I’ve had this thing on my top shelf for a while. Where it deserves to sit. So let’s
start off the year with a 900 dollar treat that is the Keycult Number 2 Rev 1 in the
brass winkey variant.
This build was made possible by keyboardtreehouse.com. I’ll chuck a link in the description.
And the package was previously opened by them, which we can see.
First of all, absolutely stunning packaging. By far the most premium I’ve personally
come across for keyboards. No explanation needed, you can just see it for yourself.
And in this box, we basically get just the keyboard enclosure which we’ll take apart
soon. And everything else is in another box. The approach is a little weird, like the rest
of the stuff is just in a standard whatever box. But from a completed keyboard standpoint,
I guess it does make sense, as you can chuck the finished keyboard back in the box and
it’s all good.
And some of this extra stuff was packed by Eric from keyboardtreehouse. So we have some
oiled 58.5 gram Punchy springs. Christo MCG 111 lube. Halo True and Clear stems. And OG
Invyr Panda keyswitches.
In the envelope we get a warning about cleaning brass parts. A sweet looking Keycult sticker.
This amazing card that identifies the keyboard. Awesome design, and just small things like
this makes a huge difference. And a thank you card.
Perhaps my only complaint was this black packet. At first I thought it was some random mystery
item thing, but it was just some screws and the Allen keys. Was a pain to get the stuff
out, and I couldn’t see what was inside. Nitpicky, but true.
And finally, we get the brass plate. And the PCB.
Let’s go back to the case, and take it apart. It is quite different to anything I’ve personally
built. Using the included hex tool we can remove the 8 screws from the top, and that
releases the brass bottom piece.
Because of the design, the brass piece only has 2 rubber feet, so be careful with that.
And then on the bottom of the aluminium pieces there’s another 8 hex screws to remove.
So as we can see there’s 3 main parts to the case, and this creates a seamless design
which we’ll look at later. So essentially the brass piece is kind of like a cover for
the bottom.
Here’s the top aluminium piece. Very clean overall. Something we hardly ever see is that
2 of the rubber feet are on here. And apparently this was the only unit to not ship with the
gaskets already installed, which is cool for the video so that we can see more of what’s
going on. So to be clear, the gaskets do come factory installed.
Here’s what I would call the mounting base, also made from aluminium. Good chunky piece,
and again, we see those spots for the gaskets to go into. We have the cable channel for
the USB port. And a nice number 2 engraving, even though we’ll pretty much never see
it, but it’s these touches that make it special.
And if we turn it over we have this. Again, very interesting. I don’t know the exact
reasoning behind this design besides the fact that it pairs with the brass piece. The finish
isn’t perfect here, which is to be expected, and it legit doesn’t matter at all since
it makes a perfect fit with the brass.
Now this is substantial. It may not look thick to you, because it’s so big, but it is,
and packs an absolute punch at 1.8 kilograms. For reference, something like the Ducky One
2 Mini or Anne Pro are like 600 or 700 grams. And a typical full sized retail mech is about
1.1 or 1.2 kilograms. So yeh, crazy.
Here’s the 1.5mm brass plate. A bunch going on here to promote flex, while keeping the
brass. So we can see that we have some flex cuts between the clusters, and that just relieves
the plate a little bit. And to add to that, we have these things along the top and bottom.
This is what we refer to as a leaf spring design. And you can see how it works, it’s
just cut to make these points more flexible, and that’s what will be sandwiched between
the gasket mounts.
So I actually did build this before I got the gaskets, so I couldn’t finish it, and
I messed up the bottom row. And it was filmed in 1080p. Switches were super tight to put
in so I put them into the plate first before the PCB, and then soldered them in place.
But yeh, since the OG Invyr Pandas came with sockets, my life was spared, and I was able
to take them all out without any desoldering. So now we’re back to this stage.
We used Durock stabilisers. Unfortunately there was only a 6.25u wire, which is a standard
size, but we wanted a 1.5, 1, 1.5u bottom row, so I had to use some random 7u wire I
had. And I of course lubed them with dielectric grease.
The PCB was designed by the ever dependable Wilba. It is a little dirty with flux, since
I already soldered switches to it. But it’s a beautiful piece of kit, and we can see the
sockets that saved me.
Since the tiny plastic pieces that made the switches so difficult to get in are now broken
off from building previously, they were a breeze to put into place. I didn’t show
the switch modding, since I personally hate it being so so time consuming. But as shown
before we have the original Invyr Panda housings. And we removed the original linear stems,
and put in Halo True and Clear stems, which create the very popular Holy Panda tactile
keyswitch. To add to that, I lubed them with Christo MCG 111, and spring swapped with 58.5
gram Punchy springs which were oiled. And you gotta do these things with such a premium
board to get the best out of it.
And now to put it all back together. I kind of went in blind so that I would experience
what buyers experience. So the building process was a little confusing and it took me a bit
to figure out, because of its unique design.
And after some messing around this is the real order. First of all, have the USB C port
screwed in. And then we have to put in the 8 hex screws without screwing them in to the
aluminium base, and the plate just sits on top of the gaskets. Then we put the top alu
piece on, and screw it in from the bottom. While also trying to align the plate, because
it doesn’t screw into anything as it is gasket mounted.
