I know nothing of mechanical keyboards, but I have always found cool the Corne ish Zen[1]. However, I don’t work alone so I would like something as silent as possible. I have an old Macally keyboard[2] that I know is silent enough. Is it possible to find a keyboard like the Corne but silent as a regular BT keyboard? Would you recommend one, or it is not actually possible?
cc @[email protected] @[email protected]
[1] https://lowprokb.ca/products/corne-ish-zen
[2] https://www.amazon.com/Macally-Bluetooth-Computers-Rechargeable-Indicators/dp/B07K24ZLWC
AFAIK, right now, there’s nothing available for something like Corne-ish Zen that would be as quiet as a standard chiclet-style keyboard (like your Macally). The Corne-ish Zen takes Kailh Choc v1 switches, and a linear switch (like Kailh Choc Red, Pro Red, or Silver, for example) are going to be the quietest kind. I’m typing on a keyboard right now with Kailh Choc Red switches, and it’s quiet for a mechanical keyboard, but a little louder than typing on a standard laptop keyboard, for example.
There are some switch mods out there that aim to make Choc v1 switches quieter, like “tape mod” or “floss mod”, although mods like this tend to be pretty tedious and time-consuming. There will probably be a “silent” Choc v1 switch someday, but I don’t even know offhand if one is in the works.
If you were interested in a non-low-profile mechanical keyboard, there are “silent” switches available for those (a few examples are Cherry MX Silent Red, ZealPC Zilents, and Kailh Box Silent Brown). If you type with a light touch, a silent mechanical switch might be almost as quiet as your Macally keyboard.
tl;dr: A Corne-ish Zen will be fairly quiet with a linear switch, but not as quiet as the Macally keyboard.
@[email protected] this is a great explanation, thank you!
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Dumb question: Aren’t mechanical keyboards inherently loud after? Always what kept me From buying one :-/
They’re inherently louder. But they’re not always inherently loud. There’s a lot of different switch types, and some are loud on purpose. So if you get a keyboard with blue switches they’re going to be loud because they’re specifically intended to be both tactile(you feel a ‘bump’ when the key activates) and loud (you hear a click when the key activates). I had an internet buddy with blue switches, and the whole fucking chat knew when he was typing because his mic picked it up.
Personally I like tactile keys, but I absolutely hate loud keyboards. So I have brown switches- they have the tactile ‘bump’ that I like the feel of, but they’re not obnoxiously loud.
You can also go with red switches, and those are just straight up-down switches. No bump, no click. They’re generally the quietest common switch, especially if you’re not whaling on them. There’s roughly a billion other types of switch, as well. It’s not just blues, browns, and reds. There’s even “silent” switches. I have zero experience with those, though, so no idea how silent they actually get.
Note: I’m not crazy into mechanical keyboards. I just did a bit of research before I bought one awhile back. So… grain of salt and all.
I’m not too familiar with the subject anymore. This artictle is a pretty good post about it that points to some good quiet switches. I personally enjoy some NovelKey Creams and find them to be smooth and not too loud. I would go with what ken said and maybe try to mod something. You could buy an extra pack of the switches to play with if its possible but they are easy to open and reassemble with a switch opener tool.
If you type faster than 50 wpm, get clicky switches and own it.
After about a month they won’t even hear it anymore. :)
Otherwise, I suggest tactile (which are quieter, but still have a key press to them,) or straight linear (which are even quieter but have no feel to them.)
Another option is a Hall effect switch (like the wooting keyboard.)
Oh they’ll still hear it. And they’ll just know him as the office asshole with the annoying af keyboard.
After about a month, it just kinda fades into background noise. Like the rattling of the water cooler or air con.
OP will still be the office asshole, though. People might forget why, but they’ll remember that much.
