Mu's New HHKB

[Muirium]

Well, I hope I will like it as you do, type-s is coming, should have it in next few days.
SIlenced Novatouch or Realforce sounds fine, as long as its done right.
Never had hhkb factory silenced, so I'm very curious. All videos on youtube sound very mushy.

Anyway, my experience with hhkb is weird to say at least:)
I had one, bought form Amazon - Hybrid Pro. Fell in love, loved new CTRL and backspace position, but was overwelmed by arros, so I returned it I feel ashamed by that move.
Anyway, I then had a brand new feeling I never had before in my life. I missed it - I was missing my hhkb. Cannot explain what it was, I simply wanted it back. Missed the layout, feeling, sound, size.

So yeah, ordered again

First rule of HHKB illuminati: if you don’t love HHKB, you are wrong.

[phinix]

Well, I hope I will like it as you do, type-s is coming, should have it in next few days.
SIlenced Novatouch or Realforce sounds fine, as long as its done right.
Never had hhkb factory silenced, so I'm very curious. All videos on youtube sound very mushy.

Anyway, my experience with hhkb is weird to say at least:)
I had one, bought form Amazon - Hybrid Pro. Fell in love, loved new CTRL and backspace position, but was overwelmed by arros, so I returned it I feel ashamed by that move.
Anyway, I then had a brand new feeling I never had before in my life. I missed it - I was missing my hhkb. Cannot explain what it was, I simply wanted it back. Missed the layout, feeling, sound, size.

So yeah, ordered again

First rule of HHKB illuminati: if you don’t love HHKB, you are wrong.

Yep, love
I hope it will love me back!

Have you tried new deskeys mx sliders?
They look great and practically same as Novatouch sliders.

[Muirium]

No, because I don't really have any MX caps I'd prefer on my Topres. You still have to deal with the 6 unit spacebar, remember. That rules out my big box of Round 5 SA. And I prefer actually typing on Topre profile, anyway.

My (remaining, ANSI) NovaTouch gets some nice caps. Currently Matteo's Sindarin set:



But again I don't prefer their feel over Topre's stock caps. That Topre profile reigns supreme for real typing.

[phinix]

No, because I don't really have any MX caps I'd prefer on my Topres. You still have to deal with the 6 unit spacebar, remember. That rules out my big box of Round 5 SA. And I prefer actually typing on Topre profile, anyway.

My (remaining, ANSI) NovaTouch gets some nice caps. Currently Matteo's Sindarin set:



But again I don't prefer their feel over Topre's stock caps. That Topre profile reigns supreme for real typing.

I thought that MT3 profile caps are similar to Hi-Pro.
I wish I could grab some Hi-Pro for hhkb.
DId you see that new Hipro caps sets on kbdfans? They are at interest check stage, but they look lovely!

[Muirium]

Yeah… not for me. My fingers just aren't really into sphericals. I type a lot, and a lot of my typing is on Topre, so fitting them with sphericals would slow me down. I don't get the same flow with them, for reasons I described in Andreas's thread. It's that front edge on sphericals which really bugs me. I like the look, but I don't like the typing. Practical always wins.

Topre's own HiPro caps are… particularly unimpressive. Nothing wrong with the material or legends, but the shape of them is tall yet flat. Kbdfan's ones look a bit nicer. I've tried HiPro in person and I did not dig them. A bit plain, and definitely not my preferred spherical Topre shape. My fingers were moaning in no time.

[E3E]

I thought that MT3 profile caps are similar to Hi-Pro.
I wish I could grab some Hi-Pro for hhkb.
DId you see that new Hipro caps sets on kbdfans? They are at interest check stage, but they look lovely!

Since HiPro is now unaffordable for so many (which I hate), of all the alternatives that are similar, the MG cap profile is closest.




The bottom row is taller and Topre tends to use R3 for all other keys outside of the alpha cluster.

I'd go for that if you were going to use MX sliders for your Topre, because that is closest to HiPro. Speaking as someone who loves using Topre HiPro and has many sets.

Topre's own HiPro caps are… particularly unimpressive. Nothing wrong with the material or legends, but the shape of them is tall yet flat. Kbdfan's ones look a bit nicer. I've tried HiPro in person and I did not dig them. A bit plain, and definitely not my preferred spherical Topre shape. My fingers were moaning in no time.

Which brings me to the next point. Yeah, I agree. They are aesthetically gorgeous and that kept me coming back to them, and I believe that's what attracts many to begin with.

