My Kingdom for Smooth ABS SA Keycaps
Every time I build a new keyboard, I go hunting for keycaps. And every time I go hunting, it eventually devolves into a desperate search for SA (or equivalent) profile keycaps with a smooth finish. SA is the ultimate profile, IMHO, and they're relatively hard to come by. Signature Plastics, which is where a lot of SA sets come from like the T0mb3ry SA Carbon set (they might actually hold the trademark on the SA profile if I'm not mistaken), is reportedly going through some management/ownership struggles (last I heard, they're looking for new ownership), and along with apparently the rest of the industry, they seem to be neglecting this superior keycap profile in their own stocks. If you order direct from them, they have a couple themed sets in stock (maybe), but generally you can have any color you want, as long as it's black or white. Drop carries a fair number of MT3 profile sets, which are very similar to SA. But just like SP's SA-P profile, they're made with a different...
Apr 10, 2024
That said, I freaking love this board and have no intention of selling mine! I got one a few weeks ago from the previous run of this drop and have really enjoyed using it so far. I was pleasantly surprised at how decent the stock caps are and I actually vastly prefer the near-silent "thock" of this board over both my Novatouch (very rattly in stock form) and even the previous genuine Realforce boards I have owned. I have never used one of the newer "silent" Topre boards which I imagine are similar, but those boards are more than twice the price of the RC930, so I probably won't be trying one any time soon. This board is much quieter than the average rubber dome / membrane "generic" office keyboard. It is actually my office mates with "standard issue" boards who are annoying me with their loud typing by comparison now.
IMO, the RC930 is an absolute steal for the price in this drop and should be purchased without reservation if you're into Topre-style switches. Thanks to Massdrop for making it happen!
I did own a 55g Realforce 104UB at one point and it was very nice, but I ended up selling it because at the time I found it to be too stiff. Ironically, not too long after I sold that board, I went on a Cherry MX Clear kick when the CODE keyboard came out, so that got me used to heavier switches and may have strengthened my fingers after several months.
Anyway, in comparison, the 55g RC930 feels *much* lighter to me, though take that with a grain of salt as I no longer have the 55g Realforce for a side by side comparison. One thing I am sure about though is that the tactile bump and "spring back" was much snappier on the Realforce than on the RC930. The RC930 feels much closer to linear in comparison, as I think some others have mentioned as well. It is definitely *not* truly linear, though, as I also have a Cherry MX Red board and the action is completely different from that.
The closest comparison I have in my current collection is a Novatouch, which has 45g rated genuine Topre switches. Compared to that, the RC930 does feel slightly heavier to me, but I still think it feels lighter than "genuine" 55g Topre switches do. So I would rank the 55g RC930 in between a Novatouch and a 55g Topre for resistance.
Overall, though, I really do like the typing feel of the RC930 quite a bit, and mentioned earlier, I personally prefer the experience over my Novatouch due to the much quieter and more pleasing "thock".