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
The Topre 87U is unquestionably my favorite TKL of all time. Unfortunately with Topre, keycap options are quite limited. I am also a huge fan of high profile caps, such as SA profile caps, and luckily Topre actually makes a full size keyboard called the HiPro that features high profile dye-subbed PBT keycaps. So, if you have the money to buy both, you can simply swap out the caps, right?Unfortunately, no. Because the HiPro only comes in a full size variant, like all full size Topre boards, the status indicator lights (Caps, Scroll, Num) are above the numpad. The 87U, due to not having room at the top of the case for these lights, uses under switch LEDs. Due to the position of these LED’s the bottom left CTRL key features a special slider, and slider housing, to accommodate for the indicator LED (on the 87U Caps and CTRL can be swapped via a DIP switch, and in that case there is a Caps LED where CTRL normally is). Because of that, only keys made for the 87U, and that left hand slot can be used in that location. Here a visual example of the difference:
Now that my slider was in alignment with all of the others I simply needed to desolder the LED from the PCB. With the housing turned, the LED hit the bottom of the housing. This was a very easy process, and the LED came out without any issues.
Also, the sexy triple shot ESC key is from KeyKollectiv!