Feel wise though? It was 100% an acquired taste for me and they couldn't compare to other sphericals I preferred in terms of comfort/feel/etc. They have a lot of odd features that detract from their ergonomics.

The spherical tops on HiPro aren't so noticeably spherical, outside of the 6 homing keys. They feel more like flat tops with upswept edges.

Those same homing keys also have taller edges than their non-homing friends, and while I never noticed issues myself, I have seen some complain about fingers colliding with those keys when going from R4 to R3.

[wobbled]

I have a set of kbdfans HiPro caps in my drawer, they're not too far off the shape & feel of MT3. I do find they benefit in terms of sound from using o-rings on the keycaps themselves.
I really like them, but I didn't like the white caps on their own. I'll definitely pick up some of their darker HiPro caps and use them as modifiers with my white hipro keys. Might need another hhkb soon for this
Too bad I'm poor!

[Muirium]

I’ve a set of kbdfans Topre caps in my drawer too. Cylindrical. Look nice but don’t feel right. Should sell them. But lazy. No idea how to ship abroad any more (and get quotes first).

[phinix]

I’ve a set of kbdfans Topre caps in my drawer too. Cylindrical. Look nice but don’t feel right. Should sell them. But lazy. No idea how to ship abroad any more (and get quotes first).

Which set is it?
I may be interested. No need to post abroad

[phinix]

I have a set of kbdfans HiPro caps in my drawer, they're not too far off the shape & feel of MT3. I do find they benefit in terms of sound from using o-rings on the keycaps themselves.
I really like them, but I didn't like the white caps on their own. I'll definitely pick up some of their darker HiPro caps and use them as modifiers with my white hipro keys. Might need another hhkb soon for this
Too bad I'm poor!

Would you say that those kbdfnas hipros are very close to topre hipro?
Or rather not?

You poor? Wasn't you I saw photo smoewhere with like 3 or 4 hhkbs?

[Muirium]

Which set is it?
I may be interested. No need to post abroad

These:

viewtopic.php?p=435931#p435931

Two sets, as I got the Hiragana alphas and icon mods to stretch a TKL and an HHKB out of it. Multi colours of spacebars and I have the extras for an FC660C. Cherry style legends. Nice caps but I don’t use them.

[Palatino]

You poor? Wasn't you I saw photo smoewhere with like 3 or 4 hhkbs?

That’s why

[phinix]

Which set is it?
I may be interested. No need to post abroad

These:

viewtopic.php?p=435931#p435931

Two sets, as I got the Hiragana alphas and icon mods to stretch a TKL and an HHKB out of it. Multi colours of spacebars and I have the extras for an FC660C. Cherry style legends. Nice caps but I don’t use them.

I see. Yeah, when you have stock topre caps, these are too similar. Stock look a lot better. And feel better I'm sure.

[E3E]

Would you say that those kbdfnas hipros are very close to topre hipro?
Or rather not?

You happen to miss my post up there? They're not very close, no.

[phinix]

Would you say that those kbdfnas hipros are very close to topre hipro?
Or rather not?

You happen to miss my post up there? They're not very close, no.

No, didn't miss. I asked wobbled for his opinion.

So, you're saying that MG is closer than MT3?
Do you have any MG sets? If yes, do you find them nice to type on?

[E3E]

Would you say that those kbdfnas hipros are very close to topre hipro?
Or rather not?

You happen to miss my post up there? They're not very close, no.

No, didn't miss. I asked wobbled for his opinion.

So, you're saying that MG is closer than MT3?
Do you have any MG sets? If yes, do you find them nice to type on?

Sure, sure. That's fair enough. All good.

No, I don't as I don't use Cherry MX or MX Sliders, but of all the sets I've seen, the MG are the most similar in terms of their design.

KBDfans had a design that closely replicated HiPro intitially, but then they completely changed it up, so it's pretty different unfortunately.

MT3 were directly inspired by beamspring caps, so that's a bit far off.

If you are just looking for a way to enjoy Topre with sphericals regardless of how close they are to HiPro, than kbdfans or any of the others would definitely work.

Seems that there has been issues with the kbdfans caps though, so just to share:

Spoiler:

https://www.keebtalk.com/t/kbdfans-hipr ... ew/15782/9

tl;dr: crooked stems and caps that won't mount properly

[wobbled]

I have a set of kbdfans HiPro caps in my drawer, they're not too far off the shape & feel of MT3. I do find they benefit in terms of sound from using o-rings on the keycaps themselves.
I really like them, but I didn't like the white caps on their own. I'll definitely pick up some of their darker HiPro caps and use them as modifiers with my white hipro keys. Might need another hhkb soon for this
Too bad I'm poor!

