It's not the first time I've seen a "why you should build a custom keyboard" but I've never seen a video on "how to discover and build your endgame custom keyboard." I know the hobby is all about preference and aggressive consumerism, but it would be interesting to hear someone's thoughts on what the endgame should be.
Because honestly there isn't really truly one endgame keyboard out there, or a perfect example of it. Someone could stop with a simple Keychron Q1, and some others would not stop until they landed on something with the likes of the Kohaku, F1-8X, Forever65, Jane V2 / V2 CE / V1 CE / V2 ME, 910, Cloudline, Tomo, and more. It's more of like a mindset or mentality of being content with what you have. For me, endgame is a collection of boards that fulfilled my desires in terms of looks, sound and feel satisfactorily, whereas it can still have some minor quirks and nuisances, but the pros heavily outweighs them. Endgame could also be an almagation of parts. Like a configuration of case + switches + plate material + keycaps that combines into something that brings you joy, without its negative aspects running around rent-free in the back of your head. It could be anything honestly. Really it's up to you to decide. personally I think there's no endgame board, but only endgame mindset. Out there, there are veterans that went all the way back to a simple ABS chassis HHKB as their "endgame" or i.e., the board that has been on their desk for the longest time without rotation.
@@Ray.F I love that you mentioned the Q1 and the HHKB, because I use both daily and consequently became my "endgame." But what I'm interested in finding out is the truth. What are the boards that slot in as "endgame" examples without the fluff and the buzzwords included. Just raw objective criticism. It's almost a challenge trying to navigate around that topic without stepping on someone's foot.
@@J7T800 Yea I admit the Q1 is a solid daily board. I typed on my Q1 often too. I'm not really sure what you meant by that, but I'm pretty sure that you already have your own answer to that, given the way you phrased it. Objectivity is nearly impossible in a hobby that is obviously, about preferences. It's going to be subjective regardless. So why not instead of trying to dive deep into what endgame means, Just go with the flow and feel out what you hate / like / dislike/ love about your boards. I mean if it's going to be super objective and pedantic, then it's not going to be fun anyways. Learnt that the hard way after being here for 2 years. I mean every "endgame" board I have own has its bad points - it's really not just perfect. Tomo - gotta screw the top mount screws just nice to avoid much resonance, pretty dull sounding on the extreme edges Frog - Dull spacebar, flat sounding, hence requires some _brighter_ sounding switches Sonnet - screws came with galvanise corrosion, pretty resonant in iso top mount, too clean sounding to the point it's boring, but it's nice So yea, nothing's perfect, and that's not a buzzword or anything. it's for real. Even Jane V2s have issues with certain half plates that shifted around when mounted. So what is *_your_* idea of endgame?
i would imagine that endgame would be your prefered mounting style and switch feel and sound, but i don't think you can reach endgame on aesthetics, as it will constantly be changing depending on what you're looking for on your next board, or basically until you stop wanting to spend more money and happy with what you have lol
Wow I thought it sounded great stock and thought I would hate clack and prefer thock, but the clack was so nice and marble y and creamy and I think got closer to the light clinking of bones I'm looking for. I still think I preferred the thoc creaminess though but they all sounded quite similarly nice
hello, I just want to ask your opinion. I want to start building my own keyboard rather than buying a prebuilt one, My budget would be $100. I'm choosing between gmk67 and lychee g66 pro can you help me? I can't choose between the two, I would also love it if you suggest other good 65% keyboard
it's still funny I've been watching the keyboard hobby scene for about 3 years and still haven't bought a custom keyboard just because I might get addicted to building more
Hey! have u tried Aifei keycaps? if not or haven't heard, they make the cheapest ABS cherry profile keycaps for more or less USD$20 and I'm curious how do they compare to GMK since they're also ABS and planning to buy a blue on white set. Thankssss Edit: Double checked the price
I haven't built my own yet, hell, I'm poor so I only have a cheap board I got from Amazon (it is an optical, hot swap, so I do have some options on modding and rebuilding at least), but I do love these videos for some reason. Those were probably the best sounding stabs I've heard right out of the box! I've seen quite a few videos where everything else sounds great stock, but the stabs have some rattle or tick even on really expensive options. That was impressive! And damn, yeah, both profiles sounded pretty damn good to me. I'm not sure which one I prefer because to my ear, they both were great.
