Keyboards with speakers

aestechnic

25 May 2022, 10:15

Hi, all.

I am curious about the keyboards equipped with speakers or buzzers as a replacement for solenoids, how did they actually sound? I understand the IBM 6580 (Displaywriter) had one, and for a somewhat different example, user MMcM posted about a Honeywell hall effect keyboard with a speaker here: viewtopic.php?p=483317#p483317

But what sound did these produce on keypress? Mere clicks or beeps, or something more ambitious in the direction of emulating the solenoid sound? Verbal descriptions, sound samples, or technical descriptions ("?? ms square wave at ?? Hz") appreciated!

Best.

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Muirium
µ

25 May 2022, 10:38

The 4704 Kishsaver has a beeper. Not a speaker per se but one of these:

Image
viewtopic.php?p=160956#p160956

It produces a medium high pitched EEEEP when activated, which sounds like a sawtooth wave rather than sine or gnarly square wave to me, as I recall. There’s a volume knob on the underside of the keyboard I keep habitually at zero! :D

Image

I’ll dial it up sometime and see.

In any case, it surely sounds nothing at all like the solenoid in my beamspring. But the psychological effect is identical: BIP BIP BIPITTY-BIPITTY BIP. Ugh. I’m turning this hyperactive feedback off! :lol:

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guidemetothelight

25 May 2022, 12:36

aestechnic wrote:
25 May 2022, 10:15

But what sound did these produce on keypress? Mere clicks or beeps, or something more ambitious in the direction of emulating the solenoid sound? Verbal descriptions, sound samples, or technical descriptions ("?? ms square wave at ?? Hz") appreciated!
My Telekom branded Ericcson Unsaver Keyboard has a very similar Buzzer as the one from Muirium.
download/file.php?id=73259
U can change its Loudness with one of the two scrollwheels. (Both Buzzer and Scrollwheels are at the top right)
As for the Sound , its a short, relatively high pitched metallic click it produces.
In low volume quite pleasant.

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TNT

25 May 2022, 13:34

The Zenith Z-150 comes with a beeper. It produces more of a clicking sound tho. Not a snappy, metallic sounding one. Like an electronic "DOT" or "DIT". It's actually quite pleasant imo, but it overshadows the sound of the excellent SKCL Greens, so I mostly turn it off.

Video for reference, but Taeha somehow managed to have the switches sound louder than the beeper

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wobbled

25 May 2022, 14:36

One of my old M's had a speaker, it's rare to find Model M boards with it attached
20210604_214257.jpg
20210604_214257.jpg (2.6 MiB) Viewed 2210 times

aestechnic

25 May 2022, 14:57

wobbled wrote:
25 May 2022, 14:36
One of my old M's had a speaker, it's rare to find Model M boards with it attached
Hey, thanks! I didn't realize Model M's came with a speaker. Aha! Mine indeed has an unoccupied place for a speaker. Wonder if the (original) controller supports adding one, just to hear first hand.

Also thanks Muirium, guidemetothelight and TNT, all very informative.

Still hoping for some input on beamspring with speaker.

headphone_jack

25 May 2022, 15:52

The speaker on model Ms was never intended to be a beeper, unfortunately. Best I can tell is it was possibly meant to output post beeps when used with the original systems, but it's very strange that so few had them if this was the intended use case.

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Muirium
µ

25 May 2022, 17:13

Are we certain IBM / Lexmark ever actually shipped any fitted speakers at all? The vent looks like a late design rollback, like the empty spot for the camera on Apple’s first or second generation iPod Touch. Usually when you cancel a component and its feature like that, however, you don’t occasionally just install one now and then and ship it to the customer on a whim! When it’s gone, it’s gone; only the ghost remains, not the cost-cut body!

To be fair, I doubt we’re really seeing enterprising early modders at work here either. Just seems a bit flaky to me. Were the few speakered examples for some special use case(s)? Do we know much about any of this at all?

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clickykeyboards

25 May 2022, 22:27

Three examples of IBM model M keyboards that have IBM OEM speakers installed into rear keyboard case.

IBM part# 1394540
https://www.clickykeyboards.com/product ... h-speaker/

IBM part# 51G8572
https://www.clickykeyboards.com/product ... speaker-2/

IBM part# 8184692
https://www.clickykeyboards.com/product ... 10-mar-94/

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sharktastica

25 May 2022, 23:37

Muirium wrote:
25 May 2022, 17:13
Are we certain IBM / Lexmark ever actually shipped any fitted speakers at all?
It was usually present for Model Ms destined for IBM RT PCs (such as P/N 1392366) and RS/6000 workstations (like the three clickykeyboards posted).

Findecanor

26 May 2022, 02:41

I've read that on the RS/6000 keyboards, the speaker would have been connected to the host via the PS/2 port. On the PC, those pins are unused (or on later PCs: reused for pass-through or Y-cable to a mouse).

The IBM 5576-001 and -002 also have speakers, but I dunno if they were connected the same way.

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Polecat

26 May 2022, 04:36

TNT wrote:
25 May 2022, 13:34
The Zenith Z-150 comes with a beeper. It produces more of a clicking sound tho. Not a snappy, metallic sounding one. Like an electronic "DOT" or "DIT". It's actually quite pleasant imo, but it overshadows the sound of the excellent SKCL Greens, so I mostly turn it off.

Video for reference, but Taeha somehow managed to have the switches sound louder than the beeper
I'm glad someone mentioned the Zenith. I had one back in the day, and as someone who needs a clicky keyboard the clicker in the Zenith made it usable for me, and I agree, quite pleasant. Quick question - how does the clicker in a ZKB-2 compare to the Z-150?

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TNT

26 May 2022, 11:49

Polecat wrote:
26 May 2022, 04:36

I'm glad someone mentioned the Zenith. I had one back in the day, and as someone who needs a clicky keyboard the clicker in the Zenith made it usable for me, and I agree, quite pleasant. Quick question - how does the clicker in a ZKB-2 compare to the Z-150?
Just judging from Chyros' videos, it seems like they're the same.

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