Looking for advice to move away from Cherry MX Blues to tactile switches

Learning and discussion Key switches
21

Yes, your sample packs are likely to include an Ergo Clear, or at least an MX Clear. You can throw a mid-weight spring into an MX Clear if you don’t get an Ergo Clear.

Testing boards are extremely helpful. AliExpress sales haven’t been as good as they used to be recently. But during sales, it was possible to get a tester board shipped to you for about $37-39 CAD, using coupons.

Even a 10-key hotswap board would be useful, for the sole purpose of switch-testing.

Acrylic bases might be useful if you are planning to test them. Otherwise, people often use jars to store switches. There are several photos on this forum, if you search.

22

The stock “official” Ergo Clear’s spring is around 70g bottom out. It manages to overcome the bump on the upstroke but I found using slightly longer springs than Cherry ones makes the switch feel a lot snappier on the up stroke.

I usually don’t enjoy longer springs on linear switches, but the 16mm always feel very nice for me on tactile switches, and for the Clears they made them amazing to use.

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23

If you’re open to making frankenswitches, a Cherry MX Clear stem in a Cherry MX Blue bottom housing makes the switch more tactile. This switch (with the heavy Cherry MX Clear spring) is what I’ve been running as my daily driver for over two years.

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24

On the subject of larger springs in Ergo Clears, yes the regular springs would be better if they had more upstroke power.

When using large springs, you can also use 18mm springs at even lower weight than 62 G, if you want to go that route. I find 55 G 18mm pretty punchy on 1U keys.

OP was looking for something greater than MX Brown that is suitable for both typing and gaming. I think that punchy Ergo Clears might actually be a little much for that, at times.

Something like AKKO Jelly Purple (lubed) would be pretty easy to transition between keys, while being more tactile than MX Brown. Or if that’s not tactile enough, stock Cream Blue V3 Pro would offer tactile feedback without being extreme.

But we’d have to see what the OP’s tactile preference-level is, hence my suggestion for sample packs.

EDIT: In addition, after actually live-testing some switches on hot-swap, I can say that Durock Medium Tactile [RARA V2 with 65 G 14mm springs] and MODE Tomorrow are genuine medium-tactiles.

They are heavier than MX Brown, but not obnoxiously-so.

TTC Bluish-White is a little heavier, and not too far off from T1. Both could be called “medium-heavy.” The bumps aren’t identical between them, of course.

I personally think DMT and MODE Tomorrow could easily be versatile switches. However, if one wanted to distance themselves further from MX Brown, they could use Bluish-White or T1s while still being ‘medium-weight.’

JWICK & Chosfox Voyager are similar in intensity to T1, maybe a little heavier at the top. If you require a heavier switch, these could do, although I think they are more of a typing switch than anything. [U4T might actually be more versatile in this respect, as a slightly heavy switch.]

25

Well my Outemu switches arrived! The only problem I have is that they aren’t labelled in any way, and the seller page doesn’t seem to make it clear which is which.

Are there any good resources or databases of switches with pictures? I assume it quickly becomes difficult to keep them organized without some way of telling them apart.

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26

I haven’t been on this site for awhile but I believe it has what you are looking for.

27

I’ve tested out the Outemu switches from the sample pack, and you are pretty spot on. The silent lime/lemon and Tom are the ones I’ve gravitated towards, though I do find them on the lighter side. Didn’t get a yellow jade, but I did get a silent Peach, which seems to be the closest feel-wise of the bunch that I like. Don’t know that I’d go for it though, as it seems oddly loud. Probably not quite as much as clickies, but it was enough for me to notice right away.

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28

Sorry I didn’t send you a photo of the switch types earlier. In fact, I think some of the AliExpress vendors of the OUTEMU silents have text or photos indicating which is which.

Yes, the OUTEMU light silent-tactiles are among the nicer ones. They are more tactile than an MX Brown, but are not as tactile as a T1 or Holy Panda. You might say that they are almost silent Ergo Clears. Somewhere between a Brown and an Ergo Clear.

