So there's this new keyboard mod that's been taking discord by storm. It's called the tape
mod, and it was originally introduced by Tempest via this YouTube video uploaded on June the
27th. Since then there has been quite a bit of content made including it, and even Taeha
has tried it with the blade 60 on stream. Now there seems to be quite some argument
about how exactly this mod affects boards and what exactly it's doing, so I thought
I’d make this video to discuss just that.
But first, let's very briefly go over how to perform the mod. All you need to do is
take masking tape and apply it to the bottom of your PCB.
Or really, you can use any type of non conductive tape, and it should yield very similar results.
Just don't use tape that's conductive or anything that's super sticky like gaffers tape unless
you want the mod to be, well, permanent. And that's it.
I think the quick spread of this mod is due to how inexpensive, simple, fast, and compatible
the mod is. Masking tape is super cheap on amazon, and you should already have some lying
around. The work itself is one step and doesn’t take longer than a minute or so. And 99% of
keyboards have a PCB.
So now that we know how to do it, how exactly does this affect the sound? There's been mixed
reports, but from what I’ve heard, generally, it makes the sound of boards more poppy and
less muted. Depending on the board, it could also make the sound lower pitched, or even
make the keyboard louder overall.
So finally, let's talk about why, or how. What is this seemingly super simple mod doing
that makes such a large sound difference? Well, out of all the feedback I've received,
this is what I think. The tape mod is the exact opposite of sound
dampening, in that the firm and non permeated surface of the tape sort of acts as a sound
reflector. In short, I think it bounces back the sound of the inner assembly, which is
the PCB, plate, switches, and keycaps, over the sound of the case. That's why depending
on the keyboard’s design, it can yield very different results.
So theoretically, this means that it should make most if not all boards louder and also
most boards poppier. But this also comes with a caveat that deterred me from trying this
mod on some other boards. Let me explain. So again, what the mod is doing is making
you hear more of the PCB sound over the case sound. And this is fine in most cases, generally
entry level boards, where the case is designed to be cheap and not the best sounding. But
what about the more expensive keyboards where the case IS designed to be the best sounding?
Could you possibly make your high end keyboard sound worse?
So here I have a mode eighty and a jelly epoch, these are both generally good sounding boards
on their own without tape mod. So why don't we compare tape mod vs no tape mod so you
can hear firsthand for yourself?
To me, the change in sound after tape modding is night and day. But whether it actually
improved the sound is an entirely different question, and ultimately up to your preference
to decide. Despite that, our initial findings were correct, it did make the boards all deeper
sounding, and I think it especially improved the sound of the TH61. It also increased the
volume of the alpine just a tad. So the key takeaway from all this is that:
it's up to you whether you want to try this or not. The change in sound differs for every
board, and depending on your build, you might not feel like you need it.
And what's great about this mod is that it takes almost no effort to experiment with,
so if you end up not liking the sound after tape modding, it's easy enough to go back.
So overall, I think this mod is a serious consideration for your next build, and I think
it's just super interesting that something so simple can have such a large impact on
keyboard sound.
And that's all I have for you today. Thanks for watching this episode of nearlucid. If
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