NovaTouch TKL Community Tour

[Hypersphere]

Just received a set of Leopold dye-sub PBT keycaps (blue on white). The legends are quite sharp, and the price is reasonable. The set looks good on the NT, especially with contrasting mods. Unfortunately, the profile is slightly too low on the NT to prevent down-stroke contact noise when bottoming out (which I do with a vengeance). However, those who use Cherry mx keyboards may find these bottoming-out sounds familiar and unobjectionable.

[RoastPotatoes]

I posted my thoughts on my blog here. I wasn't sure if I should repost it in this thread.

IanM should now have received the Novatouch.

[Bramster]

I posted my thoughts on my blog here. I wasn't sure if I should repost it in this thread.

IanM should now have received the Novatouch.

Nice impression review RoastPatatoes, for me feel free to post it here too

[Spikebolt]

I'm kinda out of the loop, where's the keyboard currently?

[andrewjoy]

It arrived with me today.

First impressions are short as this post if the first thing i have typed with it. Its missing the menu key i don't like that , i would have sacrificed the right windows key for that.

I don't know what it is but i prefer it over the variable realforce, the space bar as way less of a rattle to it but i want to try this thing with some nice caps. The font on the stock caps is crap sorry CM.

I think round 4 will be the first thing to try, then some nice thick PBT.

[Hypersphere]

I've now had the opportunity to test quite a few different types of keycaps on the Novatouch. Thus far, I find that the lower profiles (such as Cherry or Leopold profile) result in down-stroke contact noise. The Granite set (DSA profile) works fairly well, but I have difficulty typing on the spherical tops and flat, non-sculpted profile. The best result has been with a set of Ducky dye-sub PBT caps in OEM profile. The OEM profile is high enough to avoid the down-stroke contact noise.

After installing OEM PBT caps and Silencing Rings, lubing the stabilizers, and putting rubber pads under the spacebar, the Novatouch has become almost as enjoyable to use as my Silenced RF87UB55. The only stabilizer noise that remains is from the Backspace (but I swap Backspace and Backslash, so I don't notice this very much) and the Right Shift key. Unfortunately, I use Right Shift often, so this stabilizer noise is still somewhat annoying.

I've been using the Novatouch exclusively during the past several days in my home office and liking it quite a lot. Now I am on the lookout for additional PBT keycap sets in OEM profile.

[Muirium]

Nothing amazing about the NovaTouch spacebar stabs, Andy. 002's touring Realforce (or the Whoreforce as he calls it! sounds like an 80s porno…) just has a messed up spacebar. Which is giving people false impressions. Needs lube, like everyone in that age old trade.

[andrewjoy]

I also think the variable thing was throwing me off as well.

Will be putting round 4 on it tonight and giving it a good go in work for the week. Will give it one day with cherry profile dyesub too.

[Muirium]

Its missing the menu key i don't like that , i would have sacrificed the right windows key for that.

I'm glad they did it that way around. Otherwise I couldn't use my NovaTouch without a remapper, like Karabiner. I use both mods on both sides all the time.

Besides, doesn't everyone do it that way? The only keyboard I've used with a menu key over there is the Realforce, where there's no Fn key.

[andrewjoy]

Giving it a go with round 4 its much improved, shame i cannot find my new space bar as i made this one shiny.

I think i quite like it.

did any notice that some of the caps are very loose? Left alt would not stop popping off i had to put a little bit of paper inside the cap to get it to stay in , its not like that on the MX.

[Muirium]

That's what my pre-production NovaTouch is like. It's ISO, too. I never get loose fits with the final ANSI version though. Thought they fixed that.

This board's got a big NovaTouch sticker on the underside, right? My prototype doesn't but the final model does.

[andrewjoy]

Yeh big ass sticker.

The alt is the only one, rest are fine and dandy.

[Muirium]

Ah, fair enough. Plenty of different kinds of caps slide right off my prototype NovaTouch when I turn it upside down, there's about four sliders with MX mounts that aren't quite tight enough. CM resolved that for the final version, as far as I can tell.

So, about that rattle? You'll know exactly what I was on about in my damping video now!

[andrewjoy]

There is a bit, I do like it overall but i dont think its a huge amount better than a MX red filco.

[Muirium]

Interesting. What other Topres have you tried?

Everyone knows by now that I find the stock NovaTouch pretty middling, but that it really comes to life with a set of damping rings and some nice caps. I've got an HHKB and Realforce 87U to compare it against, and it does well now.

MX reds, meh!

[andrewjoy]

I have only ever tried the variable realforce and it was very well made but it was just a bit off ( i don't think i like variable).

I love the bottoming out feel and sound on topre I am not a huge fan of the key return sound.

They are so smooth and very very solid.

There are some O rings in the box i may try them.

I still think deep down i am an IBM man when it comes to tactile.

[Muirium]

Trust me, internal damping (not O-rings…) makes all the difference on the NovaTouch. It's a rattly bastard without.

IBM's still my favourite, click wise. Topre's the one I like to type on for hours at a time, though. Easier on the fingers. You can really fly, without all that rough stuff you get from buckling spring, or indeed MX.

