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bikebeardcat t1_jdb29pl wrote

Reply to comment by JuvenileDelinquent in Life as an MX Brown user by jenniferdeath

The problem I have is I always bottom out. Bless people who can touch type. Specially when I am in flow mode, I need to hear the caps hitting the plate its like a trance.

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trashem349 t1_jdb30tz wrote

as someone who bottoms out on every single keypress: it did take me a day or two to get used to silent switches, but soon enough you get used to going by the feeling instead of the sound! I have a mix of Haimu Whispers (~65g actuation, no silicone in the design) and TTC Silent Bluish Whites (~45g, silicone dampeners on the stem) on the same keyboard and they’re both tactile enough that it’s not too different from using a board of regular tactiles.

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stormythecatxoxo t1_jdbii68 wrote

> TTC Silent Bluish Whites

Would you happen to know how they compare to the U4 silent Bobas?

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tms t1_jdc3lr9 wrote

Boba U4's have softer cushioning on the bottom and a quieter slide over the tactile bump, making it noticeably quieter overall. Silent Bluish White are less mushy, so when you bottom out a stronger shock will be transferred to the plate and the keyboard build and materials will have a lot to say about volume and how that shock sounds.

In my quest to try out most sound-dampened switches on the market, what I'm really looking for is a switch with low-volume (quiet, not necessarily silent) that still sounds good. In this regard Boba U4 doesn't score well because I think the sound it makes is a bit thin and flimsy. Put them in a well dampened keyboard however and you have a very silent and enjoyable feel which no other high-tactile switch I have can match so far, including TTC Bluish White, Haimu Whisper, Durock Blue Macaw and Kailh Deep Sea Brown.

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trashem349 t1_jdc1emi wrote

unfortunately I don’t, I’ve never tried the Bobas :/ sorry!

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vvodbow t1_jdbqjbz wrote

Oooh a fellow Haimu user! Got Haimu Heartbeat (silent linear) switches and they've been fantastic out of the box! The upstrokes are still a tad noisy when I accidentally press a key on the side, but maybe I need better keycaps.

So far, how do you feel about the Haimu Whispers vs. the TTC? Does one feel better the other for you?

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trashem349 t1_jdc2nn3 wrote

yeah Haimu crew! :D

the Whispers have overall been great! I brought that keyboard to the office and when it’s quiet the people nearest to me (like 10 feet away) can hear them, but it’s absolutely no louder than the membrane keyboard I was using before. during the busy times of day we have multiple people on the phone & the printer going nonstop and that noise drowns the Whispers out completely! they do have a kind of raspy sound/feel to them that bugs me a bit, I’m hoping it’ll go away as they get broken in over time (I hate lubing switches more than anything) but it’s not bad enough to stop me from using them completely.

the TTCs took a LOT more getting used to because I absolutely hated the feeling of the silicone dampeners at first lmao, but after that adjustment period I ended up loving how the silicone makes them feel so bouncy! they don’t have the same rasp as the Whispers and I think that makes them a tad quieter, but the lighter spring means my heavy-handed typing almost becomes a damage risk. I didn’t buy as many of them so I have them just on the keys my pinky & ring fingers press.

if I was going to pick just one to fill a whole board with I’d probably go with the TTCs, but it would be a very narrow win!

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vvodbow t1_jddj11p wrote

Thanks for the detailed answer! I actually made the switch from membrane keyboards cuz I'm too a violent typist that my colleagues felt disturbed even when I was on a membrane keyboard. After switching to the Haimus I've been so amused to see every membrane keyboard user nearby (mostly Mac laptop users) being way louder than me ;)

I'm looking to try more silent keycaps and switches, both tactile and linear. Interesting to see how the dampeners made such a difference to your TTCs. I should try those when I have the chance!

For now, besides switching to PBT keycaps, I'm thinking of putting O-rings on the Heartbeats when I can get my hands on some. They are already really quiet and probably won't benefit from the extra dampening on the downstroke, but I'm just curious how much quieter they can be without lubing them (I hate lubing).

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mamamarty21 t1_jddwm26 wrote

I feel like touch typing doesn’t make you not bottom out. I feel like I’ve bottomed out every keyboard since i’ve ever typed on

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