Been in the hobby for almost a decade, or around there at least, and the most important lesson I try to teach people who ask me questions is to avoid FOMO. Being afraid of not getting a specific board because of a hype train and limited production runs is a serious threat, and has made some people I know want to quit the hobby. It's important to remember that the hobby has exploded in recent years, especially over lockdown, and there are TONS of good keyboard options coming out, and more and more people are making designs and group buys. There will be another board that will come around that you will like even more, and you will have the chance to get the boards you missed in the future. Try not to stress yourself out over not having enough money for a board right now, especially with new boards being announced every week!
@conrad I just bought the KeyChron V1 because of this very reason. I looked for months for a keyboard that had the same height and angle as my old hp ku-0841 keyboard. I also ordered some Silent alpacas because I want it to be a silent build as well as some mx compatible low-profile switches to keep the key height low. DSA keycaps are also a good choice for low profile builds and their surfaces are all the same height and shape. The Keychron V1 doesn't have a wireless option but I don't mind that and it hit every other category I was looking for.
I find it weird people call this a hobby. Much of the time reviews of switches only focus on the sound it makes and neglects performance. I'm interested in buying a mechanical keyboard simply because I want to get into a better workflow. I use to have a laptop that just had a great compact keyboard that made me want to type more. I could just flow and was able to type faster and more effectively due to it. Sound means almost nothing to me, I'm often wearing my headphones. It's nice to have a satisfying sound when hitting the keys but that isn't my primary focus. So why is this a hobby instead of being about performance? A keyboard is meant to be used, you're not making music by clicking keys. I mean building keyboards itself I'd consider a hobby... I guess owning a lot of them would be a hobby... but isn't a keyboard suppose to be functional? It's so much harder to research when so many of the videos on the subject are from a hobbyist's view. I just want to find out what'll bring me the best typing experience -- not trying to become an audiophile.
"Don't stress it, just try it." As someone who has been in the hobby for years and has been giving advice to his viewers, your quote is the best piece of advice that I think beginners need to embrace. Amazing video, keep it up man.
@@braindeadbrick553 There just aren't many good low profile boards. I know Keychron just released the S1, but I have no idea how good it is. Also low profile switches just aren't that great.
@@jaideng721 OEM keycaps are jamming my fingers and probably also because of the travel distance since I came from laptop keyboards and those low-profile membranes...
My biggest issue is spending the $100+ on keycaps. Every discussion I've heard goes on about how designers need to be paid for their time and how small the individual orders are, but the amount of plastic is only worth a few bucks and once they've set up manufacturing, the per unit cost is very low. I can't wait for more people to get into this hobby so they fall down to something a bit more reasonable. Also PBT all the way
Totally agree. Keycap prices are insane for just plastic. You can say that the development of a keyboard, is hard and so on, but I cannot justify the insane prices for keycaps.
honestly i was like this when i first joined the hobby. now i understand that gmk wins, but crp is a good pbt alternative or xmi/shenpo/cannonkeys pbt since they all use the same blanks
Even if you factor in one time R&D costs, how much does it cost to design a keycap set? The vast majority of keycap sets are following existing standards anyway (OEM, SA, Cherry MX stems, whatever), so it's not like they are even designing each individual key, but just choosing the colors, font, and maybe some novelty images or symbols to be put onto the keycaps. At most it's a couple thousand dollars work. And as you said, once tooling is set up (which it mostly is already, due to aforementioned standards, costing just a couple thousand more for unique colors or font), it costs very little to produce, and metal molds for plastic last a very, very long time. The only explanation is that the cost is part of the experience; it's a Veblen, luxury good, where the more expensive it is, the more valuable it is perceived to be, even if the physical object is exactly the same as something 1/10th of the price. Thus, prices are inflated, and supply artificially limited ("group buys"), and those who try to justify spending this money tell themselves that it's for the "quality" (Are you really going to be using the exact same set of keycaps for 20 years? If you are, why are you buying multiple sets anyway?).
@@TiMonsor I'm exactly the same, sometimes I'm confused on how people somehow spent $600+ on a keyboard, but then I'm reminded that they spent $300+ on some plastic, while I buy pretty much the same for 20. Also, the lettering on my $20 caps has been excellent, perfectly centered and very sharp
This is most definitely one of the best "beginners guides" I've ever seen, be it keyboards or otherwise! You did a great job of giving real-life suggestions and didn't inject too many of your own preferences into the guide at all! I'm pretty deep into the hobby now (Probably close to two dozen custom boards sitting near me and another dozen in boxes waiting to be unleashed) and I wish I had sen this video before a lot of the choices I made early on. That being said, having gone through the experience much like yourself, I can attest that your advice and suggestions are very much accurate and things I would also recommend to others! Thanks again for taking the time to create this....even if I am late to seeing it! Heck, it still holds true a year later so you clearly did something right!
GMK has been around forever, because they were originally part of Cherry. I believe it became a separate company after an employee buyout, when Cherry wanted to shut down their internal keycap manufacturing (and possibly exit the consumer space altogether). Cherry is a division of car supplier ZF Friedrichshafen, and ZF reportedly wanted to shut down consumer keyboard production entirely a couple of years ago - Cherry's main business at the time was switches for industrial and automotive applications under the Cherry Industrial Solutions brand, anyway. Then the mechanical keyboard craze happened, so they kept Cherry alive, and rebranded Cherry Industrial Solutions as ZF Electronics.
sometimes when companies rebrand it blows my mind! its like elonmusk trying to rename twitter to "x" its absolutely mindblowing because i know for a fact he is smart so how come he makes such a monumental stupid decision? coming up witht he idea to rebrand a 30y old known brand should get you fired
Twitter hasn't been around for 30 years. Elon isn't smart, anybody who ever thought that should have really gotten the memo by now. The Cherry rebrand (and pivot in target demographic tbf) kinda saved them, so it can work.
@@gracelandtoo6240 he made paypal and became a multi millionarie, then used that money to become even richer, then used that money to become ridiculously rich! seems pretty smart to me. and the age of a brand is not the main factor. you were tweeting on twitter! now youre x'ing on x? i dont get it? it would be the same if google decided to rename youtube to "K" or maybe "L" or maybe "CRONK" it wouldnt make sense!
bruh, you just made me subscribe all because of how well the video is edited and everything. The way you narrate and put out a simple guide for everyone is lowkey mesmerizing. I've seen a lot of videos regarding 'beginners guide' into this hobby but you just uncrowned all of my favorites and I will be moving forward be using this video as an introduction to this hobby. Well done!
As a man who has sank $1000 in audio in 2021, i have also sank $800 in keyboards in 2022 (so far) Edit: its december 30 almost the end of 2022 and i have officially sank more then $1500 in keyboards this year
Yeah, well except their keycaps are not for me, but I've been thoroughly disappointed with kits from Ali express while I just feel content with Keychron Q and V line, the quality and features just happens to fulfill me and I don't want/need to buy anything else.
I was so lucky I had a friend who was also into keyboards. She went so far as to buy over 120 different switches to make a sample kit and even labeled each one! After trying all of them I realized just how tiny the differences are with the feels of each switch, sound tests definitely does not tell the whole story. For my first keyboard I went for Holy Pandas lubed using Star Wars GMK keycaps on a Keychron Q6 keyboard. I’m gonna build it soon but I’m excited!
the best advice i can give having recently built my first custom is to see if theres any custom keyboard communities around. i was able to find some local hobbyists and got to try a few keyboards to see what i liked. ended up building a GMMK with durock T1 swtiches. ive been very happy with it.
When I began this hobby, I didn't know if I should go for linears, tactiles or clickies as if I should only like one. After almost two years, I have a board for each type of switch as I enjoy using all of them for different reasons and I like to cycle through them. This keeps each type of switch fresh every time you use it and prevents from getting bored of only one type of switch. An important thing to remember in this hobby is that if you give switches a chance long enough you can begin to like it even if you didn't like it at first.
As a fellow 2-year hobbyist, I agree with these points and also want to add that this realization is mainly possible only bc of the abundance of alternatives nowadays compared to 2 years prior.
Nice video for those who are looking to build their first board! However, I would like to add to the topic of switch lubing. I have observed that most new people entering the hobby seems to lube their switches for the sound, and lubed switches SOUND GOOD, but bear in mind that once you use that set of switches enough (a month or two of heavy usage, your mileage may vary), the LUBE WILL SETTLE. The switches will still feel smoother than stock, but the sound will basically "default" back to how it sounds stock, minus the scratch sound at best. Personally, I wouldn't recommend relubing considering that the cycle just repeats itself and it is, to me, a huge waste of my time. So, in the end, just use the board and I'm sure you'll learn to love the stock-ish switch sound after some time. We watch content creators build keyboards with lubed switches all the time but this one is hardly ever talked about in the past 2 years ever since the hobby popped off. I often read suggestions to "lube it to make it sound better". Well, generally, that's true, it does sound less scratchy long term, but the distinct lubed sound will slowly fade away with continuous use. Also, Durock/Everglide stabs are overrated. I understand the hype, but ever since its release, there has been several new stabs that came to the market with new features and are WAY easier to tune than Durocks and Everglides, Tx stabs, for example, is my current favorite.
Hey fantastic advice buddy - thank you for taking the time to post. There are indeed many potential circular & pointless rabbitholes in many hobbies (all hobbies?) - & you've just educated me about a crucial one for this hobby. 👍🏽👍🏽
Your point about lube settling is wrong - from my experience of being in this hobby since 2011 and having used dozens and dozens of keyboards that have been lubed AND heavily used for 5+ years. Yes, the initial fresh-lubed sound will go away after a few weeks or months of use, but switches don't just go back to their "stock sound minus scratch" after 2 months; they usually just settle down slightly and then retain their lubed sound profile for... practically forever after that.
I just bought a wooting 60HE and dont feel a need to d3lve into "custom boards" any more than that, its truly amazing and comes from the factory in excellent quality imo
I'm really glad I stumbled onto this video. I officially got into the hobby last month and had been researching the type of switches, keycaps, and bases I wanted. This hobby actually taught me how to budget and feel okae with not buying 'high-end' parts because I wouldn't have as much appreciation for them for now-which is a point you made in the video! I learned to appreciate the growth that could come out of this hobby with every keyboard that I could build and that convinced me not to gun for a $600 build on my first buy! :') Thank you for this video, I'm glad I saw it while I need the advice. I'll try it, before I buy big :D
In regards to switch testers and small packs of switches like those 10 pack switches, I will say that sometimes it ain't bad when you can grab a few and replace just specific keys such as the space, shift, enter, backspace or the specific keys that you use for gaming. For speed or extra thump thock.
8:48-9:07 Totally agree with this - I also don't recommend switch testers to my friends for this exact reason. Hitting a single switch just isn't representative of how it will feel across a whole keyboard. Great video!
My first mechanical keyboard was a Keychron Q1 (ver. 1) with Gazzew Bobagums, I remember a lot of nitpicks I had about the key feel, the keycaps, the layout, the case color, and the switches. Almost a year later, I’ve given away that board and spent a couple hundred dollars on different types of switches and JUST NOW decided that in order to make my “endgame”, I have to manufacture it myself.
In theme with the video title, I wish I spent more time researching about what I want in a keyboard and less about wanting to have cool, modded keyboard that gets people’s approval. Hopefully this is just a me issue looking for people’s attention and not a widespread thing in the community.
