The plieades switches from zenclack had multiple issues when they were released. The bottom moulds had various issues from inconsistent manufacturing. Some failed to bottom out with the shorter stem. Others got stuck in plates because the bottom housing was made too large. Next was stem issues from inconsistent length. Replacements stems were made poor as some were sized right and some had added bits of plastic at the end. To date we have not received replacements yet, but zenclack has been very communicative for when the replacements were going out. Meirun has to earn the community’s respect again after this.
Idk, meirun first deflected the issue when providing replacement stems and took a long time to provide further replacement switches, which users have yet to receive to see if those are good too - Was hard to enjoy meirun in 2023, and will wait before indulging in 2024.
been very underwhelmed with the QC of meirun switches. My doom tactiles lost tactility after modding because of the switch leaves bending super easily. My bigwigs had burrs on the stem, making a few switches scratchier than sandpaper. honeycombs had binding issues with the top housing after opening the switch to spring swap. I gave them far too many chances than they deserved just because I liked the novelty of Keebfronts branding
@@quiltlessnight IDK if it really is a modding problem, I got the Zenclack Turbulence switches (also manufactured by Meirun) and throughout there were some delays, but also massive problems that reared their head closer to when they and the Pleiades/Subuwu (the linear counterpart) switches were sent out/received. Namely they had to pack extra stems with the Pleiades before they were even sent out because some batches has stems that were half a mm shorter than normal. Also after they had been sent out, entire batches were found to have a defect that causes the bottom out sound to be noticeably different and higher pitched, specifically batches 4 & 7 for both the Pleiades and the Turbulences. This is specifically shown in the notes of the Extra pages where both have a disclaimer mentioning the sound problems for both switches as well as the stem problem on the Pleiades. (At least Zenclack was willing to not only send extra stems with the original and even the extras but also notify those who had bought the Pleiades that this was happening) With my personal experiences, in my Turbulences, the housings began to crumble at some of the edges without me even opening them up, but when I did, I noticed that some of the parts had molding marks that extruded out on the stem rails. These extrusions affected the smoothness of them off the bat, making it more annoying to type on stock. In the end, after a bit of lubing, they ended up being pretty good switches for the price with batch 4 seeming normal to me and batch 7 being essentially unusable sound-wise, but still 3/4 is not a good ratio for a product, especially one you get through a group buy.
I've modded thousands of switches and I've learned how to properly mod tactiles. As an enthusiast/novelty switch they should be able to withstand normal modding techniques and tools. Honeycombs should not have binding issues because of top housings having variable tolerances so tight that they bind with their native bottom housing, but they did. Doom tactiles have a shitty leaf, this is noted by at least 3 other people I saw on the Keebfront discord. Meirun is just a bad switch maker and nothing will change my mind on that.@@quiltlessnight
@@quiltlessnight I had problems with my doom switches too. The housings didn't take well to both being taken out of the keyboard and being opened, which is bs if you want to do basic things like lubing and spring swapping as the commenter said. Meanwhile, I've never had problems with my milky tops that I spring swapped like 5 times.
i'm not actually mad about the softer sound. With the current meta trending towards loud and clacky, a more reserved and lower-pitched switch could certainly find it's place into my rotation. Some boards seem to want a louder switch, some don't
Appreciate the review and background as always! can’t say I’ve ever tried keebfront switches, but these sound interesting! To be honest though, I’d love to see these in a standard 4 mm travel, I’m personally still pretty long-poled out, and would love to see new materials / innovation in standard length travel. Seems like every new switch these days is 3.6 mm or shorter
@@gamerantersUnfortunately, there’s not a one size fits all answer to this. The switch travel distance to bottom out is also influenced by the bottom housing design. As a popular example, NK Cream stems have a 4 mm travel distance in their stock housings, but they’ll have a less than 4 mm travel in Cherry MX housings.
Would love to see an HMX switch review!
The plieades switches from zenclack had multiple issues when they were released. The bottom moulds had various issues from inconsistent manufacturing. Some failed to bottom out with the shorter stem. Others got stuck in plates because the bottom housing was made too large.
