Which switch is most silent?

[pederlol]

...between the Cherry MX ones...?

[kint]

The super black. Linear non clicky, and because it's super it's hard to create a bottom out noise.
Apart from that linear is imo a little more silent than tactile, which is more silent than clicky.
Then again, you have bottom out and release noise from the caps on all switches.
This is louder than anything but clicky anyway.

[ماء]

Under super black
Dark gray quite silent,just 80g still tolerable

[Findecanor]

On MX Clears, you don't bottom out as much in normal typing and it does not feel so hard because you don't have to press them down as much to get feedback.

I don't know about harder springs... Most of the noise from my keyboard comes from when the slider hits the ceiling on the rebound. In this respect I think that a harder spring is worse.

[Halvar]

You could also argue that switches with lighter springs like brown or red are less noisy because there's less force involved from the start on, so the bottoming out (which is the main cause of noise) might be not that loud. Thats my personal impression at least, and that's why I opted for browns at work.

I don't know, I don't really think there's a lot of difference, or rather that the noise differs more from person to person with different typing styles than from switch to switch (if you exclude clicky ones).

[Muirium]

The ultimate quiet switch would need damping on both down and up stroke. It would also need a light touch at the top to promote light-handed typing, and, on the flip side, a big increase in resistance down the bottom to slow down slammers like me who will bottom it out in any case.

Besides clicky switches (which are loud on purpose) the source of noise in every switch is hitting the hard limits at the top and bottom of the slider. Damp these, and a very different experience emerges. Well, if you can do it while still feeling good.

[mr_a500]

I need to find an alternate silent, yet awesome feeling keyboard - maybe ALPS magnetic reed or hall effect. Although I'm an "uber clicky maniac", typing for hours on a beam spring in a room with loud echos can drive one semi-insane (or maybe even "uber insane"). It's nice to be silent occasionally.

[Muirium]

Semi insane? Pad the walls!

I don't find the Honeywell to be a quiet Hall effect keyboard, but that may be the combination of my heavy hands and its sore need for some lube.

[mashby]

If you don't mind moding your switches, there's an interesting thread over on GH about something they are calling a Trampoline Mod. It's where you place a small piece of pvc mat, or o-rings inside the shaft of the switch.

To go a step further, Oobly used liquid latex on the switch cover to dampen the return.

Both of these mods seek to dampen the sound of the switch, which might help in your quest to find a quieter switch.

[nourathar]

hey, that trampoline mod is very interesting....

the 'cream' Alps found in SGI boards and some older Apple boards have sliders that dampen the bottoming out as well as the return stroke. The Matias Quiet switch has similar stems.

see http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/alps ... t6641.html

I'm typing this on a Northgate with white Alps (clicky) where I replaced the stems by dampened ones from Matias switches. The idea is to have a switch that is very clicky when it actuates, but apart from that as silent as possible, if that makes any sense. I'm still experimenting, but for now, apart from the clicks, it is much more silent than Cherry browns, certainly if you bottom out.
But it does depend a lot on your typing style and on the keycaps you have (which are quite limited when you use Alps, and they wobble / rattle a lot more than Cherry caps).

And I'm sure there must be all kinds of more exotic and more interesting mechanisms around that can be more silent !

J.

[jeffkoch]

To reduce the sound, look beyond just the switches. The body of a guitar makes the strings much more efficient at producing sound. Similarly, the keyboard PCB, switch-mounting plate, and case affect the pitch and amount of noise the keyboard radiates. For example, you might experiment with packing the case under the PCB with electricians putty

[dustinhxc]

Black forsure!

[czarek]

Be reminded that mechanicals are just as loud on rebound as on bottom out when typing quickly.

[pederlol]

Thanks for all your replys!

[cookie]

I'd say reds with O-Ring

[M'er Forever]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[cookie]

Well played Sir!

[M'er Forever]

[Account and posts deleted on request]