My advice is the same as when you don’t know what wine to get at a restaurant: don’t get the cheapest, but definitely don’t get the most expensive. If you can afford it, go one level above the most entry level/affordable option as it’s much more likely to not be made to a common denominator and will give a better idea of what you’ll like without sinking too much money in also. The advice about getting popular switches first is a great one since you’ll want a point of comparison in all the reviews you see online.
I've modded several boards now over the span of a year and I got some additional tips: 1. Learning soldering is worth it. 2. If you are a non-English speaker, getting into the hobby, expensive high-end builds and especially keycaps is not worth it imo. Unless you want to learn to type on the US-ANSI layout. It's a hassle trying to find boards and keycaps that support your layout. 3. Don't be afraid of modding stock mechanical (gaming) keyboards. There are a lot of really good (and cheap) options on Amazon, with hotswap capability so you can try out switches. The Redragon K552 comes to mind.
Been in the hobby for little over a year and you hit so many true facts. GMK isn’t mandatory, only if you are after a very specific color. Now there are so many other options and in stock too.
Hey {{3}}! As a fellow mechanical keyboard enthusiast, I totally agree with you. GMK keycaps are great for specific color preferences, but there are so many other fantastic options available now. By the way, have you checked out the HOTO Compressed Air Capsule? It's a handy tool for maintaining a clean setup and it's reasonably priced. Worth considering for your cleaning routine!
I have been in the hobby for a while now and I go with hotswappable Royal Kludge and I did not regret, I slowly customize as time went on and it feels amazing now and I am happy with what I have. Also am a fountain pen enthusiast so my wallet is drying from both mechanical keyboard and fountain pens. Oh the pain of wanting to type and write with the best experience personally.
Your video, script, pacing, etc. is awesome. I feel like getting in under 10k subs on your channel is crazy. I'm excited to see where you go and how you grow your channel. Great job.
Totally agree. I have no interest (at least I didn't think I did) in keyboards as a hobby, I just need a decent replacement keyboard for work, but this video is so well presented that I watched the whole darn thing and learned a lot! Nice work and I hope your channel continues to grow.
That was ridiculously good - great work, can't believe how good of an 'into to mechanical keyboards' video that was... also love the accent/voice and really nice job with your studio lighting!
The most important thing is to take your time and realize that learning about the keyboard hobby is an ongoing task. The rabbit hole always gets deeper, take it day by day. Coming from a person who watches primarily tech youtube, and in tech youtube - keeb youtube - , this videos' quality in terms of information and the way it gives it is of the quality of a channel with a million subscribers. I'm late to the part on this one, but honestly being in a similar position to the creator I can say everything (except all stabilizers being the "same")* is correct and great advice. I have heard from lead director (cel) from nearLucid that staebies are way better then owlstabs but personally owlstabs are more then enough. I have had 3 sets, and theyve all been perfect. * If you can wire balance, then the statement "most stabs are the same" is more or less true. But if youre someone like me who cant for the life of them "pull a :3ildcat" and whip out the back of his iPhone and fix it, then you're going to have ticking with lower grade stabs (like durock/everglide). (for reference ticking is like a little clicky noise when you press on either end of a stabilized key). Also; to add to the lube talk; you're going to want to invest in more then one lubricant. It's going to suck, but the results of having both dielectric grease and krytox 205g0 and krytox xht-bdz is going to make your life a lot better. Also if you're buying krytox, use keys.my. Ships from malaysia (via DHL) but they have bulk prices of as low as $.08 per gram of krytox 205g0. For reference, at divinikey, one of the cheapest keyboard shops, 8 grams/mL is $18.95. That's $0.42 per gram. Don't buy fake krytox. If you're really budget oriented and you need lube, sw-92sa works well enough but at the cost that after months/years depending on how you lube you may need to re-lube as it will "dissapear" whereas krytox doesn't. sw-92sa is priced at $.02 a gram however, and you get a 35g of lube per tub ($2.00 each) from aliexpress. The con is you have to wait months for your lube as it ships from russia. Not to mention other lubes such as gs1, trybosys, etc. Also you don't necesarily need a switch opener for lubing switches if you buy a lube station that has a switch opener integrated in it, linked below; Minus the cost of the switch opener mentioned, its about $33 (without shipping/taxes) for a 4x8 grid for switches. Its made out of aluminum so it should last, and it includes box style stem holders so you can hold any type of stem. Also, the spring holders have a bottom to them, so when you go to pick it up they dont fall out. Thats 2 batches for a 60%, 3 for a TKL, 5 for a full-sized keyboard (technically 4+ ~8 over)
@@CheeseTurbulence Thanks! Something I should add in post is - dont believe something because many people say it. This has been a problem for people historically throughout the centuries, but it is a vast plague in this community. People overstate and make everything seem like an extreme. I remember when I was new people talked really horrible things about the Boba U4 switch (which I am now typing on) and that it was mushy squishy yadda yadda or that Outemu Dustproof Reds are extremely scratchy etc., While these things aren't neccesarily wrong its like saying a pile of dirt is the same thing as a mountain. Yes, outemu reds are scratchy even when lubed when compared to something like gateron black ink v2s or cjs etc. But it gets close enough where its acceptable at the price point. Things that people say are really bad, like the squishiness/mushiness of the Boba U4 are usually in actuality a lot less extreme then people make them There is definitely an argument for growing your sense to detect unpleasant noises in a keyboard, its a skill you develop, but this alone does not excuse the behavior of saying x linear is shit because it is 0.0000001% less smooth then another linear. And I really think linear smoothness is the perfect candidate for this phenomenon as the exponential graph of diminishing returns curves fast for this phenomenon.
I did quite a lot of research on my first (and only) board. Ended up spending £300ish and while I think it's a bit much, I'm very happy with the end product. The only thing that is disappointing is my own lack of lubing experience which resulted in many keys sounding inconsistent, but I've come to call it the keyboard's personality 😂 The biggest upgrade and point you come to find is the typing experience. Good stabilisers and harder springs makes typing feel so much more responsive, and I went from 120 WPM to 160 WPM on the first typing test on my new keyboard. I don't see myself getting another one anytime soon, I'm content with what I've (tediously) researched and built.
What switches did you end up going with? Also, do you agree that it is absolutely crazy that nobody sells split spacebars on a TKL (or almost any) non-ego keyboard ? If you are a touch typist and you have to reach for that backspace key causing your entire hand to shift, it is absolutely insane that this single wide spacebar was invented. Nobody uses both thumbs for space. I just cannot make any sense of this illogical design that has been around forever aside from my 1990's NMB The Right Touch which had a split spacebar.
@@regiiment Thank you. I'm actually surprised you type so fast on a 4mm switch. My ideal range is 3 to 3.5mm. 4mm just feels like too much work and slows me down.
My keyboard will get delivered today and it sounds insanely good for 65 CAD. I didn’t really need a new one but my current one bad spacebar stabilizer which is annoying.
My main issue with this is that I have a pretty specific feature set that apparently no one else in the enthusiast space wants. I literally just want a keyboard that has an identical feature set to the Corsair K70 with better switches, stabilizers, keycaps, and hotswap switches on a 100% standard layout for keycap compatibility. I'm at the point where I may just mod my current K70 myself to get keys that don't wobble and rattle so much. I had just about sold myself on the GMMK1 with their GMMK numpad, but then I looked into the software and it's apparently absolutely terrible.
Still on an original 1.0 version K70 to this day. No failed LEDs. Only just replaced my first cherry brown switch that was playing up on the A key. Enjoyed desoldering the old one with my equipment and soldering on the new one. Satisfying.
I've been a proponent of mechanical keyboards way before the hobbyist aspect of them really took off, so seeing where they are today is equal parts intimidating and amusing. I'm very utilitarian in my uses so I don't really care to headcase over all the particulars, but it'll always be odd to me how GMK took off in keycap reverence. For a hobby all about the nitty gritty of sound and feel, I'm surprised that key shine hasn't been a priority to eliminate. For the last few years I've been using a Topre Realforce and the keys are just as good as the day I got 'em.
For some odd reason a lot of people seem to like the shine. I've come around over the years to the sound of ABS keycaps over PBT, but I can't stand how they shine with use.
Building my first keyboard, keychron q2 with Akko switches and keycaps! Spent $90 on the switches and keycaps total, and $150 on the board! Super excited!
I decided to get a custom mechanical keyboard for the first time recently and I think I chose the best options for me. I have a uk/iso GMMK full size with drop/Invyr Holy Pandas (which aren't lubed but plan on doing so later down the line) and an AKKO double shot PBT cyan/black keycap set. I am really happy with the choices I've made with it especially when compared to my previous keyboard the razer blackwidow v2, I was considering getting the blackwidow v4 pro but I think I made the better over all choice with going custom.
Surprisingly, my first one came out better than my second one. I stick to the rule building the first one, then start being experimental on my second and third.
Came across your videos quite a while ago. Bought the keebwerk. It's been a while but as your taste is great, you showed some great sets that are really scratching my itch again
tbh I like custom keyboards, but I'm not enthousiatic enough to build on from, the ground up, so I just bought a great drop pre built and added some custom keycaps and am very satisfied but I can't recommend drop enough. After about 1 year of usage, 2 of the LEDs started to partially die, but it wasn't a big deal, so I just messaged drop asking if they could supply new switchs, but instead to my surprise, they sent a brand new keyboard, no charge, no need to send back my old one! very impressed, hopefully the new keyboard stays good and doesn't get any defects
Things to know when getting into mechanical keyboards: - No stock board will ever be as good as something you customized for your own individual needs, so get something customizable. Specifically, get the cheapest board you can find which has hot-swap sockets and is supported by open-source firmware like QMK. - Expect to spend a lot of time figuring out what you like. Designing your ideal board is an iterative process with many revisions along the way. - Use a keyboard layout editor tool to decide what you want each key to do... and don't limit yourself to only what is conventional. - Try a few common switch types, and learn how to read force graphs so you can find your ideal switch. - If you get non-default keycaps, a lot of the cheap ones ($20 to $50 for a full set) are actually good. Especially if they're PBT and/or doubleshot. - Instead of variable profiles with cylindrical scoop tops like OEM or Cherry... try flat profiles with spherical scoop tops like DSA. - If you're not sure where to start, it's hard to go wrong with a 65% to 75% board layout. That's the sweet spot for most people, and anything outside that range is more of a specialty or niche design. - Look at other people's solutions, especially their keymaps, for ideas you can incorporate into your own design. Maybe also join a forum or chat group for the topic, so you can learn from people with more experience. And lastly... maybe don't buy anything at all: - Instead of buying a keyboard, sometimes it is sufficient to just remap the one you already have. Tools like kmonad can provide features like a custom board, but without having to buy any hardware.
I can’t even justify customizing a keyboard, I would just end up getting annoyed when using a standard leyboard. Right now I can use any keyboard and not really care at all, sure some are more clicky, some are More comfortable, some are More annoying, but if I customized a keyboard and got used to it I would basically cripple my ability to use standard ones and as an IT worker that often works with end user equipment, it doesn’t make sense to me.
@@daesong1378 Not everyone needs a custom keyboard. I love mine, and it makes my life better for 12+ hours a day... but not everyone is like me. Do what makes you happy.
as someone that just started looking into the more expensive mechanical keyboards, the guitar comparison really sat with me. I play guitar too and i thought back to when I had just started playing guitar and couldn't tell those sound differences either. Really put it into perspective. Thanks!
