I feel the same way with most silent linears. The only ones I ever found that I enjoy typing with to this day are my “MX Zilents” filmed and lubed with 3204. I used Aliaz housings with silent cherry black stems and 65g TX springs.
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I’m about two weeks into using filmed/lubed Silent Alpacas as well and feel pretty similarly. Everything about them just feels… soft.
I’m probably going to take them out of my main board and put them in something intended for school / library use since their sound is virtually imperceptible with a little background noise.
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That’s generally how I feel about them as well. On balance, Silent Inks are my favorite stock silent switch so far. I haven’t tried JWK silents yet, but it sounds to me like their dampeners are somewhere in-between Gateron’s (pretty firm) and Gazzew’s (way soft).
@pixelpusher I think the first thing I’m going to do with the de-soldering gun I just got is salvage a bunch of MX Silent Blacks that have been in my closet for two years; you have me intrigued to try the stems with other parts.
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The silent inks are definitely firmer than the Alpacas so you’ll certainly enjoy them more.
If anyone is getting rid of their silent alpacas let me know as I’d probably scoop them up!
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Soft is a good way to put it.
The Silent Alpacas are a very gentle switch. Easy to bottom-out, like regular Alpaca, except the bottom-out is also dampened.
I recently recommended them to someone who was describing their need to use switches that lessen strain on the joints. They might be a candidate.
No, they aren’t the most authoritative switches. That’s for sure. Although they, like Alpacas, are sensitive to spring weight and type. But the spring in these, the default spring, is soft just like the regular Alpacas. [I always replace those, although the with Silent Alpacas the soft springs actually complement the dampening.]
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A little sad to see all the hate for the silent alpacas in the silent linear thread 
as someone coming from from topre and boba U4s the light plock these switches make on bottom out when filmed is exquisite. Maybe this is accentuated by the fr4 and polycarb build I have going on, but I personally prefer this more subdued sound profile to the loud clacks of even vintage mx blacks
EDIT: filmed a shitty sound test 
also grammar
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I’m typing on serikos right now. I like them a lot. I just prefer the MX slider design for dampening. It’s a bit less soft and doesn’t have reduced travel. The mx stem in it’s stock housing is horrible But it’s splendid in a zeal or clear gateron housing. But silent JWKs are pretty darn nice.
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Oh nice! Your board sounds better than mine with them. I bet it’s the polycarb. Though they’re almost rain-like in my wooden Planck case. I think it’s the reduced travel and difference in feel that I’m just totally not used to.
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Definitely fair, I don’t notice a change in overall distance much in linears, as long as the actuation distance is 2mm. Rain-like is the perfect way to describe it! like little plops of water with every keystroke.
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HEALIOS REVIEW
I just purchased my first silent linear, Healios 67g, and frankly, I was disappointed. With my fairly limited experience with linears, I think that either having a nice, satisfying sound is one of the most important factors when it comes to the linear experience (of course that’s all subjective), but I don’t think that silent linears fulfill neither the sound nor feel categories. I put these in a KBDPad mkII w/ a brass plate and alu case. After feeling these in the case, even with the brass plate, I could tell that these wouldn’t be my thing. I am making this KBDPad as a Christmas present for my Uncle, and honestly, it felt very similar to his super cheap membrane keyboard. Keep in mind, I did lube these with Krytox 205g0 for everything but the springs, which I bag lubed with Krytox 105.
In terms of noise, (keep in mind I’m using a brass plate and alu case so it’ll be a little louder than other setups.) It was still very much audible but still much quieter than normal linears in the more and more common workspace of working from home. I can see that this could be a niche that a lot of people would like, but definitely not for me.
In terms of feel, the switch was very smooth but not up to zeal standards especially FOR $1.20 PER SWITCH WHAT?! Yeah, these switches are the most expensive switches I’ve tried, along with drop holy pandas. These definitely don’t live up to their crazy price and are most definitely out-preformed by some silent alpacas.
From what I hear from others, silent alpacas do a much better job of feeling better, and I definitely believe that and love the normal alpacas. In conclusion, please don’t buy zeal silent switches if you don’t have your own opinion and trust some kid on the internet.
P.S, Ended up swapping out the Healios for 68g Tangies and they’re awesome.
tl;dr: I don’t like healios.
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Ye, I got me some Helios dedicated to the HMKB in the beginning of summer. But during the waiting I kind of grew found of the sound and feel of Tealios and Yellow Ink’s that when I tried them on my plank last week it didn’t feel all that great. 
That might be the plank tho, so my plan is still to put them in the HMKB. But the plan to put Silent Ink’s in the Think might change. 
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yeah tealios are definitely my favorite switch, and i was not impressed at all to disappointed with the healios I got.
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Agreed. I love the idea of Helios, but not the execution. That little pre-travel kills it for me, aside from them only being kinda smooth and way too expensive.
I also generally agree that silent linears tend to be pretty “meh” in the sound and feel department - but I actually like the sound and feel of Silent Inks. For me, the dampeners are a good balance between softness and crispness.
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Good to know. I’d love to give silent linears another chance.
Also, boba u4s are great I just wish they weren’t silent
If you want non-silent U4 Boba, why not just put a Halo stem in there. It’s not identical, but it’s similar, and it’s certainly not silent.
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I’m using some Holy Bobas right now and I love them; so far my favorite thing involving Boba housings.
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After using the Silent Gazzew stems in some cherry housings for the past couple weeks, I finally got sick of that ol’ cherry scratch and took the time to transfer the stems into my silent alpaca housings, and oh boy was it worth the 3 hours of work.
The board as it was before.
The work ahead.
The board as it is.
All done up with the POM cherrys and some crimson cadet space bars
Black Ice
SPECS:A silent Gazzew stem lubed with krytox 205 in a JWK PC housing, with aftermarket 55g springs lubed with krytox 105.
T&P: These switches are top of the silent switch game for me, they combined the improved stem silencing mechanism of the gazzew stem over that of the alpaca’s gasket variety, with that classic JWK slick glide, resulting in a dead silent, and perfectly smooth switch, save for the gentle plocks they issue on bottom out.
I think the name is rather fitting, slippery as hell, silent until something hits it hard, a deadly combination.
Also if I can’t get Black Ice in Rainbow six I might as well build it myself. 
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Damn! Requesting a sound test 
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as always, apologies for bad and noisy mic.
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Dang that sounds great man. I’m might have to do the same swap.
Edit: thanks btw!
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