Recently joined Keebtalk and damn! I wish I had known this group earlier. So much knowledge here @.@
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having used sorbothane and foam in the past, tape mod with foam between plate and PCB is by far my favorite, cheapest too, which is rare. I did four layers of heavy duty packing tape on the back of my h87a on a board that usually sounds hollow…the result is a great sounding board with no hollow sounds.
The clear heavy duty packing tape definitely works for sound, I suppose I may be cussing if I ever have to remove it. Though I plan to use my heat gun to loosen the adhesive if I do ever have to remove and I suspect it will come off quite easily with sufficient heat.
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Hmm new product seemed to pop up pretty fast from kbdfans. I wish shipping wasn’t do expensive
Edit: I am curious if that will even out around milmax sockets as that’s my biggest reason for not using them
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hmm, seems promising. so what if you combine this with plate foam and tape mod? I think it could be a great way to shore up the sound in a tray mount case. I have a beautiful blue TEX case that I’ve owned forever, but I never have anything in it b/c it sounds so harsh. Might be a good fix!
Just need to make sure the plate foam is not too thick or this + the foam might keep the pins from coming through the back of the pcb. lol
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Couldn’t you use the ones for hotswap if you’re worried about milmax fitting through? They have larger holes for the pins
Not exactly what I meant but that is a good point too.
Milmax cause switches not to sit flat on the PCB. The new big bucks millmax sockets probably don’t suffer from this as much
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nearLucid has a neat analysis he published today.
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Soo, have any of u guys made a underglow friendly tape-mod? Did it work out?
while probably not a lot of fun it seems like you might be able to hole punch some painter’s tape to open up the tape where the underglow LEDs are. Potentially you could hole punch the edges of the tape and then run the tape along either edge of the under glow row.
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I basically did a crude version of this yesterday with a screwdriver and some scissors, to make room for standoffs, a battery connector, etc.
This makes me think though - I wonder if it would be worth having die-cut adhesive sheets for popular pcbs… I might have to try this mod with plotter-cut vinyl.
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I have used something similar in project before (though I didn’t have a plotter/cutter – wish I did). Google “Oramask 813 Stencil Film” if you are unacquainted
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Oh, man - that looks perfect. Well. I have a new project. :3
It looks like there are three varieties of film at that thickness and low-tack adhesive strength, with 810 being for “uneven surfaces” - I might see how that does with the bottom of a PCB. The wide masking tape roll I have does okay, but falls off without something to hold it on.
Edit:
On further inspection - maybe I should go with the 813 after all - it looks like 810 uses a solvent-based adhesive, while 811 and 813 use water-based. I’m not sure how well that adhesive would play with things like hot-swap sockets.
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A bit more detail on the tape mod from nearLucid, as well as details about PE foam between the switches and PCB - a DIY version of those KBDFans switch pads.
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All really interesting experiments! I think what I take away from this is don’t get hard set on any foam or tape mods until you try them out. Bc you might end up with something that doesn’t sound like what you wanted. Start by raw dogging it, and if it sounds bad, add stuff.
Definitely makes sense that the PE foam has a big effect. You’re absorbing vibrations from the switches before they can travel through the PCB. The PCB is basically a drum head on many mounts, so limiting what gets there seems like a good idea if you’re going for a refined experience.
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This is good advice but will be harder for those who solder their boards. Tape mod no problem but the PE ship will have sailed.
I haven’t built a board in a while so I’m weighing these different options, I was pretty happy with the last result but sometimes I can’t help trying something new.
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Great video. I agree that PE foam mod should be applied with care to avoid burying original board sound.
BTW, don’t try PE foam mod with half-plate builds. It’s a lot harder to get consistent height let alone sound and feel without the plate.
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Slightly unrelated question, I recently got a FR4 half plate for my KBD8x. I have currently have brass with EVA foam between the PCB and plate.
Would you use PCB foam on a half-plate setup? I have it so I figure why not, I can’t think it would effect the flex much. I am just curious cause I have not heard of that many people using foam with half-plate. Not sure if that is true, or just not many people talk about it.
I personally break the tape around LED’s with my fingernails, works good enough for me 
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I doubt it would hurt anything to use the plate foam with a half plate, might very slightly make it flex less if anything. Although from what I have heard the 8X really doesn’t have enough room to flex without hitting the PCB off the bottom case. So I would definitely put a piece of paper in the bottom to insulate the back of the PCB from the bottom case. I can’t speak to if not having case foam in a setup like you’re planning will bring back the hollowness of 8Xs or not though.
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Yup. I use what you call PCB foam (aka plate padding) if available even with PCB-mount. Its effect may be too subtle or imaginary but I think it cuts down on unwanted noise.
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