As a guitarist myself, you'll also notice that with experience comes efficiency of movement to play the same notes and chords. As a beginner, you'll see huge finger lifts and over pressing on the frets, and over plucking and finger straining with the other. With years of practice, you barely see the fingers move. If you are a true touch typist with good form, you'll hate linear keys and you'll find yourself moving toward a lighter and shorter stroke over time to gain speed. Most switches are around 4mm total stroke and that is just way too much work. My 1990's NMB The Right Touch RT8255CW+ was only 3 to maybe 3.3mm and had the bump at 1mm and completed bump at 2mm with a noticeable return bump. I could type faster on that keyboard than any other despite them being around 65 to 70 grams of tactile pressure. I have not come across a key like it.
Seeing those Drop keycap sets at $100 is absolutely mind blowing. Those keycaps have to cost less than $10 to manufacture. I won't ever buy any there when there's so many you can find for $20 or $30 which imo is still a lot of money for plastic keycaps
A great video and precisely what I needed to see right now. These recent weeks I have been buying parts for my first custom keyboard and the one thing I could not decide on was the keycaps. I wanted something like the GMK momo yume caps which I missed out on due to being late to this hobby. I never heard about osume until your video and after looking them up made one of the fastest impulse purchases in my life so far.
I started out with buying cheaper sets of keycaps and personally I have ended up trying to stick with more of my sets to be only GMK. The quality to someone whose been in the hobby shows for sure. But manufacturers have really been pushing the manu process to match!
I don't hear many people talk about Akko Keycaps. They're in stock, around $60-$80 per set, double shot PBT, tons of colorways, and the quality is insanely good. I've got 3-4 sets of Akko keycaps at the moment, they're easily the best keycaps for the price.
Oh My God… Those keycaps are insane. It’s the first time in my life I had to subscribe to a newsletter for a set of keycaps. How much were they? Also, how do you not have 500K subs. Your videos are top notch!
Thanks a lot 😅 I'm still fairly new to the game, so time will tell how far this goes 😅 And do you mean the Terminal keycaps? (the ones in the thumbnail), those were around $70 (without the artisan), fairly "cheap" for keycaps, but yeah, they look very cool 🙂
So FUN FACTS based on 3:28 1) Signature Plastics, well known for their SA and DCS profile among others, was the first company to do a keycap group buy for the Western community 2) GMK's Cherry profile is based off of Cherry's original molds, as they more or less spun off from Cherry's keycap manufacturing arm
I'm so glad that someone who is into keyboards finally admits that breaking in a switch is a good idea. My keyboard started sounding even better over time when that break in occurred. Also helps with "scratchy" switches as that's often the parts that will get worn in over time. I'm a fan of the $100-ish range of pre-built keyboards. And also love my pbt shine thru keycaps. Cooler Master OEM profile ones are pretty decent and dirt cheap ($20 for a full set). I used those to "compliment" my stock sets on the MK Night Typist (aka, Ducky).
I got lucky and got into custom keyboards because of Osume so I was the opposite in terms of keycaps and didn't even know about GMK until later. Switches were my personal biggest hurdle. I settled on Akko CS Siliver switches cause they are really good easy beginner switches and I can't complain about them but recently switched cause they were a little too light so wasted a little money there and is my only regret with getting into this hobby.
Not sure if it would be of interest for you or not, but they do sell aftermarket springs! Seems like such a small thing that it wouldn’t be worth trying, which is what I always said until I tried it. Now I feel like I can’t go back… lol Love some heavier 2 or 3-stage springs
@@sixxtylol I actually thought about that before I bought new switches but for me personally I was a mix of lazy/intimidated to replace springs but it's absolutely a viable option for some!
You should really look at Akko Their new boards and keycaps are seriously awesome! I've got the Very Pery set on gat ink black v2s and they look, sound, and feel amazing. Also I can't wait for you to blow up, your content is seriously amazing! Keep being you 💜
THIS IS THE VIDEO everyone should be watching when they enter the hobby. Wish I had this when I started. p.s. Nice to see someone else using Terminal caps. Looking forward to R2.
Something else to know about as far as trying it is a lot of customs hold their original value if not going up more depending on the board. If you go balls to the wall on your first board and want to try something else, you can pretty easily resell and not lose much if anything
Update: pandemic rush is over, boards lose value now. Low end is getting very close to high end now so if you want to spend a lot, it's for the aesthetics rather than quality
Good thing rating start to test keyboards, I was going to get a keychron hot swappable, but saw rating test shows wired latency is 15ms+, that's slower than razer or logitech's BT connection... the current corsair keyboard I use has less than 1 ms. It's funny mechanical key switch were meant to for typing but got popular because of gamers, the exact opposite is happening with custom keyboards. So if you care about gaming performance, do yourself a fav, get a Corsair or Wooting
I built a complete custom one from scratch. Designed the pcb, machined the housing, programmed the microcontroller. All because i wanted maximum flexibility... long story short, after about a year I got bored of my precious keyboard. You customize these things once and then leave it... I now ended up just using cheap mechanical keyboards from china. Because I need a change once in a year and want a new one :D
love the vid! If I could go back into time to save me money and frustration: 1) Don't cheap out on a switch puller - I am currently using a Rama switch puller for like $10 and it's my holy grail tool (no more broken switches, no more hard to remove switches). 2) If you plan to stay in the hobby for a while get the Gateron switch opener as it will save your fingers from cracking open switches. 3) don't be afraid to buy a more pricey board at first as you will be typing on the board everyday for years. I got a lot of cheaper boards collecting dust now or have issues just because they are not as good quality. Buy a quality board and you will save in the long run. 4) This might be unpopular, but don't be afraid to buy clones - it will save your wallet. I personally got multi GMK, MT3, Domi, etc and honestly you won't be able to tell much difference. Go with what set you think would look best on your board.
My first custom keyboard is actually really good by most metric. I watched a bunch of videos about the hobby before deciding that my old first gen K2 & Apple keyboard needed an upgrade. I had a few rules and still do - I would not get into Group Buys. Only buy keyboards that are currently in stock, or pre-order to be released in the next few weeks. Waiting 2 years for something i might not like is no fun. Secondly, I stay with Hot Swap, no soldering PCB, I know i will make mistakes and don't want the fix to be awkward. That would take away the fun. Thirdly, I wouldn't want to lube switches, that's no fun. Then I went into it...researching. I ended up with a Keychron Q1 ver2. Then bought some Gateron Oil Kings and some NovelKeys PBOW Keycaps. I did the Force Break Mod, PE foam mod and I must say the feel and that pebble like noise is unreal. Is it end game? Probably not, but my god, it's amazing!!! Some people would probably call that isn't really in the hobby, no group buys and don't want to lube anything. For me, if the factory lube is done right, the switch is smooth, then the sound at the end is good then that's all i can ask for. Who lubed it, don't really care. I think the Keychron offerings are very good as a platform. So much value in there. Last couple of weeks i received a NUPHY Halo 65, a pre-built keeb. But it has all the silicon and foam dampening already done, the spacebar sounds unreal, actually sounds better than my Keychron somehow. Sooooooo much value for 1/3rd of the cost of my Q1.
I`m quite new in this hobby as I´ve just started changing my whole setup since my girlfriend moved in with me but I really enjoy it, got my first mechanical keyboard but I plan on getting a custom keyboard, watching videos about that for a while now and just came across this video, I gotta mention that this was on one hand very helpful but on the other it was an experience, it was so chill and relaxing, thank you for that
I bought a GMMK Pro, Keychron Q1 and another cheap but hotswap 75% with a polycarbonate case. I rotate between them trying out different switches, keycaps, springs, stabs, plates etc. I prefer this approach because I can hone in on what really appeals without acquiring needless amounts of keyboards. FE, I don't personally like 65% profile, I like a 15mm ~75g spring, and have discovered various stabs that are purported to be "the best" and found them to be...ok. I've tried various different silent linear switches (my personal preference), and found what lube works best. My advice to newcomers is to buy 2 of the profile you like and just switch back and forth trying different things.
This hobby is an exercise in landfills and waste. As I am getting into it, it is frustrating that I have to buy, possibly return or keep these boards instead of being able to try them somewhere 😢
very nicely made video, the grafics , the props with the same color on the background, the minimal music on the background.... very nice indeed my friend
This is whole "hobby" is like the business card scene in American Psycho and that ProZD video about water-tasting had a pathologically consumerist baby who's addicted to overpriced plastic.
When I bought my Unicomp keyboard in... 2008? It was before the whole mechanical keyboard scene exploded. You had your pick of like... 5 switch types? Now there are over a hundred. I'm trying to pick a new keyboard and I am just blown away by the sheer amount of choices.
I learned to type on a typewriter, and had an original Model M in the 80s, 90s, and 00s; switched to a Unicomp in the 2010s. Had that for several years and decided to start looking into custom keyboards and keep that as a backup option. I went with Cherry Brown switches on my entry-level board and I do miss the tactile feel of the switches, so if you like the feel of the Unicomp, definitely don't go for anything 'smoother' than Brown, imo
@@geolologist I really like the feel of blue switches, browns are pretty good as well. Only problem is that I need something quieter, preferably something that is not any louder than my laptop scissor switch keyboard. I tried Gamakay Pegasus, and they feel OK, but more akin to typing on a really high quality membrane keyboard. I must need some kind of audible click, and something preferably high pitched. I'm looking into the Kailh Whale, Gamakay Phoenix.... Willing to look for other options as well
Regarding the "no shine" so called feature of Drop's DCX keycaps mentioned at 5:02. I bought the DCX Cyber ones (MiTo) back in August, and after using them for roughly four months now, I can say they get as shiny as GMK's.
@@CheeseTurbulence Thanks to you for the video!, I only forgot to specify that the keys with shine already present, are the ones I use when gaming: I play around one hour at night rom Mondays to Fridays, and around three hours or less on Saturdays and Sundays.
when you said "try it for a couple of days" it reminded me of back when i built my first keyboard with mx hyperglides after i lubed them they were scratchy almost like i put sand in them i was so close to throwing them out but after consistenttly using my keybaord for weeks it kept sounding cleaner and smoother. they are one of my favorite switches til this day now
First board was a 60% fantech maxfit61 tape modded, bandaid mod case foam with a peice of silicone mat,and thin pe foam between board and plate, I put in akko lavender purples with ebay doubleshot shine through kecaps, lavenders sounded amazing, felt amazing, wanted to try linears tho so I lubed and put on some akko CS silvers and never went back Next board is same keycaps but different color, but I'm trying a 65% as I missed my arrow keys, I'll be going fantech maxfit 67 with mixed stock lavenders and lubed jelly blacks ( jellys on letters) this time
I just got a Keychron K4. I got it because I absolutely needed a numpad and arrow keys, but wanted a smaller footprint, and because it was cheap. The hotswap keys are a bonus, and I'll def try some other ones, but they were not my primary reason for getting this board. My expectations were not extremely high, but I'm happy so far. The layout will take some taking used to, but it's not too bad. The advice that I can give when buying anything. Figure out what you absolutely need and go from there. Don't pay for gimmicks you will never use.
