Drop CTRL 1 Month Review

Hardware Hub
22

So I have to say. I’m not really a keyboard connoisseur. I was more interested in the firmware and software features (as you can tell)

I have to say though, I don’t particularly mind the stabilizers. Seems fine to me. They’re definitely better than your standard Corsair board, but I can see how some people would be unhappy with em.

23

No lube just band aid mod. Absolutely amazing keyboard. The feel and sound are just right. The cherry stabs are worth the teardown in my opinion and i do not consider myself a keyboard snob.

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24

Thanks, appreciate your input.
Is that your first mechanical keyboard?

Its my first attempt, and I havent yet received it but Im already tempted to get the Zilents V2, just trying to figure out which weight I should be after…Im coding for living so thats huge amount of hours typing.

25

So even for some decent macros like Fn+ => , do I have to go down to C code?
How come its so common and broadly used yet so inaccessible (not everyone know or want to go down to C code for some macros and led tricks)

26

As of writing of the review, the Drop configurator doesn’t support macros. I haven’t checked it lately because I’m frankly happy with my config and haven’t felt the need to change it since late January.

Because QMK is a niche firmware.

It’s not user friendly, but at the end of the day, it’s not a keyboard aimed at normie users. To be honest, I’m really bad at C and I get along just fine.

I absolutely understand where you’re coming from though, I thought about building a python utility that would provide a happy little frontend to editing the C code and compiling it, but that’s a lot of work. Maybe now that I’ve got more time due to lockdown.

27

Thank you for your insight.

Im not entirely familiar with the extent of capabilities of QMK compared to others, but are there other keyboard firmwares with decent macros and programming capabilities in general, that are more “accessible” to the wide audience?

Also, what kind of things did you do with it? Out of curiosity, I wonder what interesting things can be done with it

28

QMK is capable of anything you can break down into a series of logical operations. Just depends on how much effort you want to put into it.

It’s a framework on which to build a keyboard firmware. But most keyboards that use it come with a “reference implementation” of the firmware.

Some of the things I’ve done is set up different keymaps for different games. Macros for frequent long commands (or parts of commands) I frequently type.

For example, for work, I frequently do the following:

aws -- ansible-playbook -i dev_envs -i tools.hosts -i production_envs

That’s a macro.

Then there’s this one:

[ctrl]+[alt]+[t]
ssh -L 2000:localhost:2000 manager.{env}.{companydomain}.{internalsuffix}
[ctrl]+[alt]+[t]
cd ~/<company-name>/infrastructure-rollout/docker
gupv
gco {env}
gupv
aws-asg-rollout-message-helper -e {env} | nc localhost 2000

automatically checks out latest code and rolls out the environment to the environment in question. I’ve got a mod tap layer set up to allow me to basically do the shortcut to put me in that mode, then type P, Q, D, T for Prod, QA, Dev, Testing then the version number and it’ll do it automatically. :smiley:

I’m extremely lazy.

I can launch this shit and go get coffee. By the time I’m back it’s rolled out.

It also creates structs for ansible tasks I use frequently. so package manager structs, file copy structs, service structs, etc…

29

Nope had a cm quickfire with cherry blue. Loved it but damn it was loud. Clackity clack clack. The alt is very nice you won’t be disappointed.

30

Thanks for the replies guys.
I read couple of complaints on this keyboard, specifically due to the fact that:

  1. plate mounted stabs - so stabs are not properly screwed to the board, how critical is that?
  2. plate munted switches - so its only 3pin supported, so other switches like zeal, will have to trim the 4th and 5th legs, do the keys wobble or anything due to that?
  3. integrated plate - making it stiff, not sure, does it matter?
  4. north facing leds - so if I replace keycaps, they wont be lit in a normal way? is there a problem getting other sets of keycaps, or things that wont sit properly?
    why is that such a big complaint? I actually came across this multiple times.
31

Keycaps themselves have some play due to the nature of them moving. The switches, though, are remarkably solid.

You can see my keycaps in the review pictures. They are illuminated very well and it’s not a problem imo.

32

Note: I do not have a CTRL, but I do have other keyboards.

  1. I think it’s personal preference.
  2. You’d have to trim the extra two plastic pegs on the bottom of a switch if you use switches that have them. Easy to do with some flush cutters.
  3. I’d guess integrated plate could make it harder to modify? I don’t see why it would necessarily be bad.
  4. North facing LEDs aren’t the problem, it’s actually the orientation of the switch itself. The orientation can be an issue with some keycaps because the cap can hit the outer casing of the switch. If you look at the side profile of a switch you can see one side has a sharp slant from stem to plate, but the other side has a flat spot before a rounded shoulder leading down to the plate. This shoulder is what can cause issues on some caps, usually Cherry profile caps.
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33

All I am going to say is you wont be disappointed. Hit the order button on the keyboard, the zeals and the cherry stabs. Do not hesitate spend that money. Seriously if you don’t like it I will buy it from you.

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34

haha, thanks. You confidence in this purchase does give me some bit of confidence as well :slight_smile:
My biggest concern re zeals is that I dont know which weight to choose.
I read many reviews about silent tactiles and it seems like zilents v2 worth the price, everyone just throws decent compliments about them.

35

Thanks for your insights.

36

62g is slightly heavier than MX brown per there site. They rate their force measurement as bottom out force not actuation so hard to tell on that front.

37

Finally got my Drop.
I like it. with the mx browns is a good start, they are very soft to my judgement, keys are bearable but modifier keys is just too soft.
I will at some point replace the stabs too, but need to feel it first :slight_smile:

Already started playing with qmk and did some nice macros to send strings, and I wonder if you can deep dive into the led instructions and how its being used
For example, can I add additional led colors schemes aside from what we already get with the default?
Can I set the scheme to be used when keyboard boots?

1 Like
38

I can see that, for sure.

Oh boy.

I’ve been having some trouble with firmware lately. I need to hammer out some bugs, but as soon as I do that, I’ll do a video or thread.

This really depends on what method you’re using and is a rabbit hole of it’s own.

Yes. But again, depends on what method/layout you’re using.

I’ll sit down and hammer this out either tonight or tomorrow, I think.

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