What did you get in the mail today? (Part 1)

  • @Den-Fi’s Anubis tactiles have arrived, destined for some tuning

  • Tecsee Coral tactiles from Stupid Bullets Tech; not pictured: complimentary Starburst candy I already ate

I believe these Corals are the first Nylon-stemmed in my collection; looking forward to fiddling around with those. With the PME bottom housing, these have a pretty high-pitched crispy clack in the hand.

A little bon-bon goes a long way, but I like the “+1” on the bag even more. I always take positive note of the vendors who sometimes throw-in an extra switch or two - all the better if they make a habit of it.

Sometimes that one extra switch lets me do some science on the side, makes-up for the rare bad switch, rounds-out a build with another slot or two I hadn’t planned for, or even facilitates a tester for a curious customer.

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Makes me think of a Baker’s Dozen

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This Type-C cable that has a power delivery readout. Fascinating to see how smart some of these devices are about charging and how much the power fluctuates.

As much as I love keebs, Forza Horizon 5 was virtually unplayable, so I bought a controller.

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Fair enough, i need a controller to play any racing game.

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I’ll third needing a controller to play racing games. In fact a lot of genres are better played with controller IMHO. Action games like GoW, HZD, etc., 3D platformers A Hat in Time, Yooka Laylee, etc., & Rouge likes/Metroidvanias Binding of Issac, Dead Cells, Bloodstained: Ritual of the night, etc.

I know all of those games can be played with m+kb, but to me using that instead of a controller for those type games just feels clunky. Honestly FPS games, 4X games, strategy & MMOs are really the only games I use my m+kb for.

Help for my switch drawer: one of my 2022 keyboard resolutions! And now, your moment of zen:

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My Wuku have arrived. It was again not without adventure. Made the status that delivered in December. Then it turned out to be a mistake. While it was being decided, they were sent to me later than everyone else.



  • Aurora Clear: UHMWPE
    This is my latest keyboard theme package. This is probably even the last package in my life. Since I now live in North Korea.
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I’ve got the vapors.

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Unicomp Sun Unix SpaceSaver arrived today!

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Gateron Cap Gold V2 and TTC Gold Pink linear switches. I enjoyed the sound Boba LT in my spare hotswap but short key travel was getting to me so chose these two known low-pitched switches.

Initial impressions:

  1. Gateron Cap Gold V2 - sounds low pitched but not as loud as I expected. Pretty smooth. Wobble is about same as Boba LT.
  2. TTC Gold Pink - sounds louder and slightly higher pitched stock than Gateron Cap Gold. Pretty smooth. Spring feels surprisingly heavier and chewy than what I expected from 37g operating force spring. I like the feel. 3-pins though. Less wobble than Boba LT even. This spring feels like more chewy version of 55g TX long spring, low-end of my range.

Of the two, I liked TTC Gold Pink more stock. Looking forward to tinkering with these two.

UPDATE: Added notes on wobble.
UPDATE2: Added note on TTC Gold Pink spring.

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At some point I decided I wanted my jars to have 88 switches instead of 68, mostly because it looks better but also because I have a 5-pin hot swap TKL now, and who knows I might actually use it once in a while.

A handful of KTT Mallos & Tecsee Lychee tactiles to top-off the respective jars.

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Oooh buddy

Accepted some time ago I’d likely never own this set, but it turns out @chuckdee was just holding onto it for me. :wink:

Thanks again for the heads-up, @Laughmaster.

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Oh my, a grail set right there and unopened too, I didn’t know such a thing still existed. What are your plans with it?

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Would be nice on a purple Odin :thinking:

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Got my second hhkb during the week! my first one was 3/4 a year ago, and I do notice the subtle difference as the domes in the first one has aged a little bit

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I really should have bought that set. Where else can you get the keycaps from Alien? [Rhetorical question]

Do you think that might apply to the KTT Mallo? Putting the stem in a Boba linear housing?

The Mallo’s weakness is the leaf, so a new housing [stable, Boba housing] might be a good development.