I got a keychron q2 w/ knob as my first keyboard. Bought some Ink Black Box V2's and SA profile keycaps. Made some basic mods like the tape mod. I've still got to lube the switches, change the stabilizeras and the plate. And ofc a custom knob will be a cherry on the top. Overall this hobby has been super fun. Costly, but definitely worth it if you enjoy a good sound and aesthetics
Long read if you want to help. My first build things i dont like. Id80 v1 extremely hollow. I filled it with a cut up tshirt that helps at least 50% but no i cant unhear it. Cheap Steelseries pudding like keycaps. Just thought i would like them, but they got old too quick. I saw the cool kids and like those. No rgb. I want rgb. Stabs durock v2. Sound horrible but may be aided by hollow case and cheap keycaps. Integrated alum plate. Doesn’t bother me, but would like to explore other options. I want to try POM. What i like I love my lubed hippos. And as a first buy probably spoiled me. So what would be a similar switch for exploring? Tape mod and tshirt filler. Sounds weird but it works, but i used alot of tape. Of course the sound is really good for a cheap build, but definitely want to get rid of hollow sound and the small rattle on space bar.
Excellent quality video! Was recommended to me just as my keyboard obesseion took over and I was watching a craaaaap ton of keyboard vids for my first keyboard.
Your video editing skills are next level. I watched the whole video just for the enjoyment of how professional the shots were, yet you still threw in humor. :) Keep up the hard work. You're going places!
Built my first custom keyboard after watching for the past three years and listening to countless switches and cases to figure out what I like. I ended up paying $160 USD for what I wanted and I'm in love. The board looks and sounds exactly how I was hoping and being able to build it with my son was such a joy!
i'm just starting to get into the hobby and i'm super excited to try and make my board better. I started with a hotswap board with some tactile switches and now I'm purchasing a new set of linears and a lubing kit trying to just make it better. hopefully in the future I'll be able to make my own board that fits everything I'm looking for but one thing I know from just doing it outside of keyboards is soldering is a scary thing because if you mess it up it's not the easiest to recover from, thankfully it's pretty difficult to really mess it up but I don't want to get a special tool to desolder my switches if I end up making a mistake or not liking them so I'm gonna try out a bunch before I make a final decision.
Been there, done that - exactly as with Headphones. I always found myself to getting back to my Cherry G80-1800 and AKG K240, despite having bought, tested and used many others, most of them way more expensive. They all just didn't make the cut for me though - I always bought them out of FOMO or because I spent way too much time on corresponding subreddits. Same with mice. Went through 20 different ones over the last years and always find myself reverting back to the MX518L or Intellimouse Pro.
I bought a pre built. The plate mount stabs is pretty decent yet decided to replace it with Durock. Realized that the Durocks doesn't fit well because it has a bigger housing. Took it out and used the stabs that came with the board. Having a huge regret on why I wasted money and stressed myself on stabs that doesn't fit.
What a great video. Been in the hobby for a couple of years now, this video resonates well with me and agreed with virtually all if not all the points you made 👍🏼
Some very good points. If there's a place to start - I'd suggest focus on layout, standard or low profile, volume level and whether you want QMK/VIA. To me the No 1 priority is wide keycaps and low profile on a keyboard that's 75% or thereabouts. Ergonomics and desk space. How little desk space it consumes really changes ergonomics - and I spend a lot of hours designing - so mouse in one hand and keyboard for shortcuts. I like low profile because it feels like my wrists are straining less too. Also, I can slip the keyboard in my macbook air bag which to me is much nicer than the mac keyboard. I have both linear and clicky switches I have a preference for quieter switches as the noise tends to make me try and rush - it's not necessary. Lastly, being able to make the keyboard do whatever you want in terms of layers, shortcuts, make the software conform to your habits has been a big thing for me. Remapping 8 or so adobe actions to the most logical left hand only shortcuts makes a huge difference in my workflow and even extended macros for saving work with settings that Adobe doesn't give you an action for is a lifesaver for me - others may not care. So for me it's low profile, 75%, VIA and make it reasonably quiet. Wireless is a nice to have - and yes, all my keyboards work well on bluetooth, cleaning a few cables off my desk. Discovering low profile keyboards after years of full size cherry's and even older was a big thing. My latest purchase - or should I say 3 purchases is the YK75 keyboard - I found it at under $30 with outemu blue switches and good enough keycaps for it to be a travel companion that can quickly get me to 90% of my comfort zone. No software or macros - and not exactly quiet either but a keyboard I can pull out and work reasonably quicky with. So even with preferences ranked, You can still make compromises in some situations that work - albeit as a backup.
A thing I've found is I didn't need to get a 100% keyboard as my first, or at any stage, they only make your adventure more expensive in the long run. A better alternative is to get 60%, or even better TKL boards that are less expensive and suppliment them with an external keypad(20%) if you feel the need.
so i just started this hobby a few months ago but boy is it addictive. I started out with an ODIN R3 which is my main board but now i have ordered 4 more boards, 10 keycap sets (for a combined 300-400 euro btw) and 3 different switches... yes, the first board was very expensive BUT in total for the other 4 boards i paid less than 200 euro, and that is with 1 costing 100. What im trying to say is, "you can get into custom keyboards for less than 100 bucks and actually get a good looking, nice typing and great sounding keyboard" (modding might be required)
did exactly all of this, going to be building my first time coming weekend: bought a "cheap" hotswap keychron, bought oil kings as switches and a full keycap set from KBD fans. Don't know what I'm in for :D
osume keycaps are so gorgeous and are relatively affordable too. I've purchased two of their sets and they feel and look awesome. Also a very informative video, thank you!
Coming from a gaming background, I love my backlit keys but want thicker caps with a cherry profile - but it seems enthusiasts don't like backlit keys. Why is that? Backlighting is a sought after thing in a lot of consumer boards - makes it so much easier to read, especially since I use my keyboard in low light quite often. I find it almost impossible to premium to find shine-through, premium keycaps on a cherry profile.
O"Oh boy, that was my first video from your channel. It's really rare to come across a video with such great quality - the sound, visuals, your voice, camera, and overall aesthetics are just on point. I really enjoyed it. I also appreciate that you didn't say anything irrelevant just to fill up the time. BTW: I'm not into the hobby, but I just want to buy myself a good-looking keyboard. Keep going and your channel will explod.
When I built/modded my mech KB, I focused on what I could get *today* and *locally* here in Aus. So I ended up with a RK75 keyboard, that I pulled to bits: I put Gateron CJ switches because they were available and seemed to fit what I was after, I lubed/holee modded the stabilisers (the stock ones!), put thin foam in the case, and got a set of cute IBM-coloured keycaps to remind me of my original Pentium 1 (100MHz! Blistering fast...) computer, again, because they were locally available (NicePBTs in beige) -- I got a great sounding, awesome looking, great feeling mechanical keyboard and I got it fast and locally. That was more important to me than anything else. Waiting a year+ for some GMK keycaps was just mental. Never going to haha
I got into this hobby quite a while back, I'd say a good 5 years ago at least. It was around the time that I built my first proper PC and everybody was saying I NEEDED a mechanical keyboard and everybody said cherry MX was best but nobody knew why or what the difference was between each switch (or even had tried each switch). This was long before the big hype that is the modern keyboard scene as we know it today. I did a lot of research and stumbled across Chyrosran22's channel, it was great and for quite some time I went down the rabbit hole of looking for vintage keyboards. Custom keyboards at the time often ALWAYS lacked 1 feature (that until very recently I still thought I needed) - a numpad. I ended up buying lots of vintage keyboards for cheap, picked up an old Chicony board with MX blues (never do this), a old semi mechanical thing that felt quite interesting, lots of different bits, I was ultimately in search of a cheap IBM model M, or something with Blue Alps, but these boards were often going for crazy money so this was never going to work out. Shortly after this I finished the college course I was doing which meant my home PC would be used for nothing but gaming and very little typing. At this point I had decided a wanted a linear switch. I HATE typing on linear's but they are just the best for gaming, when you want quick key presses with nothing in the way it has to be linear. I picked up the monstrous original Corsair K95, the one with the massive bank of G keys off to the left hand side. This had cherry reds. I knew that this wasn't ultimately what I wanted but it was so much better to game on than those previous vintage boards that I settled with it for quite some time. Then probably about a year and a half or so later Chyrosran22 did a video on the SteelSeries Apex Pro. He was genuinely impressed with how smooth the key switches were. I loved the look of it also and he gave it a glowing review so I knew I had to get one. The price at the time was ~£200 so I decided to wait a bit to see if that would come down and then randomly me and my mate were checking Amazon and I don't know if it was a price glitch or something but they keyboard popped up for £150. I instantly bought it and I also convinced my mate to as well. I have no regrets and its a great keyboard, but it is sooooo smooth, I just can't type properly on it! So I was sorted for a gaming keyboard, which was fine for now as all I used my PC for was gaming. However I have just started an apprenticeship for which I am studying for a degree at university. So now I finally have to go back down this rabbit hole as I really need a keyboard for doing a lot of typing! So so much has changed. I've loosely followed the hype train but not religiously enough to know what switches to avoid and what are the best. I think for my taste I will end up liking something like Kailh box switches, however I have never tried them so I just don't know. I wanted ZealPC to make a less tactile version of their clickiez switch - closer to blue Alps - I think this will be the holy grail of switches. I've ordered a switch tester which would be my advice for anyone to do first if you are inexperienced. Also don't use it like its a tester - its hard because its just one switch but don't sit there pressing it from the top with one finger, try to image you're typing on it almost if that makes sense? I have a base for this keyboard I'm going to make, managed to find the EVGA Z-15 on amazon for £55 last year, which is a full size hot swappable keyboard. and I've ordered some nice but obviously knock off g-mky AFSA profile keycaps from Ali-express. I'm working on the assumption that I may like Kailh box Pinks or Chosfox Artic Fox V2 switches best - but without trying them I just don't know. Maybe I'll post an update after the test arrives. I know this will not be my endgame keyboard, bit it should definitely get me close! I know now that - since using a keyboard without a numpad at my new job - that I do not need one, so this opens up a lot more options for me in the custom keyboard world. This was a great video, it kind of summed up the conclusions I had came to myself over time. I wish I had done this sooner though, but alas I am finally scratching that itch and will soon have my first sort of custom keyboard! :D
I'm relatively new to the hobby but I've owned mechanical keyboards for a while, and the way I tried to approach it is to ask myself WHAT I wanted in a keyboard, having typed on them for going on 45 years? Once I answered that, I could then narrow down the keycaps and switches, as well as the likely boards. (I do a lot of work in a dark room, so I ended up with pudding keycaps from Glorious, and I use a lot of tactile switches. I chose the ROG Azoth for my board - it's hot-swap, the company *encourages* modding it, and it's a solid base keyboard. Latest switch I'm trying is the Gateron Baby Kangaroo v2s (what a marketing gimmick that name is!), which are supposedly one of their best tactile switches (and seem quite popular at the moment). So I bought a set. Risking $50 for switches is far less expensive than risking $250 for a bum keyboard, so if the GBKs don't work out, I'll try another maker. Tons of tactile switches out there. I wanted the keyboard quiet but not silent, so I got new screw-in stabilizers and did the famous tape mod. The screw-ins, when combined with some cushioning foam and the tape mod, are surprisingly quiet for the big keys. I did have an advantage in that I used to build PCs for fun and mucked around inside desktop replacement laptops, the big, clunky things that they were in the 2000s and 2010s. Mucking around inside a keyboard is even easier, when it's made to come apart. Not going to even attempt more advanced stuff yet than that, but it's at least a good start.
Been out of the game for a decade since I got a Filco Multicam, just wanted to let you know this was really helpful in bringing me back to speed on the state of the hobby.
Took me 4 keyboards before I actually found what I liked... I kept chasing 'Thock' only to realise I personally found it to be very dull and boring then tired one of my keyboards without foam and it opened up a whole new world to me. I think that trial and error and a lot of experimenting is the only way to find out what's actually best for you. Great video!