Next was stem issues from inconsistent length. Replacements stems were made poor as some were sized right and some had added bits of plastic at the end. To date we have not received replacements yet, but zenclack has been very communicative for when the replacements were going out.
Meirun has to earn the community’s respect again after this.
Idk, meirun first deflected the issue when providing replacement stems and took a long time to provide further replacement switches, which users have yet to receive to see if those are good too - Was hard to enjoy meirun in 2023, and will wait before indulging in 2024.
They sound pretty nice overall.
been very underwhelmed with the QC of meirun switches. My doom tactiles lost tactility after modding because of the switch leaves bending super easily. My bigwigs had burrs on the stem, making a few switches scratchier than sandpaper. honeycombs had binding issues with the top housing after opening the switch to spring swap. I gave them far too many chances than they deserved just because I liked the novelty of Keebfronts branding
Not fair to blame them for QC when 2/3 of the issues you described were due to you modding the switches. You really need to exercise greater care.
@@quiltlessnight IDK if it really is a modding problem, I got the Zenclack Turbulence switches (also manufactured by Meirun) and throughout there were some delays, but also massive problems that reared their head closer to when they and the Pleiades/Subuwu (the linear counterpart) switches were sent out/received.
Namely they had to pack extra stems with the Pleiades before they were even sent out because some batches has stems that were half a mm shorter than normal. Also after they had been sent out, entire batches were found to have a defect that causes the bottom out sound to be noticeably different and higher pitched, specifically batches 4 & 7 for both the Pleiades and the Turbulences. This is specifically shown in the notes of the Extra pages where both have a disclaimer mentioning the sound problems for both switches as well as the stem problem on the Pleiades. (At least Zenclack was willing to not only send extra stems with the original and even the extras but also notify those who had bought the Pleiades that this was happening)
With my personal experiences, in my Turbulences, the housings began to crumble at some of the edges without me even opening them up, but when I did, I noticed that some of the parts had molding marks that extruded out on the stem rails. These extrusions affected the smoothness of them off the bat, making it more annoying to type on stock. In the end, after a bit of lubing, they ended up being pretty good switches for the price with batch 4 seeming normal to me and batch 7 being essentially unusable sound-wise, but still 3/4 is not a good ratio for a product, especially one you get through a group buy.
I've modded thousands of switches and I've learned how to properly mod tactiles. As an enthusiast/novelty switch they should be able to withstand normal modding techniques and tools. Honeycombs should not have binding issues because of top housings having variable tolerances so tight that they bind with their native bottom housing, but they did. Doom tactiles have a shitty leaf, this is noted by at least 3 other people I saw on the Keebfront discord. Meirun is just a bad switch maker and nothing will change my mind on that.@@quiltlessnight
@@quiltlessnightsome switches do take modding way better
@@quiltlessnight I had problems with my doom switches too. The housings didn't take well to both being taken out of the keyboard and being opened, which is bs if you want to do basic things like lubing and spring swapping as the commenter said. Meanwhile, I've never had problems with my milky tops that I spring swapped like 5 times.
i'm not actually mad about the softer sound. With the current meta trending towards loud and clacky, a more reserved and lower-pitched switch could certainly find it's place into my rotation. Some boards seem to want a louder switch, some don't
Appreciate the review and background as always! can’t say I’ve ever tried keebfront switches, but these sound interesting! To be honest though, I’d love to see these in a standard 4 mm travel, I’m personally still pretty long-poled out, and would love to see new materials / innovation in standard length travel. Seems like every new switch these days is 3.6 mm or shorter
Im still new to hobby. What is standard stem length for 4mm travel?
@@gamerantersUnfortunately, there’s not a one size fits all answer to this. The switch travel distance to bottom out is also influenced by the bottom housing design. As a popular example, NK Cream stems have a 4 mm travel distance in their stock housings, but they’ll have a less than 4 mm travel in Cherry MX housings.
love the sound of these
Is high density Polyethelene (hdpe) just a blend of ultra high molecular weight polyetheylen (uhmwpe) or am i just confused?
HDPE is different from UHMWPE, it’s used in milk jugs and shampoo bottles! Not typically used in switches because the plastic is extremely soft.