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
But I'm also getting one of these for my girlfriend. She's used to typing on a macbook keypad, and that has more of a tactile feel to it than the brown switches. It's just that I haven't tried clears yet and don't know it they will be too stiff compared to those macbook keys.
Any thoughts? I figure I'll go with the clears and take the effort to convert them to ergo clears if they don't work out stock.
Incidentally, I find that the browns are are really fast and efficient if I keep my typing light and am alert and awake enough to do that. But if I'm tired and start mashing on the keys a bit, I find I start making a lot of errors and things turn to a slog on the browns. I wonder if clears will help with that, being that much more tactile.