Been in the hobby for almost a decade, or around there at least, and the most important lesson I try to teach people who ask me questions is to avoid FOMO. Being afraid of not getting a specific board because of a hype train and limited production runs is a serious threat, and has made some people I know want to quit the hobby. It's important to remember that the hobby has exploded in recent years, especially over lockdown, and there are TONS of good keyboard options coming out, and more and more people are making designs and group buys. There will be another board that will come around that you will like even more, and you will have the chance to get the boards you missed in the future. Try not to stress yourself out over not having enough money for a board right now, especially with new boards being announced every week!
This can be applied to any hobby actually. I was going down a rabbit hole with headphones for the last 7 years lol. It gets expensive
@conrad I just bought the KeyChron V1 because of this very reason. I looked for months for a keyboard that had the same height and angle as my old hp ku-0841 keyboard. I also ordered some Silent alpacas because I want it to be a silent build as well as some mx compatible low-profile switches to keep the key height low. DSA keycaps are also a good choice for low profile builds and their surfaces are all the same height and shape. The Keychron V1 doesn't have a wireless option but I don't mind that and it hit every other category I was looking for.
@conrad All the parts should be in by dec 8th, then I just have to see when my friend has a day off because we want to build it together.
@@-conrad- check geekhack for boards with low front height and 5 deg or so angle, . also why not try palm rest? it's great for ergonomics.
I find it weird people call this a hobby. Much of the time reviews of switches only focus on the sound it makes and neglects performance. I'm interested in buying a mechanical keyboard simply because I want to get into a better workflow. I use to have a laptop that just had a great compact keyboard that made me want to type more. I could just flow and was able to type faster and more effectively due to it. Sound means almost nothing to me, I'm often wearing my headphones. It's nice to have a satisfying sound when hitting the keys but that isn't my primary focus.
So why is this a hobby instead of being about performance? A keyboard is meant to be used, you're not making music by clicking keys. I mean building keyboards itself I'd consider a hobby... I guess owning a lot of them would be a hobby... but isn't a keyboard suppose to be functional? It's so much harder to research when so many of the videos on the subject are from a hobbyist's view. I just want to find out what'll bring me the best typing experience -- not trying to become an audiophile.
All i wanted is just a new keyboard... 12hours later i joined a subculture
cult.. you joined a cult
@@jjandrooney whaaaat
@@jjandrooneyOne might say... A KeyCult...
@@jjandrooney I want to say the same... I have not joined yet, but I am browsing the guide book for days now lol
1 year later and this was exactly what happened to me😅
"Don't stress it, just try it."
As someone who has been in the hobby for years and has been giving advice to his viewers, your quote is the best piece of advice that I think beginners need to embrace. Amazing video, keep it up man.
Thanks so much! I actually stole that phrase from Top Gun: Maverick, although he said "Don't think, just do!" 😅
Love your videos btw!
at this price range is not fun for anyone
@@CheeseTurbulence why no one is building low profile keyboard and stuff.
@@braindeadbrick553 There just aren't many good low profile boards. I know Keychron just released the S1, but I have no idea how good it is. Also low profile switches just aren't that great.
@@jaideng721 OEM keycaps are jamming my fingers and probably also because of the travel distance since I came from laptop keyboards and those low-profile membranes...
My biggest issue is spending the $100+ on keycaps. Every discussion I've heard goes on about how designers need to be paid for their time and how small the individual orders are, but the amount of plastic is only worth a few bucks and once they've set up manufacturing, the per unit cost is very low. I can't wait for more people to get into this hobby so they fall down to something a bit more reasonable. Also PBT all the way
Totally agree. Keycap prices are insane for just plastic. You can say that the development of a keyboard, is hard and so on, but I cannot justify the insane prices for keycaps.
Just investigate why Legos are so expensive. Nothing to do with plastic costs
honestly i was like this when i first joined the hobby. now i understand that gmk wins, but crp is a good pbt alternative or xmi/shenpo/cannonkeys pbt since they all use the same blanks
Even if you factor in one time R&D costs, how much does it cost to design a keycap set? The vast majority of keycap sets are following existing standards anyway (OEM, SA, Cherry MX stems, whatever), so it's not like they are even designing each individual key, but just choosing the colors, font, and maybe some novelty images or symbols to be put onto the keycaps. At most it's a couple thousand dollars work. And as you said, once tooling is set up (which it mostly is already, due to aforementioned standards, costing just a couple thousand more for unique colors or font), it costs very little to produce, and metal molds for plastic last a very, very long time.
The only explanation is that the cost is part of the experience; it's a Veblen, luxury good, where the more expensive it is, the more valuable it is perceived to be, even if the physical object is exactly the same as something 1/10th of the price. Thus, prices are inflated, and supply artificially limited ("group buys"), and those who try to justify spending this money tell themselves that it's for the "quality" (Are you really going to be using the exact same set of keycaps for 20 years? If you are, why are you buying multiple sets anyway?).
@@TiMonsor I'm exactly the same, sometimes I'm confused on how people somehow spent $600+ on a keyboard, but then I'm reminded that they spent $300+ on some plastic, while I buy pretty much the same for 20.
Also, the lettering on my $20 caps has been excellent, perfectly centered and very sharp
This is most definitely one of the best "beginners guides" I've ever seen, be it keyboards or otherwise! You did a great job of giving real-life suggestions and didn't inject too many of your own preferences into the guide at all! I'm pretty deep into the hobby now (Probably close to two dozen custom boards sitting near me and another dozen in boxes waiting to be unleashed) and I wish I had sen this video before a lot of the choices I made early on. That being said, having gone through the experience much like yourself, I can attest that your advice and suggestions are very much accurate and things I would also recommend to others! Thanks again for taking the time to create this....even if I am late to seeing it! Heck, it still holds true a year later so you clearly did something right!
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
GMK has been around forever, because they were originally part of Cherry. I believe it became a separate company after an employee buyout, when Cherry wanted to shut down their internal keycap manufacturing (and possibly exit the consumer space altogether). Cherry is a division of car supplier ZF Friedrichshafen, and ZF reportedly wanted to shut down consumer keyboard production entirely a couple of years ago - Cherry's main business at the time was switches for industrial and automotive applications under the Cherry Industrial Solutions brand, anyway. Then the mechanical keyboard craze happened, so they kept Cherry alive, and rebranded Cherry Industrial Solutions as ZF Electronics.
😮that's very interesting, thank you!
sometimes when companies rebrand it blows my mind! its like elonmusk trying to rename twitter to "x" its absolutely mindblowing because i know for a fact he is smart so how come he makes such a monumental stupid decision?
coming up witht he idea to rebrand a 30y old known brand should get you fired
Twitter hasn't been around for 30 years.
Elon isn't smart, anybody who ever thought that should have really gotten the memo by now.
The Cherry rebrand (and pivot in target demographic tbf) kinda saved them, so it can work.
@@gracelandtoo6240 he made paypal and became a multi millionarie, then used that money to become even richer, then used that money to become ridiculously rich! seems pretty smart to me.
and the age of a brand is not the main factor. you were tweeting on twitter! now youre x'ing on x? i dont get it?
it would be the same if google decided to rename youtube to "K" or maybe "L" or maybe "CRONK" it wouldnt make sense!
I wish they had sold. Cherry / GMK are horrible
bruh, you just made me subscribe all because of how well the video is edited and everything. The way you narrate and put out a simple guide for everyone is lowkey mesmerizing. I've seen a lot of videos regarding 'beginners guide' into this hobby but you just uncrowned all of my favorites and I will be moving forward be using this video as an introduction to this hobby. Well done!
Thanks for those incredibly nice words! Really, very much appreciated! 😊🙇♂
As someone who is dipping both feet into audiophile and keyboard hobbies, the Keychron prebuilts are good enough for my thinning wallet.
Agreed. I've received my K10 from Keychron recently and I love it. Great entry into custom mech keyboards.
keyboards and audio at the same time? you are quite brave. RIP to your wallet
akko also does some dope stuff for relatively little money.
As a man who has sank $1000 in audio in 2021, i have also sank $800 in keyboards in 2022 (so far)
Edit: its december 30 almost the end of 2022 and i have officially sank more then $1500 in keyboards this year
Yeah, well except their keycaps are not for me, but I've been thoroughly disappointed with kits from Ali express while I just feel content with Keychron Q and V line, the quality and features just happens to fulfill me and I don't want/need to buy anything else.
I was so lucky I had a friend who was also into keyboards. She went so far as to buy over 120 different switches to make a sample kit and even labeled each one! After trying all of them I realized just how tiny the differences are with the feels of each switch, sound tests definitely does not tell the whole story.
For my first keyboard I went for Holy Pandas lubed using Star Wars GMK keycaps on a Keychron Q6 keyboard. I’m gonna build it soon but I’m excited!
the best advice i can give having recently built my first custom is to see if theres any custom keyboard communities around. i was able to find some local hobbyists and got to try a few keyboards to see what i liked. ended up building a GMMK with durock T1 swtiches. ive been very happy with it.
When I began this hobby, I didn't know if I should go for linears, tactiles or clickies as if I should only like one. After almost two years, I have a board for each type of switch as I enjoy using all of them for different reasons and I like to cycle through them. This keeps each type of switch fresh every time you use it and prevents from getting bored of only one type of switch. An important thing to remember in this hobby is that if you give switches a chance long enough you can begin to like it even if you didn't like it at first.
You should try using a mix of them at the same time. Some keys tactile, some linear etc
I used to be a hardcore clicky guy .. now I only use linears
As a fellow 2-year hobbyist, I agree with these points and also want to add that this realization is mainly possible only bc of the abundance of alternatives nowadays compared to 2 years prior.
except us iso people, we still have the same options like before the death of the dinosaurs.
@@Daniel-dj7fh disclaimer: I didn't like the comment because of the situation, but because it was funny as heck 😅
Nice video for those who are looking to build their first board! However, I would like to add to the topic of switch lubing.
I have observed that most new people entering the hobby seems to lube their switches for the sound, and lubed switches SOUND GOOD, but bear in mind that once you use that set of switches enough (a month or two of heavy usage, your mileage may vary), the LUBE WILL SETTLE. The switches will still feel smoother than stock, but the sound will basically "default" back to how it sounds stock, minus the scratch sound at best. Personally, I wouldn't recommend relubing considering that the cycle just repeats itself and it is, to me, a huge waste of my time. So, in the end, just use the board and I'm sure you'll learn to love the stock-ish switch sound after some time.
We watch content creators build keyboards with lubed switches all the time but this one is hardly ever talked about in the past 2 years ever since the hobby popped off. I often read suggestions to "lube it to make it sound better". Well, generally, that's true, it does sound less scratchy long term, but the distinct lubed sound will slowly fade away with continuous use.
Also, Durock/Everglide stabs are overrated. I understand the hype, but ever since its release, there has been several new stabs that came to the market with new features and are WAY easier to tune than Durocks and Everglides, Tx stabs, for example, is my current favorite.
Money fisrt advice for newbie, save money
Hey fantastic advice buddy - thank you for taking the time to post.
There are indeed many potential circular & pointless rabbitholes in many hobbies (all hobbies?) - & you've just educated me about a crucial one for this hobby. 👍🏽👍🏽
Your point about lube settling is wrong - from my experience of being in this hobby since 2011 and having used dozens and dozens of keyboards that have been lubed AND heavily used for 5+ years. Yes, the initial fresh-lubed sound will go away after a few weeks or months of use, but switches don't just go back to their "stock sound minus scratch" after 2 months; they usually just settle down slightly and then retain their lubed sound profile for... practically forever after that.
