deskthority

I'm picking out a Durgod Fusion keyboard and want to emulate the Alps Amber switches found in Apple computers like the IIc:

wiki/Alps_SKCM_Amber

MX black, blue, brown and red are available for the Fusion but it's hard to tell from reading forums which key is most like it. There's no clear-cut answer, but knowing what the community would pick would be helpful. It's my first time really digging into key switch differences and I'm trying to emulate the 80s experience so some guidance would be helpful. I initially planned to use MX Blue but wanted to be sure.

Jeremy

Due to differences in mechanism, none of the MX switches are really comparable. Blues are clicky, which is the closest you'll get with purely MX switches but it is not very close in feel or sound tbh. If you are willing to go with aftermarket switches then I would suggest one of the box click bar switches as that will be a lot closer but still not exactly what you get with ambers.

The closest match is fine at this point. Maybe I can modify the keyboard later but for now the Fusion comes with one of those four MX switches and I just wanted the best match to those Apple keyboards from the 80s.

Jeremy

Blue, but, they will be very disappointing, in your shoes I’d swap in some box jades or navies. that’s as close as you’re going to get, but it won’t be much like ambers.

jeremyschultz wrote: ↑

04 Sep 2020, 15:52

The closest match is fine at this point. Maybe I can modify the keyboard later but for now the Fusion comes with one of those four MX switches and I just wanted the best match to those Apple keyboards from the 80s.

Jeremy

Of the choices, blue is probably the best. However, and as mentioned above, it doesn't feel like an Alps. You're also trading 80 to 100 grams of force for 50. That's a considerable difference. That's close to an Alps white.

Would Aristotle switches / pheonix stems be closer?

Rayndalf wrote: ↑

05 Sep 2020, 01:44

Would Aristotle switches / pheonix stems be closer?

I have tried aristotles, and they really aren't very similar to ambers imo.

I'm just going with the choices OP has listed ...

MX black, blue, brown and red

... So I don't get too far off topic from OP's question.

However, I will say that it's $3.50 to about $4.00 (off the top of my head) for a box (heh) of Kailh Box switches, depending on the color ...

Box navy

Having both Alps Ambers and a lot of clicky MX switches the best match is ProWrold switches as they are just as tactile and feel about 95% the same due to how they operate.

None of the options this board ships with are close.

I always like to refer to Haata's force curves for something like this.

Alps SKCM Amber: https://chart-studio.plotly.com/~haata/ ... kcm-amber/

The tactile event maxes out around 73 grams of force, over the course of about 1 mm of travel where it really deviates from a linear profile. Approximately 30 grams higher at actuation than a linear using the same spring.

Cherry MX Blue? 66 grams, over 0.6 mm, with maybe 20 grams of difference from a linear spring. https://chart-studio.plotly.com/~haata/ ... y-mx-blue/

Kailh x NovelKeys Box Navy? Much closer Amber Alps on the press, though the release is markedly different. https://chart-studio.plotly.com/~haata/ ... -box-navy/