I just put together my Tiger Lite for work two weeks ago and never touched that foam piece, just went with the tape mod. But I'd wager for added baffling you can do that if you need to.

I got Shrimps with mine, so it generally sounds pretty quiet anyway

Thanks for your reply. It’s just that I wish I tried the foam mod before using the design tape . Will never know what my ears or feel is missing .

I was also considering the Nk87 olive at that price. I’m too new to know if it’s as good of a deal as I feel like it is though!

Listen to some sound tests of the NK87. Personally i think the Tiger 80 Lite is lightyears ahead of the NK87, atleast in sound.

It is but don’t discredit the NK87. It’s still one of the best sounding budget TKLs on the market. It’s more of a “the Tiger 80 Lite is incredible and less the NK87 is mediocre”, ya know?

The NK87 is fine, but $150 is the price it should normally be. I bought one with the intention of it being my beat-up board-- to test switches on, for my kid and wife to use, and whatnot. That way I wouldn't beat up my nicer keyboards. I don't really use it often but it does look fantastic with the DCX Cyber keycaps (I got the pink boar). The finish is excellent and feels like it could take a beating.

I'm not a fan of plastic keyboards so I wouldn't personally choose the Tiger Lite in this instance, but as others have stated and based on reviews it would probably be the better choice if you don't already own many nice boards. If you're looking into another board maybe consider the QK80. It's around the same price and checks a lot of the boxes many newer keyboard enthusiasts are looking for in a budget board.