I just bought a wooting 60HE and dont feel a need to d3lve into "custom boards" any more than that, its truly amazing and comes from the factory in excellent quality imo
If only the stock version wasn’t ugly/boring
I'm really glad I stumbled onto this video. I officially got into the hobby last month and had been researching the type of switches, keycaps, and bases I wanted. This hobby actually taught me how to budget and feel okae with not buying 'high-end' parts because I wouldn't have as much appreciation for them for now-which is a point you made in the video! I learned to appreciate the growth that could come out of this hobby with every keyboard that I could build and that convinced me not to gun for a $600 build on my first buy! :') Thank you for this video, I'm glad I saw it while I need the advice. I'll try it, before I buy big :D
AND preferences change!!
GB times be crazy. You might not even want what you ordered 2-3 yrs down the line.
So many great points made in the video and such a refreshing critical take on the scene. Enjoyed watching.
Thank you so much! 😀
In regards to switch testers and small packs of switches like those 10 pack switches, I will say that sometimes it ain't bad when you can grab a few and replace just specific keys such as the space, shift, enter, backspace or the specific keys that you use for gaming. For speed or extra thump thock.
Totally! I do that too sometimes 🙂
my broke ass using u4t on spacebar and the rest is just huano holy toms on the rest 💀💀💀💀💀💀
8:48-9:07 Totally agree with this - I also don't recommend switch testers to my friends for this exact reason. Hitting a single switch just isn't representative of how it will feel across a whole keyboard. Great video!
Thank you! 😊
i bought packs of 10 switches for 7 different switches and it is still not enough to have a strong opinion on the differences between these switches !
My first mechanical keyboard was a Keychron Q1 (ver. 1) with Gazzew Bobagums, I remember a lot of nitpicks I had about the key feel, the keycaps, the layout, the case color, and the switches. Almost a year later, I’ve given away that board and spent a couple hundred dollars on different types of switches and JUST NOW decided that in order to make my “endgame”, I have to manufacture it myself.
In theme with the video title, I wish I spent more time researching about what I want in a keyboard and less about wanting to have cool, modded keyboard that gets people’s approval.
Hopefully this is just a me issue looking for people’s attention and not a widespread thing in the community.
@@ethur10n That's a very good way of approaching it 🙂
Aaah this video is so important, sums up a lot of what I would like to tell people when they're starting out, thank you for making this
My advice is the same as when you don’t know what wine to get at a restaurant: don’t get the cheapest, but definitely don’t get the most expensive. If you can afford it, go one level above the most entry level/affordable option as it’s much more likely to not be made to a common denominator and will give a better idea of what you’ll like without sinking too much money in also. The advice about getting popular switches first is a great one since you’ll want a point of comparison in all the reviews you see online.
I've modded several boards now over the span of a year and I got some additional tips:
1. Learning soldering is worth it.
2. If you are a non-English speaker, getting into the hobby, expensive high-end builds and especially keycaps is not worth it imo. Unless you want to learn to type on the US-ANSI layout. It's a hassle trying to find boards and keycaps that support your layout.
3. Don't be afraid of modding stock mechanical (gaming) keyboards. There are a lot of really good (and cheap) options on Amazon, with hotswap capability so you can try out switches. The Redragon K552 comes to mind.
Been in the hobby for little over a year and you hit so many true facts. GMK isn’t mandatory, only if you are after a very specific color. Now there are so many other options and in stock too.
Hey {{3}}! As a fellow mechanical keyboard enthusiast, I totally agree with you. GMK keycaps are great for specific color preferences, but there are so many other fantastic options available now. By the way, have you checked out the HOTO Compressed Air Capsule? It's a handy tool for maintaining a clean setup and it's reasonably priced. Worth considering for your cleaning routine!
I have been in the hobby for a while now and I go with hotswappable Royal Kludge and I did not regret, I slowly customize as time went on and it feels amazing now and I am happy with what I have. Also am a fountain pen enthusiast so my wallet is drying from both mechanical keyboard and fountain pens. Oh the pain of wanting to type and write with the best experience personally.
Your video, script, pacing, etc. is awesome. I feel like getting in under 10k subs on your channel is crazy. I'm excited to see where you go and how you grow your channel. Great job.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Totally agree. I have no interest (at least I didn't think I did) in keyboards as a hobby, I just need a decent replacement keyboard for work, but this video is so well presented that I watched the whole darn thing and learned a lot! Nice work and I hope your channel continues to grow.
That was ridiculously good - great work, can't believe how good of an 'into to mechanical keyboards' video that was... also love the accent/voice and really nice job with your studio lighting!
Thank you!
The most important thing is to take your time and realize that learning about the keyboard hobby is an ongoing task. The rabbit hole always gets deeper, take it day by day.
Coming from a person who watches primarily tech youtube, and in tech youtube - keeb youtube - , this videos' quality in terms of information and the way it gives it is of the quality of a channel with a million subscribers. I'm late to the part on this one, but honestly being in a similar position to the creator I can say everything (except all stabilizers being the "same")* is correct and great advice. I have heard from lead director (cel) from nearLucid that staebies are way better then owlstabs but personally owlstabs are more then enough. I have had 3 sets, and theyve all been perfect.
* If you can wire balance, then the statement "most stabs are the same" is more or less true. But if youre someone like me who cant for the life of them "pull a :3ildcat" and whip out the back of his iPhone and fix it, then you're going to have ticking with lower grade stabs (like durock/everglide). (for reference ticking is like a little clicky noise when you press on either end of a stabilized key).
Also; to add to the lube talk; you're going to want to invest in more then one lubricant. It's going to suck, but the results of having both dielectric grease and krytox 205g0 and krytox xht-bdz is going to make your life a lot better. Also if you're buying krytox, use keys.my. Ships from malaysia (via DHL) but they have bulk prices of as low as $.08 per gram of krytox 205g0. For reference, at divinikey, one of the cheapest keyboard shops, 8 grams/mL is $18.95. That's $0.42 per gram. Don't buy fake krytox. If you're really budget oriented and you need lube, sw-92sa works well enough but at the cost that after months/years depending on how you lube you may need to re-lube as it will "dissapear" whereas krytox doesn't. sw-92sa is priced at $.02 a gram however, and you get a 35g of lube per tub ($2.00 each) from aliexpress. The con is you have to wait months for your lube as it ships from russia.
Not to mention other lubes such as gs1, trybosys, etc.
Also you don't necesarily need a switch opener for lubing switches if you buy a lube station that has a switch opener integrated in it, linked below;
Minus the cost of the switch opener mentioned, its about $33 (without shipping/taxes) for a 4x8 grid for switches. Its made out of aluminum so it should last, and it includes box style stem holders so you can hold any type of stem. Also, the spring holders have a bottom to them, so when you go to pick it up they dont fall out.
Thats 2 batches for a 60%,
3 for a TKL,
5 for a full-sized keyboard
(technically 4+ ~8 over)
That's some really fantastic advice and insight, thank you so much! 🙇♂
ps: also thanks for the kind words 🙂
@@CheeseTurbulence Thanks! Something I should add in post is - dont believe something because many people say it. This has been a problem for people historically throughout the centuries, but it is a vast plague in this community. People overstate and make everything seem like an extreme. I remember when I was new people talked really horrible things about the Boba U4 switch (which I am now typing on) and that it was mushy squishy yadda yadda or that Outemu Dustproof Reds are extremely scratchy etc.,
While these things aren't neccesarily wrong its like saying a pile of dirt is the same thing as a mountain.
Yes, outemu reds are scratchy even when lubed when compared to something like gateron black ink v2s or cjs etc.
But it gets close enough where its acceptable at the price point. Things that people say are really bad, like the squishiness/mushiness of the Boba U4 are usually in actuality a lot less extreme then people make them
There is definitely an argument for growing your sense to detect unpleasant noises in a keyboard, its a skill you develop, but this alone does not excuse the behavior of saying x linear is shit because it is 0.0000001% less smooth then another linear. And I really think linear smoothness is the perfect candidate for this phenomenon as the exponential graph of diminishing returns curves fast for this phenomenon.
Mate, this is one of the most satisfying videos to watch. I feel that you've done an absolutely awesome job in the script and editing
Thank you so much! 🙇♂️
I did quite a lot of research on my first (and only) board. Ended up spending £300ish and while I think it's a bit much, I'm very happy with the end product. The only thing that is disappointing is my own lack of lubing experience which resulted in many keys sounding inconsistent, but I've come to call it the keyboard's personality 😂 The biggest upgrade and point you come to find is the typing experience. Good stabilisers and harder springs makes typing feel so much more responsive, and I went from 120 WPM to 160 WPM on the first typing test on my new keyboard. I don't see myself getting another one anytime soon, I'm content with what I've (tediously) researched and built.
congrats! 🙂
What switches did you end up going with? Also, do you agree that it is absolutely crazy that nobody sells split spacebars on a TKL (or almost any) non-ego keyboard ? If you are a touch typist and you have to reach for that backspace key causing your entire hand to shift, it is absolutely insane that this single wide spacebar was invented. Nobody uses both thumbs for space. I just cannot make any sense of this illogical design that has been around forever aside from my 1990's NMB The Right Touch which had a split spacebar.
@@nicholash8021 Never thought of a split spacebar, guess I'm just used to full-width. I went with the U4T Boba switches w/ clear casing. 🤙
@@regiiment Thank you. I'm actually surprised you type so fast on a 4mm switch. My ideal range is 3 to 3.5mm. 4mm just feels like too much work and slows me down.
@@nicholash8021 Strong finger muscles I guess, haha. 💪
My keyboard will get delivered today and it sounds insanely good for 65 CAD. I didn’t really need a new one but my current one bad spacebar stabilizer which is annoying.
My main issue with this is that I have a pretty specific feature set that apparently no one else in the enthusiast space wants. I literally just want a keyboard that has an identical feature set to the Corsair K70 with better switches, stabilizers, keycaps, and hotswap switches on a 100% standard layout for keycap compatibility. I'm at the point where I may just mod my current K70 myself to get keys that don't wobble and rattle so much. I had just about sold myself on the GMMK1 with their GMMK numpad, but then I looked into the software and it's apparently absolutely terrible.
Still on an original 1.0 version K70 to this day. No failed LEDs. Only just replaced my first cherry brown switch that was playing up on the A key. Enjoyed desoldering the old one with my equipment and soldering on the new one. Satisfying.
I've been in this hobby for years, and still never built a single board, and im still learning things, great video
Thank you! 🙂
I've been a proponent of mechanical keyboards way before the hobbyist aspect of them really took off, so seeing where they are today is equal parts intimidating and amusing. I'm very utilitarian in my uses so I don't really care to headcase over all the particulars, but it'll always be odd to me how GMK took off in keycap reverence. For a hobby all about the nitty gritty of sound and feel, I'm surprised that key shine hasn't been a priority to eliminate. For the last few years I've been using a Topre Realforce and the keys are just as good as the day I got 'em.
For some odd reason a lot of people seem to like the shine. I've come around over the years to the sound of ABS keycaps over PBT, but I can't stand how they shine with use.
Building my first keyboard, keychron q2 with Akko switches and keycaps! Spent $90 on the switches and keycaps total, and $150 on the board! Super excited!
