I’m looking to build a silent mechanical keyboard to use at work. For some context, I need the keyboard to be as silent as possible as it’s going to be used in one-on-one interviews with patients in the clinic, so any amount of keyboard noise will be distracting. I’m willing to sacrifice typing feel (eg. mushy) if it means I can minimise noise. Currently not worried about budget at the moment.
From research, it sounds there are 3 main aspects to figure out for the setup.
Board/Case: Looking for TKL, hotswappable suggestions, ideally with decent build quality. Don’t care about weight.
Switch: Looking for linears as I believe they are quieter than tactiles, eg. Gazzew Bobagums, TTC Frozen Silent V2, etc.
Mods: Happy to do any mods/lubing required to make setup as silent as possible.
Also just wanted to say a big thanks to @HungerMechanic and @Deadeye for all of their informative replies on previous posts regarding silent keyboards. I thought there might be some new changes in the keyboard market from then until now in 2024, which is why I’m making this post again in the hopes of some new/better options.
If maximum silence is your goal, I still think Outemu silent linears are the way to go - but there are a handful of options I prefer to Bobagums these days;
Cream / Jade Yellows: two similar silents (tactiles, actually - oops) featuring opaque housings, these have had a warm reception and are the first place my mind goes for this recommendation.
Silent Peach V2s: functionally similar to the yellows but with a lighter spring and a few other trivial details like housing latch type.
Silent Oceans: not to be confused with the clickies of the same name and appearance, these have transparent housings - this means they’ll facilitate back-lighting more than the others at a possible very slight cost in quietness - the clear plastic is harder. These are still some of the most quiet switches I know.
There are lots of good TKLs these days, but I only know a few of them. Generally, a heavy case with a soft plate and mounting system will be nice and quiet. For example, an aluminum shell with “gasket” mounting and either a POM or polycarbonate plate.
I’m glad that some of my previous posts could be of help.
I don’t think that a lot has changed recently, but there are new silent switches. And affordable TKLs.
Here is some information:
Gaskets [soft-mount] and dampening are probably what you want in a keyboard.
Might look into whether the Neo80 is good for dampening, as it is affordable. It is the latest entrant in possibly-good, affordable TKLs.
The Neo80 gasket system has been praised, and it is said to be not too hard to build. Hotswap is an option.
IKKI68 Aurora can be silenced pretty well, but it is a 70%.
Honestly, some of those affordable Chinese and Korean hotswap pre-builts for like $70 that you find on AliExpress and places are okay for silencing. Some of them have lots of room for dampening. But the gasket-mount custom keyboards are nicer. i.e. the soft-mount options are best.
[Might want to check in on the HMKB guy. It’s a nice TKL, and he’s been selling extras. They can be silenced, according to multiple customizers.]
The Keychron Q-series and Monsgeek M-series are still the staples for ‘affordable but decent TKL that can be silenced.’ Q-series comes with some optional dampening materials, I think. It would be my first choice for a reasonably-priced and quickly-built office keyboard.
You don’t need metal for good silencing, plastic is fine. So, I suspect some of the affordable TKLs like Freebird and several others are fine for this. I would recommend the KBD8X MKIII for quality and price, but it may have a case that is too roomy.
Yes, soft plates and mounting system will work best, even in a heavy metal case. That’s why the HMKB is a contender, especially if you can produce a custom plate [files are available… somewhere.] I know of more than one successful U4 Boba silent-tactile HMKB TKL.
As @Deadeye said, OUTEMU silent linears are very quiet. They would be among my first choices.
The Bobagum is a bit scratchy in stock form [or shuffling noise], but still good. With a little lube, they should shine. Feel poppy, almost tactile with certain springs, and work well at 52 - 65 G or so.
In general, the OUTEMU silent linears are more ‘mushy’ at bottom-out than some other choices. They are quiet, but not as firm as some would like. I trust the QC on Gazzew/Boba-series more than the OUTEMU budget line.
I think the Cream / Jade Yellows are tactiles. At least, that’s what I received samples of. OUTEMU is getting better at lubing their silent tactiles. But you might at least want to lube the springs. They will benefit from lube overall. They type like toned-down U4 Boba tactiles.
