Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
Sprue marks -- again, who cares, you can't see it when the caps are on the board.
Keep in mind GMK has higher MOQ and a lot less variability in terms of custom legends or colours.
If you have a cap/s that are unacceptable, contact SP customer support and they will ship you a replacement, they have been really good whenever I reached out to them. Usually issues are with space bars because their length makes them prone to warp. My guess is; they worked out it's cheaper to ship replacements than have someone super carefully examine millions of keys; there's certainly an argument to be made against that, but, I'm guessing most keyboardistas would rather get the sets cheaper, as you will need to finish it off to your own satisfaction anyway so... GMK make one type of profile in a smaller range of materials, it's easier for them to get the process polished so there's fewer faults, they certainly have a great reputation; it's the price you pay for choice. Sorry for the wall of text, I started to ramble a bit...
TL,DR; you may need to put a bit of elbow grease or contact SP, but you can certainly get the caps to the same standard; and you'll need to put some work into every set. :-)
PS: SA sprue marks are bottom front edge, even if you leave them you will only potentially see them on F keys and mods if you have one of the floating key designs, so max 20 keys to tidy up.
What has kept me from previous GMK drops, were the ugly legends and number row...Laser has some sweet alternatives - can't wait for my first GMK drop to be honest.
Additionally, are we going to pretend GMK has never had quality control issues? Let's take the absolute most recent problem - https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=89508.0 GMK Honeywell. If you want to read about it then click the link, I'd rather not have to elaborate here; GMK's had issues before this too, which again, you can read about in your own time if you'd like to educate yourself.
You can dislike SA all you want, you can dislike SP all you want, but your argument is still moot here. If their quality and feel (which is ENTIRELY subjective) was that inferior to GMK then sets like this would never sell, which is obviously not the case.
PS: I'll attached a picture of the Honeywell bottoms just because I think it's funny that that was one of your main complaints with SP and used as an argument in benefit of GMK.
Preferences in one side doesn't means you have to bash the other, I am a big fan of SA sets but I don't go bashing GMK either.
If I would point out the worst sets in GMK then it has to be Hyperfuse (I had the R2, and they're really bad.) being one of the worst set in GMK history where nearly all the caps were badly spruced and scratched. I know even if I were to point that out, people will just cover it with a ridiculous joke or some lame excuses: oh but that's just a few caps and it's the poor choices of colors making them looked like they're scratched.
I own multiple SA sets and the nature of the production of these plastic trinkets means there may be some imperfections. Same goes for GMK. The only set I've ever been 100% not happy with QC was R2 Hyperfuse and a lot of people know how that went.
If you still aren't convinced, just look at @louie_dogg's comment above yours. So what more do you need? Still aren't convinced? You can look for the reddit discussion about GMK Hyperfuse then.
The satin finish applied to SP PBT SA sets, for example "Industrial SA" which I own, is a delightfully smooth and matt without being "bumpy," much smoother than Topre/Vortex PBT but not as smooth as shiny ABS. (Industrial SA is great because you can mix the keys into any set and they "look right;" the neutral grey and intermediate finish makes it a very useful set to own, if you like playing with layouts.) I have never seen a successful matt ABS without resorting to grippy textures - so with matt ABS on the chocolatier, you were pushing out the boat - to the edge of what's possible, imho.
Because SA double shots contain a much greater mass of material, they are much harder to manufacture without the odd imperfection, it has to cool down perfectly smooth not to warp or smudge. Tai-Ho use really thin plastic for a reason, it's cheap to make; it makes your keyboard much louder; which is good on alps sets, bad on cherry switches :-b (I kid... I kid...); for me, at least, it feels very chintzy... SP must have to run a fine line between the odd defect and keeping the prices competitive. This is why thick double shot went out of business in the 90s in the first place; thin, laser etched caps are always going to be more consistent. To get perfect sets out, we would be paying much, much, more. But, their customer support is amazing, so having them ship you an extra key here or there (for free) is a trade off worth making.
However, their shipping method is really sub standard. I suspect that it's due to being an industrial manufacturer that dealt with commercial quantities predominantly. This is why "group buys" had to be set up to get custom keycaps sets; it was the only way to meet MOQs. In the last couple years they set up a web store, so you can buy individual sets; but, with their build queue being slammed, they struggle to keep it filled up. (You can buy a rather nice high contrast Granite sets atm, btw) Their store (pimpmykeyboard) seems like such an afterthought to their main business. I don't think doing customer fluff, like stylish packaging etc, is in their corporate DNA tbh. Having dealt with purchasing between businesses, this is how SP treat you; you get exactly what you ordered, no more, no less and they have excellent customer support if you have issues. While certainly refreshing, the 0 fluff attitude, doesn't play well when you start to deal with more mainstream customers used to unboxing videos. When our hobby was a very niche activity, that was just fine, harcore hobyyists don't care about a nice box and will happily establish a personal relationship with their customer support person. With this going mainstream through sites like massdrop, it just feels budget to the average customer, they don't expect to build a relationship with customer support for the long term, they want a nicely designed box and no hassle. GMK has been much better at making this transition, imho.
I'm going to stop now... this has turned into a wall of text again.