Great video. Lots of good advice. Love the storytelling style of your content.
I appreciate that! 🙇♂️
I decided to get a custom mechanical keyboard for the first time recently and I think I chose the best options for me. I have a uk/iso GMMK full size with drop/Invyr Holy Pandas (which aren't lubed but plan on doing so later down the line) and an AKKO double shot PBT cyan/black keycap set.
I am really happy with the choices I've made with it especially when compared to my previous keyboard the razer blackwidow v2, I was considering getting the blackwidow v4 pro but I think I made the better over all choice with going custom.
Surprisingly, my first one came out better than my second one. I stick to the rule building the first one, then start being experimental on my second and third.
Came across your videos quite a while ago. Bought the keebwerk. It's been a while but as your taste is great, you showed some great sets that are really scratching my itch again
Thanks so much and thanks for stopping by again, it's much appreciated! Hope that Keebwerk is serving you well! 🙂
beautiful cinematics and keyboard.
Thank you 😊
tbh I like custom keyboards, but I'm not enthousiatic enough to build on from, the ground up, so I just bought a great drop pre built and added some custom keycaps and am very satisfied
but I can't recommend drop enough. After about 1 year of usage, 2 of the LEDs started to partially die, but it wasn't a big deal, so I just messaged drop asking if they could supply new switchs, but instead to my surprise, they sent a brand new keyboard, no charge, no need to send back my old one! very impressed, hopefully the new keyboard stays good and doesn't get any defects
Things to know when getting into mechanical keyboards:
- No stock board will ever be as good as something you customized for your own individual needs, so get something customizable. Specifically, get the cheapest board you can find which has hot-swap sockets and is supported by open-source firmware like QMK.
- Expect to spend a lot of time figuring out what you like. Designing your ideal board is an iterative process with many revisions along the way.
- Use a keyboard layout editor tool to decide what you want each key to do... and don't limit yourself to only what is conventional.
- Try a few common switch types, and learn how to read force graphs so you can find your ideal switch.
- If you get non-default keycaps, a lot of the cheap ones ($20 to $50 for a full set) are actually good. Especially if they're PBT and/or doubleshot.
- Instead of variable profiles with cylindrical scoop tops like OEM or Cherry... try flat profiles with spherical scoop tops like DSA.
- If you're not sure where to start, it's hard to go wrong with a 65% to 75% board layout. That's the sweet spot for most people, and anything outside that range is more of a specialty or niche design.
- Look at other people's solutions, especially their keymaps, for ideas you can incorporate into your own design. Maybe also join a forum or chat group for the topic, so you can learn from people with more experience.
And lastly... maybe don't buy anything at all:
- Instead of buying a keyboard, sometimes it is sufficient to just remap the one you already have. Tools like kmonad can provide features like a custom board, but without having to buy any hardware.
I can’t even justify customizing a keyboard, I would just end up getting annoyed when using a standard leyboard. Right now I can use any keyboard and not really care at all, sure some are more clicky, some are
More comfortable, some are
More annoying, but if I customized a keyboard and got used to it I would basically cripple my ability to use standard ones and as an IT worker that often works with end user equipment, it doesn’t make sense to me.
@@daesong1378 Not everyone needs a custom keyboard. I love mine, and it makes my life better for 12+ hours a day... but not everyone is like me. Do what makes you happy.
as someone that just started looking into the more expensive mechanical keyboards, the guitar comparison really sat with me. I play guitar too and i thought back to when I had just started playing guitar and couldn't tell those sound differences either. Really put it into perspective. Thanks!
Thank you! 😀
As a guitarist myself, you'll also notice that with experience comes efficiency of movement to play the same notes and chords. As a beginner, you'll see huge finger lifts and over pressing on the frets, and over plucking and finger straining with the other. With years of practice, you barely see the fingers move. If you are a true touch typist with good form, you'll hate linear keys and you'll find yourself moving toward a lighter and shorter stroke over time to gain speed. Most switches are around 4mm total stroke and that is just way too much work. My 1990's NMB The Right Touch RT8255CW+ was only 3 to maybe 3.3mm and had the bump at 1mm and completed bump at 2mm with a noticeable return bump. I could type faster on that keyboard than any other despite them being around 65 to 70 grams of tactile pressure. I have not come across a key like it.
same as someone who started mech keebs and guitars aroudn the same time.
Seeing those Drop keycap sets at $100 is absolutely mind blowing. Those keycaps have to cost less than $10 to manufacture. I won't ever buy any there when there's so many you can find for $20 or $30 which imo is still a lot of money for plastic keycaps
Where do you recommend buying from instead of Drop? For high quality keycaps. Thanks
A great video and precisely what I needed to see right now.
These recent weeks I have been buying parts for my first custom keyboard and the one thing I could not decide on was the keycaps. I wanted something like the GMK momo yume caps which I missed out on due to being late to this hobby. I never heard about osume until your video and after looking them up made one of the fastest impulse purchases in my life so far.
I started out with buying cheaper sets of keycaps and personally I have ended up trying to stick with more of my sets to be only GMK. The quality to someone whose been in the hobby shows for sure. But manufacturers have really been pushing the manu process to match!
I don't hear many people talk about Akko Keycaps. They're in stock, around $60-$80 per set, double shot PBT, tons of colorways, and the quality is insanely good. I've got 3-4 sets of Akko keycaps at the moment, they're easily the best keycaps for the price.
Didn't know about them, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Oh My God… Those keycaps are insane. It’s the first time in my life I had to subscribe to a newsletter for a set of keycaps. How much were they? Also, how do you not have 500K subs. Your videos are top notch!
Thanks a lot 😅 I'm still fairly new to the game, so time will tell how far this goes 😅
And do you mean the Terminal keycaps? (the ones in the thumbnail), those were around $70 (without the artisan), fairly "cheap" for keycaps, but yeah, they look very cool 🙂
So FUN FACTS based on 3:28
1) Signature Plastics, well known for their SA and DCS profile among others, was the first company to do a keycap group buy for the Western community
2) GMK's Cherry profile is based off of Cherry's original molds, as they more or less spun off from Cherry's keycap manufacturing arm
You covered so much good info and gave us some great food for thought. Great vid per usual.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I'm so glad that someone who is into keyboards finally admits that breaking in a switch is a good idea. My keyboard started sounding even better over time when that break in occurred. Also helps with "scratchy" switches as that's often the parts that will get worn in over time.
I'm a fan of the $100-ish range of pre-built keyboards. And also love my pbt shine thru keycaps. Cooler Master OEM profile ones are pretty decent and dirt cheap ($20 for a full set). I used those to "compliment" my stock sets on the MK Night Typist (aka, Ducky).
I got lucky and got into custom keyboards because of Osume so I was the opposite in terms of keycaps and didn't even know about GMK until later. Switches were my personal biggest hurdle.
I settled on Akko CS Siliver switches cause they are really good easy beginner switches and I can't complain about them but recently switched cause they were a little too light so wasted a little money there and is my only regret with getting into this hobby.
Not sure if it would be of interest for you or not, but they do sell aftermarket springs!
Seems like such a small thing that it wouldn’t be worth trying, which is what I always said until I tried it.
Now I feel like I can’t go back… lol Love some heavier 2 or 3-stage springs
@@sixxtylol I actually thought about that before I bought new switches but for me personally I was a mix of lazy/intimidated to replace springs but it's absolutely a viable option for some!
Your video is extremely clean, minimalistic and modern. However I *did not* expect your PFP to be cheese.
You should really look at Akko
Their new boards and keycaps are seriously awesome!
I've got the Very Pery set on gat ink black v2s and they look, sound, and feel amazing.
Also I can't wait for you to blow up, your content is seriously amazing! Keep being you 💜
Thanks a-lot and thanks for watching again! 😀
I love the fact that he mentioned about refining palette.
I can extremely relate to this as I’m a foodie.
Thanks for this video
THIS IS THE VIDEO everyone should be watching when they enter the hobby. Wish I had this when I started.
p.s. Nice to see someone else using Terminal caps. Looking forward to R2.
Thank you so much and glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
i always love it when I find this high quality content on small channels, thanks so much for making this vid :D
Glad you enjoy it! 🙂
Something else to know about as far as trying it is a lot of customs hold their original value if not going up more depending on the board. If you go balls to the wall on your first board and want to try something else, you can pretty easily resell and not lose much if anything
Update: pandemic rush is over, boards lose value now. Low end is getting very close to high end now so if you want to spend a lot, it's for the aesthetics rather than quality
Good thing rating start to test keyboards, I was going to get a keychron hot swappable, but saw rating test shows wired latency is 15ms+, that's slower than razer or logitech's BT connection... the current corsair keyboard I use has less than 1 ms. It's funny mechanical key switch were meant to for typing but got popular because of gamers, the exact opposite is happening with custom keyboards. So if you care about gaming performance, do yourself a fav, get a Corsair or Wooting
I did not know that, thank you! 😯
I built a complete custom one from scratch. Designed the pcb, machined the housing, programmed the microcontroller. All because i wanted maximum flexibility... long story short, after about a year I got bored of my precious keyboard. You customize these things once and then leave it... I now ended up just using cheap mechanical keyboards from china. Because I need a change once in a year and want a new one :D
love the vid! If I could go back into time to save me money and frustration: 1) Don't cheap out on a switch puller - I am currently using a Rama switch puller for like $10 and it's my holy grail tool (no more broken switches, no more hard to remove switches). 2) If you plan to stay in the hobby for a while get the Gateron switch opener as it will save your fingers from cracking open switches. 3) don't be afraid to buy a more pricey board at first as you will be typing on the board everyday for years. I got a lot of cheaper boards collecting dust now or have issues just because they are not as good quality. Buy a quality board and you will save in the long run. 4) This might be unpopular, but don't be afraid to buy clones - it will save your wallet. I personally got multi GMK, MT3, Domi, etc and honestly you won't be able to tell much difference. Go with what set you think would look best on your board.
My first custom keyboard is actually really good by most metric. I watched a bunch of videos about the hobby before deciding that my old first gen K2 & Apple keyboard needed an upgrade.
I had a few rules and still do - I would not get into Group Buys. Only buy keyboards that are currently in stock, or pre-order to be released in the next few weeks. Waiting 2 years for something i might not like is no fun.
Secondly, I stay with Hot Swap, no soldering PCB, I know i will make mistakes and don't want the fix to be awkward. That would take away the fun.
Thirdly, I wouldn't want to lube switches, that's no fun.
Then I went into it...researching. I ended up with a Keychron Q1 ver2. Then bought some Gateron Oil Kings and some NovelKeys PBOW Keycaps.
I did the Force Break Mod, PE foam mod and I must say the feel and that pebble like noise is unreal. Is it end game? Probably not, but my god, it's amazing!!!
Some people would probably call that isn't really in the hobby, no group buys and don't want to lube anything. For me, if the factory lube is done right, the switch is smooth, then the sound at the end is good then that's all i can ask for. Who lubed it, don't really care.
I think the Keychron offerings are very good as a platform. So much value in there. Last couple of weeks i received a NUPHY Halo 65, a pre-built keeb. But it has all the silicon and foam dampening already done, the spacebar sounds unreal, actually sounds better than my Keychron somehow. Sooooooo much value for 1/3rd of the cost of my Q1.
