Suggestions for Nice-sounding MX Clicky Switches?
- nsmechkb
- Location: ON, CA
- Main keyboard: W: FC660C H: Model F AT
- Favorite switch: Maybe Capacitive Buckling Springs.
- DT Pro Member: 0202
Good morning!
After watching Chyros' SKCM Blue videos and hearing how nice they sound, I'd like to try something similar. I'd prefer to find something in MX-mount, though.
What is the nicest sounding clicky MX-mount switch you know of?
After watching Chyros' SKCM Blue videos and hearing how nice they sound, I'd like to try something similar. I'd prefer to find something in MX-mount, though.
What is the nicest sounding clicky MX-mount switch you know of?
- seebart
- Offtopicthority Instigator
- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: Rotation
- Main mouse: Steelseries Sensei
- Favorite switch: IBM capacitive buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: 0061
- Contact:
Oh Chyros is going to love this. The fact that his SKCM Blue video is motivating someone to try Cherry MX. Brillaint.nsmechkb wrote: ↑Good morning!
After watching Chyros' SKCM Blue videos and hearing how nice they sound, I'd like to try something similar. I'd prefer to find something in MX-mount, though.
- seebart
- Offtopicthority Instigator
- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: Rotation
- Main mouse: Steelseries Sensei
- Favorite switch: IBM capacitive buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: 0061
- Contact:
Sorry I cannot answer your question, I can tell you any Cherry MX switch has nothing to do with any clicky SKCM switch in sound or feel.
- Wodan
- ISO Advocate
- Location: ISO-DE
- Main keyboard: Intense Rotation!!!
- Main mouse: Logitech G903
- Favorite switch: ALL OF THEM
- DT Pro Member: -
Gateron clickies are generally a nice idea from the switches i tried. They come in a very bright sounding plastic switch case which helps giving them snappy clicks.
- nsmechkb
- Location: ON, CA
- Main keyboard: W: FC660C H: Model F AT
- Favorite switch: Maybe Capacitive Buckling Springs.
- DT Pro Member: 0202
Thank you, Wodan! These may be what I end up going with.Wodan wrote: ↑Gateron clickies are generally a nice idea from the switches i tried. They come in a very bright sounding plastic switch case which helps giving them snappy clicks.
- Chyros
- Location: The Netherlands
- Main keyboard: whatever I'm reviewing next :p
- Main mouse: a cheap Logitech
- Favorite switch: Alps SKCM Blue
- DT Pro Member: -
I agree on gatistotles. Also happen to be the nicest-feeling MX-type switches I've tried. There's absolutely nothing that can rival the sound of complicated Alps, though, MX or otherwise.
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- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: Matias QC V60
- Main mouse: Zowie FK
- Favorite switch: Matias QC
- DT Pro Member: -
Aristotles Stems are pretty nice, but nothing like blue Alps. Gateron clickies are even further off, the click is even higher pitched than that of MX Blues imo.
Your best bet would probably be those Alps-MX-mount adapters and some clicky Alps switch.
The plate and case you use have a huge impact as well. A thick 5mm acrylic plate sounds way different from a 1.5mm steel one, although it doesn't get a MX blue closer to a Alps blue...
Your best bet would probably be those Alps-MX-mount adapters and some clicky Alps switch.
The plate and case you use have a huge impact as well. A thick 5mm acrylic plate sounds way different from a 1.5mm steel one, although it doesn't get a MX blue closer to a Alps blue...
- Nuum
- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: KBD8X Mk I (60g Clears), Phantom (Nixdorf Blacks)
- Main mouse: Corsair M65 PRO RGB
- Favorite switch: 60g MX Clears/Brown Alps/Buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: 0084
- zslane
- Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Main keyboard: RealForce RGB
- Main mouse: Basic Microsoft USB mouse
- Favorite switch: Topre
- DT Pro Member: -
Kailh Gold speed switch if you like a soft, unobtrusive click. Kailh Thick Gold (what people are calling "Bronze") speed switch if you like a loud, sharp snap (twice per key press, in fact!).
