Some Xinda blacks (some with R.K. nameplate, oddly enough) and some of the new Feker corgi. Not much to say about the Xindas, they are basically another black switch that’s around average with some manual lube job applied. the feker switches are also just the usual haimu type of quality, pretty good. although some of them are a little scratchier than usual, but that’s probably why they were so cheap. not sure about what kind of materials they have used either.
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I picked up my CannonKeys case only to discover that Bolsa Supply has restocked theirs and they are on sale… 
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yeah, but the cannonkeys casese are a bit larger and have labels. Both nice cases for the price.
Here’s the two side by side. The one on the left with the blue luggage tag is from Bolsa
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Got my AP rev 4 stabs in today, so I can finally fully assemble the two test setups.
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Cool red traces
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Lazy butt couch photo;
Drop Sense75
Between the sale and small stack of discounts, I think I paid less than $70 shipped for this thing. At that price, I’m quite pleased. At the original MSRP I might feel hoodwinked, but to Drop’s credit, they have cut the base price and put it on sale pretty often at this point. So far it seems more or less how I imagined it when it comes to overall quality and execution, which is to say competent and even thoughtful in some places, but not really exceptional or innovative in any way.
First impressions:
This is an interesting mix of premium and pedestrian for me, at least as a person deeply immersed in keyboards for years now. Trying to imagine my headspace as an electronics consumer before I found the hobby; if I’d bought this at a store and plopped it on my desk at that time, I’d probably be blown away by the gulf in quality between it and everything else I’d used at the time.
As far as other boards in my collection to compare it with, I think it reminds me the most of the Portico68 BL - though I think that board might edge this one out in quality by a small if significant hair. Put another way, this is striking me somewhere between “good” and “very good” but nothing about it is impressing me. Feels more like a side-grade to the CTRL family than an upgrade; better mounting, acoustics, and diffuser arrangement - but less material heft and doesn’t feel as solid for a few reasons. Overall I much prefer it but do feel like it’s a trade-off.
Bullet-points:
- Anodization & machining look great
- Plate-matching accent on the bottom looks cool imo
- Face-punchingly bright RGB
- But a couple keys had partially faulty LEDs (missing one or more component colors; I rarely use them and not enough to RMA over for me but still a bit annoying)
- Plate’s switch slot size seems good, not too tight, not too loose
- Not a trampoline but the gaskets do work for more than just removing hot-spots; way more compression than a GMMK Pro for example
- Down-facing diffusers work perfectly but have a meh quality feel; a bit inconsistent and more mobile than I’d like - they give when you grasp the keyboard in the natural place making it feel cheap
- No daughter board but the case opening gives the port space to move with the gaskets, no complaints here
- Stabs are fine; above average treatment for a stock barebones but you’ll probably still want to tune them
Also those Morandi switches I got recently really are nice.
Smooth and clean with a great sound and feel - not particularly stable, though - and they do that thing some long-poles do where wobbling at the bottom creates a scratch or tick of the pole against the base of the tube. The Enter key stab on this board needs wire balancing more than the rest, and this key does make it clear that the switch isn’t making it worse, but also isn’t doing anything to help - that key feels loosey-goosey. Overall my first impression of these is that they’re fantastic - just with the caveat that if the on-rails experience is an important priority, these won’t be for you.
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This is odd. I ordered a DIY keyboard kit, which I received in the mail today, but the vendor unexpectedly added an entire set of keycaps to the shipment for free?
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Stab stuff
More pictures
Overkill Aussie block and its Geon feet- buying this was as much an expression of my feelings about stabs as choosing a tool. Oh yeah wire? Still bent yeah? You get the giant metal brick
Neat
Gleaming, for the moment. Beautiful machine work.
Also this switch tester!
Just kidding - it’s also a stab tuning station, and the hardware bag above belongs to it. Honestly this thing seems like the move - the whole kit is like $8 and comes with leverage tools. Edit: didn’t know what the threaded plugs were for - turns out the leverage tools are stored in the hollows and they’re literally plugs to keep them in there
Mystery Gat Reds and some Kailh clickies to top-off a few jars.
Couldn’t resist the TX stabs.
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I’ve just tested the PCB on my kit from YMDKey, and the “9” key does not work (but the others are fine).
It said “no”. 
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Diode missing?
Off-center, but attached. They are shipping me a replacement.
Edit: replacement received. working fine and board built!
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back with the weird switches. Philikey feiyun blue linear switches, apparently 45g spring weight. they are quite decent for the price. Philikey seems to be their own manufacturer, having a sub brand called “Drinkey” and belonging the the “Jedel gaming” brand.
Next to them are some LCET C white switches. they were curious to me because they share a lot of similarities to huano or jerrzi housings, but they don’t really match either. also a rare LCET that is 4-prong/mx-latch but does not have the LCET-typical rails on the top housing.
Both are quite average. both have factory lubing on the rails and the stem legs and are decently smooth. the LCET have a little more wobble but they are still usable.
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