I can tell you that these particular switches improve with lube. 3204 works. It is also useful to lube the spring with something appropriate. Feel-wise, they won’t change much [from a moderate coating.] But sound-wise, they will become both quieter, and deeper-sounding. This is highly desirable.

Yes, the Silent Peach might be value-priced, but it’s probably not the quietest silent linear. That probably goes to the Silent Alpaca/Dolphin, some Zeal linear, or some newer switch I haven’t heard of.

It’s too bad you didn’t get a Silent Jade Yellow. They are definitely a step above the Silent Lime and Silent TOM in tactility. I don’t mean to say that they are better or worse, but they are markedly different. They feel a lot like a lighter U4 Boba, which is a different class of tactile. [More Panda-like].

In your case, it might actually be worthwhile to order 10 Silent Jade Yellow for $10 CAD [there seems to be a sale on for the next 4 hours]:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005351894260.html

And you could store up a list of other things you want to test from AliExpress, as there should be a significant sale on 11.11.

29

Got my bundle from RNDKBD, and… wow. Like, these are amazing. Of the 7 tactiles included, the only one I quickly put aside is the Cherry Ergo Clear. Maybe I’d like it more with lube, but all of the other ones feel so much better.

Of the 6 others, it’s tricky narrowing down. The two I think I don’t like as much are:

  • Boba U4T
  • Boba U4

The U4T feels a bit stiff on the return, and the U4 feels… mushy maybe? A bit to hard to press at least.

This leaves:

  • Aflion Melody
  • Gateron Root Beer Float
  • Gazzew U4T
  • Gazzew U4Tx

I’m really liking the feel of these, but man is it hard to pick. I think the Gateron might be my favourite of the bunch, but I’m gonna play around with them for a while. Either way, I still have the last set to get.

Are the two Gazzew the same? They feel incredibly similar, and as far as I can see the only real difference is that one is RGB, plus the different stem profile.

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30

I’m pretty sure the U4T & U4TX are the same except the U4TX has dampening for just the up stroke. Although it sounds like you’re leaning towards the Gateron RBF. Personally I would say to go with them as they are top tier Gateron switches & those are hard to beat IME. In fact I am typing on some Gateron UHMknowns right now & I am absolutely falling in love with them!

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31

Yeah, the Cherry Ergo Clear won’t wow you at the outset… keep in mind it was all people had for medium-tactiles in MX for years…

It will be scratchy and somewhat wobbly. Honestly, if you want to be ‘wowed’ by an MX Clear, it’s best to give it a powerful spring [lots of options here], lube the housing pretty heavily, and maybe film it.

Bonus points for wearing in the Clears before doing all that.

The difference between the U4T and the U4Tx is that the U4Tx is semi-dampened. So it’s a U4T that is quieter on the upstroke.

The U4 Boba feels mushy because it is a fully-silenced switch. So it has a fair bit of dampening.

The U4T is actually based on the U4, which came before it. The U4 was a very popular silent tactile when it came out, as it had a then-novel ‘D-shaped’ bump, kind of like a Panda but not entirely. It was cheaper and had some other features over the competition at the time. Still a benchmark silent-tactile.

The U4T capitalized on the U4’s popularity by offering a non-silent version of the U4 Boba, being similar in stem-profile. It was kind of like a Panda stem, but in a much cleaner and more sturdy housing. Overall, the U4T is probably more steady, more consistent, and more refined than a Holy Panda. [But if you want the full Panda effect, you can put Panda stems in a Boba housing, which I personally enjoy.]

The Aflion Melody should be interesting, as it is a light or medium-tactile, probably in the range of the Blueberry Chiffon.

The Gateron Root Beer Float are fairly popular. It’s my understanding from the review that they come unlubed [for customizers,] which means you or somebody will need to lube them for best-results. [Don’t try this with 205g0 if you are new!]

I guess it’s T1 derivatives and some other switches left for you to try. You’ll have tried most of the major designs at that point.

