After moving the Blue Lotus switches to a less forgiving chassis for testing, I decided to give the CIY Asura switches a try. @Neprawda put them on my radar after mentioning they were similar to Voyagers, which I’m already a fan of. While they aren’t identical, they are very similar - and considering the Asuras cost something like 1/3 what the Voyagers do, they have my attention.
Comparing side-by-side, the Voyagers have a lighter tactile peak and bottom-out, but feel more abrupt thanks to what seems like a more sharp peak and less spring cushion at the bottom. So they’re lighter, but feel a bit more snappy - or harsh, depending on how you look at it. (Before trying them side-by-side, this had me thinking the Voyagers were heavier.)
Both switches are kind of intense when it comes to the realm of MX-compatible tactiles; very snappy top-bump, and all but bound to bottom-out hard. I’m a big fan of this style and these Asuras are new favorites within it - but they definitely aren’t for everyone.
The Voyagers might feel a hair more clean and smooth - but just a little - not 3x the price worth. The Asuras feel plenty smooth and clean to me - especially considering they’re heckin’ cheap, and still stock. And oh yeah! They even have POK stems. Mixed feelings about some of the plastic trends in switches, but so far I’ve experienced this one as wholly positive.
This is also my first time trying DSS. I didn’t really expect to enjoy it after not getting along with DSA, but wow, I really do. This makes me even more excited for MTNU.
Finally built this thing. I’ve got more to say about it than I do here, but that’s mostly about the build experience and some considerations about it. For now, let’s take a quick look at this as a keyboard:
Once I put stabs and switches I preferred on it, I started to really like this keyboard. After typing on the brick-solid CTRL for a few days, this pillow-y, bouncy feel is a nice change of pace.
I have the space bar mounted normally because, alas, the case tolerances are so tight around the caps that my preferred orientation strikes the case. It works, but I don’t dig the sound. That wrinkle aside, I’m enjoying the typing experience here.
Ah, much better. This is actually the second iteration of this build - I used the recommended WS Aurora stabs for 1.2mm PCBs at first, but… well. I replaced, them, and it’s much better now.
Here it’s pretty easy to see the thin silicone mounting strips.
In the first build I used Aurora Clears, which are also Haimu linears - but they have UHMWPE bottoms and polycarb tops - they’re a bit more harsh than these Nylon EMT v2s, and they have more metallic noise. They’re not bad by any means, but I do prefer these.
The much easier-to-deal-wth TX stabs, topped with UPKB stem spacers to prevent teetering with the long-pole switches.
See also weird sideways switches to accommodate lots of layout options. Just to be safe, I ran those two switches through the Geon Trimmer before mounting any caps on them that way.
Great idea! I wish I had one of these. Maybe I can find someone with one at a local meetup. So after doing this, is your |\ (pipe) keycap level? Mine is slightly elevated on the left hand side, and I found that for some keycaps, my switches will reject the cap and forcefully push it off I haven’t noticed any issues with the Enter key.
Mine seems level - it probably depends on the switch, and if it has any resting N/S tilt. I know when I was working on one of these for a buddy a while back I was having issues with the pipe key appearing slightly rotated - I think I may have ended up using a different switch for that key on his build.
Good point! I will say I used the Wuque stabs in mine, but didn’t noticed the same issues you mentioned. Honestly, I really like that board. Super easy to throw in a backpack and take to and from the office. I also think I have come to really prefer this style 65% layout over the standard 65% with one blocker on the bottom row. Having the arrow keys be that little extra exploded really seems to help me find them better.
I haven’t noticed any issues with the Enter key.
