So far my impression of Tecsee switches has been very mixed, but leaning towards positive for me because I give points for trying new things and experimenting, which Tecsee seems pretty keen on doing.
Quick n’ dirty IIRC blurbs:
Carrot Linears: High-pitched, hard-but-thin feeling, kinda meh but not scratchy - needs tuning but has potential if you like higher sounds. PME housing IIRC. Take care if opening; housings are brittle.
Diamond (aka Jadeite) Linears: Low-key love these things, but have to acknowledge they aren’t for everyone; Tecsee’s full-UHMWPE stems are quite soft, so heavy typists or enthusiastic WASD gamers may damage them - and there is a sort of mild slip-stick to break through at the top of travel that’s polarizing. Personally, I think they sound and feel great.
Techno Violet Linears: Nylon long-pole switches, dry from factory - pretty much what you’d expect. Not ultra smooth, but make a nice clack. No complaints, and they have the color of a ripe eggplant. Neat.
Zaku Linears: Polycarbonate long-pole switches, I believe also dry from factory - like the above but more smooth & crisp. Honestly can’t tell which is “deeper” - they don’t sound exactly the same. As far as the style goes I think they’re totally good if not quite excellent.
Blue Velvet Tactiles: Clacky, a bit wobbly - seems to have good potential but deffo needs tuning; PME housing?
Lychee Tactiles: Love the feel, sound is fine, can’t hold onto keycaps. Kinda wobbly. Nothing a little PTFE thread tape can’t fix, though.
Coral Tactiles: Nylon stems in these guys - PC top and maybe PME bottom? I’m sneakin’ this post at work so I’m not looking it up right now. Anywho - pretty darn strong, I like the sound and feel. Didn’t blow me away but still left a good impression.
Blue Sky Star Tactiles: Surprisingly good; a little wobble but that’s about the only negative thing I have to say about them. Sound is deeper than most Tecsees I’ve tried so far (especially considering these are “extra-long-pole” clacky tactiles, and the HPE material has a nice sound and feel to me - less dry and brittle seeming than the PME. Easily my favorite Tecsee switch so far next to Diamonds, without any of the be-careful caveats.
Ha, that makes perfect sense then. The ones I have tried were the Techno Violet, Carrot, and Blue Velvet. Those all were “okay” but definitely all needed work.
I emailed the vendor about it - either Bolsa or Dangkeebs, can’t remember - they were super cool and offered a refund, but also mentioned the PTFE tape, which was my introduction to using it for keeb stuff. I figured I’d give it at try, and these days I find it all but indispensable.
I have some Carrots on the way, I’ve found that the sound of the PME housing with that long pole is thin and plasticy on an Alu plate, like on my NK65EE, but with a PC plate like the KBD67 Lite it’s muc nicer, deep and full sound.
BTW I’ve noticed the phenomenon of the small stem with the Durock POMs, stem is noticeably smaller than usual, iirc the stem is the new P3 stem which is an UHMWPE blend, stem wobble is fantastic though, which makes it more confusing.
Looks like CIY is at it again with another budget board:
Ten bucks off at checkout with code: gas67
Well, “gasket mount” has officially made it to the budget sector. I don’t expect any miracles or even minor disruptions here, but making more thoughtful mounting styles available on the cheap is nothing but good in my book.
Coming in at an MSRP of $60, that’s $50 less than a KBD67L. Will it be a comparable value, though? Who knows! Nobody, yet - but yes, I ordered one - and yes, I’ll tell you if it sucks or not. In the mean-time, some bullet-points:
Polycarb plate
Foam gaskets
USBC daughter board (!)
PCB foam layer
Mute silicone
1.2mm PCB
ARR GEE BEEZ
POM plate-mount stabs
Hot-swap (5-pin, but North-facing)
Yes, I could harp on that last point - but I won’t. This is decidedly a budget keeb, and I don’t think too many folks will be lamenting not being able to mount GMK on it without the help of washers or certain switches. I think more buyers of this keeb would be disappointed if the RGB didn’t fire into the legends of shine-through caps, so I can’t fault the decision.
The Han60 has no weight. The real differentiator of the Ciel was how the weight changes the sound. A regular bakeneko from CannonKeys has a high pitch compared to a Ciel or Unikorn. If Han60 had a weight, I’d be all for it. PrimeKB also has a Simpler60 on sale with a unique mounting system, but again I am dubious without the weight.
Will wait on more sound tests of both Han60 and Simpler60.
Nothing a little PTFE thread tape can’t fix, though.
