JYMV did one using a KBD8X MKII with aluminum and polycarbonate. It was super informative.
Thx for fishing up the very relevant video on short notice. Very informative. It seems full-aluminum is my preference although I think noises of the stock switch JYMV uses in his sound tests tends accentuate the acoustic downsides of PC case.
I didnāt like PC case sound at first but found that generously applied heavy lube like 205g0 can minimize enough noise that reverbs into flimsy cheap plastic sound in PC cases to let me enjoy its distinct acoustics.
Agreed. Yup, his choice of stock yellows is my only gripe with these sound tests. I canāt tune out the scratchiness.
Do have a plate preference for PC cases?
Not really. I tend to try everything til Iām happy. Obviously, hotswap is a requirement for when exploring. I liked POM with Cream in PC Tofu, fully lubed Cream made it feel extra snug with zero unwanted noise brought out Creamās clacks wonderfully.
I recently sold my old sim racing gear and promptly went overboard on switches. My Techno Violets are still lost somewhere in the USPS ether but in the meantime, mail day! (L to R) We have JWK Cobalts, Tecsee Purple Pandas, SP-Star Magic Girls, and SP-Star Polaris Greys.
Iāve only tried the Purple Pandas and Cobalts thus far but Iām really enjoying both. My fingertips did not enjoy installing the Cobalts due to being slightly too large and needing coercion into place but we got there. Despite that, they sound excellent! Looking forward to trying out the others soon.
Howās the wobble on the Magic Girls? Like compared to the Cobalts or Greys?
Comparatively theyāre the worst of the bunch, with the N/S wobble being slightly worse than the Pandas (though comparable in E/W wobble). That said, the Cobalts and Pandas are exceptional in terms of stem wobble so theyāre in rare (or unfair) company.
Objectively though? I still think theyāre quite good in terms of wobble and I donāt think itād be bothersome unless youāre particularly cognizant of it and/or using higher profile keycaps. The smoothness, tactility, and sound are all quite good so a hint more wobble wonāt keep me from enjoying them.
Gateron KS-3 X1 Pro switches. Surprisingly smooth, smoother than polished Cherry blacks, with little or no wobble. Iād say these are close to Tangerine but with less wobble so they can be used stock: no lube, no film. Sound is not as great as Cherry black but itās pretty good TBH.
UPDATE: After opening the switch to try how lubed version felt, I discovered these are factory-lubed and generously so. No wonder they felt smooth. Not a big issue but my last Gateron Yellow wasnāt lubed so I wasnāt expecting this to be. And it does feel and sound better lubed with 205g0. Not smoother but more snug and thockier with less noise.
UPDATE2: Opened 9 more switches and they at first didnāt seemed lubed. Whut? Had to run a finger over the sliders to detect a very thin and difficult to see yet evenly applied lube. Was the first one was a fluke? Weird. If rest of the switches are like these, the lube is thin enough to make the switch feel really smooth yet not thick enough to cut down noise.
Nice, can you give a sneak peak to the colors?
My Norby just came in today as well. I also got a R2 RGB TKL (in last week - not pictured), and some Topre modding accoutrements that Iām too lazy to take a proper picture of (not that my rapidly aging Note 5 camera produces a proper picture anyway). My Xeno is due in today as well, but at this point, until I have it in my hands, Iām not convinced that itās real.
I hope yours arrived in wonderful condition
Iām sad Iām gonna miss out on Norbauer Topre boardsā¦not in my budget this year and sad to see them go soon. (And Iām not really interest in the aftermarket) Havenāt felt this much FOMO in a while.
Please check my picture here with the assembled boards
https://www.keebtalk.com/t/post-your-keyboards/743/2503?u=alien
The ano work looks good!
Yep, looks great. The finish is much more ādryā feeling than I anticipated. But other than that, Iām happy with the final product. Would have been more than happy if I would have recieved it 2 years ago
MT3 /dev/tty keycaps arrived today, a 65% set.
Along with a box of 70 Cherry MX Brown/RGB ā¦
Still waiting for the Drop ALT barebones to arrive though!
I couldnāt not get these keycaps, having spent so much time in the deep and distant past on kbds like these! I think Iāll be fitting them to my whitefox for now ā¦
OK, the /dev/tty wasnāt a perfect fit for the Whitefox, I have three keys that there was no reasonable substitute for ā¦ but this is the first thing Iāve typed with them and itās pretty comfortable so far.
Plus Iāve washed the old whitefox keys (just warm water & dish washing soap, left them for about 30 minutes and rinsed the soap off, everything looks much better now)
So a reasonably productive evening
Does anyone know if the alphas / numbers (with the lighter shade) were ever in a colour closer to white in a previous round of /dev/tty? I recently received a set and was surprised by how grey the lighter keycaps appear.