Well honestly, building custom keyboards are definitely expensive. Which is honestly sad. But luckily there are some keyboards which won’t make me file for bankruptcy.
@@trulythatbag7790 There are a lot of options for those of us without much money to spare these days. There are hot swap boards that are like $25, which a lot of people can afford as a sort of entry into the hobby at least. I'll end up tearing mine down, trying some mods, and just tinkering with it since I can replace it for fairly cheap if I screw it up too badly (probably order a replacement before I start tinkering tbh). So yeah, there are at least some cheap options that can get people started if they are interested.
@@trulythatbag7790 Thank you. I'm just glad I finally got a mechanical board a few months ago...so much better than the crappy membrane I was using, even without any mods done to it yet. Definitely worth it IMO.
I want to build a custom keyboard, but I want it in ISO layout, and should support a stepped caps lock keycap, and it should be hotswap. What are my options?
i’m new to keyboard building but what i noticed is that the casing also determines the thockiness of the keyboard. I have both m1 monsgeek and a cheap plastic zuoya gmk67. For my m1 alu casing, i utilised all the foam provided alongside with 2 layers of tape mod (painters tape) and i noticed that the sound is hovering between thock + clack. for m1, i’m using KTT kang v3 whites. However, for my zuoya gmk67, i only installed tape mod and with the mediocre foam they provided and couple it with akko cream yellow switches, i am able to achieve crazy thock , thockier than my m1 for sure. It leaves me a bit sad as I am unable to achieve the deep sounding profile on my m1 monsgeek (which is supposed to be my main keyboard). Does casing matters that much cause i’m seriously in love super deep and thocky sound profile. Should I look more towards plastic casings rather than those premium alu?
Case material does effect the sound, plastic sounds deeper than alu and wood is deeper than plastic. The amount and types of foam you put in your keyboard also affects the sound greatly. Taller keycaps sound deeper and the material of keycaps also affects the sound, pbt tends to sound less high pitched than abs, but it is also more resonant than abs so it may end up sounding more marbly comoared to abs. There's also Keybored, who did a video about making a generally clacky keyboard more thocky just by changing the amount of foam and using taller keycaps. th-cam.com/video/_N8k0u75eLQ/w-d-xo.html
ok im just curious why is it that the people who aren't into keyboards, custom keyboards I mean, always show the same keyboard in every video. They'll have Grovemade, Orbitkey, Deltahub, Flexispot, Ergonofis and most of the time, prebuilts like Keychron, Iquinix, Nuphy, and Logitech, but then when it comes to custom keyboards, they always only show 1 particular keyboard brand, Mode keyboards. and sometimes Luminikey. Why is that? Is Mode somewhere being promoted on kickstarter or something. Literally every desk setup video i've seen, these people will have prebuilt keyboards and then the exception of Mode. Why is it that I only see Mode everywhere. It''s literally posted by everyone who isn't into keyboards for some reason. What I mean is you don't see Jelly Epoch, or FoxLab, or qk65, or zoom65, or time80, or space65, etc being seen. What makes the Mode so special? It's so bizarre. These desk setup youtubers always show the same exact products from one another and they always own the same product and somehow all of a sudden, they have an expensive Mode keyboard on their desk??? Makes no sense
If Lewis pins me I will have a 10/10 day
got u
wah u lucky sia
Thx love your videos
It's not the first time I've seen a "why you should build a custom keyboard" but I've never seen a video on "how to discover and build your endgame custom keyboard." I know the hobby is all about preference and aggressive consumerism, but it would be interesting to hear someone's thoughts on what the endgame should be.
ooo interesting
Because honestly there isn't really truly one endgame keyboard out there, or a perfect example of it. Someone could stop with a simple Keychron Q1, and some others would not stop until they landed on something with the likes of the Kohaku, F1-8X, Forever65, Jane V2 / V2 CE / V1 CE / V2 ME, 910, Cloudline, Tomo, and more. It's more of like a mindset or mentality of being content with what you have. For me, endgame is a collection of boards that fulfilled my desires in terms of looks, sound and feel satisfactorily, whereas it can still have some minor quirks and nuisances, but the pros heavily outweighs them.
