Well I’m all about linear already.
But I’m a bit concerned if I should buy some silk now for a keeb I’m going to build next year or wait and get a later batch that might be not as good.
Or is that time span to small for the molds to wear out?
2 Likes
Same for me, was a tactile addict until I found gat yellows.
Later tried gat blacks spring swapped wirh thick thock DL 62g. I like them even more, they look a bit lighter to me(or it may be due to a less moderate lube job).
My experience with linear is very small (and for other switch type as well), so much to learn and to try…
But do far I enjoy the experience. 
2 Likes
Good question! I hope so, cause I have a funny feeling there is still a good portion of enthusiasts wrapped up in tactile switches & getting the “biggest” bump while ignoring what linears have to offer. I was one of them for awhile so we’ll see what happens, but more stock of JWK/Durock linears can only be a good thing either way IMHO!
3 Likes
Price wise they are quite interesting already.
Do someone know about the spring type on the yellow ones? Does the spring is like gat yellows ?
1 Like
I think Mike was trying to emulate that feel with the 45g actuation 63.5g bottom out force of the silk/dry yellows springs, but a lot of people say the Gat yellow springs are pretty much made like slow curve springs so not sure how close they feel. I got a batch of dry yellows coming right now & some gat yellows to compare them too. When I get my drys (hopefully tomorrow) I’ll let you know what differences I can parse between them!
4 Likes
I just got my bag of Silk Yellows today, and I’m inclined to think so. There’s what seems to me a healthy amount of hype around them, and so far they’re living up to it reasonably well for me.
@KeebZone I’d put Silk Yellows toe-to-toe with Tealios all day - the biggest difference I’m experiencing between them so far is sound pitch, obvious price gap aside. I still might prefer Ink Blacks to the both of them, though: I like their weighting, the spring makes a bit less noise than the other two, and so far, I’ve found them a little more consistent than the Silks.
4 Likes
That makes me happy to hear! Now im really excited for my ink blacks to arrive.
Sorry for the bad lighting but for fun I decided to try and make a switch of my own so I contacted a manufacturer about it and just got this in the mail today. 1 tactile 1 silent tactile 1 linear 1 silent linear and I’m gonna compare them to my Zeal switches and see how they hold up. This was just a fun little experiment
4 Likes
That’s really interesting! Do you mind me asking how much / what kind of input you’re able to have with them? I’m kinda fascinated with how the parts work together but don’t have a clue what the development workflow might look like.
I finally saw the love for linears by accident. I was looking for a reasonably quiet mx-compatible keeb during that short period of time when the only ones on the market were linear - the only ones I knew about, anyway.
My first set were Cherry MX Silent Blacks on a KBParadise V80 - it’s like a Filco, but every part is as cheap as possible - and so it sucks completely with a slim possibility of redeeming the thing. The Cherry “silents” struck me as kinda garbage and did nothing for my ambivalence towards linear switches…
But then I put this together for a friend:
It’s a pretty basic-biscuit build, with an extra touch here and there. My friend had settled on Gateron Silent Blacks, which I’d assumed would be an (at the time) less expensive rough equivalent of the Cherry’s. I assumed incorrectly.
The springs and dampeners alike were better - gone was the subtle but sandy, mushy crunch my Cherry switches had - and in its place, a much snappier, more responsive feeling action. There’s still plenty of texture compared to Inks, for example, but it seems more consistent or less sandy- and I actually found it fairly pleasant.
So did my buddy. Anyway - using that keeb for a few days is how I caught the linear bug and, well… I just got in another bag today.
2 Likes
It was actually really straightforward, they already had a range of switches in the same housing and I just decided on the colours that I would want and weight, I went for 67g since it feels the best imo both for the linear and tactile switch. Since this is just the samples it was free and I just had to pay for shipping.
Thats a really nice build you got there for your friend. The purple and white go really well together!
2 Likes
Interesting… I thought linear is the majority. 8 out of 10 boards being sold on mechmarket are built with linear switches. I think linear is really where MX switches shine. I wonder whether hall effect is even smoother than the latest generation of MX linear switches.
I’m interested in your feedback about the differences.