I just did it by eye in trying to make the empty spacing even around the edges. There’s
a lot of wiggle room, so you do have to make sure you get it aligned nicely, and then screw
it down when happy. Again, minimal preparation, so I don’t know if there was a better or
real way of doing this, but it worked out.
And finally, we can put in the brass piece, and we have access to those loosely placed
screws through the top of the plate. And that’s where I was going wrong, since you can’t
put the screws through the plate holes.
My alignment wasn’t perfect. Perhaps a little too skewed to the left, and a tiny bit on
an angle.
To finish it off we have GMK Wavez courtesy of my mate Jono.
And
here it is, a very classy looking tenkeyless keyboard. As I hinted before, this is a super
premium kit, coming in at 900USD, and that’s without the switches, keycaps, stabilisers.
So yeh, like top tier stuff. But that’s what it’s supposed to be, as they set out
to create a no compromise keyboard worthy of the elusive end game name.
There’s a few versions of the No. 2. Perhaps the most traditional looking one is this being
the Winkey version in Dark Grey. And it’s the subtleties in its aesthetic design that
really do appeal to me. So from the top down view it’s as simple as you will see. The
top and bottom bezels are quite sizeable, with the sides being slim. The corners are
very slightly rounded, and the edges are all softened with a minimal fillet which gives
it a soft sort of feel.
But then it starts to show its character. As said before, this is a seamless design,
so there’s no seam or separation visible between the pieces, besides the rear. And
this creates a really clean look, and instead of having a seam, we have this very gentle
line which gives it a bit of angle and shape, and breaks up what would otherwise just be
a straight wall. Just that line is so subtle in its aesthetic and physical feel, but makes
a huge difference. We’re getting a bit deeper here, but design is about how these things
make you feel. And just that line gives a sense of ease and calmness. Whereas a wall
that goes straight down is more substantial, confronting, and stronger.
It is still very substantial though with an 8.5 degree typing angle, which is a little
higher than say a typical 6 degree angle. And with no cuts or anything on the sides,
it does look very full. And it’s definitely one of the harder keyboards to pick up, especially
since it’s so heavy.
On the rear the brass piece comes up to the USB type C port, again very clean and soft.
And this brass piece. Really interesting design, and again it allows the keyboard to have 0
screws visible. Nothing on top, nothing on bottom. And from here, you can’t even tell
how thick or thin it is. The sandblasted brass finish is immaculate, and is finished with
a laser etched keycult logo. Straight up, just so beautiful. There has also been a Red
anodised aluminium base version, and the stunning Stainless steel version which is on another
level.
And all of this put together makes for an extremely solid keyboard, and more importantly
heavy. I measured mine to be just over 4kg. That’s crazy just for a tenkeyless keyboard.
Of course it’s not practical. Terrible for portability, even moving on the desk is difficult,
but that’s not what it’s for. This is an absolute beast on the desk and even more
so in the hands. And that’s you want and expect from a top tier keyboard.
So that’s aesthetics and build, but if it doesn’t feel and sound good, it isn’t
complete. The No. 2 goes all in. We have flex cuts in the brass plate which also has a leaf
spring design, which is then isolated and sandwiched between 16 gaskets.
There’s no real right or wrong in how a keyboard should feel as it is personal preference,
but the general tendency is to have kind of a softened bottom out, so it isn’t as harsh.
As it is an isolated sandwich design, it’s a very even typing experience, as there’s
no hard spots underneath that a typical tray mount design would give.
Traditionally, the middle would have the most flex, but because of the flex cuts and leaf
spring design, it’s actually the sides that depress quite a bit. But this is only by actually
pressing it quite hard. In real use, you’ll have minimal flex.
We have Holy Panda keyswitches installed, so a very tactile keyswitch and on the harsh
side by default. They also bottom out quite hard and loud because of this, so it is quite
difficult to feel the subtleties of the design through typing, especially without a side
by side comparison. But I guess the fact that all I can feel and think about are the keyswitches,
means that the case design compliments them in a good way. But it’s definitely very
very enjoyable. Sorry that I can’t really give a proper informed opinion, but I’m
not going to just make up stuff purely based on its reputation. I just don’t know.
The keyboard sounds awesome. Again, Holy Pandas are loud, even lubed, but there’s no noticeable
ping. For an MX style keyswitch, this is like peak tactile for me. The bump is right near
the top. Not the smoothest, but in all honesty, the bump eradicates the need for that. It
may not be for everyone, as the tactility is quite strong, but it’s definitely something
that you should try.
It uses the WT80-A PCB, so it is programmable via VIA. Incredibly easy to use, such a great
tool. It recognises your compatible keyboard immediately. You have several layers in which
you can customise each key with whatever. And it updates instantly.
And that’s the Keycult No. 2 Rev 1. I love so much about this keyboard. I love its unassuming
look at first glance, but it’s so much more than that. And that combination is what gets
me. It’s not screaming for attention, with it’s classy silky smooth aesthetics. But
when you actually get your hands on it, it blows you away with the build quality, the
weight, and of course the typing experience.
Obviously people are going to be shocked by the unbelievably high price tag. And that’s
fair. It’s not for everyone, and it shouldn’t be. But it’s on another level. The fit and
finish is superb, and it brings along innovation in how a keyboard is put together. So in my
eyes, yes, it’s definitely worthy of that elusive end game tag, and will definitely
keep its touch through the years to come.