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thickness of deskmat
plate and case
Sound tests are dumb, and a video will be made about why, below is a real world example of the lay
(on my youtube!)
Demonstration of sound tests path from keyboard to ears
typing In mic
Keeb Room Desk Mic Cable Interface
strength processing
sound effects
Mounting Bumpons Outliers
Sound Lube Sound Stabs Sound Sound Skill/ Sound
Poor Good Sound
Case (When
Lube Viscosity Stab Material Material Build
Mounting Type matched to
Internal Shape (Soldering)
Switch Lube Stab Lube(s) Thickness
of Case of
Degree
Contact of Stab Lube(s) Stabs Clipped Placement
Plate & Case
Mounting PCB vs Plate
Misc Lube Size
Locations Mount
PCB Screw vs cone feet / flat
plate mounting
Clip in kbs
Plate mount
B&aid Mod
locations
Wire Diameter
Big thank: Perforated Binder Paper
Big thank: Unknown_h
For their contributions to this spreadsheet
world example of the layers of factors that affect a sound test IN CONJUNCTION WITH EVERYTHING IN THIS SPREADSHEET
online
interface connection pc editing dac
pc noise compressi your pc
processing to pc processing (post prod) (internal)
on
IN THIS SPREADSHEET
your
your brain, and
your amp headphone ears
cables bias
s/speakers
Typing Hardness
Stab Soft SwitchMedium
sounds MadeHard the
imperfections mask bad stab sound reverb of bad
louder
Overall volume out
not as loud soundssound (less stabs louder
Emphasizes (sound of this
Everything is
is lower plate
Switch sounds depends on
switch sound
Overall near vs obviously
not
Still as
notcrisp
much itself
case sound
zero desk louder(distinct
desk sound Can't within
echo hear the
sound upstrokes as
easily
Material/Density Empty Space Size/La
General General
Too much empty space leads to more General
Denser materials have a higher pitch reverb
No empty space leads to too dense
sounding of a board
Weight size/shape The bottom creates the angle (see seamed design KBs)
A smaller weight will have less effect Seamed designs mean that the top
on the sound
A wider weightthan
will ahave
larger weight
more effect case and bottom case sit flush,
than a less wide one increased contact area means that
As a result we can assume that more they act as a thicker case wall than
weight to case contact area helps seamless KBs. Case wall thickness
conduct vibrations more effectively rules apply
Weight location The top piece creates the angle (see
Weights placed further back (towards seamless design
The bottom KBs)
piece needs to slide into
the
Splitusb port) have
weights tend to have a effect
a similar greater
to a the top piece, this means that the
full bar weight (which implies that side must be smaller than the
having an exposed weight under opening it goes into, this means they
specific
Weight target areas (notably alphas)
material
Unexpectedly, steel vs brass weights
have little sonic
As a result difference
it seems the weight (how
much it weighs) seems
Generally, anything denser to matter
than the
case stock material can act
Brass is more effective at reducingas a
airborne sounds within the case
Weight in place of case bottom
In the case of using a full brass or
steel
there bottom, this may
are not many dampenofthe
examples this,
this would be
Weight Mounting an outlier
We know from past data that a larger
surface area helps
More screws shouldconduct
theoretically
have no benefits assuming good
Plate
Plate Material Plate Finishing
Aluminium Raw / Anodized
Alu is the standard plate material all other Will sound the "normal way"
plates will bemoderately
Alu sounds comparedhighto pitch as a with no changes to the sound
plate, characteristics
Brassbut when well implemented, is fairly Electroplate (zinc, gold,
Brass has a deeper bottom out clack whatever)
In the case of thick enough
sound,also
Brass andhastransfers slightly less
less airborne higher
reverb hard coatings, this can effect
compared to alu when bottoming out the sound profile of the plate
by lowering the pitch, and in
the case of softer plates,
Polycarbonate (PC) transmitting far more vibrations
Polycarbonate is higher pitched than alu at
the
Thesamebenefitsthickness
of polycarbonate are more
commonly for typing feel,also
Types of polycarbonate andmatter
not sound
quite a
bit, as polycarb can be made
Polycarbonate (of a softer variety) will "glasslike"
absorb
Acrylicmore case vibrations and pass less
Acrylic at the same thickness is slightly
deeper
At 3mm+ than alu (and
acrylic deepens
deepens, and even more
gets very
deep
Carbon when approaching
Fiber (CF) 5mm
Carbon fiber is higher pitch than all of the
above,
Carbonmostly due to the
fiber transfers resin
a lot coating to
of vibrations
the
FR4case, though this does not mean that is
FR4 is roughly placed between thick acrylic
and
FR4 carbon
is deeper fiber in terms
than equallyof thick
sound profile.
