Typing Demo XL - Alps SKCC Green (IBM Pingmaster)

[Chyros]

As requested by a viewer, a typing demo of the Pingmaster! Hope you enjoy the video!

[zslane]

Most of that noise is bottom-out impact noise, yes?

[Sangdrax]

It's videos like this that really make me realize how nice it is that you got that sound and video upgrade awhile back. I listen to this and it sounds so much closer to real life than my own video I took of the same board. I guess it's kind of like good audio equipment in general. You don't realize how lacking something is until you hear it done better.

[Chyros]

It's videos like this that really make me realize how nice it is that you got that sound and video upgrade awhile back. I listen to this and it sounds so much closer to real life than my own video I took of the same board. I guess it's kind of like good audio equipment in general. You don't realize how lacking something is until you hear it done better.

I'm very happy with the upgrade. I think it made a huge difference in more ways than one ^^ .

[sh1]

Great video Chyros. Always are. Look forward to them every week!

[Elrick]

Pingmaster in Action.

Who in their Right Minds would find that awful? Only an insane cretin would but not us here on DT central, we worship this sound on every level.

It's like some kind of alluring temptress, beckoning me to come forth and embrace her melodic charisma .

The Ping is KING, so we need more such wondrous sounding delight from you Chyros.

[Muirium]

Sounds like a lot of bottoming out indeed, with plate and case reverb. Even the Honeywell Hall effect board will sound like that if you give it a thrashing. And the Macintosh M0110 defies to sound like anything else!

Try typing lighter! Do these guys click?

[Chyros]

Sounds like a lot of bottoming out indeed, with plate and case reverb. Even the Honeywell Hall effect board will sound like that if you give it a thrashing. And the Macintosh M0110 defies to sound like anything else!

Try typing lighter! Do these guys click?

No, it's a linear board.

I do actually type somewhat lightly in this video. The M0110 is possibly the only board I know that pings even more xD .

[Muirium]

Right. Sounds as much. I’m calling the M0110 the Apple Pingmaster. They’re linear peas in a madly reverberating pod.

Linears can sound very different to one another. MX blacks in a G80, for instance, where vibration is pretty damped and so all you’re really hearing are the switches’ native sounds: their bottoming and topping out.

What led me astray is that “Ping” makes me think of Model F’s insane racket vs. Model M’s. Model Fs have more reverberant cases on the whole than their younger brothers, but to me “ping” is that telltale sound of their flippers. What echoey cases add to a sound is more like ring than ping. But Pingmaster is the better name indeed.

[Hypersphere]

I can readily hear the ping when I type on my Pingmaster with SKCC green Alps or my Zeniths with SKCL green Alps, but I initially had some trouble picking out the ping from the video -- too much competition from the bottoming-out sounds, especially from the spacebar. However, after cranking up the volume and listening to the entire video, I was finally able to hear the ping.

@Chyros: Do you have your mic sitting on the desk or suspended above the keyboard?

Whenever I think of "ping", I think of Ella Fitzgerald singing,

"It don't mean a thing
If it ain't got that swing
(doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah
Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)".

I imagine the song with "ping" instead of "swing".

[Chyros]

I have it in a boom suspended above the keyboard, and the boom itself is attached to the desk.

[Hypersphere]

I've found it difficult to isolate my mic from low-frequency sound conducted through solid materials. Finally, I suspended it from a boom mounted to an overhead shelf not connected to the desk. In addition, the mic has a radial shock mount. This seems to have done the trick.

[Beyondsix]

I have it in a boom suspended above the keyboard, and the boom itself is attached to the desk.

You will perhaps get a lot of really low frequency rumble that way. Maybe use a lowcut filter.

[Chyros]

I have it in a boom suspended above the keyboard, and the boom itself is attached to the desk.

You will perhaps get a lot of really low frequency rumble that way. Maybe use a lowcut filter.

Well, the mic itself is in one of those suspension rings, so I don't think it's too bad. Either way, I don't hear anything Oo .

[Beyondsix]

You got information far down in the sub area:

rumble.png (109.86 KiB) Viewed 7196 times

[Chyros]

???XD

[shieldme]

Love your videos! I believe @beyondsix is pointing out all the low end sound that the mic picks up from being attached to the desk via boom. There's quite a bit of low end rumble if you turn up the volume a little. The recording sounds great but it could be slightly better with a simple high pass filter @80-100hz IF your goal with the recordings is accurately emulating what it sounds like to type on a particular board.

The videos are great none the less, keep it up!

[Chyros]

Tbh I'm actually trying to preserve the "desk punch" sound that many of these keyboards have, wouldn't such a filter interfere with that?

[Emir]

I have tried recording some typing videos as well, and the microphone, if resting on the desk or suspended to the desk, will have low frequencies from vibration that isn't representative of what you actually hear while typing. In my experience, this could be a bassy type of sound, maybe that's what you mean by desk punch? What I mean by the bassy sound, is definitely not native to something you hear in real life.

In your videos, it's there for sure, but very faint; your setup works well enough but with above suggestions it could be even better.

[Beyondsix]

Just filter out any rumble below 90-100 hz, I don't think there´s anything interesting down there, keyboard wise.

[shieldme]

Tbh I'm actually trying to preserve the "desk punch" sound that many of these keyboards have, wouldn't such a filter interfere with that?

Possibly! It's really just a personal preference / creative decision type of thing. Different audio engineers prefer taking sound in different directions.

For "true to life" sound, high pass filters are usually applied because mic vibration in this case is similar to pressing your ear against the desk. Again though, your boom arm and shock mount appear to be doing a good job so it's not a huge deal. Just some food for thought!

[Beyondsix]

Tbh I'm actually trying to preserve the "desk punch" sound that many of these keyboards have, wouldn't such a filter interfere with that?

Possibly! It's really just a personal preference / creative decision type of thing. Different audio engineers prefer taking sound in different directions.

For "true to life" sound, high pass filters are usually applied because mic vibration in this case is similar to pressing your ear against the desk. Again though, your boom arm and shock mount appear to be doing a good job so it's not a huge deal. Just some food for thought!

It appears the boom and shockmount is NOT doing a great job judging by my picture above. For people with full range speakers it will sound a bit ...full on.

[cjmegatron81]

Are there any other key caps that would fit on these? I want to get this keyboard and put new keys on it.

I’ve heard that Cherry MX keys will not fit.

[Chyros]

Are there any other key caps that would fit on these? I want to get this keyboard and put new keys on it.

I’ve heard that Cherry MX keys will not fit.

You need another keyboard with SKCC caps IIRC. I'm not sure if other vintage cross-mount switches happen to have compatible caps as well. Alps did make a fair amount of SKCC boards though, including some with moderately fancy caps .

[cjmegatron81]

Are there any other key caps that would fit on these? I want to get this keyboard and put new keys on it.

I’ve heard that Cherry MX keys will not fit.

You need another keyboard with SKCC caps IIRC. I'm not sure if other vintage cross-mount switches happen to have compatible caps as well. Alps did make a fair amount of SKCC boards though, including some with moderately fancy caps .

Thanks!