Endgame could also be an almagation of parts. Like a configuration of case + switches + plate material + keycaps that combines into something that brings you joy, without its negative aspects running around rent-free in the back of your head. It could be anything honestly. Really it's up to you to decide.
personally I think there's no endgame board, but only endgame mindset. Out there, there are veterans that went all the way back to a simple ABS chassis HHKB as their "endgame" or i.e., the board that has been on their desk for the longest time without rotation.
@@Ray.F I love that you mentioned the Q1 and the HHKB, because I use both daily and consequently became my "endgame."
But what I'm interested in finding out is the truth. What are the boards that slot in as "endgame" examples without the fluff and the buzzwords included. Just raw objective criticism. It's almost a challenge trying to navigate around that topic without stepping on someone's foot.
@@J7T800 Yea I admit the Q1 is a solid daily board. I typed on my Q1 often too.
I'm not really sure what you meant by that, but I'm pretty sure that you already have your own answer to that, given the way you phrased it.
Objectivity is nearly impossible in a hobby that is obviously, about preferences. It's going to be subjective regardless. So why not instead of trying to dive deep into what endgame means, Just go with the flow and feel out what you hate / like / dislike/ love about your boards.
I mean if it's going to be super objective and pedantic, then it's not going to be fun anyways. Learnt that the hard way after being here for 2 years.
I mean every "endgame" board I have own has its bad points - it's really not just perfect.
Tomo - gotta screw the top mount screws just nice to avoid much resonance, pretty dull sounding on the extreme edges
Frog - Dull spacebar, flat sounding, hence requires some _brighter_ sounding switches
Sonnet - screws came with galvanise corrosion, pretty resonant in iso top mount, too clean sounding to the point it's boring, but it's nice
So yea, nothing's perfect, and that's not a buzzword or anything. it's for real. Even Jane V2s have issues with certain half plates that shifted around when mounted.
So what is *_your_* idea of endgame?
i would imagine that endgame would be your prefered mounting style and switch feel and sound, but i don't think you can reach endgame on aesthetics, as it will constantly be changing depending on what you're looking for on your next board, or basically until you stop wanting to spend more money and happy with what you have lol
Wow I thought it sounded great stock and thought I would hate clack and prefer thock, but the clack was so nice and marble y and creamy and I think got closer to the light clinking of bones I'm looking for. I still think I preferred the thoc creaminess though but they all sounded quite similarly nice
i love scroll wheel over knob, just so much more intuitive
Hey Lewis, having built so many custom KBs so far, what's your favourite of them all?
You should make a video about ktt strawberry v2 and how it’s different from its v1 counterpart.
Wow this might be the best stock sound so far.
what cable did you use?
hello, I just want to ask your opinion. I want to start building my own keyboard rather than buying a prebuilt one, My budget would be $100. I'm choosing between gmk67 and lychee g66 pro can you help me? I can't choose between the two, I would also love it if you suggest other good 65% keyboard
it's still funny I've been watching the keyboard hobby scene for about 3 years and still haven't bought a custom keyboard just because I might get addicted to building more
When can I get this keyboard
Hey! have u tried Aifei keycaps? if not or haven't heard, they make the cheapest ABS cherry profile keycaps for more or less USD$20 and I'm curious how do they compare to GMK since they're also ABS and planning to buy a blue on white set. Thankssss
Edit: Double checked the price
I shouldn't build a custom keyboard... I already have 5. But seeing as the title is shouting at me I guess it cant hurt to add a 6th one.
make it 10 ;D
building odin 75 soon
NEW VIDEO!
what keycaps are being used in the end like the white and blue ones? Theyre quite nice.
I haven't built my own yet, hell, I'm poor so I only have a cheap board I got from Amazon (it is an optical, hot swap, so I do have some options on modding and rebuilding at least), but I do love these videos for some reason. Those were probably the best sounding stabs I've heard right out of the box! I've seen quite a few videos where everything else sounds great stock, but the stabs have some rattle or tick even on really expensive options. That was impressive!
And damn, yeah, both profiles sounded pretty damn good to me. I'm not sure which one I prefer because to my ear, they both were great.
Well honestly, building custom keyboards are definitely expensive. Which is honestly sad. But luckily there are some keyboards which won’t make me file for bankruptcy.
@@trulythatbag7790 There are a lot of options for those of us without much money to spare these days. There are hot swap boards that are like $25, which a lot of people can afford as a sort of entry into the hobby at least. I'll end up tearing mine down, trying some mods, and just tinkering with it since I can replace it for fairly cheap if I screw it up too badly (probably order a replacement before I start tinkering tbh). So yeah, there are at least some cheap options that can get people started if they are interested.
