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
- Massdrop feels confident they can make "Holy Pandas" and as such that is why this drop opened. If Massdrop didn't feel confident they could replicate Holy Panda's then they wouldn't have done this- plain and simple. If Massdrop sold 2k+ Holy Panda's and the community received something else, I don't think Massdrop could survive the reputation hit within the community. Nobody would ever buy from them again.
- You, and many many others on these comments don't really even understand what's involved in making injection molded components, etc especially as it pertains to keyboard switches. You see tool, you see repair and you see other things and immediately start assuming Massdrop is trying to pull a fast one on you. (Why? Do you think Massdrop, a multi-million dollar company decided throwing everything away was worth making a couple grand on a bunch of plastic collectors?)
- Could Massdrop do a better job communicating things? Yeah of course, that's a dead horse that's been shot, slaughtered, revived and the cycle has repeated. I think the reality is Massdrop is between a rock and a hard place and can't provide the "samples" that the community wants at the moment- but intend to. Should they have waited to open the drop before that? Probably.
If you don't trust Massdrop, then why are you even debating giving them money? That being said, I think it was shady how Massdrop opened this drop unprepared in what appears to be just to curb the GSUS drop- but ultimately it lead to the organizer of that drop making the price per switch reasonable rather than severely upcharged... so the customer won once again. (Thanks Massdrop!) Everything in life is a risk vs reward, and clearly you're too scared of the risk... So maybe sit this one out. At the end of the day I'm pretty confident Massdrop will deliver, and if they can't- I'm pretty confident they'll refund everyone's orders, your life will continue and you can go back to happily buying $5 switches on Mechmarket.