Curious on a typing feel review when you get around too it!
2 Likes
Okay . . . just for you guys, I am testing the Gateron Longjing Tea in a live Neo80.
I am testing those two switches in the photo alongside the AKKO Creamy Purple Pro that the board is built with.
As compared with the Creamy Purple, the Longjing sound higher-pitched, quieter, and maybe brighter.
The Purple sound louder, flatter, and deeper. Clackier. You can really hear that creamy “slam” on bottom-out on the Purples. It’s also flat and slightly creamy-sounding on the Longjing bottom-out, the only part of the sound that’s comparable.
Actuation weight is about the same, but the Purple are more ‘P’ shaped, while the Longjing are more ‘p’ shaped.* That is to say, the Purple tactile event feels longer and more squarish, while the Longjing is shorter and more rounded. The Purple feels as though it begins the actuation process higher-up, kind of like Kailh Pro Purple. Whereas Longjing is more Cherry-like.
But really, they both actuate near the same place. The Purple feels subjectively as though it is about to actuate sooner.
As compared with Cherry MX Brown [pre-tooled stock Browns]:
-MX Brown spring weight is lower at the top. Maybe at the bottom.
-Longjing tactile event is more clearly-defined, and larger.
-Upstroke on MX Brown feels faster, as it has a smaller bump
-Longjing wobble appears to be less
-Far less scratch on Longjing
The Longjing are stiffer, smoother, and creamier-sounding, with a more well-defined tactile event.
I feel as though the Longjing are someone’s idea of what a Vint. Brown is like: heavier, more tactile, tighter housing.
I’m sure that more could be discovered by taking one apart, but I’ll leave those photographs to the people with calipers and digital scales.
*Longjing have slightly lower actuation force.
6 Likes
GMK Fabrik
Love the blue. I’ll take better photos tomorrow for comparisons to other blues but I wanted to show off the new font. This is the first set I’ve seen with it
First impression, it looks crisper and smaller. The number row looks very nice. But the F looks odd. The two bars on the F are the same length. Seems odd to me. This is on the F keys as well.
Some comparison photos
The modifiers look nice. Crisper legends. New text position on a few keys (like Numpad Enter)
The biggest issue with competitive fonts is mixing and matching sets. I’ll have to get these mounted tomorrow
10 Likes
I received the “x-ray” themed recolored roller linear switches today. They are remarkably scratchier than the regular roller linear switches. The spring seems identical and they sound the same. But man, oh man, they definitely incurred a significant downgrade in smoothness with this new color.
Also, I kinda need to put teflon tape on about 80% of the x-ray keycaps now. So, either it’s a defect with the PBTFans caps, or the black roller linears are stem stretchers.
I should have just stuck with the black switches in my build. Now I ended up with loose caps and scratchy switches.
Someone was complaining about the OG rollers being scratchy (was it @Neprawda)?
I have 3 batches of black switches that are super smooth. But these new ones are pretty off-putting. I wouldn’t have given them a second chance if my first encounter was like this batch.
I’ll give them a few weeks to see if they break in, but I’ve never personally experienced a switch changing much over the years just from typing.
4 Likes
I will say I thought the fit felt tight when I mounted caps on my back ones. They’re still there so I’m not sure if they got stretched, but I remember the possibility crossing my mind when I was putting them on.
I’ll also say the second batch of them I got did feel less smooth than the first - not outright scratchy, but definitely lacking the impressive glide the first batch had.
2 Likes
Awesome grab!
1 Like
Got a couple cool things in the last few days. Got two more Lunar Allium (Garlic caps) from Nightcaps, Chibi on the left, Sumi on the right. I got a 3D-OLCH Barkey in from Azi Keycaps. Then this is pretty cool here, I got one of the 22 Font Awesome Mode 80s (old model) that are in the wild! Not a board I would’ve bought most likely, but Hiney hooked me up with it for helping him do some work down at his shop. Which was super cool of him!
9 Likes
Since I love through hole kits, I couldn’t resist grabbing a Christmas discounted Argyle from Jae. Along with the Plaid, this is the board that inspired me to go on my through hole journey with the small army of Lumberjacks now in my rotation, so it only felt right to nab one as an impulse purchase.
I plan on doing a custom ortholinear PCB and plate, feels like a nice winter project.
5 Likes
Be careful with the board. It will remove keycaps and place them behind a pay wall every year.
1 Like
Horrible Photo and bad english day again. Yay. Prepare your eyeballs. Top to bottom, left to right.
- White (Clicky), Green (light Linear) and Blue (heavy Linear) version of those Alps-Clones with the unusably massive pins. I don’t even know if they fit in any PCB out there. Maybe those Alps+Mx? I like the blue ones the most, for some reason. They have the least wobble and rattle the least. But typing on them must suck after a while because of how heavy they are. Like MX Super Blacks.
- Alps FD Blacks.I don’t know if they are Clicky or just Tactiles that are so rattly that they click. But they aren’t that bad.