acrylic up
to 3mm, at which acrylic overtakes
Fr4 transfers a decent amount of vibration the fr4
to the case, in the deeper frequencies
POM/PLA
PLA and POM depend a lot on the source
and
POMmixture
and PLA (soboth
yourbehave
may beclose
wildlyto acrylic.
POM is slightly deeper sounding than PLA
(at the thinner
At the same thickness)
end, PLA and POM sound
notably high pitch
At the thicker end (5mm), POM sounds far
more
StainlessdeepSteel
than PLA
(SS)
Stainless steel sounds higher pitch than alu
In terms of case vibrations, SS transfers a
great
etc. deal of vibrations to the case
Copper is slightly higher pitch (and stiff)
than(UHMWPE)
PE brass plates but isare
Plates in the
of asame
similargeneral
nature
PP to PC plates Sounds
(polypropylene) in terms deeper
of transfer
thanofPC
and Acrylic at 1.5mm, but higher pitch than
Plate
Plate Thickness Plate type Switch Cutouts
Normal plate 1.5mm Full plate MX
1.5mm is chosen as the Full plate is the default Mx switch cutouts are the default
standard
1.5mm is plate thickness
the standard for
sound sound signature
Full plate has thefor all comparison, and have a stock switch
compared
Thin plateto (<1.5mm) greatest
Half Plateeffect for plate spacing
MX ALPS
of 19.05mm as per cherry
Thinner plates by default will Half Plate replaces the MX alps in the case of using MX
have a higher pitch and bottom out clack of the switches, allow for slightly more switch
transmit less vibrations to the alphas with a direct PCB play within the plate, this as a result
case as there is less material sound, this reduces the means that there is less switch contact
(this results in less case amount of vibrations that on average when bottoming out
sound
Medium vibrations, and(1.5
thick plate more -> get dispersed into the
Integrated switches, this then means that switch
MX SWITCHTOP
3mm)
Medium thick plates are Integrated plates are Same as above, less switch contact
almost always lower pitched stiffer and higher pitch means more switch related bad
with most materials than non integrated, this sounds, and less plate sounds
(exceptions for super hard is due to the mounting
materials like SS and Ti) itself and not the plate
Thick plate (more than material or thickness, Switch Spacing
3mm)
Thicker plates than 3mm are Although hypothetical, more spacing
deeper sounding
In the case of veryinhard
the case means more
^ in reality platespacing
switch sound effect.
doesn'tThe
materials (SS, Ti, Depleted matter for sound when it comes to the
Flex/acoustic Cut Outs
Flex Cuts
Flex cuts (that go across
entire
There rows or columns)
is a slight raising of
pitch when
Acoustic cutsremoving material
Acoustic cuts (cuts that
sandwich a particular switch
of stab cutout) are meant to
help diffuse the vibrations
caused by a heavy bottom
out of a switch or stabilizer.
Stylistic
Stylistic cuts (also known as
meme cuts) have no benefit
to sound of feel, and in most
cases deteriorate the typing
sound and feel
Switches type Material (bottom housing)
General Notes General Notes
All Stems are POM, except for the Ultra-
MX Style high-molecular-weight
Nylon (And other polyethylene
Polyamides)
MX Style will be used a default Nylon is the standard switch housing
sound used MX
The default for all comparisons
switch will be a as material that will
Nylon housing be compared
sound to more
thicker and
nylon housing with
Boxa POM stem bassy POM
Box switches in comparison to MX POM housing is generally higher pitched
switches will have a slightly less and tends to not transfer as much vibration
deep sound dude to their more to the plate. This means the high pitch of
Alps Polycarbonate
Alps sound profile are varying and polycarbonate housing is of a even higher
they results inalps
Realistically, vastly
willdifferent
sound close pitch than POM assuming no blend.
