Another week, another new keycap profile

I haven’t, but now I want to…

8 Likes

They do look interesting, but very specific to the board they were created for. I think something similar would smack on Alice/Arisu layouts!

2 Likes

Sounds pretty cool, especially being wider makes me interested

Some nits after having used MTNU WoB for a few weeks:

  • QWERTY row fits too well, leaving little or no typing room above the keycap. When fingers on the home (ASDF) row reach for the row above, keycaps are already there like keycaps are coming to greet your fingers. While I can get used to that, sound suffers from reduced downstroke force, making sound whimpy.

  • Combination of aggressively curved top surface and low height nerfs sound when keys are pressed off-center. Cherry sounds more consistent. With SA profile, top surface is not as aggressive and extra height adds to the sound.

2 Likes

Hi, which profile even the new ones has a widest surface but sculpted but not low-profile? I checked out XDA, it’s wider than the usual Cherry or OEM but it’s uniform not sculpted. Perhaps there’s an even wider surface but sculpted but at Cherry height (OEM is too high, the fingertips would bang onto the keycap sides).

God bless.

1 Like

Also a reply to this question;

If I understand right, it does sound to me like Melgeek’s MDA might be the closest to what you’re looking for, if not an exact match. It’s kind of like sculpted XDA. Its top surfaces are nearly-flat with a very mild scoop like EMA, and they have the widest tops of any sculpted cap I know of. I believe all the rows are shorter than their OEM equivalents, but not sure about Cherry - I know some of the rows are.

I love Melgeek’s MDA, but the down-sides to that one are few color options and not much to shop around with in terms of prices.

I say Melgeek’s MDA because there’s another subsequent knock-off MDA that is at this point more common, and what you’re more likely to find if you search for the profile anywhere outside of Melgeek’s commercial bubbles. The knock-off profile has some things in common with Melgeek’s, but is different: the scoop is more a little pronounced (tops are less flat), the tops less large, and the caps are shorter / lower profile - so kind of a mixed bag for your use-case.


You might also consider XVX. It’s another short, spherical profile that’s closer to flat than scooped. It has deeper scoops than Melgeek MDA, EMA, MA, or XDA (all nearly-flat) - but more shallow scoops than knock-off MDA, DSA, DSS, MT3, MTNU, etc. These are usually available for very low prices so maybe worth a try.

7 Likes

I have two Melgeek MDA sets - they are indeed very large and quite “flat” although the set has a very obvious sculpt, much more so than Cherry profile for instance. So F-row for instance can be almost as high as SA, while mid-row is about as high as regular XDA. I love that profile but if someone is looking for a uniform profile (like DSA or KAM) it’s very far from it.

4 Likes

XVX would certainly be the easy bargain choice here. I had a set that was quite nice to type on, but the shine through legends were centered and, when not illuminated, were almost indistinguishable from the lavender plastic used for the rest of the keycaps.

3 Likes

I’ll throw up a non-sculpted one that’s a bit under the radar. I bought some “DSA business” keycaps on AE that turned out to be old stock (or copied molds… I dunno… something) of a Dolch-like set of Vortex’s “VSA,” which seems to almost exactly split the distance between DSA and XDA. I really like them quite a bit.

4 Likes

Sounds interesting, is it the first one in this listing? 9.39€ 70% OFF|Design pbt Keycap Dye Sub Dsa Profil Key Cap personal isierte minimalist ische bunte Kirsche Keycaps für mechanische Tastatur| | - AliExpress
Or do you have a picture of them?

3 Likes

I should also mention “XDAS” which is a “XDA Squared”, with larger keycap top (and indeed a more square shape), usually thick dye sub PBT, available on some AliX stores. Same height as regular XDA, but much thicker so they have a better sound, probably a solution for someone who wants a flat/uniform profile.

3 Likes

That looks like them, even down to the striated double shot. The larger keycaps even have “VSA” molded into the white near the stem. Inconsistent legend thickness on the mods reveals the worn and/copied molds, but the price is certainly right.

3 Likes

DOYS Keycaps Series by Deadline Studio seems to be a new profile. Reminds me a bit of a cross between RAMA Grid keycaps and SLK Dessau.

They have opaque white and five colors of transparent in PC and black caps in PBT.

3 Likes