My apologies in advance for the deep, deep necro bump on this thread, but I finally had a chance to sample a TTC Bluish White switch and liked it much more than I expected when I saw this thread back when it was active.
Has any switch taken this concept and improved on it considerably? I saw that there was the TTC Matrix GB, but other than that switch, has there been any movement on this particular half-dampened concept?
There are the U4Tx switches, I have no experience with them but from what I’ve read here they have an issue of the stem having regular U4 dampeners and the pole being just long enough to reach the bottom, so you might hit the dampeners instead of the pole if you press light enough.
There’s also the JWICK Semi-Silent Linear Switch.
BTW I think reviving old topics is much better than making new posts, it centralizes and gatherers all the info in one topic.
following this topic bc i am building a 980mx with this switch and enjoy it a lot, coming from topre at least. nice lil tactile pop.
I had kind of forgotten about those somehow. It seems like they’re almost the opposite of the Bluish Whites, where the upstroke is dampened but not the downstroke. Thanks for the reminder! I’ll have to check those out as well.
Currently on a tactile quest, but noting this for when I (eventually) get the itch for another linear.
I’m glad to hear you feel that way too; I find it helpful when I search and find The Thread about whatever topic I’m researching at the time.
It seems like there’s decent number of people on this thread who feel that the Bluish Whites are Topre-esque, which considering how nice the Bluish Whites feel to me is really making me wonder if I should give Topre a try…
lfg and reach out if you’re looking for a tkl 
was a recipient of both U4T (plain? not silenced) and TTC BW as possible “topre-like” mx switches and i def liked the BW muuuuch better. U4T tactility was mild, and felt too dampened.
I completely misread your comment, but stumbled on @pixelpusher’s disassembled UT4x photo and understand what you were saying now. They’re an odd duck, aren’t they? Bought a few to sample before dropping $60+ on a full set.
I’ve really liked the U4T (thocky) version, but curious to see if I end up bottoming out the switch or hitting the dampeners more on the UT4x variety. I like a pretty wide range of tactiles, but my favorites all tend to be no pre-travel and long-pole.
I tried the golden blue which is basically the same as blueish white but with click jacket. Feeling was nice but the click wasn’t to my liking(prefer click bar).
Agreed 
. I always thought most fora’s dislike of reviving old threads was shortsighted and weird. Necrobump away!
That’s such an interesting/weird combo (half-silenced with a clickjacket) but I don’t think that would be for me either; I prefer clickbars or the Clickiez method much more.
They don’t sound or feel super-strange, but are indeed subtly weird.
They sound like clickies - but there’s not as much clackity to go with the clickity, replaced by muted thuds. I think it really just emphasizes the rattle of the click jacket in this case. (TTC is perfectly capable of making a less rattly jacket, but this switch didn’t get one.)
With the feel, it’s pretty normal, just with the edge taken off of bottoming out.
That sounds a bit like a parallel universe version of Mute Jades, if only in the subtly weird sense. After experiencing those, I realized they were not for me, and I’ll just stick with obnoxiously loud clickies.
Mission failed successfully? 
You’ll find me up the thread talking about how I loved the Whitish Blues in my tester board but really disliked them when soldered them into something. Reporting back a year or so later, I think I was unnecessarily harsh on them. They’re still in a board that I have set aside for my daughter and when we pull it out to put on a new artisan or something we type on it a bit and the feel grows on me for sure. I think it just feels like there’s something missing when it tops out at first. In that way it’s similar to silenced Topre for sure though I didn’t feel that same feeling as acutely when I used silenced Topre.
It might have been the profile tbh. Right now it has an NK_ PBT set on it (Spellbook) though when I mounted it the first time it was MG Ghost.
I don’t have any experience with Topre (yet), but I think I know exactly what you mean about feeling something missing on silenced switches.
I’ve had a few switches that I’ve loved, disliked, and came back around to something approaching love.
Thinking I’ll be putting KAM Superuser on these switches when that set arrives, so kind of the middle ground in terms of profile height between MG and Cherry. Could be the height plus ABS vs PBT too?
Thanks for the chuckles. lol
I’m really interested in these! I might rebuild my Volcano660 and put these in there, they really sound like Topre. Is it possible to lube these? The only experience I’ve had with box switches are the Navys and Jades and I didn’t want to gunk up the click.
Lastly, does anyone have any experience with U4TXs? I would love how these compare to both U4TX’s and U4T’s (looking to rebuild a Jetfire with either)
It’s possible to lube, no problem.
And people might say it’s the MX that come closest to Topre, but it’s still nowhere close.
@skepp is right; these can be lubed, and in the same fashion as a traditional MX switch. They do have a box-y shrouded stem, but the internals are the same as most other MX-compatibles.
If you’re not already aware, there are two versions of this switch that look basically the same; the Bluish White which is only dampened on the down-stroke, and the Silent Bluish White which is fully dampened. I believe they cost the same and they otherwise feel the same. There is a slight visual difference but it’s only visible from some angles; the regular one has a gold-colored spring while the fully-silent one has a silver-colored spring. There’s also the dampening collar that has silicone nubs over the top of the stem rails - that’s visible but harder to discern through the housing than the spring.
SBWs might be my overall favorite switch; I use them every day, including right now. :3
As for U4Tx switches, I like them. Opposite deal from the regular Bluish Whites, sort of - both the top and bottom are dampened, but the long-pole stem strikes the housing before the bottom dampeners fully compress - so anything beyond very light typing will produce some kind of clack, but of course only on the down-stroke - the up-stroke is fully dampened.
Comparing them to U4s, the pole definitely defeats the mush-factor, making them a lot more crisp feeling. The bump also seems ever so slightly sharper, which is a welcome update for me - reggo U4s were just a little too round for me.
Comparing them to U4Ts, the bottom dampener goes a surprisingly long way in cleaning-up the sound and feel. When I first heard about these I thought the combo of long pole and bottom dampener was kind of strange and counterproductive, but it turns out that while it doesn’t make the switch quiet, that bottom dampener really does lend a sense of refinement to the switch.
I think the only thing holding me back from diving deeper into the silent switch market is lack of sound. With headphones on and passively listening to something it is ok, but when I take them off (I am more aware of my thoughts and the silence is deafening 
) I can hear spring crunch and/or leaf crunch.
I do quite enjoy the typing feel of silent switches. I’ve tried MX Zilents and Boba U4’s but ended up selling both. Maybe the U4Tx’s and Silent Bluish Whites might be more enjoyable.
That’s part of what I like about the SBWs and other TTC silents so much; they aren’t so much silent as not-harsh, making little thuds. Here’s a couple recordings of them in two different keyboards:
Here’s a different TTC silent, a linear - but this is to show just how much the case / chassis affects the sound:
And, just for comparison’s sake, here’s TTC Silent Brown V2s in an aluminum integrated-plate keeb:
These are basically a lighter version of the SBW, though I do think the SBW’s springs might be higher quality.
Wow, they sound pretty good! How’s the overall travel in the Silent Bluish Whites? One thing I don’t like about silent switches (and long pole switches in general) is the shorter travel distance. I don’t mind it being shorter but having a switch with 3.5mm travel feels like I’m missing something.