I received samples of KBDiy Sea Salt Lemon silent linear. You have to be careful when ordering, because there is a non-silent. They have good reviews for being quiet. If memory serves, they are like a slightly less-mushy OUTEMU.
For less mushiness still, try Kailh silents. I like the Kailh Deep Sea “Whale” Pro V3 or whatever the latest is - the tactile. They don’t even need to be lubed. But they are ‘quieter’ switches, rather than ‘silent.’ Like a quiet office keyboard. If the linears are like the tactiles, they should be firm and quieter than stock MX.*
People seem to like the new Akko Silent Penguin, which are a medium-tactile. But I haven’t tried them.
You can custom build silent tactiles with the OUTEMU “Silent Forest” stem. Put them in a decent housing, like Cherry [lubed]. They’ll be quiet enough, and you can customize the weight to your liking.
Anyway, for quietest, it’s the OUTEMU linears, especially Bobagum.
Summary: Gasket or some other soft-mount. Soft plate [PC, POM], even though metal will work. OUTEMU silent linears such as Bobagum. But there are a lot of decent choices today. So it’s really up to you.
Make sure the stabilizers are good - they are a major source of noise, potentially.
I guess throwing lubed Bobagums into a dampened Keychron Q-series is still one of the best quick and affordable options. Otherwise, dampen a soft-mount custom keyboard. Most of the OUTEMU linear and tactiles are pretty quiet.
I just wanted to add a few things to what I wrote about silent switches:
-I just tried some Sea Salt Lemon silent linears in-hand.
They are actually pretty decent in both feel and sound. No weird ringing or anything.
Haven’t tried them in a board, but it doesn’t seem like they need much hand-customization.
-The TTC Silent Brown V2 is something of a middle-ground between the Kailh and the OUTEMU. It may not be quite a silent as OUTEMU’s best, but it’s a little less mushy.
[The Kailh is both louder and firmer.]
These switches feel kind of like a silenced Durock Medium Tactile.
-Finished an NCR-80 hotswap with OUTEMU Silent Lime last year. Not the ideal chassis for a silent switch [too roomy / echoes], although quieter than standard keyboards.
Use thick Cherry-profile PBT with silent tactiles, I find it works best.
-OUTEMU Silent TOM is pretty good, even stock. I might rate them even a little higher than Silent Lemon/Lime. Although they all benefit from lube. 3204 is fine.
If these silent light Ergo Clears [Silent TOM and Silent Lime] are not heavy enough for you, you can go with TTC Silent Bluish White. They are more authoritative. Although I don’t know if they are fully silenced, they may just be ‘quieter’ tactiles like Kailh.
-Incidentally, I enjoyed the Kailh Midnight Pro samples. Mine were the tactile, it’s a bit above a Brown. There may be a linear variant. Seemed good even stock, but not OUTEMU-quiet.
-WS silent switches of various types were quite good. In terms of being fairly quiet and smooth. The tactiles were heavier than I prefer. They are very affordable, but I have heard about some QC problems. Shouldn’t be a big deal if you hotswap. Just have spares on-hand.
You can see from this listing that there are some pretty decent silent tactile options these days. But also several linears to choose from. Samples are a good idea. If you only need to try 2-3 types from AliExpress, you can buy during a big sale.
There are also OUTEMU sample packs that contain Silent Peach, Lemon/Lime, a Yellow, and maybe Toms. The Silent Cream Yellow Pro / Jade Yellow samples can be very affordable during certain sales. And INEDA switch store and some others may throw in a free sample of another silent switch type, if you ask nicely.
I have a Neo65 and love the gaskets in it; assuming the 80 uses the same system I can vouch for those keyboards being amazing for the price while facilitating a silent build.
So just focusing on switches for the moment (I’ll try and figure out the case/plate/mount stuff afterwards…), I think trying out some OUTEMU samples would be the perfect next step for me as it sounds like they represent the best choice in terms of maximum silence.
I’ve compiled a list of OUTEMU silent switches that I would like to hopefully try out in a sample pack. Please let me know if I missed any silent switches worth trying.
Linears:
Silent Peach V2
Silent Peach
Silent Ocean
Silent White
Tactiles:
Silent Cream Yellow
Silent Jade Yellow
Silent Lemon V2
Silent Lemon
Silent TOM
Silent Lime
Silent Gray
Before I go off and try my luck contacting the INEDA switch store with this massive list, are there any switches that aren’t worth trying in the list above (reasons could include insufficient silence, or non-subjectively terrible feel)?
