which gateron yellow? (i.e., ks-3, ks-3x1, ks-8, ks-9) in general, gateron yellow has relative more stem wobbles, so it's kind of like unique compared to other competitions.

to me, everglide's yellow and jwick yellow pro are the closer ones, compared to gateron yellow with pc switch top. (well technically jwick yellow pro is more like gateron yellow pro) these two have relatively less stem wobbles

technically they all boil down to 3 main typing feels, but yeah the richness of stock key switches alone is crazy.

This post has been edited by horns: Mar 12 2022, 10:59 AM

afaik there are at least 5 different models on paper, i.e.,
- ks-3, ks-3x1 and ks-3x47 are with full nylon housings (these three are technically the same; the main difference is colors of housing);
- ks-8 and ks-9 is pc top and nylon bottom.

because of the differences in housing materials, they actually sound different. those with pc switch tops also have relatively significant switch top wobbles. (fixable with switch films)



if it's a prelubed, it's called gateron yellow pro.

i guess everglide's yellow and jwick yellow pro are what you're looking for.

compared to tactile and clicky switches, normal linear is the simplest switch type that have an advantage of getting better if you keep using them for a significant period of time. it's different from silent linear switches. i have some gateron silent red with side rubbers detached from the stems after few months of use. (they're from one the earliest batches. things might get better after all these years)

eventually we will go there haha

most of my key switches are aimed for personal comforts by using the right parts and having them tuned. for instance, i only use cherry mx black (stock parts, tuned) for esc and space bar.

i do have some that i can use with minimal tuning these days:
1. cherry mx red;
2. sp-star white/meteor white/cyborg/sky-night;
3. jwick c-black v1/2, ultimate black, jwick red/yellow;
4. giantv2/4/5/6;
5. jwk recolored (e.g., alpacas);
6. gateron ink black /cap yellow/yellow pro/x;
7. fff, oa, equalz c3 tangerine, durock piano;
8. everglide red/yellow/aqua king v3.

hopefully oil king and cj will reach me soon. (due to recent covid-19 control, domestic logistic in cn is much slower)

yeah it's terribly slow since few weeks ago.

the average rate of new stuff coming out is slowing down as well imo.

to me, the new pcb-mount screw-in stabs from gateron are the latest. these new stabilizers have blockers that prevent wires from popping out. (just like everglide v2/c3 equalz) there are two variants of the stabs: one is for switches that have the normal 4mm key travel distance, the other variant is meant for switches with shorter travel distance (3.4mm).

it really depends on owners' tolerance. maybe it's one of their attempts to minimize potential issues that can happen to the builds.

the side effect of north-facing pcb on cherry profile key caps are at the home row. (i.e., the asd row) however, they might not be as obvious as you thought, especially when you're using cherry profile keycaps that have thinner walls. also, you can always use other keycap profiles.

technically, north-facing pcbs exist because of per-key rgb (built-in led on pcb) + keycaps that have legends which allow light to shine through. however, when you check out most key cap sets, almost 99.9% of good sets don't support that.

tbh, unless you intend to get each proper size to fit your builds, get the one for 75%, or maybe tkl.

most of the times, your wrists are positioned around alpha area when you type. imo wrist rests for 75% or tkl are good enough.

as for options, there are plenty of options from the usual places. my suggestion is that don't get those with PU leathers. they will get ugly sooner than you thought.

oil king from gateron is meant for this.



however, i think they just aimed to solve just that, and forgot about the part that most if not all north-facing pcbs are for per-key rgb led. oil king is black. also, most reviews didn't highlight this feature about its compatibility for north-facing pcbs.

yes, in general, if both have similar bottom-out spring weights, linear rated springs are relatively 'softer' than 2-stage springs. you can check out the force curve diagram at sprit designs for that.

still not sure what exactly do you mean by harimau switch not fitting for that 1 key.

i really envy your passion and patience. however, not sure what happened, but 3 years is too long. we have gone through many kits within that time period, which means manufacturing of a kit was, and is not an issue.

i stopped getting stuff that needs ridiculous waiting time.

to me, yes. i really don't have such patience. there were many times i forgot what i ordered, then they came, but i don't feel excited anymore.

yes, if you really liked them just go ahead. it's just me that cannot stand long waiting time.

since China has a serious lockdown that are still on-going, i think this is expected. some stuff from my previous batch at taobao are still not deliverable.

right, if you liked it just go ahead. new sets are cheaper, because after-market price are usually targeted to collectors.

oh what's the original printing technology? double-shot and triple-shot are relatively better imo.

for printing technologies, i stick to double/triple-shot and dye-sub only. however, dye-sub is vulnerable to physical scratches by hard objects. just be careful when dye-sub key caps are used, especially when you pull them out of drawers. i have a set of cheapo multi-side thick dye-sub set that i like. few key caps were scratched when i didn't pay attention enough haha (the set is cheap, but it's unobtainable now)

in terms of typing feel, especially when you're used to touch typing, there are plenty of good but cheap cherry-profile alternatives. they might not be pretty, but their physical characteristics are ok to make good typing feels. (cheap sets have their own issues like increased chance of warped keys; overly tight/loosed stem holes; etc. however, most of the times, these issues are fixable, and don't affect usage)

from the look of samples, i think it's a good choice that they decided to switch to double-shot. as i suspected, such a colorway requires multi-side dye-sub, which is less optimal due to the potential risks of being scratched.

just pick the best profile for your own comforts. i stick to cherry profile because it's the most comfortable profile for me.

yeah haha

i'm curious, but what do you not like about cherry profile key cap sets?

now i got the picture. i think you prefer high-pro/tall key caps, like sa, mg those. what do you think about domikey sa?

as for sound, high-pro key caps also provide relatively 'thocky' sound, compared to lower profiles imo. (it's more than that. keyboard sound is affected by the board and external stuff like deskmat. in terms of a board, parts like switch, case, plate type, keyboard construction, and modifications, also contribute to sound profile)

yeah i have gone through a list of key cap profiles as well. eventually most of them are in the store room haha

maybe you should check out mt3 profile also.

i guess it's time for me to pick up key cap profiles that i skipped previously. the current profile that i am waiting for is mcr from melgeek, https://www.melgeek.com/products/gb-melgeek...ard-melgeek-com

their mg salmon is also ready to ship.

maybe they are similar, but the wall thickness of mt3 should be thicker.

like you said, the life of cherry profile keycap users are indeed much easier haha

for starter, you can get a minimum number of the same switch to try out to see if you liked it, on a hot-swap board that supports the switch. then, you can top up to about 30 units (26 for alphas; 4 for the most used keys) to actually type on them properly. if you still liked it after few weeks, you can top up to cover all the keys.

also, for comparisons of qualities, it's good to have a set of reference switch. i usually use cherry mx (with nylon black housing). you can choose whatever you want.

Hammerworks CRP is good. they're good-quality cherry profile, dye-subbed thick pbt key caps.



edit: for taobao, it's clear now that the slow delivery problem in cn is between sellers and warehouse, not between warehouse and users.

This post has been edited by horns: Apr 8 2022, 10:37 AM

PangHu's HPE sliders have a longer central pole compared to the usual cherry mx's. this means:

1. key travels will be shorter than the usual 4.0mm;
2. the bottom-out will make relatively louder noise.

i will make a set with jwick c-black v1 as base. compared to stock, a brief test showed that it's loud, smooth, with surprisingly minimal stem wobbles.