@@mr.guillotine3766 true true, good luck with future keyboards.
@@trulythatbag7790 Thank you. I'm just glad I finally got a mechanical board a few months ago...so much better than the crappy membrane I was using, even without any mods done to it yet. Definitely worth it IMO.
@@mr.guillotine3766 congratulations then,I was hoping I can get the GMMK pro, Venus switches, and pixel art keycaps for my brothers birthday
can the keycap found in taobao?
how much will it be ?
I want to build a custom keyboard, but I want it in ISO layout, and should support a stepped caps lock keycap, and it should be hotswap. What are my options?
quite easy to get in a soldered pcb, a bit more complicated for hotswap however
what %
like 60 65 75
@@mrfishboiii1217 TKL
@@lloritoovidexequield.8609Honestly look for an after market Zoom TKL or QK80
i’m new to keyboard building but what i noticed is that the casing also determines the thockiness of the keyboard. I have both m1 monsgeek and a cheap plastic zuoya gmk67. For my m1 alu casing, i utilised all the foam provided alongside with 2 layers of tape mod (painters tape) and i noticed that the sound is hovering between thock + clack. for m1, i’m using KTT kang v3 whites. However, for my zuoya gmk67, i only installed tape mod and with the mediocre foam they provided and couple it with akko cream yellow switches, i am able to achieve crazy thock , thockier than my m1 for sure. It leaves me a bit sad as I am unable to achieve the deep sounding profile on my m1 monsgeek (which is supposed to be my main keyboard). Does casing matters that much cause i’m seriously in love super deep and thocky sound profile. Should I look more towards plastic casings rather than those premium alu?
Material matters a lot, but nicely made metal cases and especially ones with heavy weights can sound deeper and less pingy/clinky
@@thannydevitos2332 Ahhh ok i was about to lose hope on metal casing keyboards HAHAHA thanks thanks
Case material does effect the sound, plastic sounds deeper than alu and wood is deeper than plastic. The amount and types of foam you put in your keyboard also affects the sound greatly. Taller keycaps sound deeper and the material of keycaps also affects the sound, pbt tends to sound less high pitched than abs, but it is also more resonant than abs so it may end up sounding more marbly comoared to abs. There's also Keybored, who did a video about making a generally clacky keyboard more thocky just by changing the amount of foam and using taller keycaps. th-cam.com/video/_N8k0u75eLQ/w-d-xo.html
i ordred keycaps from aliexpress in like april and the tracking said its at the post office but its still in customs rip
Love that THOCK......
If lewis comes to my house, i would be scared
at this point the manufacturers can tune stabs better than I can peepoLeave
that keyboard in the video is diffenitely over $200
wot
Barebones kit is already 200
will the goat answer?
yes
Daniel give me coffee.
Daniel give me coffee
Daniel give me coffee
Daniel consider giving me coffee
Custom keebs > logitech keyboard that costs like $200 even though its a membrane
lewis can we play valorant carry me AHAHA
i cant play that game for nuts
ok im just curious why is it that the people who aren't into keyboards, custom keyboards I mean, always show the same keyboard in every video. They'll have Grovemade, Orbitkey, Deltahub, Flexispot, Ergonofis and most of the time, prebuilts like Keychron, Iquinix, Nuphy, and Logitech, but then when it comes to custom keyboards, they always only show 1 particular keyboard brand, Mode keyboards. and sometimes Luminikey. Why is that? Is Mode somewhere being promoted on kickstarter or something. Literally every desk setup video i've seen, these people will have prebuilt keyboards and then the exception of Mode. Why is it that I only see Mode everywhere. It''s literally posted by everyone who isn't into keyboards for some reason. What I mean is you don't see Jelly Epoch, or FoxLab, or qk65, or zoom65, or time80, or space65, etc being seen. What makes the Mode so special? It's so bizarre. These desk setup youtubers always show the same exact products from one another and they always own the same product and somehow all of a sudden, they have an expensive Mode keyboard on their desk??? Makes no sense
burger
pin me if you squashy boy is overrated
first!
i love you
man i sound like a bot
bro wtf
woah
@@LewisToh when is the next gb for killer65 bc i missed the first one due to money reasons, now i will save up
do finalkey x cidoo v65 r2