linears might as well be the same.” If the title of this article didn’t make that obvious enough to you, I find that sort of idea to be completely and utterly wrong. The people who make these implications wouldn’t say that a Cherry MX Black is the same as a Novelkeys Cream switch? They also certainly wouldn’t ever claim that every Gateron-made linear is the same as every fancy TTC one out there...
Winnie-the-Pooh - a story, characters, and setting loved by many across the globe. Most of us grew up with at least some exposure to this lovable bear and his woodland friends. Personally, the Hundred Acre Wood takes me back to a simpler time in life—a time of whimsy and wonder.
Bees.Keys shares this appreciation and affection for Pooh Bear and friends, going as far as designing a keycap set around the characters and themes. One look at the set shows their dedication and attention to detail. From the font to period-accurate depictions of characters to elaborate desk mat designs, this is as faithful a tribute as you’ll find.
We hope you’ll join us on this nostalgic journey through the Hundred Acre Wood when the set launches later this month. Hit Request to be notified!
“Anne Marie? Do the interns get Glocks?” asks Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) in Wes Anderson’s classic The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. “No” she replies without pausing from looking up from sunbathing… “they all share one.”
If you’re new to director Wes Anderson and his collection of artsy, charming, and sometimes problematic but otherwise entertaining films, The Life Aquatic is a good place to start. Not because it’s his best work (The Royal Tenenbaums) or even his most approachable (The Fantastic Mr. Fox) … but because it is all of the things I described above and is a perfect example of what a Wes Anderson movie is. The actors, who make up his all-star casts are reduced (if that term can be used this way) into extensions of Anderson’s creative mind and play their parts to perfection. The plot is funny and also tragic, the music in the movie is completely unique and also instantly recognizable (Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs) and the movie blends dialogue and...
Our latest collaboration with Axel Grell, the Drop + Grell OAE1 signature headphones, will be launching on Thursday, May 9th!
As one final reveal in advance of the big launch, we wanted to highlight a recent interview between Axel Grell and Head-Fi where Axel dives into the science and design behind the OAE1 headphones.
If you haven't followed the Drop + Grell OAE1 story thus far, enjoy the journey from Story 1 - How the Drop + Grell Headphones Were Conceived.
What are you most excited for in the OAE1?
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 SpaceFN concept - setting up your space key as a layer switch when held - is probably one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby. Let me explain how it works.
My SpaceFN article on kbd.news made some rounds recently - quite surprisingly given the age of this concept. This piece you're reading is a condensed version of the full post. If you're left with unanswered questions, you'll most likely find the info you're looking for in the original write-up.
On my imaginary top list of the most useful keyboard features, tweaks and hacks, SpaceFN would deserve a podium finish for sure. But what makes it so special?
In short: SpaceFN is easy to implement, easy to learn, costs nothing, can be used with any keyboard, and can improve your productivity instantly.
I will list its benefits below, but can state right at this point that the SpaceFN concept, setting up your space key as a layer switch when held, is clearly one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby....
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others.
Sculpted-profile
The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row.
At first there were two
The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Figure 1: Sometime around here is a good time to ask that question...
If you’re new to the mechanical keyboard hobby, I have no doubt that planning your first keyboard build is a bit of a daunting task. To be entirely honest with you, it’s only a tiny bit less daunting for your second or even third keyboard builds should you stay around a little while longer. You’ve got the keyboard itself to worry about, stabilizers, keycaps, and even switches on top of all of the intangible marks you want your dream keyboard to hit. Switches are especially daunting right out of the gate as there’s just so many options out there to pick from – each with their own unique specifications, manufacturers, and more. Yet, in spite of all of these differences between switches, time and time again I find people always asking about lubing switches as one of their chief concerns when it comes to picking some up. With countless numbers of content creators talking about lubing switches, its no...
Before launching any product, there are many designs, concepts, and ideas that pass between teams before arriving at a final design which makes its way to your computer screen and, eventually, desk. This is no more true than when considering possibly the most "art"-forward aspect of the mechanical keyboard hobby—artisan keycaps. It should be obvious that a lot of planning and artistry goes into crafting these literal pieces of art. We don't often get a chance to see behind the curtain, though. So, let's take a closer look at the upcoming Drop + Dwarf Factory Lord of the Rings Rohan Artisan Keycaps.
