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Quiet mechanical keyboard

S

strekship

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
251
Within the next few weeks I will probably be moving into an office with another person. At home I have gotten so used to typing on my Model M that the Dell keyboards at work are a pain to deal with. If I was going to be on my own I would just grab a Unicomp and call it a day, but I don't think that would go over well with an office mate. Are there any mechanical keyboards that have a similar feel to buckling springs, but without the noise? From the research I have done, it seems like the Cherry Clears are going to be my best bet, but I have not had the chance to test them out in person.
 
Code: 
Switch	Image	      Tactile?	Clicky?	Activation Force
MX Red		        Linear		45cN
MX Black		Linear		60cN
MX Dark Grey		✔		80cN
MX Brown		✔		45cN
MX Clear		✔		65cN
MX Light Grey		✔		80cN
MX Blue		        ✔	✔	50cN
MX Green		✔	✔	80cN
MX White		✔	✔	80cN
 
As far as I've looked into mechanicals, there's never going to be anything that comes close to the feel of buckling springs. There are mods you can do to a buckling spring keyboard to reduce the sound profile (from insulating the plate and interior casing, to greasing or floss modding the springs), but I haven't personally tried or heard the results any myself.

If you really want to stick to the feel of buckling springs, I'd suggest finding a cheap model m or unicomp, looking up sound mods and testing them out. Otherwise you're just going to have to settle for something else.
 
Model M actuation force is typically between 64-69 cN, so a tactile or clicky tactile switch in the 65-70 cN range may be best.

May want to check out some of the various Alps switches, as a lot of buckling spring fans are fine with them as an alternative.
 
Well I took at shot in the dark and picked up a Rosewill keyboard with Blacks. It was cheap and I get to experiment to see how I get along with linear switches. The activation force appears to be similar to the Model M so I don't think that I will find them too heavy (the most common complain I have seen).
 
I've got a code keyboard with clears and o-rings on it and its pretty quiet. Its not silent but I'd say it sounds about the same as a gel membrane keyboard, just instead of a low pitched thud you get a higher pitched hit/click depending on how hard you hit the keys.

If you touch type instead of smacking the keys like I do then you can type even quieter.

I've never used a model m so I can't compare there but the specs on paper look fairly similar...
 
The Code is what I was originally looking at. The ~$160 price tag was a little hard to stomach though without knowing that it was going to work out for me. In the future I may still decide to give it a try if the Rosewill doesn't agree with me.
 
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