to mx style Though these benefit more greatly from
ML/Low Profile are
as the housings PC/Nylon mix
ML Low profile switches, although The only PC/Nylon mix were pandas, this
being the they
Although samehave
material,
reducedas both sits
The at a highamount
largest than expected sonic
of vibration is point.
travel, the bottom out forces are conducted into the plate and therefore the
UHMWPE
PE as of today is limited to stems only, and
the stems absorb
PE stems sound lower
a fair pitched
amount than
of POM
vibrations when bottoming out, transferring
Switches
Films Weight/Springs/Material
General Notes General Notes
Switch films are used to solve a
misalignment of switch
Paper top and bottom Stainless Steel
Compared to a plastic based switch film, a SS is the standard spring being
paper/sticker switch
As a result, this helpsfilm is slightly
reduce the softer used for comparison
SS when properly lubed should
conduction of sound from switch top and
Plastic NOT contribute
Stainless at with
Steel all to Plating
the
Plastic switch films are used for a similar SS with plating should not be
effect to the ifpaper
As a result, switch films,
well employed, willbut due to
have used long don't
Basically, term,buy
as the
goldcoating
plated
benefit of paper
Rubber film with
(deskeys less effort.films)
& ""gasket"" spring because you think they
At this point, there are two types of rubber
films thatthe
Overall, have beenfilms
rubber publicly announced.
can be seen as
an optimal middle ground as they function
Age/Wear in Batch
General Notes General Notes
A well worn in switch will be batches are a gamble and you are
more consistent Break-In
Substantial in its sonic never guaranteed
Smooth a "Good
Batch Batch"
Substantial break in will help In the case of a good quality batch,
a switch
This get to in
is evident its vintage
most (this
keepdoes notthat
in mind mean every
most switchwill
switches is
blackModerate
switches Break-In be smooth Mediocre
batch in their first rounds,
Batch
In the case of breaking in a In the case of a mediocre batch, you
switch
Moderatemoderately
break in (using
is a must cherry pick and test each
especially evident
No Break-In in New) individual switch
(Brand
to ensure they are
Poor Batch
Without break in, there will In the case of a poor batch, you will
be a large variance in sound have varying acoustic results from
profile and smoothness of each switch, resulting in a mismatched
Dampening Method
General Notes
Dampening should only be used for the
express purposeO-rings
of reducing the
O-rings are used to dampen the overall
effect
Puttingofo'ring
your downstroke, reducing
on a switch will reducethe
the travel
Stem and may "SIlent
SIlencing make you switches
Switches"
Silent stems such as MX Silents, Zeal
Silent, Gateron
The effect Silents,
is much less Silent Alpacas,
pronounced
than using
Clip o'rings,
ins (Ex.but offer
Zeal a less
& QMX)
Reduces the downstroke and makes it
mushy
These areaf. These are alsotovery
near identical O rings but
slightly more consistent and should be
Material
General Notes
ABS
ABS will be used as the standard
keycap sound
the higher pitchreference
switch return
sound
PBT
POM
noticable high end) than ABS as it
is a denser
much material
deeper to our ears at the
same thickness as ABS
PPS
PPS sounds very high pitch, near
glassy compared to most materials
Rubber
underlying(coated)
material plays a large
role into the
and upstroke, sound
as a profile
result, the caps
sound deeper
you are going for a pure silent
ninja build)
Resin
than ABS, and slightly lower pitch
than POM
of resin in the center or near the
stem
Alu
deeper(and most
than ABSother
and metals)
all other
plastic caps.