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32

Also, I found some more switch testers:

AKKO

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005164036274.html

TECSEE

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005609943893.html

(It’s the 12 PCS one)

10 MMD Princess (48 or 60 G) for $8 CAD

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005374016411.html

Customizable

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004782877368.html

(They say they will let you choose…this could be handy. I could provide some suggestions for you.)

Also, if you talk to Ineda Digital Store, you can probably arrange to have a single OUTEMU Silent Jade Yellow sent to you at minimal cost.

[Maybe get them to throw in a Gateron CAP Brown and Pro Brown to make it worthwhile.]

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/910558120

33

Alriighty, the last set has arrived! These ones are also very nice, and it’s been difficult enough so far to narrow down my preferences. So far, I’ve brought it down to 5 of them:

  • Tecsee Neapolitan Ice Cream
  • Gateron Baby Kangaroo (Shocker!)
  • TTC Bluish White
  • Durock Anubis
  • Tecsee Coffee Chip Ice Cream

Since I’ve narrowed my pool down to about a dozen, I’ll spend some time playing around with them to see if I can shrink that number further. I’ll probably also start looking at the force graphs/number of all these to see if there are commonalities between them.

Those other sets do look enticing as well, but I’ll wait a bit before making any further purchases just yet.

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34

It looks to me as if you like medium-heavy and very-heavy tactiles.

Case in point. The Neapolitan was based on a ‘frankenswitch’ (custom switch) that made a Zealio V2 stem more tactile. It is one of the most tactile out there.

They aren’t all the same shape. Some of them are P-shaped like the Anubis, the Neapolitans may have a larger bump. Certainly, the Bluish White has a long tactile diversion, I think.

A number of them are known to be ‘sharp,’ like the Anubis and probably the Neapolitan. This is in opposition to ‘rounded,’ which the Holy Panda [or MX Browns] are considered to be these days.

Your choices make some degree of sense, coming from MX Blue. MX Blues are probably considered sharper and more tactile than MX Brown. Consequently, we see those characteristics in your switch preferences. [I can’t speak for the auditory characteristics, since these vary.]

Were you being sarcastic about the Baby Kangaroos being a ‘shocking’ choice? I think they were heavily-recommended.

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35

I would add to what I wrote that some of those switches have 2-stage springs.

2-stage springs can make a tactile switch more snappy, which fans of tactility will appreciate. It also probably bears some resemblance to a clicky switch.

36

No sarcasm at all. Your suggestion was very on point!

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37

Well my board arrived, so I did a quick test of the handful of switches I’ve narrowed it down to. Gotta say… the experience is quite different once you have visual feedback for the key presses besides solely judging on the feel. I’m thinking I might re-evaluate all of my tactile samples after experiencing this. I might need to come up with a few test applications to get a feel of regular typing vs gaming, etc.

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38

Yes, this is exactly it.

There really is no substitute to typing on a board [although we recommend trying in whatever way first].

When typing on a few switches on a test board, it is good to imagine yourself typing on them straight for half-an-hour. Like, type on them a little bit, but imagine you are tying continuously w/o breaks.

What do you want to type on now? becomes clearer.

39

I’ve spent the better part of several hours jumping between different applications, primarily games, and I managed to take the 48 different tactiles I currently have and have narrowed it down to these four five:

  • Tecsee Neapolitan
  • Durock Anubis
  • Outemu Panda
  • Gazzew U4T 65g
  • Haimu Whisper

What I found worked best to eliminate options was to test them on the space bar, as well as the arrow keys. The space bar in particular seemed to “amplify” the feel of the switches, making it much more apparent in some cases which ones I disliked.

For now I’m gonna take a break and sit on it for a bit, and see later if anything becomes more apparent to me.

Edit: I re-visited the Whisper and added to the list. I’m actually kinda digging that one.

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40

I’m a linear user but also think the Whispers feel and sound nice. You might also try the Haimu Pastel Mint or Thistle. CannonKeys has a Haimu sampler.

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