Comparison of keyboard sounds / c't German computer magazine

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Halvar

28 Sep 2014, 01:13

Here's a nice video with a comparison of keyboard sounds (German, but it doesnt really matter for the main part).

The German PC magazine c't has a long article about keyboards in its current issue. They tested very different models, from rubber dome to Realforce. This is a companion video for the article. They even have the "Razer switches" -- note how they don't fall for the marketing and correctly call them by their Kaihua name.

I have no idea why they tag the Unicomp board as "outside the competition". Moreover, they obviously forgot to include a beam spring with solenoid in the video.
The article is not available online for free, but most of you probably won't learn anything new anyway.

Note the "Links" tab on the article page though: ;)

http://www.heise.de/ct/heft/2014-21-Was ... 92631.html


Just in case you didn't know: a keyboard has to fit you, you don't know anything before you tried it on.

Image

Hak Foo

28 Sep 2014, 06:14

If I had to guess, maybe their defined range of products wouldn't include the Unicomp. If they're doing a gaming-related roundup, everyone wants NKRO, even if they don't need it, so the Unicomp doesn't qualify. Or maybe it's not reliably sourcable in Europe.

User avatar
seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

28 Sep 2014, 21:42

nice to see they included Matias,Topre and Unicomp.Not exactly mainstream products.
If they're doing a gaming-related roundup
no I don´t think they were with those keyboards in the beginning,it was just a broad selection.
Just in case you didn't know: a keyboard has to fit you, you don't know anything before you tried it on.
oh I did not know that,on the other hand I have about 20 keyboards here that all "fit me" in my opinion. :mrgreen:

User avatar
dorkvader

29 Sep 2014, 22:33

wow that loud, hard bottom out in the video! mx switches are much quieter if you use them without bottoming out.

They might not be bottoming out the unicomp as hard, I think in part because it takes so much force, or maybe it's not as loud as it should be because it's a unicomp. Not sure on that one. The rest sounded like what i'd expect from a longtime RD user mashing the keys. That final stroke! Gotta be careful or you'll break the plate with force like that.

User avatar
Halvar

29 Sep 2014, 23:16

I agree, even with the MX blues you hardly hear the click because of the bottoming out.

On the final stroke: That's just how you press an ISO enter key! That's the whole sense of its existence! Listen, I finished a command, I'm a man!

sean4star

30 Sep 2014, 00:13

His typing technique is typical of anyone conditioned to rubberdomes. To most people that's just how you type. You just pound hard and fast.

My keyboard at work has MX blacks with o-rings. If my co-workers type on my keyboard they always try to pound on it first, but the o-rings prevent the hard bottom-out. Then they start typing softer and before they leave my office they always comment on how great my keyboard is. Even if they have used it and told me before!

User avatar
Hypersphere

30 Sep 2014, 01:46

sean4star wrote: His typing technique is typical of anyone conditioned to rubberdomes. To most people that's just how you type. You just pound hard and fast.

My keyboard at work has MX blacks with o-rings. If my co-workers type on my keyboard they always try to pound on it first, but the o-rings prevent the hard bottom-out. Then they start typing softer and before they leave my office they always comment on how great my keyboard is. Even if they have used it and told me before!
My typing style is to bottom out on every keystroke. My favorite switches currently are IBM capacitive buckling spring (IBM XT) and Topre 55g.

I've tried Cherry mx blue, green, brown, and clear. I didn't like any of them, least of all clears at first. However, I replaced the thin ABS keycaps with thick PBT and added O-rings, which made the clears tolerable and even okay. My theory is that this treatment shortened the key travel so that I was not fighting against the increasing force of the clears past the tactile bump and actuation point. Nevertheless, the switches still feel gritty to me, and I am wondering if I ought to try reds or perhaps blacks for the smoother linear feel.

Reds might be too light for me and contribute to errors because of the light actuation force. I have tried vintage blacks on an old Wyse terminal keyboard, but I cannot do a proper typing test because I have not converted the keyboard to USB. The blacks seemed a bit too heavy, but I am thinking that if I install O-rings, it might reduce the key travel sufficiently to block the heaviest part of the force curve.

Given that I already have the Wyse keyboard with vintage blacks, I think I will attach a Teensy and use the Soarer converter to get the keyboard up and running so that I can test it properly while it is operational with a modern computer.

mr_a500

30 Sep 2014, 01:48

Halvar wrote: Moreover, they obviously forgot to include a beam spring with solenoid in the video.
I'm having a difficult time trying to type quietly on my beam spring with solenoid. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.
:P

User avatar
Daniel Beardsmore

30 Sep 2014, 09:43

Halvar wrote: On the final stroke: That's just how you press an ISO enter key! That's the whole sense of its existence! Listen, I finished a command, I'm a man!
I missed it in the video, but yes, ISO enter is great for giving it a resounding whack at the end of the command.

However, with Cherry stabilisers, you don't get the same clang from it, so I seem to have stopped doing that (or I no longer notice).

User avatar
seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

30 Sep 2014, 21:18

my typing style actually changes slightly depending on what I am typing on.I like bottoming out on IBM capacitive buckling spring, less so on "softer" switches. The longer I stay on one switch the more I "adapt" my typing style.I love the feel of Alps SKFS on my Apple Adjustable Keyboard.

xwhatsit

07 Oct 2014, 10:33

Hak Foo wrote: If I had to guess, maybe their defined range of products wouldn't include the Unicomp. If they're doing a gaming-related roundup, everyone wants NKRO, even if they don't need it, so the Unicomp doesn't qualify. Or maybe it's not reliably sourcable in Europe.
Well if you need NKRO for gaming then why the hell isn't a beamspring + solenoid in this video?!!

No accounting for taste.

:D

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