So the other day I was lubing some of these Kailh Silent switches for a future build.
And like, keyboards are always in my head, and I think of stuff like this.
How would a board with half silent switches, and half clicky switches turn out??
I know I have a bunch of obligations with other boards, but we need a break for random
stuff like this you know?
Chill for a bit.
So let’s do it.
I got the good old Tofu for this, because I also have a hotswap PCB.
Can’t be stuffed soldering and desoldering.
Hmm, blue or pink?
Quick, let me know in the poll.
Ah yes, blue, just like in the thumbnail.
For the clickies, I have a bunch of Kailh BOX Jades.
Probably some of the loudest and clickiest MX style switches available.
I woulda used Navy’s, but I didn’t have any, and I felt like doing this right now.
I was thinking about how I would split this.
For the first test, I’ll split it right down the middle.
This is the DZ60RGB ANSI V2 PCB, and is hotswap, and is cool for doing stuff like this.
You can easily swap your keyswitches without any soldering work.
Just be careful when doing so, as there’s been quite a few cases of the sockets falling
off.
So ensure the pins are straight, and don’t go crazy.
And the silent switches I have are the newish Kailh Box Pink switches.
Not gonna go full into detail, because I’ll be covering these in another video.
But they’re still part of the BOX line which are IP56 rated dust and waterproof, although
have a circular stem, instead of square.
Alright, let’s have a listen.
Yeh, I mean.
I think this is what we expected right?
In sound at least.
We have the muffled sound of the silent switches, and then the sharp click bar sounds sprinkled
in between.
But it’s not really half half in terms of like actual keypresses.
So I looked for a keyboard heatmap, and found this program called WhatPulse.
It’s pretty cool, shows a bunch of stats, and even the mouse heatmap.
I recorded what I just typed for the sound test, and this is what I got.
So I’m gonna leave spacebar as a silent switch, and then alternate down
the list.
Alright, sound isn’t too different, probably a little more equal now.
But it feels much better.
When it was split in halves, it was kind of uncomfortable.
Stressed me out a little bit to be honest, because yeh, one side felt completely different
to the other.
And don’t forget, the clickies have a pretty strong tactile bump.
So you have linears vs clicky/tactile.
So completely opposite switches in feel and sound.
Like just imagine wearing different shoes on each foot, and then running.
It just feels weird.
However, it didn’t really impact on my typing performance.
I touch type as well, clearly with these blank POM Jelly keycaps from Escape Keyboard.
But now it’s more equal, and honestly I actually do enjoy this.
It’s unique, of course different to whatever else I have, because I’ve never done this
before.
Because of the spacebar, a lot of it feels like a dampened typing experience, but then
clicky?
Hard to describe, but they kind of blend together which is fun and interestingly addicting to
type on.
And yes, I’m avid caps lock user.
So yeh, no surprise on sound.
But the typing experience is pretty fun.
Quick and dirty vid.
Just felt like doin it, and I’m glad
I did.