[Hypersphere]

I quite agree that what the Novatouch needs is internal Silencing Rings rather than the mx O-rings that are installed on the keycap stems. I initially tried the rubber O-rings but took them off again; I didn't like them any better on the NT than I did on any Cherry mx board. However, I might give O-rings another try to see if this might enable me to use Leopold- or Cherry-profile keycaps on the NT. Thus far, only OEM caps work for me, and I've now verified this on a second NT board.

More's the pity that so much fiddling is required to get the NT to sound and feel almost as good as a silenced RF87U55 or RF87U45. I was willing to go to all the trouble just for the sake of being able to put Cherry mx caps on the board, but now that I've found that my choices seem to be limited to OEM profile, I am no longer so sure. I should qualify this to say that the Granite set (DSA profile) did work in terms of not having bottoming-out contact noise -- it's just that in my case I have difficulty typing on spherical tops and the flat non-sculpted DSA profile. However, this still tends to rule out Cherry- and Leopold-profile caps if I want to avoid excessive bottoming-out noise.

I have yet to try SA profile on the NT, but even if this works for reducing bottoming-out noise, I think that caps in this profile are only available in ABS, and I much prefer PBT.

Again, I don't want to sound overly negative. I am typing this on my silenced Novatouch with Ducky PBT OEM caps, and this makes several days running of typing exclusively on this board and rather enjoying it.

[Muirium]

Round 5, like vintage IBM beam spring caps, is just the kind of thing to cure a case of ABS snobbery! They're magnificent.

[andrewjoy]

PBT are next on my list to try.

as much as i love my round 4 caps i much prefer the feel of PBT over the ABS ,even if the spherical profile is the best profile.

[Muirium]

Depends on the PBT. I prefer Round 5 over buckling spring caps for sure. Needs to be a great cap, like standard Topres or of course Granite, to get up there with a set like that.

[andrewjoy]

Put a set of thick pbt on it today and WOW it feels amazing!

If it was not for the rattle i would sell up my filco and buy one !

CM did an amazing job with this one excluding the rattle and terrible caps ( come on guys please sort them out they are outstandingly terrible, even stock filco caps are better).

I even like the slightly square look of the case over the filco , even if i am not a huge fan of the rubbery texture of the case.


EDIT

I made a sound recording , i don't have a fancy mic , i only have a headset mic and whist its a good one i cannot boost it as the noise floor is so high, will be getting a proper condenser eventually.


http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Ak6D0gaAXY

First is full speed bottoming out
Second is slow trying not to bottom out
Pressing a single key
and then the return sound of several keys together.

All with thick pbt caps

[Muirium]

Put a set of thick pbt on it today and WOW it feels amazing!

If it was not for the rattle i would sell up my filco and buy one !

Sell more, and get some Hyper rings.

That's the only mod the NovaTouch really needs. Unlike MX boards, there's an end in sight to the tweaking and the spending. Good caps, good silencers, and the NovaTouch is done.

[andrewjoy]

After using it for a few more days i have decided i need one ! I has to have it , but i would need some of them hyper rings, the rattle does my head in but the board feels so good ( better than real force IMO). And i can show off my PBT and round 4 on it !

I still think i am an IBM man but the thock thock thock of this rubber dome is so appealing, i have been so mean to topre in the past ( as lets face it they are rubber domes ) but i take some of it back now .

EDIT

Coolermaster should sell the bare board with no caps or O rings , put them in the bin where they belong and sell me a bare board!

[sphinx]

After using it for a few more days i have decided i need one ! I has to have it , but i would need some of them hyper rings, the rattle does my head in but the board feels so good ( better than real force IMO). And i can show off my PBT and round 4 on it !

I still think i am an IBM man but the thock thock thock of this rubber dome is so appealing, i have been so mean to topre in the past ( as lets face it they are rubber domes ) but i take some of it back now .

EDIT

Coolermaster should sell the bare board with no caps or O rings , put them in the bin where they belong and sell me a bare board!

i've seen the bare board on massdrop

edit: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/cm-novatouch-barebones

[sphinx]

delete this

[Muirium]

He posted right above you, Sphinx, was there really a need to block quote him? Twice?

Anyway, mean trick: a MassDrop link. Andy's behind the most aggressive customs firewall in all of Europe. Like me!

I'd offer to proxy the board over for him along with the damping rings, but I gotta remember how quickly my luggage fills up this time. It really caught me by surprise before!

[Bramster]

There indeed have been barebones and also NovaTouch's with PBT caps been offered over on MassDrop.. Normal version (like in the tour) is the stock version thats in normal shops etc

[andrewjoy]

I have clicked the (i want this drop back ) button so fingers crossed, its over 200 so i think mass drop will contact CM soon.

Hopefully before Jan i will have the money for dampers and the board , if not dampers now , board later.

If i have to i will buy the full thing.

EDIT And yeh the great firewall of the UK ... blocking porn whist your PM face fucks a dead pig. And then there is the import firewall ....

[Spikebolt]

It's probably cheaper to buy retail version on Europe than import the barebones version from mass drop.