While I’m enjoying the upsides of super long springs with enough pre-load to almost feel tactile, I regularly go back to classics complete with old-school spring for that classic feel and sound. Spicy or mild but never half and half.
I did notice that longer springs make rattly loosy switches more taut, sounding cleaner and feeling more snug and tight. 205g0 also adds to that snug feel.
More on springs and why I’m looking into super long single-stage springs.
Super long springs preload 2~3g to the top which can be tuned to approach light tactility with bump that starts at the top like Halo which feels great but older tactiles had bump closer to the actuation point.
I think single-stage version of super long springs is closer to the classic tactile feel with bump lower down. Far from buckling spring level of tactility but so far finding it to be an enjoyable enough variant to continue digging.
Tried full board of initial batch of HMX Snow Crash after cleaning it as best as I could.
TL;DR - Snow Crash is a touchy-feely switch. Not much sound but a lot of feel.
Yesterday I found that frankenswitch leftover after building Emerald Cthulhu turned really well.
Inky Cthulhu = milky top + OG NK Cream stem + Gateron Black Ink bottom
Emerald Cthulhu = milky top + OG NK Cream stem + Mekanisk Ultramarine V2 bottom
Leftover Frankenswitch:
Inky Mekanisk = Mekanisk Ultramarine V2 top and stem (nylon and P3) + Gateron Black Ink bottom
I think the source of its distinct sound could be the P3 stem. P3 stem + Ink material is similar yet distinct from P3 stem + Polyamide sound of original Mekanisk Ultramarines as well as POM stem (NK Cream) on Ink bottom.
And, because I was working with parts from switches with loose leaf issues, I also learned it was also a potential source of noise like loose stem/keycap fit.
Loose contact leaf - Switches with loose contact leaf (could be either pin but thinner pin closer to the edge is usually the loose one) feels, for the lack of better description, dusty. Dusty but not scratchy. I suspect disrupting vibrations from loose leaf shaking during movement of the stem ends up feeling like sliding over a surface covered with microdust.
Loose stem/keycap fit - Adds to wobble as well as rattle on upstroke.
Potential solutions:
MMD Vivian in Fjell is amazing to me.
Lately, I’ve felt some boards sounded too rich and Fjell with Durock Black Lotus was one of them. What used to sound great started sounding too thick and overly sweet. And I had this fresh set of MMD Vivian with light tube that I got to make a light tactile out of so I replaced the Black Lotus with it.
Now it’s just right. Nice and poppy but clean and light dry. Weird but happy that my switch-fu has improved.
So I’ve gotten a fair bit of use in with these BSUN Wave switches & I have to say they are really good! The factory lube job is on point, they are super smooth, the springs & leaves are all super consistent feeling with no ping ot crunch to be found, & they sound great! Especially if you are going for a deeper sounding build since these are full travel rail bottom out. Definitely a switch that even a lube snob like me can happily use right out of the box. I’d even go as far as ranking these above my beloved Smoothies & HMX switches.
I still need to get the HMX Snow Crash switches I got into a board for testing, but at the very least I’ll need to pull the springs from them to lube since they have a bit of spring ping. So that alone puts them below these Waves in IMO. Then I also ordered a batch of the BSUN Jade Roselles because these Waves ended up being so good. The Jade Roselles have been on my radar for a min since they use a very unique bottom housing (they say the bottom housings are “milky thickened housing with industrial adhesive additive”) & I really liked the way they sounded when Alexotos used them on a build. However I haven’t pulled the trigger on them up till now because before these Waves most BSUN switches I have tried were underwhelming to flat out bad IMO.
Anyways will report back on both the HMX Snow Crash & BSUN Jade Roselle switches when I get a chance to build with them!
The newer BSUN switches are really good, and I mean HMX / Keygeek good. After trying so many switches (let’s say I have a few thousands of them, yes I know I need help) I am settling on a few models now that are consistently good in any build, HMX FJ400 (Purple Dawn also on top for me, Hades V2 also a good contender), Keygeek Briny (for that JWK-style thock, so addictive), and BSUN Maple Syrup. That BSUN has that clean medium clack note without any parasitic noise, so satisfying especially on CF plates. I’ve built a few keyboards for friends with those and they are consistently excellent. Yeah I tend to prefer the medium/heavy springs so the BSUN Jade Roselles are a bit too light for me. I also concur that newer BSUN switch lube is on point. They’ve done a lot of effort on their process (tighter molds, improved lubing) and it shows.
Unrelated, I have been trying a few newer Gateron models (one being off topic here, the Quinn, quite impressive) one is a semi-silent linear (Zero Degree, with a 67g spring swap) and the other is a newer linear (Fade). Both are quite good, still a bit of stem wiggle but the feeling is excellent and Gateron lubing process has gone a long way.
Last but not least I’ve tried the Geon Raw Zero and it’s a special one. For starters the specs are a bit deceptive, it’s heavier than it seems. It also has indeed zero stem wiggle and that counts towards the heaviness. It’s really smooth, and very loud and clacky. I love it but it’s… special. Some friends have removed them for being too heavy, be warned if you have light fingers. If it’s up to your taste though and you like the loud clack, it’s fantastic.
Which light-tactile stem were you planning to use in the MMD Vivian?
I have Mallo, MX Brown, and Zealio V1 available.
I have some Geon Baby blue stems. It’s more medium tactility but less so in the MMD Vivian housing when I tried it last.
That said, I’ve been enjoying it stock since I got it so it’ll take me awhile to try the tactile frankenswitch in-use. FYI, MMD Vivian is great in Fjell.
Not sure where to post this, but I compile these monthly switch wrap-ups based on real sales data – dominated by linears ofc, I mean not just the top10 but the top200. If anyone is interested, here are last month’s numbers:
Anything related to experience of using linear switches should be fine in this thread.