- Lcdragon (LCET Subbrand) Jinml X. POM+UPE Stem, POM top, PA66 bottom long pole linear. LCET has really become one of my favorite Manus this year. Very little stem wobble, very smooth and should have around 3.8mm travel. Lovely sound too. Medium in pitch and loudness.
- “S N K” branded winglatch Linears made by Kaicheng. Pretty standard “Red” switch on par with the rest of them. Nothing noteworthy about those, other than rarity or novelty.
- Cherry Mx Browns. 3 Pin Variant, if that makes any difference. Mostly bought them because i never had actual Cherry browns before and because the listing was sketchy as hell. I like them.
- Gateron N1s. Very, very old Gateron Customs. Maybe even one of the first. If i remember correctly these have PA housing and POM stem and are basically Gateron Yellow or Red recolors. These have less wobble than those full black Outemus that recently got released. How? No idea. Outemu is weird.
- Gateron Type R. By far the weirdest non-frankenswitch tactile i’ve tried so far. Also PA housing POM stem, with very short travel and… of that travel, it feels like all of it is just the bump. No pre or post travel, just all bump. Very weird feeling, but props to Sillyworks/TypistClub for trying something new.
- LCET (They don’t have a name) long pole Linears. Colors very similar to LCET Sea Salt. No Info on Materials, other than the Stem with POM+UPE blend, but i’d assume POM top, PA bottom based on comparisons with other LCETs. Very little wobble, very nice sound, but a tiny bit of felt and even audible scratch.
- LCET Red with a Nameplate you probably wouldn’t expect on a Switch by a different Manufacturer. It has an Outemu Nameplate. I don’t know how this makes sense, i don’t know why they exist, i don’t know under what circumstances Outemu would do this (if legit) or why LCET would use Outemu Nameplates in a shady and deceptive way (if not legit) but… here they are.
- LCET Chunxiao. I had one of these in a pack of other LCET’s and immediately ordered a full set of them. No Info on Materials again, but… assuming POM+LY/UPE blend stem with POM top and PA bottom. Very little wobble, crazy smooth and almost as smooth as Jixian Absolute Purples, which are still the smoothes linear i’ve ever felt. 5 bucks for 100, let’s go.
- LCET White Linear stem with supposed PL Material. No Idea what that is.
- LCET translucent green Linear stem, same one as used in the Switch above it. POM+UPE blend.
4 Likes
Holy moly those are some large pins lolol. Could you in theory cut them down to size or would that ruin something.
1 Like
I got my v2 x-ray switches when I became a reader and not a content placer.
So I didn’t write about them.
But you’re right. The second white version holds keycaps very poorly.
Even PBT. But thick PBT like 1.8 holds well.
The worst thing for me is with EPBT SAV-81 the worst of all, I can just press and release my finger and the keycap will fly to the far side of the moon.
But I still live like that. You can play or type.
And if about smoothness or sliding.
That the first, that the second are the same for me.
At first I complained and was very unhappy that there was such a feeling here.
You wrote that they are the smoothest. But I could not, how to understand - HOW!??!? After all, literally every press is a ball-roller inside rubbing and rolling. It cannot be smooth as if you take a ground-in lubricated pom or even a uhvempe.
Now after some time I have concluded for myself that this switch is just a new type. I do not consider them linear. I consider them a new version of the switch. Roller.
And I like the B2 X-ray better. Well, the one that came to me in B2 is better than the ones that I have in B1.
All this is stock out of the box without lubrication or modifications, I have it on my desk in two keyboard assemblies.
3 Likes
Not sure if it’s an optical illusion or my mind just being used to the longer top bar (or maybe the slight tilt of the key compared to the photo) but whenever I look at the Fabrik “F” it looks like the top bar is actually shorter than the lower bar. It is a bit of an odd choice.
I do like the smaller font though, not sure why but it gives my mind the impression of it being “finer”.
Just out of curiosity do you have Rudy or Deep Navy to compare it to?
2 Likes
Grabbed 4 packs of SW Knight stabs from Divinikey while they’re in stock, then got 20 of the black 2u stab wires & 108 Sea Salt Smoothies in from Cannonkeys today.
5 Likes
RP’s lil surprises are so fun. reminds me of Creepy Crawlers in the 90s, if you ever saw those DIY bug toys.
2 Likes
Got my lil’ BAE, a couple DCS BAEs, & a 10u black DCS spacebar in from Sneakbox, then 126 of the 42g HMX Hades v2 switches in from Divinikey today!
3 Likes
ElecFox and Epomaker helped set this year’s festive atmosphere by sending me some samples: Matcha Butter, Silent Sakura and The Flash switches, Epomaker Alice 66, Split 65, Hack 59, P75 boards.
I started by reviewing the Alice 66.
5 Likes
While I was out of town I got my new 65% from Fnctl.co. Pink resin and skateboards.
It’s so 
and fun. Radical.
11 Likes