Portico68 Black Label
- Foam gasket mount, alu chassis
- Custom POM plate from Hypekeyboards.ca
- Fekker Matcha linear switches, stock
- TX stabs, lightly tuned & balanced with washers
- DCX caps (double-shot ABS, Cherry-like profile)
Do you find the TX stabs stem to hit the housing at certain angles?
My nylon TX Stabs have zero ticks in the stem but the housing causes a slight ticking when I press the spacebar at ceratin angles while typing.
Also, those matcha switches sound great stock.
Are you sure itâs the stabilizer? The noise you described is something that Iâve found often comes from the switch in the space bar when pressed at hard angles.
How does one make a half-decent recording? I tried to record the new switches in the Cozy75 as I was reasonably pleased with the muted/mellow sound, but neither voice memo nor video recording on my iPhone sounded even vaguely like what I was hearing irlâŚ
I do have a Yeti microphone at home but that seemed like overkill for a quick recording?
Iâm 99% sure itâs the stab because the switch is an EV-01 switch with a very good stem wobble and itâs filmed and lubed, but Iâll check this later to make sure, IIRC you tested it by putting a switch without a top housing right?
If thatâs happen to be the, whatâs the solution?
Lube is the only solution Iâve found. Im not positive, but it seems the ticking is often caused by the stem rattling against the walls of the switch. My black lotus switches did that on some 1u switches until I lubed them. Theyâve remained quiet since, except for the space bar. That switch still does it if I wobble the space bar up and down at sharp angles.
A quick recording doesnât have to be low quality just because itâs quick
Put that Yeti mic to work!
Ha! NotedâŚ
will have to wait until Iâm back home then ![]()
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Any other thoughts on the trash switches? I canât remember much about them. Are they full travel? How is the wobble?
The stem stays out about 0.5mm when fully pressed. There is some wobble up/down, less to the sides due to the box stem. I do really like the feel of them even stock, but they are a little bit on the scratchy side. The only time I noticed that was right beneath my ear, so thatâs ok imho. A bit of a downside, they go really hard in some plates, especially with Alu/FR4
Portico68 Black Label
- Akko POM Browns
- Custom POM plate by HypeKeyboards.ca
- Foam gasket mounted w/ dampening foam inside
- Equalz V3 stabs (Enter key still needs some love; itâs a tester setup)
- Double-shot ABS keys in DCX profile
- Foam under the space bar
Full review in the next few days, but I can tell you now that these just might be my favorite Brown - or light tactile overall, for that matter.
KBD67 Lite
- TTC Flaming Purples
- Yellow stock-type polycarb plate with standoff screws omitted
- TX AP stabs - with too little too thin grease, apparently; I do stab keys and others separate after the normal typing so you can parse the switch sound from my garbo stab tuning

- Double-shot ABS keys in DCX profile (similar but not identical to Cherry)
First impressions of the switches here
KBD67 Lite
- Gateron Melodic leaf-clickies
- FR4 plate from BredWorks, no standoffs
- Same TX AP stabs as above post; wongle sound less obvious with these switches and caps
- NovelKeysâ PBT Cherry profile
First impressions of the Melodics
My first impression of these is that they remind me both of Zeal Clickiez and NK_ Thick Clicks, but arenât exactly like either. Closer to the Clickiez for obvious reasons, though maybe even more close than I expected given how much smaller the leaf is. Of course these are way less over-the-top, but for me personally theyâre still a little much in terms of peak tactility - at least for typing. So satisfying, though. If you donât have delicate nerve-damaged fingers like mine, these might be perfectly viable for long, delicious typing sessions.
I love the clean sound and feel these switches have, and I also appreciate the fairly unique tactile experience these have even if itâs not my favorite. Like click-bar switches, these donât have audible rattle, and that goes a long way for me in enjoying a clicky switch.
I really want to encourage Gateron to keep playing with these leaves, as there are things about this switch I really do prefer over some of my other favorite clickies in the BOX line. Namely: none of the characteristic BOX twist, no wondering if itâs really okay to put your nice caps on them, and darn if they arenât otherwise really smooth. Like BOX clickies, these can be linearized by removing the click spring - in this case a small leaf, in BOXes a torsion spring - but these make much better linears than those BOXes do, IMO. I think thatâs a nice cherry on top helping their performance as clickies. ![]()
TL;DR: if youâre an enjoyer of clickies on the heavy side or are generally curious about novel switch designs in the MX space, I think these are worth considering. If youâre accustomed to clickies in the âBlueâ universe or prefer BOX Whites, for example, these might be a little tiresome for your fingers. On the other hand, if youâre accustomed to Navies or even Clickiez, youâll breeze right through these and likely appreciate their crunchy-yet-crisp feedback.
lubed Boba U4Ts
stock Oil Kings
stock Boba LTs
stock Akko v3 Cream Black Pros
stock Akko v3 Lavender Purple Pros
A bunch of poor quality cellphone recordings but I just wanted to join the party
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What do you guys recommend for a budget mic?
I dont think you really need a dedicated mic unless that is something you are interested in diving into. Capturing general background noise with a cellphone mic instead of isolating the keyboard can capture a more ârealisticâ sound test, which is perfectly fine in my opinion. Obviously big difference if someone was using a mic where all you hear is the AC unit, then probably would be good to use something else lol.
The AL71 I finished modding last night; deep and punchy, just how I like it.
Hard to believe this platform is so well-executed while being so affordable. Even the inside is well thought-out. I was concerned it wouldnât sound as good after deviating from the stock configuration - happy to be wrong about that.
Yunzii AL71 (recolored with cured engine enamel)
- Moondrop Tessence Tactile switches modded with HG Clear tops and diffusers
- PBT OEM shine thru caps
- Otherwise stock
Side rant
about unannounced switch revisions: The keen-eared among you may be able to hear some metallic sounds in the mix; thatâs the new leaves in the Tessence switches, unfortunately.
In-practice itâs not too bad, but in-context itâs a disappointment, because this switch model used to be very clean sounding from the factory and now it isnât. Iâd mistakenly identified the sound as coming from the springs at first, but after generously oiling them all in 105 and finding no change in the sound until I put some sideways pressure on the pins, I realized the true culprits.
These silver-pin versions are still great switches, but now require careful tuning to sound as clean as the original copper-pin versions. I donât know if lubing the leaves alone would eliminate the noise, but I am confident itâs possible. Iâm not confident itâs worth it, however - better to just get a switch with less problematic leaves.
First of hopefully many to come.