[Interest Check] Silencing Rings for Topre RF or HHKB

[dutC4]

That is a lot of money to be losing to Ebay fees. It would be great if you could start selling via PP invoice since I'm sure few of your sales come from people who aren't forum goers and just stumble upon the listing.

[Hypersphere]

Update: The material has been ordered. It might be a few weeks before the next batch of rings is ready, but I will post here to let people know when they are available.

[JanitorJoe]

I plan to get in on the next set of these. Murium's comparison video really helped make my mind up.

Did you make the second batch the same size as the first?

[Hypersphere]

I plan to get in on the next set of these. Murium's comparison video really helped make my mind up.

Did you make the second batch the same size as the first?

Yes, the next batch will be made to the same specifications as the first.

[cooldiscretion]

I got a set for my Novatouch and the difference is nearly night and day. They are pretty amazing.

[XMIT]

I've seen that, this is enough to make me reconsider owning a Novatouch.

[retrochick]

I'm in for a set for my HHKB once the next batch is ready.

[vinzbe]

I totally missed the first batch. Count me in for at least 2 RF87u sets for the next one.

[Muirium]

Try to overproduce them this time, Hyper, if you can. There's always new people showing up to find they need this!

[cooldiscretion]

I might have to buy another set for my hhkb as well as rf87

[Hypersphere]

Materials are on order. I intend to run off quite a few more rings this time. I will announce when the rings are ready. Please be patient; it might take a few weeks. Thanks.

[rnd]

Request: when the next batch is done, can you not ship them with eBay's Global Shipping Program? It's highway robbery for residents of many countries. For example, the 90 silencing rings are 22.90$ to ship, which is bullshit. eBay's GSP pricing is out of touch with reality, and sellers are often unaware of this. It's the reason why I haven't bought from the first batch, even though I'm very interested at buying these.

[Muirium]

Where are you, md? I'm guessing not Maryland!

http://deskthority.net/help-f53/please- ... t1386.html


@Hyper: People really do want a European group buy for these. It's really easy and safe to do (you get paid up front, we buyers are those taking a risk, which we are already on eBay). I'd run it myself, but Britain is the worst possible place in Europe for import taxes and shipping rates. You could save a lot of unnecessary cost on these, and all while saving the effort of shipping lots of envelopes.

Using eBay for this is a lose lose situation.

[TheNacho]

For everyone still thinking whether or not to get these, this is what my modded Novatouch now sounds like. Well, I guess the thick PBT makes some difference aswell, but I dont want to swap them out, just to check what the NT sounds like with the stock caps now

https://soundcloud.com/mbsoundwolke/typ ... -55g-domes

[wlhlm]

I'd be willing to run a EU group buy for the rings.

This would be my first time running a group buy, but this looks like straightforward task and a good starting point. Shipping the rings looks manageable.

I'm located in Germany and I've done a couple of proxies for German members for other group buys before.

I've contacted Hypersphere.

[Hypersphere]

I'd be willing to run a EU group buy for the rings.

This would be my first time running a group buy, but this looks like straightforward task and a good starting point. Shipping the rings looks manageable.

I'm located in Germany and I've done a couple of proxies for German members for other group buys before.

I've contacted Hypersphere.

Thanks, Wilhlm, for volunteering to do this. I have seen your PM, and I will respond to work out the details. I am currently new to mechanisms such as Group Buys and Proxies. Muirium has commented often on these processes, and I would suppose that we could contact him for advice. I am certainly willing to explore any legitimate methods that would result in savings of time and money for all concerned.

[Muirium]

Yeah, feel free to ask me questions. Public or private. It's all quite simple when you know how. I've been involved in several.

[Khers]

I'd be willing to run a EU group buy for the rings.

This would be my first time running a group buy, but this looks like straightforward task and a good starting point. Shipping the rings looks manageable.

I'm located in Germany and I've done a couple of proxies for German members for other group buys before.

I've contacted Hypersphere.

Great! Finally there is hope for some reasonable shipping to Europe!

[raymogi]

Can I get in on this too?

Totally missed the first round. I need this for my HHKB as well

[vinzbe]

It looks like the novatouch greatly benefits from these silencing rings but do you also need the o-rings? I'm afraid it would severely limit the travel distance.

[TheNacho]

The o rings are put on the stems of the keycaps and dont influence the feel of the keyboard at all. I would even say that it makes no bloody difference if you use o-rings or not, but that could be just me.