- nsmechkb
- Location: ON, CA
- Main keyboard: W: FC660C H: Model F AT
- Favorite switch: Maybe Capacitive Buckling Springs.
- DT Pro Member: 0202
Thank you all for your replies! I think it'll be either Gatistotles or Kailh Bronze! Should probably wait until I can hear what the Bronze switches sound like in a case.
- Chyros
- Location: The Netherlands
- Main keyboard: whatever I'm reviewing next :p
- Main mouse: a cheap Logitech
- Favorite switch: Alps SKCM Blue
- DT Pro Member: -
They sound like the absolute opposite of each other. Bronze ones are very high-pitched metal, gatistotles fairly deep plastic.nsmechkb wrote: ↑Thank you all for your replies! I think it'll be either Gatistotles or Kailh Bronze! Should probably wait until I can hear what the Bronze switches sound like in a case.
- MrDuul
- Location: ARIZONA
- Main keyboard: IBM Model F Unsaver
- Main mouse: Logitech G9x
- Favorite switch: Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
Are blue alps > Model F springs?Chyros wrote: ↑They sound like the absolute opposite of each other. Bronze ones are very high-pitched metal, gatistotles fairly deep plastic.nsmechkb wrote: ↑Thank you all for your replies! I think it'll be either Gatistotles or Kailh Bronze! Should probably wait until I can hear what the Bronze switches sound like in a case.
- wobbled
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: HHKB PD-KB300 Pro 1
- Main mouse: Logitech MX Master 3
- Favorite switch: Topre
- DT Pro Member: 0192
Personal preference...MrDuul wrote: ↑Are blue alps > Model F springs?Chyros wrote: ↑They sound like the absolute opposite of each other. Bronze ones are very high-pitched metal, gatistotles fairly deep plastic.nsmechkb wrote: ↑Thank you all for your replies! I think it'll be either Gatistotles or Kailh Bronze! Should probably wait until I can hear what the Bronze switches sound like in a case.
Even stating
Blue Alps > Cherry MX Blue
Is entirely down to personal preference.
- nsmechkb
- Location: ON, CA
- Main keyboard: W: FC660C H: Model F AT
- Favorite switch: Maybe Capacitive Buckling Springs.
- DT Pro Member: 0202
Here's the primary video I'm referencing for Kailh Bronze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jltzgXcaaXUChyros wrote: ↑They sound like the absolute opposite of each other. Bronze ones are very high-pitched metal, gatistotles fairly deep plastic.nsmechkb wrote: ↑Thank you all for your replies! I think it'll be either Gatistotles or Kailh Bronze! Should probably wait until I can hear what the Bronze switches sound like in a case.
Here's my primary reference for Gatistotles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgw8Ty3_POY
I'm losing confidence that the idea makes any sense anyway. I want a compact board with just a really pleasant clicky sound. At the moment, I'm thinking of buying an FC660M and putting a Clueboard PCB in it, and experimenting with case liners and pads to get a nice, deep sound. Originally I just wanted a Clueboard, but I think the aluminum case is going to heighten the pitch of the click. I want to lower the pitch, so a roomy, solid, plastic case seems like an appropriate choice.
I thought the 660M case would let the sharp snap of the Bronzes reverberate and create a nice full sound, but 'metallic' isn't really what I have in mind, so maybe Gatistotles really are the best choice.
The whole thing may be a fool's errand. The SKCM Blues in this video -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8tbH56Bd0I -- don't sound particularly nice to my ear. Which leads me to believe that the big, roomy, thick plastic cases that typically house SKCM Blues contribute significantly to the overall sound, and if I were to take straight SKCM Blues and stick them in a 660M case I may still be far off the mark of, say, your videos, Chyros.
Lots to think about.
Last edited by nsmechkb on 29 May 2017, 00:59, edited 2 times in total.
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- Location: California
- Main keyboard: IBM Model M
- Main mouse: Logitech G402
- Favorite switch: Undecided, SKCL Alps?
- DT Pro Member: -
Non-Clicky MX can sound nice. Plate mounted with some shorter, thick, keycaps results in a fairly quiet and bassy noise.snoopy wrote: ↑are there even any nice sounding mx switches?
The clickies just sound awful, though.