Before any resin is spilled, Middle Earth (the entity that licenses the Lord of the Rings IP) needs to approve the concepts based on concept art provided by Dwarf Factory. We connect with DF to coordinate on the topic and subject matter—in this particular case, additional Rohan-themed designs—to be sure that the concepts match with overall direction, whether that be pairing up with a...
If you haven't seen the first part of our interview series with Mr. Bingo, be sure to check that out for an introduction to the designer himself. We're picking things up here with part two, where Mr. Bingo shares some of his design process and how he draws inspiration for his designs!
Before we dive in—we want to express another huge thank you to Mr. Bingo for taking the time to answer all of our questions here. It's always fascinating to get a peek behind the curtain and we're very appreciative for the opportunity.
Do you have a process for gathering your potential ideas, and culling down to workable concepts that you select designs to move forward with and take to the community? Would you be able to share a bit about what goes into those decisions?
I feel that I am a designer who likes to have physical things and not digital. So when it comes to making a set and already have the idea, I look for things physically, for example, in the matcha set, I did a lot of...
DCX vs DCD vs DCL - Drop’s Keycap Profiles Explained
We’ve covered the basics of keycap profiles before—spherical/cylindrical, sculpted/uniform, etc. One thing that has come up more and more over the years as we’ve expanded our portfolio of offerings here at Drop is the distinction between some of our similar profiles. Specifically, what is the actual difference between DCX, DCD, and DCL?
Cylindrical Profiles
To recap the previous article on the topic, one of the most basic ways to separate various keycap profiles is by shape (cylindrical, spherical, or flat). DCX, DCD, and DCL are all cylindrical profiles.
The most famous cylindrical profile is Cherry profile, as defined by the original manufacturer of the keycaps—Cherry. GMK now owns those tools, and as such, only they can technically claim to produce “Cherry” profile keycaps. Similar keycap profiles are often called Cherry profile colloquially, but are in actuality slightly different. For the sake of not splitting hairs, all of the cylindrical profiles discussed here are...
It is with great pleasure that we are able to formally introduce Mr. Bingo by way of an interview! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all of our questions and allow us to peer inside your process a bit.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Mr. Bingo's past work yet, he's the brains behind GMK Cream Matcha and GMK Cubed, as well as many renders in support of other projects across the hobby.
He is of course also the designer behind DCD WLK-MN, his latest project inspired by a love of retro gadgets. So, without further ado, let's get to know Mr. Bingo!
We’d love to hear a little bit about yourself and your history - relevant to mech keys or not. Where are you from, what is your “day job”, what are your other hobbies and interests aside from keyboards?
Hey, well my day job is to design and do renders for a company that makes keyboards and gaming products. So I live from this hobby everyday! I also have other small hobbies that I'm just starting right...
To minimize unwanted artifacts in the listening experience, it was important that the OAE1 signature headphones avoid reflecting any secondary sound waves back toward the ear. Much like sound waves bouncing off walls when speakers are played in an empty room, the echoes from the reflections off the headphone body can cause interference, leading to dips—and even worse, peaks—degrading the quality of sound and imaging.
Findings of the Institute für Kommunikationstechnik (IKT, Institute of Communications Technology) of the Leibniz University Hannover (Dr. Roman Schlieper, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Peissig et al.) shows that there is a greater impact of the closed area and the acoustical impedance of the headphone to our hearing than just the influence on the measurable frequency response.
(grell® and IKT have partnered to undertake ongoing research into acoustics.)
So, according to what is known today, the acoustic impedance of the headphones measured from the ear should be as...
3 or 5? How many pins does your switch really need?
One of the oldest questions, albeit one you don’t see very often anymore, is about 3-pin and 5-pin MX switches. Early in the custom switch scene, budding enthusiasts would need to determine whether their keyboard needs 3-pin or 5-pin switches. Today, the question doesn’t appear as often as it used to, but it is still important to know the difference and when one is a better choice.
The difference between these two types of switches is in the name, the number of pins. As seen in the pictures below, 3-pin switches have two metal legs for the contact leaves and registering of switch presses as well as the stem pole. These switches were traditionally called plate mount switches, as they relied on the plate to align the switches on the PCB. 5-pin switches have the same contact pins and stem pole but are also accompanied by two additional alignment pins on the left and right of the stem pole. These were called PCB mount switches, as they could be used without plates as the PCBs would...
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried...
Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
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