Apologize for the ensuing tl;dr; just rambling about the differences between keyboards.
I think that the red LE DC-3014 would look great if you dyed the SGI caps a smokey grey color.
Also, talk about a handy connector to use for the conversion! I'll have to bookmark that!
I feel like I'm going to have to find an Omnikey 102 with blue Alps to see how it compares to my own blue Alps examples. I still lament not getting that 102 that came with a box (albeit generic) that was -most likely- blue Alps. It went for $72. I need to stop being so old school and use an automatic bidding app. :/
That said, I do have and have had some robust keyboards with metal back panels, as well as the full metal Orion v2 custom with blue Alps.
It's hard to really quantify which I like most. Personal taste and what not, you know? I use Dell AT101 PBT caps on my DC-3014 and that combined with its case gives it one of the most pleasant sounds of any of my vintages.
The boards I've had with metal back panels and blue alps have been the NTC 6151N, the NTC 6153EA (essentially a qwertz layout version with a short left shift), Tai Hao FAME TH-5539, and the Focus FK-555, which has been likened to the Omnikey many times.
Of these, the 6153EA is virtually new and so is the Focus FK-555; the 6151N has a plate that looked like it got splattered with salt spray, pretty much speckled with rust. The switches were fine, but it's hard to say what condition they were in 1), because it was my first Alps board of any kind and 2) since it's been out of commission and dismantled for almost a year now.
The FAME has binding in its switches and is not as smooth as any of my other blue Alps boards, but I suspect this is because it came from a junk lot in Australia. I need to eventually swap the switch tops on that one to smoothen it out a bit.
So, the Focus, being the closest to the Omnikey of any board, I would say, and heaviest I have, does feel quite amazing. The switches are smooth and the back panel gives it heft and a pleasant sound overall. However, still... It's really hard to say which keyboard is my favorite and feels the best. I don't think I really can say.
I can say that the keyboard that impressed me most when I got it was my Monterey K103 (K101), which had blue Alps that felt lighter than usual for some reason. Despite the plate being rusted out from under the powder coat, the switches were excellent.
I ultimately used them for my Orion custom keyboard and it's certainly one of my favorites to type on using the Chinese PBT caps I've mentioned over on GeekHack.
The Focus and NTC both feel remarkable and are in the best condition. The KB101A had very smooth switches despite having a filthy (but rust free) plate and needing quite the clean up (I didn't clean the switches though), though the printed Acer caps made the keyboard feel quite poor until I put my Leading Edge's doubleshots on the keyboard.
The Leading Edge DC-3014 also had no problems at all switch-wise.
Ultimately though, I just use my Orion most of the time these days.
Currently using a silenced Realforce 104 Taiwan Edition that was a Ducky promotion. Gotta say, Topre is pretty nice, but it's very "foreign" feeling. Something that's pretty fun to visit once and a while as a vacation from all the Alps, I guess you could say.