[Hypersphere]

@vinzbe: I tend to agree with Nacho about standard O-rings for Cherry-mount keycaps, at least in part.

The Silencing Rings for Topre-switch keyboards go inside the Topre switch and damp the return stroke, thus suppressing the "clack".

In contrast, O-rings go onto the stem of Cherry-mx keycaps and are intended to damp the sound of the down stroke. Because I bottom out with every keystroke, I notice the effect of O-rings on the sound and feel of the keyboard, and I tend not to like them. To me, O-rings make the keyboard feel somewhat mushy and I notice the effect on key travel.

Despite my general dislike for O-rings, I have put a 50A-R black O-ring on the center stem of the Cherry mx keycaps on the Enter and Right Shift keys of my Novatouch. This keeps these key caps from striking plastic-on-plastic, which to me improves the sound.

[vinzbe]

Thanks for the answers.

@Hypersphere: As you "bottom out with every keystroke" do you think the silencing rings is still worth it on the Novatouch without the O-rings? I ask because a friend is considering buying a Novatouch and he dislikes the O-rings on his mx board.

[Hypersphere]

Thanks for the answers.

@Hypersphere: As you "bottom out with every keystroke" do you think the silencing rings is still worth it on the Novatouch without the O-rings? I ask because a friend is considering buying a Novatouch and he dislikes the O-rings on his mx board.

Yes, I agree with others who have installed the Silencing Rings in their Novatouch keyboards that the Silencing Rings on their own is a very worthwhile upgrade.

As for bottoming out, with the right choice of keycaps on the Novatouch, you will not get a sound from the keycaps hitting the switch mount or plate, and so O-rings should not be necessary. I have put an O-ring on the center stem of the Enter and Right Shift keys because I was getting a bit of contact noise from just those keys, but I do not notice any adverse effect from this treatment. I am currently using a double-shot PBT keycap set from Vortex that is OEM profile, which is apparently high enough to avoid down-stroke contact noise. Muirium has recommended SA profile caps, which are also a high profile.

If you don't care about the ability to put Cherry mx keycaps on the board and you want a great Topre experience, you might want to go for a Realforce or HHKB.

[vinzbe]

I'm already very happy with my realforce keyboards but some people just can't live without their blank keycaps

[Hypersphere]

I'm already very happy with my realforce keyboards but some people just can't live without their blank keycaps

Yes, I have put new keycap sets on my RF and HHKB. Functionally, Topre keycap sets are designed to work perfectly with Topre-switch keyboards, so no worries there. Aesthetically, I prefer the somewhat simpler design of the replacement caps (e.g., no front-printing), and I like blanks for the modifiers -- this is handy, because on the RF, I have swapped Backspace and Backslash, Alt and Win, and remapped Right Control as Fn.

[Tyrosh22]

Sounds great!

[amospalla]

My Realforce 45g seems like a complete different keyboard, what a joy . Right now I almost don't hear the keys bottom out, but only the subtle thock thock of the keys. Until today I was an obsessed silent finder but those Topre switches made me change that idea. Can't wait for my 55g to arrive and have a louder thock thock

[Muirium]

I put PBT Granite on the damped NovaTouch today. What an improvement! I used to avoid DSA on this board because of the horrible sound, but now this is the thockiest Topre of the lot. A thoroughly neat keyboard. Along with the damped PBT spacebar upgrade on my Realforce, I'm really enjoying these rings. They work wonders.

[Hypersphere]

This evening, I installed a set of my Silencing Rings on a black HHKB. This time, I omitted the silicone foam that I put into the case on my first silencing mod, and the sound is actually much better. The silicone foam deadened the sound too much. With the empty case and Silencing Rings, the thock comes through much better, but the clack is gone. I also put the additional self-adhesive foam rubber pads (approximately 8 mm square and 1 mm thick) under the space bar as I did before, and this makes for a deep-sounding space bar thunk with no rattle.

HH+Topre_Blue.jpg (310.25 KiB) Viewed 8561 times

I have installed my last remaining set of Topre blue alphas on the board. As far as I know, Topre is not making these any longer and they are not available anywhere. I hope that the blue color will be selected for matt3o's group buy for Topre key caps. The blue, red, and black in the above image seems fairly accurate, but the mods should be gray instead of beige or tan -- this is a function of the very dim and warm lighting in my study and my potato cam on autopilot.

In any event, I love the sound of my HHKB with Silencing Rings. I think it sounds and feels much better than my genuine Type-S.