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Gotta say, one of the most under appreciated parts of the hobby is the is the ergo community creating and sharing designs that can't effectively be mass produced reasonably due to lack of interest. But even if you aren't going the weird ergo route, So many of us are typing for work all day that building a kit that feels good is well worth it. IMO sound is the worst part about mechanicals. I've built great sounding boards that are a joy to use at home but I can't seem to build a board that feels as great to me and is quiet enough that I don't think twice about bringing it into an office setting.
sietaiThe crazy layouts and innovations there are IMO probably the most "impactful" aspect of it for sure. Less broad appeal in most cases, but the creativity is off the charts. It just wouldn't be possible if not mechanical. What sort of sounds do you gravitate toward? I've found that quiet linear switches (for an easy drop-in, Gateron Yellows) in a solidly-built plastic case have the nicest and most "office acceptable" sound profile of what I've tried.
HoffmanMysterI mostly use tactiles and have been disappointed with most options I've tried like the Boba U4s for producing a high pitched ping. I should give linear switches a try, but I actually just got a set of Haimu Whisper silent tactile switches this past weekend and put them in the sense75. They might technically be the least silent "silent" switches I've tried but they don't have the annoying spring ping. My current office is small and quiet much of the time with most people just typing on laptop and hybrid wfh schedules meaning not many are ever in at the same time. At my last job I never thought twice about keyboard sounds because, short of using clickey switches, you weren't going to producer enough noise for anyone to notice.
sietaiI tend to have the same experience with tactiles, and AFAIK the best (only?) solution is to lube the springs. Tedious and maybe not worth it for you, but something to consider.
Timwillhack
41
Mar 16, 2023
sietaiGet a gasket mounted keyboard like a Feker Alice. I ended up with Outemu linear Milky Yellow Silent switches (or silent peaches since you like tactile), they are very cheap, and went under the radar. The mix of that gasket mount keyboard with those switches is quieter than a laptop keyboard. Its DEAD silent. Its also programmable via qmk and vial (with limitations), is ergonomic, hotswap and has 2.4ghz, 3 Bluetooth and wired connectivity. I needed it to be silent so my mic doesn't pick up my keypresses when I stream. Good Luck! (I also have silicone keycaps to further the effect but people don't seem to enjoy typing on them as much as I do and they are difficult to get your hands on.
Timwillhack
41
Mar 16, 2023
TimwillhackMy previous Silent switches were manually lubed Gateron Yellow Silents and these Outemus (both varieties) are probably 3 times quieter if I had to guess. I think they are like 15 bucks for 75 of them.
TimwillhackI might try those sometime! Haimu came out with their Heartbeat (linear) and Whisper (tactile) silent switches a couple months ago and it basically ended the search for me, Especially because they were much cheaper than any other silent switch I had tried at that point (but the outemu's are cheaper). They're both the best feeling silent switches, with basically no dampened feel. The Whispers are a bit louder but not by much and probably on par with a laptop keyboard.
Timwillhack
41
Mar 16, 2023
sietaiI think I read about them, aren't there like 3 brands that use the same switch but with their own naming? Are those the ones that don't have a silicone dampening at the bottom but instead flex the stem so it doesn't actually bottom out? I was curious about them but I watched a bunch of sound test videos for various silent switches and really like light springs, I've enjoyed my silent yellows (with the silicone bottom dampeners) and after hearing the outemu's (with similar silencing mechanics) compared to gateron silents I was sold before I had a chance to really dive deep on the heartbeats. (especially after the outemu's are so cheap so I could get extras for replacement down the road) I have also tried Kaihl Deep Sea (not as quiet as Gateron). I've had the outemu's for about a month now, and have zero complaints. I might buy another 100 just to have a full lifetime backup set. Its kind of crazy how deep you can go down this rabbit hole and how many variables there are and peoples preferences even around bottom out feel ;) What keyboard did you end up putting the Heartbeats in?
TimwillhackYou're correct about the Haimu switches. *I think* the heartbeat and whisper switches are exclusive to cannonkeys and are the easiest to get ahold of in the US but if you're outside of the US you have to look for them under one of the other brands they've worked with and the switches will have a different name and be colored differently such as the these https://geon.works/products/haimu-x-geon-switches?variant=43034820903075 The Kaihl Deep Sea is one I haven't tried but have been kinda interested in, understanding that they aren't the quiestest. They just need to be at an acceptable office noise level Currently using them in a Libra62 in the office, but that board is pretty enormous. I've been using the keychron q8 at home and if I stick with using an alice maybe I'll the libra62 with the feker, if only for the size. I'd like to eventually switch to using a split ergo but usually go about 2 days until there's some work emergency that requires me to type fast and switching back
(Edited)
Timwillhack
41
Mar 16, 2023
sietaiI didn't like anything about the Deep Sea switches. I was supposed to have gotten V2's (never verified the difference). I just ended up using them for heavier keys like ctrl etc when I was using gateron yellows, but after getting the outemu's they hold everything fine without any weird effects, so I have the silent tactile peaches as my number row and heavy keys and the rest is linear milky yellows, they have similar actuation / forces I remember correctly. I went with the Feker because of wireless and switching devices easy and after I read it supports QMK/Via(Vial). It doesn't have full support though so only one macro (that doesn't work wireless) and no tap dance or mod tap type functionality working. Only thing I could do was reprogram fn key to capslock and regular key swaps work fine. That Libra looks nice other than the case is ginormous looking !!
(Edited)
TimwillhackOoh, right. I'll have to keep that in mind. At this point qmk support is basically a requirement for me, even if it's not via compatible out the box and I have to program it myself, and I do prefer when the alice isn't WK-less. The Libra62 checks off a lot of boxes if it wasn't so massive and it's advertised as Via compatible but there's no source code and there's some features I would like to try out that can't be done in via.
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