means they will also sound
deeper, as there is more volume)
Wood
difficult to find a general "wood"
sound
Keycaps Sound
Thickness Manufacturing Defects
General Notes General Notes
1.2 to 1.5mm
compared to, and most OG and moder straight capssound as expected from the data
these should
keycaps sit in this range in the rest of the sheet
At this thickness, pitch is raised and the A convex warped spacebar will not bottom out
keycap sound more clacky and absorbs in the stab region and will put all weight on the
less sound, which means it has more spacebar switch, which will result in a very
airborne vibration (and other vibrations pronounced switch sound and a large rattle of
that go through the keyboard) the stabs
switch when
(if at pressed
all) which willhard
lead to a more
plastic-y and higher pitch bottom
general should be avoided (ex: use outan
sound
ABS
spacebar on a PBT set)
1mm andmaterials,
sounding below 1mm is absolutely Warped
This can Alphas
lead to a higher pitch with some keys,
fine and a lower pitch with others
1.5mm
resulting in a lower pitch and lower Warped Mods
spacebars (following the same rules) but may
volume.
not be as pronounced, though, you should
Profile
General Notes
Cherry
Cherry is the standard profile for
all soundsuch
different comparisons
as: epbt, crp, most
chinese sets, and
Cherry "like" (epbt,potentially
chineseJTK)
sets)
Cherry "like" sets tend to have a
higher pitch than cherry profile
caps at the same thickness. This
pseudo cherry layout tends to
skimp on wall thickness, material
density, or total material in the
final design
OEM
therefore should be measured
before
absorbsany comparisons
a good deal of vibrations,
making for a very thocky switch
Cherry
cherry at/ OEM Hybrid
the same (leopold)
thickness and
material
SA
surface area. This translates to a
holly, thocky sound
KAT/KAM
SA without the downside of SA
typing feel
MT3
and does not have enough
specific
for ABS comparisons
MT3, see MT3 yet to judge.
Susuwatari
DCS
ABS for key return, but about the
same
or havewhen
lessbottom
materialout a switch
than cherry,
which gives this effect
DSA
noticeably louder across the
board
keyboard for this info, it was
painful for him
Low profile (g20, xda, grid, cock
that they will expel more sound
into the air, and may sound of a
D
Sub PCB Foam
General notes
reverb brought on by too high pitch or too loud
plate or switch sounds. (PC plates and clear
Foam
Sorbothane
EVA
Polyfill
Thickness (density)
similar to having little to no empty space in the
keyboard
Dampening Sound
Sub Plate Foam Misc Things
General notes General notes
This is best left as the last option in sound
tuning, as adding foam is a subtractive sound
Foam
Sorbothane
EVA
Thickness (density)
similar to having little to no empty space in the Thickness
keyboard
Desk Mat Existence Material of Desk Mat
General Notes General Notes
Yes Neoprene
Desk mats reduce the case This is the standard material
variations passed to the desk, of most desk mats available in
etc
Leather - TBD
Desk
Thickness of Desk Mat(s) Placement of Desk Mat(s) Desk Hardness
General Notes General Notes General Notes
??????
Hard
keyboard sounds, and most
notably the higher pitched
Super hard
sound, which will bounce back
to your face, usually an
Desk Material Number of Desk Mats
General Notes General Notes
many newcomers will hear typing
tests from Taeha Types, who
Cardboard (cheap ikea and More deskmats = more desk
such) amplifies all This shouldmat
This desk material effect
be self explanatory.
sound, and depends This isolates the keyboards
Soft wood
lead to a higher pitch than
expected
Hard wood
above, but with much more
sound reflecting and near zero
Metal
basic rules of: harder
materials reflect more sound
board slightlyGlass
into a higher
frequency sound overall
PCB Sound
PCB Thickness
General
A pcb willnotes
disperse switch bottom out sounds similarly to a plate,
however, pcbs sounds are higher pitched and transmit more
airborne reverb
1.2 and below
1.2mm pcbs are of a slightly higher pitch, though they offer a sign
1.3- 1.6
1.3 to 1.7 is the standard pcb thickness, and is the default
comparison for the rest
1.7 and
The above
sonic effect will lower the pitch slightly compared to a 1.5mm
pcb
PCB Sound
PCB Material (FR4 vs CEM-3)
General notes
FR4
This is the standard pcb material used in most keyboard, and thus is
the default sound to be compared to
CEM-3
TBD (need help with this one)
PCB Flex Cuts
General notes
and loudness, as the surface area is increased, and more holes
allow for more internal case reverb to leave the case from the
Standard
typing feel horizontal flex
in the alphas cutsThese follow the rules of all plate cuts
area.
and raise loudness as well as pitch
TOP+BOTTOM Case Mounting
General notes
More case contact means that the top
case cantransfer
(this will more effectively
both goodtransfer
and badits
sounds)
Flat mount
Flat mounting increases the total
amount too
Having of surface
large ofarea
a flatfor the top
mount areato
can impact the
Alignment case sound negatively
pillars/tabs
Alignment pillars or tabs help further
increase top/bottom contact area
Spring lube
In general, springs are lubed for two
reasons.
