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...
Apr 9, 2024
Materials
Plastic vs Metal Broadly speaking, most mechanical keyboards will either be “plastic” or “metal”; of course, the specific plastic or metal of choice will impact how a board feels, but these are the two main categories. Most beginner and/or mass-market keyboards are made of plastic while most boutique or custom boards are metal. After all, if you’re going through the effort of designing and manufacturing a small production run keyboard, why not go all-out on the material? Manufacturing/setup time accounts for most of the unit cost of CNC-milled products anyway. Most newcomers to the hobby have their eyes set on a nice metal keyboard as a “someday” purchase, and rightly so. The extra weight and premium feel is certainly appealing and an indication of build quality. Keep in mind, however, that the case material has a huge effect on the sound of a keyboard, and in many cases a more basic plastic case can sound better than its metal counterpart without modification. Metal
Plastic
Types of Metal
Aluminum By far the most common type of metal used in custom and semi-custom keyboards is aluminum. There are slightly different grades of aluminum used, but you’ll never notice a difference between them. One nice benefit of aluminum is that it can be anodized to a variety of colors, giving a quality finish and appearance that won’t chip off. Aside from anodization, there are a whole host of other finishing techniques that are commonly used when producing keyboards, which will be covered in a future article. Steel/Titanium Second and third to aluminum (in no particular order - if anyone has actually tracked this, let me know) are steel and titanium. Both are harder to machine than aluminum, and come with their own processing difficulties that make them far more niche than aluminum. Titanium is also expensive, so there’s that too. Brass The last metal that I’ll mention is brass, and it’s mentioned last because it’s more often used for plates and weights than entire keyboard cases. Brass is very dense, adding a nice heft to otherwise “light” aluminum cases, and the coloring can provide a nice accent as a plate material. Differentiating between all these materials in terms of pure quality is pretty dicey, since most of it comes down to personal preference. Brass weights are generally considered to be more desired than alternatives, and truthfully I think aluminum has so solidly dominated the case landscape that you’d be hard-pressed to find anything else not on the fringes. Types of Plastic