Just wanted to give an update here.
I got my packs of Holy Panda X today and tried swapping the springs… verdict: I like the OG Halo Trues better than either frankenswitch. There’s a definite tradeoff between tactility and spring weight and the feel of bottoming out bugs me more than the loss of tactility.
In my perception:
- I really like the tactile feel of the Holy Panda X. I really like it. But, I discovered after swapping the springs that a lot of that strong tactility got lost, and it didn’t feel much different than a Halo True.
- Conversely, when I put the HPX spring into the Halo True housing, the tactility on that switch really sprung to life.
- I preferred the combinations with the Halo True housing/stem over those with the Holy Panda X housing/stem. The difference in the travel was definitely noticeable, and I preferred the longer travel. I also unscientifically tested the wobble, since that was one area that TG called out as being superb on the HPX switches. I noticed very little difference between those and the Halo Trues.
Inspecting the Halo True spring, it does not appear to be progressive. There is no difference in how the spring is wound over the length of it. It is shorter/more compressed at rest than the Holy Panda X spring, but that worked out fine with this swap since I moved it into the housing with the shorter travel.
So, now I’m going to look for a switch with a stronger tactile bump than the Halo/HPX that has a full 4mm travel like a Cherry MX Clear. Unfortunately, all of the switches we’ve been discussing seem to have a ~3.5mm total travel Any suggestions? I’m almost tempted to get some Cherry Clears and do some swapping around of stems and springs and see if I can come up with something brilliant. I might also try picking up some 78g Zealios and try the springs out of those in the Halo housing, to see if there’s a better balance between tactility and weight then the 100g.