Just to add, I don’t care for LED support as I will be using this at work with all backlights off.
The Peach (and Lemon) V2 is simply a revision of the first one, adding the fixing pins on the bottom making it “5-pin” and supposedly making the tolerances better for less wobble - I’d say the V1 is redundant when both are available.
If I understand correctly, Jades and Creams are nearly identical save for color and top housing plastic blend. Seems like folks really like either, with Jades getting a little more love from folks that have both - but I haven’t tried them myself.
MODE Anthracite silent tactiles are also made by Outemu; not sure if they’ll be anything significantly different from the list above, but they’re an additional option and I remember liking the sample I got from Switch Oddities.
As for cases - I’m looking to keep it the setup light if possible as I have to take it to and from work. This might mean that I’m limited to non-metal cases. The Neo80 looks like a really good comprehensive kit but it’s a bit heavy at 2.2kg.
It sounds like I need a case that has at least:
Gasket mounting system
Soft plates - Out of POM, PC, and FR4, which of these materials is superior in terms of silence, or are they all equivalent?
In addition to these two variables, it also sounds like dampening is crucial. There seem to be some cases that come with dampening materials and some without where I will have to source my own materials and strategies for dampening. Where can I start with these?
A lot of the recommendations provided above seem to be quality aluminium cases. I was wondering if there are any non-metal options that are relatively lightweight, that would meet these requirements?
For a plate I’d go for either POM or PC - POM is a little bit softer but tends to be more expensive and isn’t as common. I think either would serve your purposes fine.
I know there are cases like that, though again TKLs are a bit outside my wheelhouse. The Tiger Lite by KBDfans comes to mind, but it’s out of production.
Truth be told, though - the switches and stabilizers matter a whole lot more than chassis when it comes to silence. I reach for a soft plate when I want to dampen loud switches, but if my switches are already quiet, it matters a lot less what they’re sitting in. That said, here are a couple listings I came across that look like they’d be nice and lightweight:
GMK87 - hotswap gasket TKL with lots of pre-installed dampening, comes in lots of colors and has a knob, even has VIA software support
Keychron C3 Pro - I think this one isn’t hotswap so you’d have to do some tedious de-soldering, but man is it cheap for a gasket-mounted TKL, also has VIA support - can vouch for it being decent as I’ve re-built one of these
The Silent Peach V2 will be an improved variant of Silent Peach V1. So you don’t need to try V1.
The same is true for Silent Lemon/Lime V2. You just need V2.
[And Silent Lemon and Lime are the same switch, labelled differently sometimes.]
Yellow:
OUTEMU has gone through a lot of revisions with the Silent Yellow, and it’s a similar [but more complicated] situation than with the Silent Peach.
The first I think was the Silent Cream Yellow [V1], but they didn’t really get the lubing right until V3 or so.
So you would want to buy the “Silent Cream Yellow Pro,” which may also be called V3. “Pro V3” is sometimes associated with the latest variant.
There is a similar spin on the switch called “Jade Yellow,” which uses a transparent housing. I have tried them both, and they are both pretty decent. So it is hard to choose. I guess the Jade would be better for RGB. The spring weight might be ~5 gf different between them. Maybe.
So your list should look like this:
Linears:
Silent Peach V2
Silent Ocean
Silent White
Tactiles:
Silent Cream Yellow Pro / V3 / "Butter Yellow"
Silent Jade Yellow A.K.A. "Topaz"
Silent Lemon or Lime V2
Silent TOM
As for Silent Gray, I think it’s just an earlier Silent TOM / Lemon, so maybe skip the gray [unless you can get a freebie].
Also, really most people just use the following: Silent Peach V2, Silent Lemon V2, Silent TOM, and one of the silent Yellows. Not sure about Silent Ocean, might be good.
Samples:
Here’s an example of something advertised as Silent Cream Yellow Pro, which I guess is desirable:
Here’s a big sample pack, the 16-piece one in particular seems to contain silent switches:
The 18, 24 and 27-piece seem to cover a lot of bases [of the same types] as well.
