So I’ve been trying to choose a switch for my first board. It’s a solder board, I know chances are I will not find my perfect switch right away, but I’d prefer to desolder as little as I can.
I’ve been playing eith the tester and I must say that silent switches (ink silent, boba u4, bobbagum) are all very mushy/rubbery feeling. I was watching this video, and I really liked how quiet these swithces were: Black Jaguar Build Stream - YouTube
They are Tealios switches, and I was wondering if there’s anything similar I can look into, maybe in tactile too. I want a quiet board, but not a silent board. I will lube all my swithces myself so can lube legs to make it more quiet too.
Alongside the existing good recommendations, I’d add:
TTC Silent Brown V2 (mild tactile)
TTC Silent Bluish White (punchy tactile)
TTC Frozen Silents (light linear)
Momoka Frogs (medium linear)
Just about any linear with a fast-curve spring
The first three are silent in terms of having dampeners, but they are not as quiet (or mushy) as Outemu’s or Gateron’s silents - closer to the Kailh Midnight Pros. The Frogs aren’t dampened, but have a mild bottom-out. Fast-curve springs quickly get heavy towards the bottom, which will audibly soften most people’s typing styles.
A few recordings:
Silent Bluish Whites in a dense build (KBD67L):
For comparison, Boba U4s in the same build (KBD67L):
The Skyloongs already mentioned, same build but with taller caps:
In particular, the TTC Bluish White is already partly silent [on the upstroke], and the TTC Silent Bluish White should be even quieter. Without being a mushy or silent switch.
Also, those new Kailh silent switches are known for being quieter than normal switches, while avoiding mushy dampeners. I tested the Kailh Midnight [original], and that was the case. They are pretty crisp for a “silent” switch, although they are not as silent as the mushy, dampened OUTEMUs. [The mushiness is relative.]
Here’s some info on the Kailh Midnight:
In my experience, Midnights are “quiet” but not “silent” switches, fairly crisp, and deep-sounding. I would get the latest edition, the “Pro.”