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I was going to put it on my purple tokyo but never got around to it. Glad its in the hands of someone that can appreciate it

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Part of me hesitates to open it, like Smeagol clutching his Precious - but I do intend to mount it on a keeb at minimum. I’m not sure just yet which its destined-for; I have [checks notes] three purple keebs at the moment, but I’m not sure any quite live up to the pedestal Phantom sits upon in my mind… when I figure out where this set is going to live I’ll definitely be posting some photos.


@HungerMechanic - that’s a good question! I’ve tried and liked it with the stems found in the Ocean Blue and Lavender Purple, but I don’t think I’ve tried the Mallo ones yet… [ shuffling noises from closet ]

Alright, time for some Saturday afternoon science…

I took a pair of Mallos and stem-swapped them with a Bobagum and a U4T (black version). In all but one case I kept the springs paired with their respective stems; the Mallo spring wasn’t quite strong enough to give a satisfying return in the tactile Boba housing, so I replaced it with a two-stage long-boi from a Tecsee Diamond.

General initial thoughts:

  • The stems do fit, as expected
  • Leaf noise improved in all instances
  • Gazzew housings do improve the stability
  • Mallo housing combos surprisingly decent as well
  • TL;DR: If you already have the parts it may very well be worth doing the swap

Combo specific thoughts;

  • Mallo housing w/ U4T stem & spring: expected a crunchy mess, got a surprisingly balanced medium-strong tactile instead. There’s a little bit of audible spring-wiggle and definitely some leaf-squidge, no surprise - and there’s a fair bit of wobble, too. Still, it doesn’t suck and that’s more than I expected.

  • Mallo housing w/ Bobagum stem & spring: feels more smooth and crisp than a stock Bobagum, but also less stable / significantly more wobbly. Some faint metallic squidgeyness; I’m assuming it’s the leaf - still very quiet overall; lacks the audible “swish” factor stock Bobagums have.

  • Bobagum housing with Mallo stem and spring: compared with a stock Mallo, this combo is a lot more stable if a bit less smooth. There is indeed noticeably less leaf noise; there’s still a little but it’s in the background and a lot more clean.

    The feel is also more clean and firm; unsurprisingly a more tightened-up experience. Bump strength and overall weight are higher with the frankenswitch. In the hand, sound is higher-pitched but again significantly more clean. A light, crisp clack with a very light accompanying “tink”, as opposed to the wrinkley bing-bong tone that goes with the Mallo’s harder, lower-pitched clack.

  • Boba Black housing with Mallo stem and Tecsee Diamond / Jadeite spring: felt underwhelming with the Mallo spring, but very nice with the long “dual-stage” one. If there’s any metallic noise at all, it’s a faint “tick” of the bump clearing the leaf. The combo is a very clean and snappy medium tactile.

    It has a very indexed “on/off” character without being overly firm or punchy; the bump is sharp but not all that strong. This usually means a kind of wiggly character, either in the feel, sound, or both - but not so here. It’s not totally free from chalkiness or metallic wiggle, but I think it handles those characteristics better than most “medium sharp” tactiles I’ve tried.

    Compared with the Bobagum version, the “tink” is replaced with a more faint “tick” and a more clacky up-stroke. In terms of feel, it’s unsurprisingly both heavier and a bit more firm on the bump.


These are a decent enough combo that I’m inclined to try a handful in a macro pad and go from there. I think the stems KTT have been making are low-key remarkable, with the other components catching-up at varying rates. So far across the board, the leaves have been the weakest point, but rarely if ever a total weakness - instead more often being a mix of good feel and iffy sound.

So far, all of the KTT-made stems I’ve tried with Gazzew housings have made for good combinations, which is pleasant and refreshing in the face of old favorites having apparent issues these days.

I can’t say for certain what the deal is, but Gazzew has repeatedly confirmed there have been no spec changes with his housings - so that leaves either re-tooling or simple inconsistency on the part of stems like Kailh Polias & Halos. It seems some significant degree of cherry-picking is now necessary to ensure a good batch, which is also true of at least some generation of Ink switches as they relate to Gazzew stems.

Say all that to say, my experience with the recent KTT stems and Gazzew housings so far has been consistent - and consistently positive.

If you have the parts, maybe throw a few together and see what you think. At minimum I’d say it’s indeed worth the time to give it a try.

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I can relate to this so much… It feels wrong to use something so new

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