Zilent love affair

Learning and discussion Key switches
41

I tried them out after reading @jetpacktuxedo’s post also, but never got a chance to reply about it. The 35g springs do give Zilents & Zealios a pretty interesting feel! Definitely a good jump in tactility, but that’s to be expected with dropping weight on any tactile switch. What really surprised me is that in a tactile switch such a light spring might be actually usable to me!

My Tada68 originally came with Gat clears & I absolutely hated them, I swear you could actuate the damn things by looking at them the wrong way! Although with the tactile bump it seems like I would have way less typos & accidental actuations. It’s kinda hard to say though, since I don’t have any hot swap boards I had to use just a plate/case without a PCB to test them out. Definitely an interesting combo & miles better than a linear switch that light IMO. Gonna swap the springs on my old Sentraq 60% build with Zeals to give them a better test when I get some free time. :metal:

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42

I’m going to have to give this a try. I have Cherry Red switches harvested from stock boards. Would be interested in putting those springs into some Zealios or Zilents.

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43

Nice let us know how it goes! I’m gonna guess they’ll be a lot closer to ergo clears than using the 35g springs, but honestly that might be more my speed. I got a batch of ergo Cheerios that I really like the feel of, just haven’t came across the right build to use them in yet.

44

Any experiences with R11 62g Zilents? I am wondering because it seems that they replaced spring in R11 as a result of complaints on scratchiness and spring crunch.

45

I’ve bought a set from both r11 and from one of the previous rounds (can’t remember exactly which), and I noticed a decrease in ping/crunch of the spring. R11 is so far the smoothest zilent switch I’ve tried, but I would still be sure to lube them in order to get the most out of them. It makes a world of difference when lubed!

46

Where the hell thread about swtich leafs dissapeared? I didn’t have the time to read it, but I remember some guy mentioning something like he came up with new design of leaf for cherry switches, and then somebody figured it could be used to make Zilents REALLY silent. I saw this somewhere of the forum, but I can’t find it now for the love of God.

47

That sounds interesting. If you find the link please post it back here.

48

Can somebody please tell me what’s the height of this case?

This is a data that proved itself absoletely impossible to find, which is very bizzare since it’s something that should’ve been on the product’s first page. It’s almost as if it’s something they’re incredibly ashamed of.

Whitefox is about 30mm, I guess CU is a little bit taller.

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49

Maybe @skully can tell you himself

50

zmMGnMY
zmMGnMY.jpg2851×1603 1.75 MB
Here is a pic comparing my alum. Clueboard & Nightfox. With the feet installed on the Nightfox & just the one set of rubber feet on the Clueboard they basically will stand at the same height around 30mm. With my set up having 2 rubber feet stacked on either side of the back of the Clueboard, it sits a tiny bit higher. Comparing the case of them both without feet installed the Clueboard case is slightly taller. Hope this helps answer your question! :wink:

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51

Brilliant. Exactly what I needed.

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52

Honestly, this is the first time someone has asked for that and it’s not something I thought about. It’s roughly the same height as other keyboards.

To get specific about it, the base case with thin feet and 1.5mm spacer is ~28mm tall in the rear. The case has approximately a 6º tilt. The thicker feet are 3mm vs 1.5mm for the thinner feet. There is also an option for a 3mm spacer, so your built clueboard could vary from ~28mm to ~31mm.

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53

Sorry to keep replying to you, but I just replaced all of my 78g springs to 35g and oh my word I’m in love with them. You’ve successfully converted me to the light tactile party :smiley:

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54

Another soul corrupted by ethan

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55

I was just watching Chyrosran22 video where he lists his TOP5 tactile switches, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, he doesn’t even mention any kind of cherry clones. He puts Alps Orange in the first place as a best tactile switch of all times, but he does mention it’s still not as good as Blue Alps (which is clicky, so it’s a no no for me).

Now, maybe I’m going full retard here, but I’m actually having thoughts about buying one of those 80’s Apple keyboards, desoldering Alps switches and putting them on Cluebord PCB. Is this even technically possible? Will the holes fit?

And is there anyone who tried both Zilents and Alps Oranges to make a short comparison. I would be interested to hear that.

56

Finally, someone who recognizes that Oranges are better than Browns! Salmon Alps also feel very similar to Oranges as well.

Yes, the clueboard PCB has compat holes that will fit both MX and Alps switches. I don’t think @skully has any Alps plates available right now (especially since his plate+case top is milled now) but you could ask.

I have tried Brown, Orange, Salmon, Cream, Dampened Cream, and Dampened White Alps, as well as SMK White Alps clones, and Matias Quiet Clicks.

On the MX side, I have tried Zealios (all four stock weights from most rounds pre-10, plus the 35g spring swap I talked about about), all four weights of MOD switches, Cherry Clear, Brown, and Tactile Grey, Gateron Brown, Kailh Brown, Box Brown, Copper (or Bronze? Always mix those up), Halo Clear, Halo True, Outemu Brown, Zorro Brown, and a few other oddball brown clones. NOTE: I haven’t tried most of the new Kailh stuff that Mike has been dropping in the last six months.

That’s a lot of tactile switches.

It is really hard to compare Alps Orange to Zilents directly because they are extremely different. Tactile Alps switches tend to have a much more agressive tactile bump than MX switches, with browns and oranges being the most extreme example. Unfortunately, with that comes more friction, and when you add the susceptibility Alps switches have to collecting dust, they will continue to get even scratchier over time. Alps are also all much heavier than most MX switches, with the lighter Alps switches feeling more like Cherry Clears in weight than like Cherry Browns.

Some of the MX frankenswitches (mostly highly tactile stems like Halos, Zealios, and MODs in tighter housings like Pandas) can feel almost as tactile as the Alps switches, but come with a lot of the scratchiness I mentioned earlier.

The other issue with tactile Alps is that they aren’t even remotely quiet. Most of the tactile Alps are louder than 70% of the MX clicky switches I’ve tried. The Dampened Alps are a bit quieter and about on par with average MX tactile switches volume-wise. Zilents (once lubed) are much quieter. If you are going for quiet but still tactile, zilents are for sure the best bet right now.

I personally find Salmons, Browns, and Oranges fatiguing to type on for long stretches due to the weight (and also find topre fatiguing due to the bottom out), but think they feel nice for shorter sessions. 35g zealios give me ~80% of the tactility with none of the fatigue and 50% of the noise. 35g zilents give me ~70% of the tactility with none of the fatigue and 10% of the noise.

It’s really all about figuring out what trade-offs work the best for you, which isn’t really something you can get from other people. A lot of people are going on and on about Holy Pandas right now, but I don’t like the way they feel at all. Chyrosan is super biased towards vintage switches, and that’s fine, but his tastes may not be the same as yours. You really just have to try things for yourself.

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57

As someone who’s used almost all the switches you just mentioned (with the exception of Brown Alps) I think you basically nailed it. And Orange Alps are my gold standard but they need to be clean with low mileage. Also they’re harder to acquire than new switches.

Most tactile switches have their trade offs and there isn’t a perfect one. But that’s why variety is the spice of life.

I agree with you about Holy Pandas. They’re very good but not the end-all.

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