I would buy one of those packs, containing most of the OUTEMU switches you want to try, and ask INEDA Digital Store if maybe they could throw in a TTC Silent Bluish White or some missing OUTEMU switch. [Like Silent Jade Yellow].
When buying samples - it doesn’t matter if they are Silent Lemon / Peach V1 or V2. They are almost identical. It’s only when buying a full set of them that you want to make sure they are V2.
Disadvantage of the sample packs is that they likely contain an earlier revision of Silent Cream Yellow, which are louder. Maybe verify with INEDA that the packs at least contain the silent yellow.
So, to reiterate, you could just buy one of the big packs from INEDA store. Verify the contents with them if you are unsure about anything. And ask them nicely to include a Silent Jade Yellow “Topaz” or Silent Gray or whatever is missing.
For reference:
Here are some of the latest Silent Cream Yellow Pro [“Butter Yellow Pro”]
It’s hard to pick between the two, as I found the samples last year to be enjoyable.
And, as said earlier, I’m not sure the Silent Gray are worth trying.
Silent Cream Yellow and such nomenclature is confusing, so I recommend consulting the silent tactile thread:
Basically, you want the latest Cream Yellow, which are listed as being “Pro” or “V3” or “Butter Yellow.” These seem to be the latest.
Plus the “Jade Yellow” or “Topaz,” which is also good.
Cases:
Deadeye is probably the guy to talk to. Most of the decent TKLs are fairly heavy. If I was moving it around I’d get an Aurora!
Seriously, though, I wonder about the Cycle7. It’s an FRL TKL. Do you need the function row?
I would avoid FR4 plates. I seem to see people using them to get louder sound, on purpose!
Yeah, the Tiger Lite might have been perfect for you! Maybe there are used ones for cheap or something.
I like the suggestion of the GMK87. It’s cheap, and they have really good sound. If it can be made silent as well as it can be made to sound good, then it would be a good choice. And it’s probably light.
Dampening:
You can use a lot of things for dampening. People were using shelf liner from Amazon during the pandemic supply disruptions.
There’s various types of foam. Poron is common. You can even use tissues.
You can even use sticky tack in particularly roomy / echoey cases. Filling up much of the space with tack!
Somebody actually wrote about the foams:
One of the reasons I like the idea of the Keychron Q-series is because I believe you can order them with dampening materials.
However, because of the Q-series weight, you might want to consider the Keychron V-series. It is like a Q-series, but plastic-case. Unfortunately, I think V-series lacks the Q-series gasket-mount. You could still use it as a silenced keyboard, but Q-series mounting should be a little nicer.
So if you ordered a big OUTEMU switch sample pack from INEDA or whatever, and it included the Silent Cream Yellow along with the Peach and the Lemon and TOM, then you’d be set.
You could ask for an extra sample to be thrown in if you’re missing Jade Yellow “Topaz,” or Silent Ocean or something.
This silent Jade Yellow from INEDA, for example, has good reviews:
Maybe get that slipped in as an “extra” in a sample pack.
I think that pretty much covers all of the Outemu-branded silent switches. Of course, there are also various Gazzew branded switches made by Outemu, that others have already mentioned.
@Deadeye already mentioned how the V2s are just revisions of the same line, and the Jade and Cream Yellows seem to also be in the same revision family as well. I’m not sure if the “Lime” is actually a different switch than the “Lemon”. I think it just might possibly be a case of inconsistent naming practices across different resellers, and these might just refer to the same thing as the “Lemons”.
I’ve tried all of those Outemu switches that you’ve listed. Since they are relatively cheap and it’s possible to get a 27-switch sample pack from INEDA Digital Store on AliExpress that has all of those options (well at least one of each revision line) alongside several other switches that Outemu makes. The sample pack is only $9.01 right now and it’s what I bought to try these. Note: you may have to click on an option selection after visiting this link to specifically select the 27-switch pack.
By the way, out of all these and many other silent tactiles that I tried, I wound up liking the Outemu Jade Yellows the most, closely followed by Akko Silent Penguins. I also think that the Wuque Studio Silent Tactiles and Haimu Whispers are good switches, but they are somewhat louder and hence represent a different point of the quietness-crispness tradeoff curve.
