Can someone explain cherry switches? Blue vs Brown???

A

Alag28

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Dec 26, 2012
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i tried googling it but it was kind of all over the map in terms of a concise explanation.

Thanks
 
I'm no wuss, but I find black to be very fatiguing and uncomfortable to use. Reds are like typing on butter, browns are a nice in between.
 
I am a recent convert to mechanical (having previously had a Corsair K50 which was pretty decent apart from the cables sheath retracted and the Corsair lettering went walkabout).
I like the slight feedback of brown Cherry switches but they are a LOT louder than my K50.
I fitted O rings yesterday which has made it nicer to type on and less noisy but its still a LOT noisier than the K50.
They only affect the down press and even then its still loud.
Its not only the end stop of the movement but the movement throughout the range (not just the trigger bump) that makes a sound.
Its like a hollow plastic noise.

If other switches are louder, I would hate to use those.
The Brown switches are just about tolerable and are nice to type on
 
While playing BF4 last night saw a guy complain about the bump/click in his mechanical keyboard, he should have gone red. Me, I'll just stick with my G110 non-mechanical.
 
Nenu said:
I am a recent convert to mechanical (having previously had a Corsair K50 which was pretty decent apart from the cables sheath retracted and the Corsair lettering went walkabout).
I like the slight feedback of brown Cherry switches but they are a LOT louder than my K50.
I fitted O rings yesterday which has made it nicer to type on and less noisy but its still a LOT noisier than the K50.
They only affect the down press and even then its still loud.
Its not only the end stop of the movement but the movement throughout the range (not just the trigger bump) that makes a sound.
Its like a hollow plastic noise.

If other switches are louder, I would hate to use those.
The Brown switches are just about tolerable and are nice to type on
Click to expand...

Try touch typing instead of keyboard mashing.
 
There are many situs where I type.
Atm I have only one arm free, the other is comforting a living creature.

I generally use the keyboard on my lap (laid back on the sofa) which isnt the best place to touch type.
 
HeavensCloud said:
I'm no wuss, but I find black to be very fatiguing and uncomfortable to use. Reds are like typing on butter, browns are a nice in between.
Click to expand...

I use blacks at home and they are pretty heavy, but I don't type a ton at home. At work I use blues and they are very lovely for all day typing (though for many it would not be an option due to the noise).
 
I built a full size Cherry Green board and have ordered plates to build a compact 81% Gateron Green board.

Green4Life!
 
Brown4Evah!​

Honestly the main problem I had was finding some of these things to try/test. I wasn't able to find any locally, and the first time I got to test a cherry MX keyboard was a few years ago when I was vacationing in Colorado (I'm from Mississippi) and went by a microcenter before heading to the airport.

Blues (and therefore Greens) are too clicky for me. The sound drives me up the wall.

Blacks and Reds drive me up the wall because of the lack of tactile feedback.

Browns, which I decided to go with, feel the most like the older mechanical keyboards to me. A pleasure to type on. Not silent but not forcing a click on you either. A nice bump feeling when you've hit the key. Clears are great too, but I don't prefer it (though I've only typed on them once).
 
OrangeWolf said:
Brown4Evah!​

Browns, which I decided to go with, feel the most like the older mechanical keyboards to me. A pleasure to type on. Not silent but not forcing a click on you either. A nice bump feeling when you've hit the key. Clears are great too, but I don't prefer it (though I've only typed on them once).
Click to expand...

Hear hear! Totally agree. Once you get used to browns its very difficult to move to other switches. Although I had to add o-rings to mine to enjoy music better while working.
 
Alag28 said:
i tried googling it but it was kind of all over the map in terms of a concise explanation.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Mainly three groups:

* Browns = Tactile: Slight bump feeling on depress/activation, no click sound, light force needed, most common and most generally accepted
* Clears = Tactile: Bump, no click sound, 33% more force needed to depress.

Clears are supposedly most similar to dome switch keys in terms of force. But more rare. I almost never see them as an option except on really expensive niche models.

or

* Reds = Linear: No bump feeling, no sound, light force
* Black = Linear: No bump feeling, no sound, 33% more force.

Linear keys are supposedly good for gaming when you're about mashing rather than depressing until you feel a bump. I personally still prefer having the bump just as a feedback response.

or

* Blues: Tactile: Bump with click, light force
* Greens: Tactile: Bump with click, 40% more force to depress.

These are a combination of the feeling of a bump WITH the sound of a click of the two above keytypes. Aka, loud and the stereotype of mechanical being clacky monsters.

Keep in mind the clack sound of bottoming out a key is not the same as the click sound some of these switches produce. This is why some of us use O-rings, to prevent the plastic on plastic clacking when typing. I find the o-ring dampens the depress enough to make it more similar to membrane/scissor switch type keys during the adjustment period. The o-rings also help to reduce the travel depth of the key itself so that you don't have to press as deep before you cannot press any further. More similar to slim/laptop type keys though more realistically in between the depth of laptop and full height keys. Some people double the o-rings on the keys just to shorten the travel depth even further.

Even after a few months with a mechanical, I'm still surprised by how lightly you really only need to type in order to depress the key and activate it. Because of the dome switch keys we're used to, we tend to type a lot harder than we should.

If you don't want the CLICKCLACKCLICKCLACK sound, go for browns or clears if you want to feel a slight bit of resistance as you press down (collapsing the membrane dome) or reds and blacks if you don't (just a pressure switch all the way through).

If you live with people and want to keep them awake at night, go for blues and greens.

More often than not, you will only find red, black, browns and blues as options. As said before, Browns are a very middle of the road option. A little something for everyone.

Of course, it doesn't stop when you get a mechanical. You might find yourself looking into keycaps, which is a whole 'nother can of worms. But honestly the best thing about mechanicals having a standard... keycaps are common and tend to be compatible with the majority of the mechanical keyboards out there.

KRFfKpQ.jpg


That's mine with DSA Style ABS keys. Most mechanical keyboards have different key shapes for each row to give a convex slope to the tops of the keys. DSA makes them all the same height/slant with a slightly larger keytop area which I find easier to type on. PBT keys are also an option if you like the really hard, firm plastic. ABS is softer and tends to be more common.

Have fun chasing the dragon. :)
 
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