Most A thin
lubes or thickhere,
are viable lubeand
caniscoat the
up to
preference and availablity to determine
Stab Material
General Notes
Softer materials will have a
deeper Nylon
pitch than harder
(black)
Nylon is the standaed
cherry/gmk material for the
PC (clear)
PC housings are made of a
slightly stiffer material and
therefor are slightly
etc higher
Pom (like c3 stabs) are lower
pitch than nylon
Stabs Sound
Stab Lube(s) Stabs Clipped PCB vs Plate Mount
General Notes General Notes General Notes
There are 2 components of Clipping stabs allows for plate mounts will play more
stabilizer lubing:(1plastic
Thin lubes seriesto longer stabClipped
throw (travel) into the Plate
plate sound,
mountwhile
krytox)
Thin lube will not dampen Clipped stabs will fell more Plate mount stabilizers will:
much sound, but will consistent, but will bottom 1. pair with the plate
Medium lubes (2 Unclipped Pcb mount
series/g0)
Medium lubes can be used unclipped stabs may feel Pcb mount stabs will in
on plastic to platic contacts weird to most, but soften the general have a semi high
as well aslubes
Thicker wire to plastic
(superlube)
Superlube and other thicker
greases should be used for
wire to Suggested
plastic contacts
mix only,
binder fill this in
und
PCB Screw vs Clip in Bandaid Mod/Dampening Wire Diameter
General Notes General Notes General Notes
Assuming stabs are properly Dampening dampens things Wire diameter should have
fitted to the pcb (not
Screw in loose) Bandaids (topside) no realWire
effectThickness
if a stabilzer is
Screw in stabs are fine, clip bandaid modding serves 1 By a small technicality, a
in stabs are also fine if you modern purpose; to reduce thicker wire should make a
Clip in Shims/ spacers (bottom
Clip in stabs are (wrongly) side)to
These are meant
dismissed as inferior, compinsate for a thin pcb (or
Bumpouns Sound
Material Thickness
General Notes General Notes
A harder material will A thicker bumpon will do
transfer
Poronmore
(and vibration
other softto its jobThin
better (see 1 square
bumpons
rubbers)
A soft material used as a Thin bumpons will have
bumpon/feet will transfer less effect than thicker
Harder rubber (generic Thicker bumpons
3m bumpon)
A harder material transfers Thicker bumpons will have
more case sound to the miore effect!
Bumpouns Sound
Placement Size cone feet / flat kbs
General Notes General Notes General Notes
More surface area of See left
bumpon means
Placement onthe
corners No bumpons (flat)
Placement on corners No bumpons means that
reduces the total surface the case will have direct
Placement across bottom Cone feet
(horizontal)
Compared to a vertical Contrary to popular belief,
placement, a horizontal cone feet KBs actually
Placement across bottom
(vertical) will
Vertical placement
behave similarly to 4
Poor / Good Build (Soldering)
General Notes
Poor switch insertion (putting
switches in crooked) will raise the
Skill Sound
Poor lubing
General Notes General Notes
read below
Too much lube
Too much lube in either switches or
stabilizers will make loud "fisting a
not enough lube
Not enough lube in either stems or
stablizers will make thwe switch
Inconsistent lube
Inconsistent lube will result in some
switches differing massively in pitch
General Notes General Notes
Switch Orientation (When
matched to certain keycaps)
General Notes
Outliers Sound
Viscosity
yboard will have very little airborne vibration within the case, meaning almost all of the sound will be the case alone
er pitch, and louder than a typical korean sound, which is higher pitched but quieter (dense) overall
e the case alone