We had another thread where we specifically discussed silent tactile switches: Silent tactile switches
Considering OP’s original comments a bit further, it does seem that minimizing noise is the absolute priority, even to the point of seeming to say that mushiness and the choice between linear and tactile is less important.
Out of all of the silenced switches that I have tried, I’ve found that the most silent was the Outemu Silent Peach (I’m not sure whether it was V1 or V2, just whatever came in the 27-switch sample pack that I linked above). It’s a linear switch with a light bottom out force (45g) and short travel (3.3 mm).
If silence is the absolute priority, I’m going to guess that OP will go with those, after trying a bunch of stuff. However, I do think it’s worthwhile to compare against a variety of options and the sample packs are reasonably priced.
At the end of day, it’s not that hard to obtain some very quiet switches. The annoying part of getting an incredibly silent build will be dealing with the stabilizers.
So for cases, it seems like I don’t have many options that would be suitable for a portable, hotswappable, maximum-silence TKL build with a function row (gasket, dampening, PC/POM plate) with wireless 2.4GHz.
GMK87
Keychron V3 Max
(Monsgeek MG108W is full size, Cycle7 is FRL and heavy)
I’m having a bit of trouble deciding on which one I should choose, or if there are any other options I’ve missed - is it a matter of just choosing the cheapest option? Or are there differences between these cases in the pre-installed dampening that would be significant in silence reduction?
In addition to these, I was also wondering about stabilisers - would the pre-installed stabilisers be sufficient to achieve silence, or would I have to install some aftermarket stabilisers for a significant reduction in noise?
And an update on switches - I messaged the INEDA store who were happy for me to purchase the 7-PCS sample set and they would send me a sample of the 7 Outemu silent switches:
Silent Peach V2
Silent Ocean
Silent White
Silent Cream Yellow Pro / V3 / "Butter Yellow"
Silent Jade Yellow A.K.A. "Topaz"
Silent Lemon or Lime V2
Silent TOM
So now just waiting to test these out when they arrive and then purchase a full set of one of these.
OK, that is good news regarding the switches. I was just typing on OUTEMU Silent Lemon / Lime yesterday, vs. some others, and posted my thoughts:
It is a little cheaper to purchase full sets during big sales. I noticed that there is an upcoming AliExpress sale in a few days, although that may be too early for you.
I don’t have the detailed knowledge about the keyboards to know which has more / better dampening. Somebody might.
When I looked into the Keychron V / Q-series, I thought about purchasing replacement stabilizers. Just in-case.
I find that Zeal stabilizers are pretty quiet, but may not be as easy to set up as some more popular models [Durock, C3, TX]:
Outside of Canada, maybe the TX AP are generally regarded as the best, right now?
What you want are PCB-mount [screw-in] stabilizers. They tend to be quieter than plate-mount [clip-in] stabilizers.
Some of the keyboard kits come with stabilizers, yet they are plate-mount. You will want to use PCB-mount. I believe the Keychron V and Q-series, for example, are compatible with PCB-mount. I am not sure about the quality of the in-built stabilizers.
Keychron’s are probably decent enough, you just need to lube etc…
But if you are really a stickler, you could go for aftermarket.
Cycle7 comes with C3 V3 stabilizers, I think, which are actually pretty decent. Better than most ‘factory’ stabilizers, in any case.
Awesome, thanks for posting your experiences on the silent switches. It should be a good reference for me when I get around to testing the samples when they arrive.
Yeah, the OUTEMU are pretty good at being quiet. It looks like you’re getting the key switch types.
In that thread, you’ll notice someone has posted a new Gateron silent recently. I don’t know anything about it, but if the reviews are good it could be a silent linear contender.
Keyboard stabilizers
Okay, I did a little reading. In general, the Keychron Q and V-series come with PCB-mount [screw-in] stabilizers.
This is good. It means they use the quieter type, are built for it, and can probably take aftermarket PCB-mount stabilizers.
According to reviews, the Keychron stabilizers are okay, pretty decent for a factory board. Sometimes they have too much or too little lube. They are apparently pre-clipped. So all you have to do is make sure the lube is consistent.
Zeal PCB-mount stabilizers would probably be a slight improvement, adds cost though. If TX AP are known to be quiet, I would look into those. [Or even C3 V3].