Would you say that those kbdfnas hipros are very close to topre hipro?
Or rather not?

You poor? Wasn't you I saw photo smoewhere with like 3 or 4 hhkbs?

They are a step in the right direction, but clearly aren't made with molds created from the original HiPro caps.
If anything they seem more 'inspired by' the original HiPros. Which is fine, and they're not a bad design at all, but as others have said the QC isn't the best.

And yeh... I'm poor because of HHKBs and its not the first time it's happened

[phinix]

You happen to miss my post up there? They're not very close, no.

No, didn't miss. I asked wobbled for his opinion.

So, you're saying that MG is closer than MT3?
Do you have any MG sets? If yes, do you find them nice to type on?

Sure, sure. That's fair enough. All good.

No, I don't as I don't use Cherry MX or MX Sliders, but of all the sets I've seen, the MG are the most similar in terms of their design.

KBDfans had a design that closely replicated HiPro intitially, but then they completely changed it up, so it's pretty different unfortunately.

MT3 were directly inspired by beamspring caps, so that's a bit far off.

If you are just looking for a way to enjoy Topre with sphericals regardless of how close they are to HiPro, than kbdfans or any of the others would definitely work.

Seems that there has been issues with the kbdfans caps though, so just to share:

Spoiler:

https://www.keebtalk.com/t/kbdfans-hipr ... ew/15782/9

tl;dr: crooked stems and caps that won't mount properly

Its all cool:)

Yea, I've read about those issue while back, thought maybe its regarding that particular sets, at least I hope.
I'll wait and see what next set will bring.

Now, when PFU is being sold, we could hope that new owner will ressurect HiPro line and we will get them back.

[phinix]

I have a set of kbdfans HiPro caps in my drawer, they're not too far off the shape & feel of MT3. I do find they benefit in terms of sound from using o-rings on the keycaps themselves.
I really like them, but I didn't like the white caps on their own. I'll definitely pick up some of their darker HiPro caps and use them as modifiers with my white hipro keys. Might need another hhkb soon for this
Too bad I'm poor!

Would you say that those kbdfnas hipros are very close to topre hipro?
Or rather not?

You poor? Wasn't you I saw photo smoewhere with like 3 or 4 hhkbs?

They are a step in the right direction, but clearly aren't made with molds created from the original HiPro caps.
If anything they seem more 'inspired by' the original HiPros. Which is fine, and they're not a bad design at all, but as others have said the QC isn't the best.

And yeh... I'm poor because of HHKBs and its not the first time it's happened

That undestrandable

Cool. I just wanted to feel how it is to type on Hipro, so will wait and see what will happen next, as like you all said, now getting HiPro is too expensive, so out of range for us poor peeps

[Muirium]

HiPro is like SA (example: Round 5) but not even quite that good. I’d rate them 3/10 for feel but 8/10 for looks. (Deduct points for those usual boring beige ones, though.) Quite imbalanced!

MT3 is a bit nicer than both of them, looks wise. For me, it’s a bit better feeling, too, as it screams YOU AIN’T IN KANSAS ANYMORE, SON! Which is also its downside: I find it too opinionated and characterful when I’m busy, just trying to type. So much so, I’m sure it slows me down!

[phinix]

HiPro is like SA (example: Round 5) but not even quite that good. I’d rate them 3/10 for feel but 8/10 for looks. (Deduct points for those usual boring beige ones, though.) Quite imbalanced!

MT3 is a bit nicer than both of them, looks wise. For me, it’s a bit better feeling, too, as it screams YOU AIN’T IN KANSAS ANYMORE, SON! Which is also its downside: I find it too opinionated and characterful when I’m busy, just trying to type. So much so, I’m sure it slows me down!

Wow, 3 to 8 is a huge gap, sounds like I'm in love with some pweety gal, who is actually pretty shallow inside!

[phinix]

OK. So sounds like I'm not a Type-S person.
Prefer that noisy regular sound of hhkb.

New Hybrid Type-s for sale, anyone?

[Muirium]

What's the harm with a little patience? You dismissed your HHKB Type-S as quickly as I dismissed HiPro after playing with them for a few minutes at a meet-up. First impressions matter, but what what matters more are lasting impressions. You've already got the keyboard in your possession, you might as well give it a few days use to grow on you. Besides, you need to learn that arrow diamond.

