Cherry MX Browns Too Loud For Office?

1Wolf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
433
Just looking to get some opinions here.

I'm pretty sure Cherry Blue's are too loud but I was wondering what the consensus on browns in an office/cube environment are? I'm looking to upgrade the keyboard on my work machine to a nice mechanical but I want to be considerate of my neighbors.

What do you think?
 
I use blues sometimes in the office on the rare occasions I go. When people talk unnecessarily loud on phones or use speakerphones in their cubes for conference calls I'm not at all concerned about the noise my keyboard makes.
 
I've brought my mechanical keyboard in to work, a Corsair K65 RGB, so with Cherry MX reds. I quite like the sound of it. Definitely not too loud.
 
It depends on the ambient in your office. I use browns and I don't have any issues, but I also have a monitor with the news running on dual screen / volume on at the same time as well. My cube is only waist high as well, not full size.
 
I think browns would be fine. You may need to pickup a pack of o-rings to prevent keys from bottoming out and making a lot of noise.

I use blues in my office and it's very loud, but the bulk of the noise is from my keys bottoming out.
 
Yeah the noise is not from the switches but the bottom out. If you type super light they’re not loud. If you slam the keys they can make some noise, but you’ll probably be fine.
 
I use blues at the office, but I asked the folks around me first if it would bother them. Asked them to please let me know if they change their mind. Hasn't been an issue. Of course, most of the people seem to wear headphones anyway. I don't think you'd have any issues with browns.
 
Thanks for the opinions/advice :) I feel pretty comfy going with the MX Browns then. I type fairly average-to-hard so blues would probably be really loud here. I've also noticed that some blues are louder than others. I've got a Ducky with MX Blues at home and its not too loud. However, I also have a "Disco" with some MX Blue knockoff and it is a bit louder and doesn't feel nearly as nice to type on.
 
However, I also have a "Disco" with some MX Blue knockoff and it is a bit louder and doesn't feel nearly as nice to type on.
Yep... Make sure you get actual cherry mx switches. I love my brown based keyboard and have been using it for several years. I added o-rings to dampen the bottoming out but the switches feel great still.
 
Hijacking a bit -- after you add O-rings, the noise seems to come from key rattle.

This is what gets me the most. The crappy HP $10 membrane keyboards we use at work are stiffer than any mechanical I've owned thus far.

And I've yet to see a company successfully catering to the 'silent mechanical' market. The few I've seen actually marketed that way were far from it.
 
In some offices keyboard noise is okay, in others it's not - I'd encourage you to not stress so much. Most people aren't mindful of their noise levels, and considering you are, you might be just saddling yourself with too much stress/anxiety. Anyways,

My answer pretty much combines the previous answers here - sources of noise on a keyboard i've noticed
1) the click - this sound probably travels the furthest and is the most annoying of the 3 to me, but only when it's closeby
2) key bottom out
3) key comes back up
4) "grind"/"key wobble": a warped keyboard/keys will make more sound. I have a keyboard with browns which is slightly warped or something, so about half the keys are louder than they should be. This keyboard is a pure pro, which is a nearly perfect keyboard imo. I've bought like 5, only 1 has this issue. Also, this on this keyboard a switch broke, and this is the only keyboard this has happened on for me

solutions:
1.a) the click: iirc blues and whites/clears make a pretty loud click. brown is close to no sound (only you'll hear it, if even). reds and blacks have no click. reds are too sensitive for programming/general typing imo.
1.b) matias switches are nice and iirc more quiet. I have some but never built the keyboard and don't feel like pulling them out for a sound check - youtube it
1.c) topre switches. not *that* special, imo, but they are nice and also more quiet, iirc

2 and 3) key up and down: o rings pretty well nullify the bottom out sound. o rings also reduce the distance of the key coming back up, so that sound is also dampened

4) just be mindful of it and realize you might need to swap the keyboard out. Also, matias and topre switches seem to have a more consistent manufacturing process than cherry which helps here

I forget how much extra it is for matias/topre switches, but it's probably not worth it. A good analogy might be the nvidia rtx 2080 TI vs the Titan rtx. Also worth noting it's been a while since i've played with matias and topre - they might not be so nice as i'm remembering

I'm using the ultimate hacking keyboard with blacks. it would probably be the perfect keyboard if it had dedicated arrow keys, and if the extra frame-button was actually a key and not some weird button
 
I do a lot of phone interviewing, and my browns were distracting. Now I have two keyboards sitting on my desk, one with browns for when I'm just working alone, and an apple keyboard for when I'm on the phone
 
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