Does anyone have Gateron Silent Black switches? I was thinking of maybe picking some up eventually, but wanted to see if anyone can provide some input. They seem to sound super quiet, and that’s what I’m looking for. I love low-profile, 60% keyboards, but those only come in mechanical, and I do enjoy a good mechanical one at that. However, I work from home, and my job requires me to use VoIP (desk mic) so I need something that wouldn’t be super distracting in the background.
I’ve seen a few different videos on Youtube, but I know sometimes those aren’t the best quality/most accurate. Anyway, I’ve rambled enough, any insight is greatly appreciated!
Quick question…
Are Romer G switches linear or tactile? I know they aren’t clicky…
PS: Nevermind. The product page says they are tactile and it seems there are also linear variant…
So far, I like it.
Switches are “noiser” than rubber dome (surprised pickachu), activation point is so high, I may press keys by looking at them, Kailh Speed Silvers, you know.
Welp, it’s strange. I was supposed to get the sampler kit FIRST, then pick a switch to use in my secondary board. I did it backwards lol.
I couldn’t find the sampler pack in stock anywhere but ended up getting a contact to have it sent to me. BUT before that I had already gotten 80 V2 78Gs lol.
This more or less conformed that I do in fact enjoy tactile switches if they’re heavy (I actually want heavier springs). It also confirmed that I need my clickies when I’m plowing through work and need to type at peak efficiency. I love the way the Zealios feel, but they don’t do enough for me in terms of audible feedback and that breaks my rhythm and concentration. [Navy to Zeal swap pics here]
I don’t have the Gateron silent black but I do have ZealPC Zilents which are made by gateron and have the same built in rubber silencing in the stem.
They are a LOT quieter than normal MX switches and quieter than orings too because they only do half the travel. They are not completely silent but itnis a lot closer to a rubber dome in volume.
I have mine in a 60% too, went for the zilents because this is my mobile keyboard that will be most exposed to Normies that are not used to the click clacks.
@Den-Fi they are nice right. I too like the tactile and heavy spring combo. I have 100g springs in everything except one board because I have yet to mod it. One of the boards is 100g linear which is also nice but I am moving over to tactile everywhere.
Have you tried Khail box clickies? I have not but I hear they are very nice and a different sort of click mechanism.
How stiff are they? I called time on 120g, it was too much but 100 is just right. But I know people like the 67g and so on. When I use my OG Cherry Reds it is like punching through the board there is just so little resistance.
I do not like the MX blue and green style click with the jacket just sound thin or hollow which is at odds with boards that feel substantial. I have seen the Khail box click mechanism and it looks a lot more solid.
My first jump into clicky switches though will be the Matias Quiet Clicks coming in the Planck next year. That will be interesting.
I build an Atreus with those and didn’t particularly like them. I found them really heavy and a lot too tactile for my taste. They take a lot of initial force.
On another subject: I feel like i might not like the answer but, what is the cheapest way to get a topre board?
I really like the softer feel of rubber domes compared to all the Cherry style keys i tried. Most Rubber domes are really bad though. So i think Topre might be what i’m looking for, from what i’ve heard. Sadly, i haven’t found an option near me to try them, and i don’t feel like spending 400 bucks on an HHKB with the potential that i might not even like it…
Cheapest… Not totally sure but there are the likes of Plum electro capacitive keyboards, topre in all but name. Same for Leopold and they make a very nice 980 board layout. But they are not super cheap. I have been outnof topre lust and learnings since I saw how hard and expensive it is to get a HHKB pro JP, that is the one for me but by the time it is MX compatible for caps you are knocking on 300 or something crazy.
@w.meri of cool I did not know the speed switches used the click bar too. Thanks.
Oooohhhh I don’t even know what that is. Gonna be fun.
My very first want and I can still make it happen, was a 7-bit filco TKL. I have the Filco TKL but need the PCB and frankly now j have built other boards it is less of a want than before. More just want to swap the brain with one from Bathroom Epiphany, to make the board reprogrammable.
That’s a µTron. It’s split, Topre, reverse stagger on the left half. Keys are smaller by a bit then all our standard Keyboards.
That and thumb backspace and shift Plus the center Return make it a really nice layout.
Obviously i haven’t tried one and there’s nothing with that layout, so i can’t say that I’d actually like it. On paper it’s perfect though.
Sadly discontinued since 2017, was JP only and 500 bucks or so. Prices have gone up since…
I’ve heard of those too, I was mainly curious about the Gateron Silent Black because they’re available for plug and play on that GMMK setup I was eyeing.
Due to my desk mic that’s what I was hoping to mimic, but I guess maybe I’ll need to research those Zilents more!
