Easing Into Linears

Yes but they are $400,000 which is the problem. Also I’m not sure if they are the best sounding?..?

so u r saying that dry/silk are the best non-tealio

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Most of the “speed” switches have shorter travel, kailh speed silver, bronze, gold, etc, cherry speed silver, whatever else they have now, etc

If the case cost is in hundreds of dollars, paying extra to get the best makes sense. Otherwise or hotswap, it makes sense to get both NK Silk/Dry and Tangerine for nearly the same price for variety.

For me, ‘cleaner’ feel and sound became more important than ‘better’ sound. Pure sound-wise, Cream really pops but they start to irritate over prolonged use. Tealios is very good in that regard which is why I consider it to be the best switch.

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so u r saying that dry/silk are the best non-tealios

Yes. That and Tangerine. Two are very different IMO. Go for Tangerine if you like the skating feel. Otherwise, I think NK Silk/Dry is the safer bet.

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what’s the “skating” feel and how does this feel compares to tealios? (I have turq Tealios).

Sounds like the perfect switch. I found 63.5 gr Spirit [non-progressive] to be a great weight for Alpacas, and I probably should try the progressive variant. The weight is soft and comfortable, but the non-prog. is too easy to bottom-out. I’m considering the normal 63.5 for Silent Alpacas, since I don’t care about bottoming on dampened switches.

Right now, I’m looking at Alpaca samples in 65 gr TX, since I don’t bottom-out on them. But they might not be as comfortable in the long run as 63.5 P.

[Should have given a lot more credence to 63.5 P, as I already have Ergo Clears using them.]

Alpacas were the switch that opened my eyes to linears. Cherry and cheap Gaterons just didn’t impress me. Alpacas had this ‘skating’ feel of wet metal on ice. That was smoothness. But the weight was too light, and I couldn’t get ahold of Mauves, so I started spring-swapping them.

Scriba, in the post above, you asked about the “skating” feel. Here in Canada, most people can identify with a term like that. The Alpacas felt like a hard surface moving on wet ice. No ‘noise,’ no granularity, just an almost frictionless travel.

“Skating” is not the same as “buttery.” Some people make buttery Vintage Blacks, and you can feel a creamy travel that hides imperfections in the stem/housing material. Skating is much more naked - it’s not hiding anything. It’s thin lube on parts that feel like they come from fresh molds.

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Thanks for the explanation, I’m not Canadian - so I never heard of it :slight_smile:

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what’s the “skating” feel and how does this feel compares to tealios? (I have turq Tealios).

Well, you get it sometimes with Tealios. It’s this feeling of frictionless key travel. It’s not the same as smoothness because that still involves contact and friction. Skating feel is absence of friction. It’s not buttery either. You just feel nothing as you press. Like Seinfeld, it’s all about nothing.

Now, I’m sure there is friction. But it’s like what I felt while I was transitioning from tactile to linear, except it’s now difference between smooth to too smooth. It feels like airballing. That difference feels weird and I can see why some may not like it. I like buttery feel so skating feel is something I’d crave once in a while but not something I’d use as daily driver.

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I feel like this feelling is akin to Tealios versus something like NovelKeys Creams, my Tealios heavily-lubed with Tribosys 3204 feels frictionless - almost like ‘skating’ as described - so I barely feel any sort of contact.
This is in contrast to my NovelKeys Creams which are lubed with Krytox 205g0, and I don’t know if it’s just the nature of having all the components made out of POM, but I can definitely feel it.

Skating on ice versus rubbing lotion on yourself is perhaps a fitting metaphor? Skating is unbearably hard to describe even though I can feel it down to a science.

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:joy::joy::joy:

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Good choice, donpark. I was going to write a second post saying that “skating” feel is like having two solid surfaces with a frictionless liquid in-between them. Was actually going to use the word “frictionless.” So I think that hits the mark.

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Thanks! I’m hoping they are just as good if not better than the Alpacas & Tangies I already have in builds. The regular 63.5g springs are very nice as well IME also. I have those in my Creams & they make their weighting feel much better to me. Then I left the stock 62g springs in my Alpacas & used the progressive 63.5g ones in my Tangies.

I get what your saying with being able to use lower weights in silenced switches, although I should warn you the spirit 63.5g progressive springs start off much lighter than the linear ones & ramp up to the 63.5g bottom out force. So you may want to check out the 65g or 68g progressive springs if you find linear 63.5 springs a bit light.

Anyways it’s funny you said my setup sounds like the perfect switch. Honestly a decently smooth linear, lubed with 205g0 housings/stem 105 or 106 springs, with 60g to 65g springs, & filmed is what I am really falling in line with lately. More than any switch type & weighting than ever before! I am digging progressive & slow curved springs recently, not sure I will entirely switch over to them though. Oh and spirit has another spring variant out now called complex. Not sure of how they are winded or what their purpose are, but I hope to grab some in 63.5g sooner than later to try them out.

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I considering buying sprit springs, what did you like more for linears or tactiles progressive or slow curved?

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For linears, you might consider slow curved. @Walkerstop wrote up this great post on the topic.

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So, a slow curved spring is the easiest to bottom out with? :thinking:

I would really like to try a progressive that starts around 45g, anyone know we’re I can find that?

Progressive seem to be my fav for linears & a regular linear weighted spring would be my fav for tactiles since a progressive or slow curved spring could affect how the tactile bump feels.

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This post of mine from January shows that, although I’m clearly in Linear Camp, my taste continues to shift. In the past, I favored sound more than overall feel. Now I’m shying away from loud sound.

I think the turning point was when I got my first gasket-mount board (Polaris). I didn’t like it at first but my appreciation for its subdued sound profile and slightly bouncier bottom-out feel (from gaskets?) started to grow. My taste for plate changed also. I started loving brass plates. Then POM plates became my favorite. Now I’m back to brass again as it’s not as loud as POM.

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Still enjoying NK Dry Yellow lubed with 205g0 and filmed. It’s feel got even better after lube is fully settled in. It’s not just great for the price. It’s great period and the price is just bonus.

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Wel dang maybe it’s finally time to build my key65… was trying to figure out what to put and these have been sitting here for a while

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