1 Like
So i got my dry yellows in today & did some comparing them to Gat yellows loose. As far as the feel from the spring goes the drys definitely feel a little bit lighter than the Gats. Which I found kinda crazy, but after comparing a few different switches I’d say they feel almost weighted the same at the beginning of the press , but after that Gat yellows ramp up in weighting slightly making them feel heavier & also have a snappier return. You can feel more rebound force on finger with Gat yellows IMO. While the dry yellows have a very linear feel to the weighting, it feels pretty much the same throughout the whole key press. Here’s a pic comparing the dry yellow spring (left side gold one) & gat yellow spring (right side silver one), beyond the Gat one being a little taller I can’t see any super noticeable differences.
Beyond that, the drys are a good bit smoother & actually have tighter housings than the gats! It looks like at least for the silk/dry series JWK tightened up the tolerances & there is much less wobble than with Alpacas, Tangies, Marshmallows, etc. My overall take on silk/dry yellows vs Gat yellows is get silk/drys unless your budget just can not cover them. They are definitely a superior switch to Gat yellow IMHO.
6 Likes
Dang I finally broke down and ordered some dry yellows… gonna be my first durock switch. People have been saying they don’t need to be filmed, do you think that’s true? if it is I might just buy a ton of the silk yellows/blacks next time I can for all future builds and like not have to lube/film anymore which would be lit.
1 Like
They are definitely tighter than previous JWK/Durock switches, although I still plan on filming mine with deskey films when I lube them. For what it’s worth I have heard a few people say the silks don’t need filmed as long as you don’t open them. Then I saw @donpark said somewhere in one of the linear threads he felt like films may even be detrimental to silks. Best bet is to grab a smaller batch, like 70 to 100 & see how you like the silks. If they’re not your thing you could easily get most if not all of your money back on them.
3 Likes
TL;DR: My Silks do very subtly and slightly benefit from being filmed, but I think it falls into diminishing-returns territory (and might even lead to premature weakening of the clip legs, see below) - especially if you’ll be doing your own lubing (including the springs) with Drys.
The Silks I got a couple days ago definitely have a good tight grip between the housings - definitely no obvious rattle.
I decided to try filming one just to see if it made a difference - and while it did, it’s very subtle. I will say if I hyper-focus in on the sound and feel, the top-out does sound ever so slightly more tight and clean.
These are stock - so both of them have some spring ping - and if you’ll be lubing the springs and moving parts anyway, I’m not convinced that subtle difference made by the film wouldn’t evaporate.
There is a pitch difference between the one already in my tester and the one I filmed - but after trying a few more, there were minor pitch differences between them, too - so it’s hard to say how filming affected it except to say any change would be subtle.
If you’re borderline obsessive like myself (which, hey, the hobby seems to attract us), you’ll definitely be able to detect differences in smoothness between some of the Silks, just due to the lube application not being done meticulously.
That said, those inconsistencies are slight and subtle, and less noticeable than those you might find with BOX tactile switches, for example. The inconsistencies lie mostly with travel feel when pressed slowly - the weighting is consistent, and with the exception of one kinda off, rattly switch that was in my bag, normal typing feel is consistent as well.
Similarly to YOK or Cream housings, these will close with TX films in the middle, but it looks like the legs don’t fully snap back into normal position. (Like maybe 95%+ the way? Just enough to notice.) They hold onto the bottom housing just fine, but aren’t able to close all the way - so if you decide you want to film these, I’d use something thinner than the TX ones in the interest of housing longevity.
Edit: I think that last point speaks to what @Rob27shred mentioned in terms of hearing films might be detrimental to Silks - whether it’s the act of opening them alone or of having not-the-thinnest film in there, I was able get more play out of the filmed one - but only with force that I don’t think would be a factor in normal use. BUT… if legs that haven’t closed-down all the way sit like that for a little while, I wouldn’t be surprised if that weakened their ability to grip the housing over time and led to increased rattle.
4 Likes
It’s sounding like a smart thing to just buy the dry yellows, lube them, and you have something like lubed + filmed Alpacas, right?
thanks @Rob27shred and @Deadeye it sounds like i really need to try some. I got 400 tealios like a year and a half ago or so and have been lubing and filming but I think I might be happy with silk yellow or black going forward, definitely sounds good to me.
2 Likes
Thank you very much for your review!
Based on what you said I think I’ll definitely love those switches.
1 Like
I run Tealios daily after going from my initial choice of Kailh Box Jades. Linears feel awesome. My first linear in my custom board was NovelKeys Creams stock but those were far too scratchy. Didn’t see the light until I lubed up Tealios, and I was in heaven.
This was followed by Gateron Black Inks, Gateron Reds, lubing my NovelKeys Creams, and Cherry Blacks.
4 Likes