—Sent from my Type-S

[phinix]

What's the harm with a little patience? You dismissed your HHKB Type-S as quickly as I dismissed HiPro after playing with them for a few minutes at a meet-up. First impressions matter, but what what matters more are lasting impressions. You've already got the keyboard in your possession, you might as well give it a few days use to grow on you. Besides, you need to learn that arrow diamond.

—Sent from my Type-S

OK, I'll give it a go till next week, but still.. prefer that loudness of classic

[wobbled]

I've never tried this myself so am unsure of what the results would be, but have you tried removing the type-s silencing rings?
I can't imagine there's any real wobble on the sliders as the rings are extremely thin

[E3E]

HiPro is like SA (example: Round 5) but not even quite that good. I’d rate them 3/10 for feel but 8/10 for looks. (Deduct points for those usual boring beige ones, though.) Quite imbalanced!

MT3 is a bit nicer than both of them, looks wise. For me, it’s a bit better feeling, too, as it screams YOU AIN’T IN KANSAS ANYMORE, SON! Which is also its downside: I find it too opinionated and characterful when I’m busy, just trying to type. So much so, I’m sure it slows me down!

Subjectivity, of course. I find SA to look very toyish in comparison, especially with the insistence of the centered legends. The sets never look right to my eyes. Which is amusing because HiPro is similarish. They're both tall yet lazy profiles where R2 is a flipped R4.

As for feel, I do think SA was pretty nice. Shallow scoop, but it was a pleasant typing feel. Topre HiPro is an acquired taste for me, but for others, it's love at first thock (or sometimes rattly clacky thock on stock HiPro).

My favorite description of stock HiPro was a youtube comment that likened the keystroke sound to snapping chocolate bars.

But yeah, I'm on the other end of the preference spectrum here. I don't really like the look of MT3 or SA, but I think that HiPro is gorgeous and that is its strongest quality in my eyes.

[Muirium]

Yeah. SP’s doubleshots are pretty weak. Their legend designs range from homely to goofy. I wasn’t thinking about that. I meant their shape. They look aye pretty, but they’re not for my fingers much at all.

*For me* (making sure to include the usual subjective weasel words this time) cylindrical always wins. Hard. All sphericals have going for them is their looks.

[E3E]

Very good, Mu. Nah, I understand.

I know a lot of people who dislike sphericals because of their feel not being as smooth to use as cylindricals.
Which I can see. Cylindricals have those dipped edges in the front and back of the cap. Sphericals are raised on all sides, which can make transitioning from key to key a bit awkward depending on typing style.

For those of us who are spherical enjoyers, I would say part of the joy of sphericals comes from the way they "hug" your finger tips for that very same reason, the scooped edges on all sides.

Topre OEM cylindrical is very good though. I enjoy sphericals and cylindricals about evenly, barring aesthetics; they just offer different qualities and sometimes I'm in the mood for one over the other.

[phinix]

I've never tried this myself so am unsure of what the results would be, but have you tried removing the type-s silencing rings?
I can't imagine there's any real wobble on the sliders as the rings are extremely thin

I was thinking doing it. I've read here and there that when you do that, they start to wobble - I don't why, I would have thought that PFU didn't do anything different making those - maybe stems being 1mm taller. If they wobble more, it would mean that stem or housing is different. Would they do such thing? Make totally different housings for type-s? I feel like not.
Maybe it is simple solution for me, just to take out rings. I would void warranty but hey...

EDIT: sounds like they are different: https://hhkb.io/components/sliders/

I'm getting another HHKB ( ) so will swap sliders, problem solved

[wobbled]

I've never tried this myself so am unsure of what the results would be, but have you tried removing the type-s silencing rings?
I can't imagine there's any real wobble on the sliders as the rings are extremely thin

I was thinking doing it. I've read here and there that when you do that, they start to wobble - I don't why, I would have thought that PFU didn't do anything different making those - maybe stems being 1mm taller. If they wobble more, it would mean that stem or housing is different. Would they do such thing? Make totally different housings for type-s? I feel like not.
Maybe it is simple solution for me, just to take out rings. I would void warranty but hey...

EDIT: sounds like they are different: https://hhkb.io/components/sliders/

I'm getting another HHKB ( ) so will swap sliders, problem solved

Getting another HHKB is always the correct answer mate