Hi all,
some of you may remember me as from my old thread where I asked for some advices on a K2 substitute:
Well, yesterday I’ve finally completed my new silent IK75 v3 and the final outcome seems quite good to me.
Here it is with the Hammerhead clone keycap set that I received a couple of days ago:
Stabilizers lubed and an first attempt for holee mod;
Feker silicon pad inside the case
Hammerhead clone keycap set
plus, I’ve tried (and I don’t know if someone else has, since I didn’t read it around) tape mod with 2 layers of automotive cloth tape, which I wanted to try since it should dampen sound plus be safe, given being flame retardant too, so should cause issue with batteries.
UPDATE: here’s the audio tests made from my Oppo Find X3 Neo, so don’t blame too much for the quality, but should give you an idea regarding sound improvement:
I’ve been learning more about silent builds since your topic was posted, although my knowledge is still somewhat superficial.
Just received a batch of lightly-lubed OUTEMU Silent Lemon. Turns out they are excellent silent switches! They are about as tactile as Silent Sky, maybe slightly less. Very quiet, soft switches. They function well at around 60 G. You can get 90 of them in Canada for $29.95 CAD!
Going to try for a silent build with those in an NCR-80. Sounds crazy, I know! The NCR-80 is very hollow and seems designed to amplify noise. But there are dampening materials for it now, so I’m going to see if they actually work.
I’m learning that you don’t need a really sophisticated case design, as long as you can find a way to quiet it. Cheap hotswap boards can work fine - if the stabilizers could be addressed, a stock MK870 could be quiet enough.
Of course, you already found this out.
Interestingly, I picked up that same clone keycap set recently, for use on an MK870 of the same colour. But I’m thinking it would be better on a white board.
If these entry-level manufacturers ever make a cheap gasket TKL, like the MK870 is a cheap tray-mount, that could be a fine basis for a silent board. Especially if it uses PCB-mount stabilizers.
Anyway, it looks like you did really well, and on a budget. I’ll try to let people know how the “silent” NCR-80 does. BTW those cheap AliExpress PBT clone keycaps tend to be really good with silent switches, I’m using some right now for that purpose.
That’s a cool idea! Typical paper tape mostly reflects sound, but that wire harness tape should help absorb it. I just bought some of that stuff the other day for the car - might have to try it in a keeb.
I’ll second the recommendation of the Silent Lemons; IMO you’d have to spend a lot more if you want even a little better. They remind me a little bit of Ink Kangaroos in terms of the bump, but of course these are dampened and as such have none of the sharp impacts the 'roos do.
On paper, yes - but I think a combination like this has a lot of potential to be pleasant. It won’t be as silent as other configurations, but the dampening still dampens and I find the sound un-intrusive at worst.
Example; TTC Frozen Silents linears in two different boards.
In a Portico, which has most of its small interior space filled with patterned silicone and includes a layer of felt between the FR4 plate and PCB:
Very quiet. Deep, muted thuds.
Now, the same switches in a hollow plastic tray-mounted enclosure with no sandwich dampening and a rigid aluminum plate:
@Deadeye you should definitely give it a try, just to understand if it worked well on mine due to the silicon dampener in the case too or not.
I’ve only made 2 layers, don’t know if one more is needed, as most people around do usually, or not.
I forgot to say that I’ve put some of the same cloth tape on the silicon pads between the case parts and recycled some Poron from the switch plate pads on the part of the metal plate that sits on the silicon pads themselves, to try to dampen sound even more
will try to post a photo asap to better explain it.
Well, TBH when I took the Silent White I thought about taking the Silent Peach instead, but wasn’t sure if they’d cover the backlight of the keyboard, so went with the Silent White and their transparent enclosure, but I understand that maybe my assumption was wrong.
Waiting for your audio tests with Silent Lemon, to hear how they silent they are (even if tactile and not linear as mine )
Would you take the time to try the tape mod with automotive cloth tape too? XD
If giving good results we can give a start to a new trend
I wonder if the “force-break” mod would help with silencing. Apparently, the mod has to do with placing tape or material between the top and bottom-case. It disrupts the harmonics that create unwanted noises.
Supposedly, the mod is popular with the Keychron Q3. Should, at least, reduce ping.
Unwanted harmonics and resonance can supposedly be reduced by using different materials for the top and bottom-case. This is especially possible with a keyboard like the IKKI68 Aurora, and they should offer those configurations stock. [e.g. coloured alum base and PC top].
The Silent Lemons aren’t very tactile, but they are more tactile [and much better] than Gateron Silent Brown. You’re absolutely right that you’d have to spend a lot more to get “better” switches.
For my relative’s NCR-80, I agree that there are more silent configs. I was inclined to point them to the Aurora, which is very quiet, and extras launched on Friday.
But they had shown interest in the NCR-80 b/c of its retro stylings, so I’m going to arrange the quietest NCR-80 that I can. Should be an interesting project. Your Portico sounds very nice, I am trying to get the NCR-80 a little quieter, even if it won’t sound as good.
Yes. I also found those silent lemon switches surprisingly good for its cost. It has sharper tactile feel compared to the SP Star Meteor Orange and also has good amount of pretravel which the silent forest/sky lack of. I might try breaking those in with the switch break in machine for a day or two to see if the factory lube can be spread evenly in the housing without additional lubing. Could be a really good alternative as a medium light silent ergo clear!
Discouse (the forum framework KeebTalk uses) has an auto-embed feature, but it gets borked when you paste-in actual embed code. Just paste the url for the individual track page, and it should turn into the embedded player when the post loads.
yep, same username used here and everywhere round the web
just put both tracks public and followed you back, you should be able to see them with no issues
)
Just paste the url for the individual track page, and it should turn into the embedded player when the post loads.
