DCX vs DCD vs DCL - Drop’s Keycap Profiles Explained
We’ve covered the basics of keycap profiles before—spherical/cylindrical, sculpted/uniform, etc. One thing that has come up more and more over the years as we’ve expanded our portfolio of offerings here at Drop is the distinction between some of our similar profiles. Specifically, what is the actual difference between DCX, DCD, and DCL? Cylindrical Profiles To recap the previous article on the topic, one of the most basic ways to separate various keycap profiles is by shape (cylindrical, spherical, or flat). DCX, DCD, and DCL are all cylindrical profiles. The most famous cylindrical profile is Cherry profile, as defined by the original manufacturer of the keycaps—Cherry. GMK now owns those tools, and as such, only they can technically claim to produce “Cherry” profile keycaps. Similar keycap profiles are often called Cherry profile colloquially, but are in actuality slightly different. For the sake of not splitting hairs, all of the cylindrical profiles discussed here are...
Apr 9, 2024
Hopefully you didn’t catch yourself having spread some of these switch myths around during your time in the mechanical keyboard hobby. If you have, though, take this as a learning opportunity! As I mentioned at the start, there’s been a lot of historical knowledge and wisdom about keyboards passed down by way of oral tradition rather than in documents or videos, and it’s really hard to correct for that kind of ingrained community belief. To be fair, even I am guilty of having believed a few of these when I first started getting into the hobby myself. However, if you’re new to all of this and wanting to start out on the right foot, you should probably go read some more of my guides about switches to make sure you don’t get tricked by any incorrect takes out there. ‘The Secret Beginner’s Guide to Switch Lube’ is a good one to choose if you think you may want to modify switches, and the ‘Switch Marketing Terms: What to Know and What to Ignore’ is great if you’re thinking about picking up any switches soon! (edit: formatting)