The Tape Mod

Learning and discussion
1

So has anyone tried this yet?

The idea seems to be that you put some sort of tape (he uses masking tape) on the entire underside of the PCB, and it makes the sound quite a bit deeper instantly.

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2

:thinking: :thinking: :thinking:

3

A bunch of people in the Swedish community have tried it and they are very positive about it.

It’s a easy and cheap mod that don’t leave any mark if you don’t want it, so what’s not to like/nothing to lose for trying.

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4

I mean, if that’s the case. Slap some Dynamat on bottom of the PCB. It’ll go sub-sonic.

5

Well, this is to make it sound better, not quieter

6

Fair. Although with some Boba U4’s, a stiff case, and some dynamat, I bet you could make a very quiet keyboard.

7

I guess it’s almost like a bass drum over the bottom of your pcb, minus being tensioned.

This is giving me what are either really great or super dumb ideas…

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8

I’ve experimented with adhesive foam on top of plate, bottom of pcb, bottom of case, etc. All do give a different effect. I settled on non adhesive plate and case foams though just for ease of use and a little better result. You do lose flex though, so if you want flex putting some 2mm adhesive foam on the bottom of the pcb could be a great solution, just not easy to reverse.

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9

I’ve considered spraying the underside of a pcb with plastidip to get the same effect. Might do that this weekend now that it’s fresh on my mind…

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10

Interesting stuff! Definitely gonna give this a try on some of my tray mounted ALPS builds!

11

Aight someone please go with this under your PCB and tell me how it goes :joy:

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12

Paper fiber absorbs noise pretty good so I think the masking tape, usually made of paper, is filtering out noise.

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13

Gotta do a sound comparison still.

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14

Alexotos has tried it too:

https://twitter.com/otosalex/status/1413506910922313741

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15

I wonder if Gaffer tape sounds better or worse. They’re made of fabric and its adhesive can last a long time where I think masking tape glue lasts mere days.

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16

I dont even wanna try gaffer tape and accidentlially rip something off

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17

Ah. Right. Forgot that Gaffer tapes are much more sticky than masking tapes, enough to pull components off the PCB.

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18

Totally thought about doing this to the case. haha… :grin:
also thought about applying this to stabilizer bar ends w a touch of lube…

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20

I …am gonna do it now to my KBD75 haha. You’ve convinced me.

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