I really like the Halo65 too, took me off guard that board 😅
I`m quite new in this hobby as I´ve just started changing my whole setup since my girlfriend moved in with me but I really enjoy it, got my first mechanical keyboard but I plan on getting a custom keyboard, watching videos about that for a while now and just came across this video, I gotta mention that this was on one hand very helpful but on the other it was an experience, it was so chill and relaxing, thank you for that
Thank you for the nice words! 🙂
I know some of these words
I bought a GMMK Pro, Keychron Q1 and another cheap but hotswap 75% with a polycarbonate case. I rotate between them trying out different switches, keycaps, springs, stabs, plates etc. I prefer this approach because I can hone in on what really appeals without acquiring needless amounts of keyboards. FE, I don't personally like 65% profile, I like a 15mm ~75g spring, and have discovered various stabs that are purported to be "the best" and found them to be...ok. I've tried various different silent linear switches (my personal preference), and found what lube works best. My advice to newcomers is to buy 2 of the profile you like and just switch back and forth trying different things.
my opinion is that u need different switches on spacebar and other big keys (heavier and more tactile)
@@GuidoDePalma Agreed. Personally, I use a heavier spring on the space bar.
This hobby is an exercise in landfills and waste. As I am getting into it, it is frustrating that I have to buy, possibly return or keep these boards instead of being able to try them somewhere 😢
very nicely made video, the grafics , the props with the same color on the background, the minimal music on the background.... very nice indeed my friend
Thanks a lot! 🙇♂️
This is whole "hobby" is like the business card scene in American Psycho and that ProZD video about water-tasting had a pathologically consumerist baby who's addicted to overpriced plastic.
Very well said. Some people forget that this is supposed to be a fun experience to relieve stress and not something that you should stress about.
Thank you 🙂
When I bought my Unicomp keyboard in... 2008? It was before the whole mechanical keyboard scene exploded. You had your pick of like... 5 switch types? Now there are over a hundred. I'm trying to pick a new keyboard and I am just blown away by the sheer amount of choices.
I learned to type on a typewriter, and had an original Model M in the 80s, 90s, and 00s; switched to a Unicomp in the 2010s. Had that for several years and decided to start looking into custom keyboards and keep that as a backup option. I went with Cherry Brown switches on my entry-level board and I do miss the tactile feel of the switches, so if you like the feel of the Unicomp, definitely don't go for anything 'smoother' than Brown, imo
@@geolologist I really like the feel of blue switches, browns are pretty good as well. Only problem is that I need something quieter, preferably something that is not any louder than my laptop scissor switch keyboard. I tried Gamakay Pegasus, and they feel OK, but more akin to typing on a really high quality membrane keyboard. I must need some kind of audible click, and something preferably high pitched. I'm looking into the Kailh Whale, Gamakay Phoenix.... Willing to look for other options as well
Regarding the "no shine" so called feature of Drop's DCX keycaps mentioned at 5:02. I bought the DCX Cyber ones (MiTo) back in August, and after using them for roughly four months now, I can say they get as shiny as GMK's.
That's kinda sad to hear, but good to know! Thanks for sharing!
@@CheeseTurbulence Thanks to you for the video!, I only forgot to specify that the keys with shine already present, are the ones I use when gaming: I play around one hour at night rom Mondays to Fridays, and around three hours or less on Saturdays and Sundays.
Omg amazing info for a non-keyboard person. This needs WAY more likes as it is WAY better than other channels on the topic!!!
when you said "try it for a couple of days" it reminded me of back when i built my first keyboard with mx hyperglides after i lubed them they were scratchy almost like i put sand in them i was so close to throwing them out but after consistenttly using my keybaord for weeks it kept sounding cleaner and smoother. they are one of my favorite switches til this day now
First board was a 60% fantech maxfit61 tape modded, bandaid mod case foam with a peice of silicone mat,and thin pe foam between board and plate, I put in akko lavender purples with ebay doubleshot shine through kecaps, lavenders sounded amazing, felt amazing, wanted to try linears tho so I lubed and put on some akko CS silvers and never went back
Next board is same keycaps but different color, but I'm trying a 65% as I missed my arrow keys, I'll be going fantech maxfit 67 with mixed stock lavenders and lubed jelly blacks ( jellys on letters) this time
One of the most edifying & fantastic videos on this subject, on the Internet - probably full-stop! 👍🏽👍🏽
Thank you! 😀
I just got a Keychron K4. I got it because I absolutely needed a numpad and arrow keys, but wanted a smaller footprint, and because it was cheap. The hotswap keys are a bonus, and I'll def try some other ones, but they were not my primary reason for getting this board. My expectations were not extremely high, but I'm happy so far. The layout will take some taking used to, but it's not too bad.
The advice that I can give when buying anything. Figure out what you absolutely need and go from there. Don't pay for gimmicks you will never use.
I got a keychron q2 w/ knob as my first keyboard. Bought some Ink Black Box V2's and SA profile keycaps. Made some basic mods like the tape mod.
I've still got to lube the switches, change the stabilizeras and the plate. And ofc a custom knob will be a cherry on the top.
Overall this hobby has been super fun. Costly, but definitely worth it if you enjoy a good sound and aesthetics
Long read if you want to help.
My first build things i dont like.
Id80 v1 extremely hollow. I filled it with a cut up tshirt that helps at least 50% but no i cant unhear it.
Cheap Steelseries pudding like keycaps. Just thought i would like them, but they got old too quick. I saw the cool kids and like those.
No rgb. I want rgb.
Stabs durock v2. Sound horrible but may be aided by hollow case and cheap keycaps.
Integrated alum plate. Doesn’t bother me, but would like to explore other options. I want to try POM.
What i like
I love my lubed hippos. And as a first buy probably spoiled me. So what would be a similar switch for exploring?
Tape mod and tshirt filler. Sounds weird but it works, but i used alot of tape.
Of course the sound is really good for a cheap build, but definitely want to get rid of hollow sound and the small rattle on space bar.
Excellent quality video! Was recommended to me just as my keyboard obesseion took over and I was watching a craaaaap ton of keyboard vids for my first keyboard.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Your video editing skills are next level. I watched the whole video just for the enjoyment of how professional the shots were, yet you still threw in humor. :) Keep up the hard work. You're going places!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you! 🙂
Built my first custom keyboard after watching for the past three years and listening to countless switches and cases to figure out what I like. I ended up paying $160 USD for what I wanted and I'm in love. The board looks and sounds exactly how I was hoping and being able to build it with my son was such a joy!
i'm just starting to get into the hobby and i'm super excited to try and make my board better. I started with a hotswap board with some tactile switches and now I'm purchasing a new set of linears and a lubing kit trying to just make it better. hopefully in the future I'll be able to make my own board that fits everything I'm looking for but one thing I know from just doing it outside of keyboards is soldering is a scary thing because if you mess it up it's not the easiest to recover from, thankfully it's pretty difficult to really mess it up but I don't want to get a special tool to desolder my switches if I end up making a mistake or not liking them so I'm gonna try out a bunch before I make a final decision.
Love the videos. Just getting into this space, this was very helpful. Hope to see more.
Thank you! 🙂
Been there, done that - exactly as with Headphones. I always found myself to getting back to my Cherry G80-1800 and AKG K240, despite having bought, tested and used many others, most of them way more expensive. They all just didn't make the cut for me though - I always bought them out of FOMO or because I spent way too much time on corresponding subreddits.
Same with mice. Went through 20 different ones over the last years and always find myself reverting back to the MX518L or Intellimouse Pro.
I bought a pre built. The plate mount stabs is pretty decent yet decided to replace it with Durock. Realized that the Durocks doesn't fit well because it has a bigger housing. Took it out and used the stabs that came with the board. Having a huge regret on why I wasted money and stressed myself on stabs that doesn't fit.
What a great video. Been in the hobby for a couple of years now, this video resonates well with me and agreed with virtually all if not all the points you made 👍🏼
Thank you 😊
Going by the production quality I assumed this was a 500k+ channel. You'll get there in no time with content like this my friend
Thank you very much! 🙇
Some very good points. If there's a place to start - I'd suggest focus on layout, standard or low profile, volume level and whether you want QMK/VIA.
To me the No 1 priority is wide keycaps and low profile on a keyboard that's 75% or thereabouts. Ergonomics and desk space.
How little desk space it consumes really changes ergonomics - and I spend a lot of hours designing - so mouse in one hand and keyboard for shortcuts.
I like low profile because it feels like my wrists are straining less too. Also, I can slip the keyboard in my macbook air bag which to me is much nicer than the mac keyboard.
I have both linear and clicky switches I have a preference for quieter switches as the noise tends to make me try and rush - it's not necessary.
Lastly, being able to make the keyboard do whatever you want in terms of layers, shortcuts, make the software conform to your habits has been a big thing for me.
Remapping 8 or so adobe actions to the most logical left hand only shortcuts makes a huge difference in my workflow and even extended macros for saving work with settings that Adobe doesn't give you an action for is a lifesaver for me - others may not care.
So for me it's low profile, 75%, VIA and make it reasonably quiet. Wireless is a nice to have - and yes, all my keyboards work well on bluetooth, cleaning a few cables off my desk.
Discovering low profile keyboards after years of full size cherry's and even older was a big thing.
My latest purchase - or should I say 3 purchases is the YK75 keyboard - I found it at under $30 with outemu blue switches and good enough keycaps for it to be a travel companion that can quickly get me to 90% of my comfort zone. No software or macros - and not exactly quiet either but a keyboard I can pull out and work reasonably quicky with.
So even with preferences ranked, You can still make compromises in some situations that work - albeit as a backup.
A thing I've found is I didn't need to get a 100% keyboard as my first, or at any stage, they only make your adventure more expensive in the long run. A better alternative is to get 60%, or even better TKL boards that are less expensive and suppliment them with an external keypad(20%) if you feel the need.
so i just started this hobby a few months ago but boy is it addictive. I started out with an ODIN R3 which is my main board but now i have ordered 4 more boards, 10 keycap sets (for a combined 300-400 euro btw) and 3 different switches... yes, the first board was very expensive BUT in total for the other 4 boards i paid less than 200 euro, and that is with 1 costing 100.
What im trying to say is, "you can get into custom keyboards for less than 100 bucks and actually get a good looking, nice typing and great sounding keyboard" (modding might be required)
did exactly all of this, going to be building my first time coming weekend: bought a "cheap" hotswap keychron, bought oil kings as switches and a full keycap set from KBD fans. Don't know what I'm in for :D
Enjoy it! 😅
This is a grat video. I've been hoovering around the idea to build one but I'm scared to screw up. Thanks!
osume keycaps are so gorgeous and are relatively affordable too. I've purchased two of their sets and they feel and look awesome. Also a very informative video, thank you!
Coming from a gaming background, I love my backlit keys but want thicker caps with a cherry profile - but it seems enthusiasts don't like backlit keys. Why is that? Backlighting is a sought after thing in a lot of consumer boards - makes it so much easier to read, especially since I use my keyboard in low light quite often. I find it almost impossible to premium to find shine-through, premium keycaps on a cherry profile.
felt
O"Oh boy, that was my first video from your channel. It's really rare to come across a video with such great quality - the sound, visuals, your voice, camera, and overall aesthetics are just on point. I really enjoyed it. I also appreciate that you didn't say anything irrelevant just to fill up the time.
BTW: I'm not into the hobby, but I just want to buy myself a good-looking keyboard.
Keep going and your channel will explod.
Thank you very much for the kinds words, very much appreciated! 🙂
When I built/modded my mech KB, I focused on what I could get *today* and *locally* here in Aus. So I ended up with a RK75 keyboard, that I pulled to bits: I put Gateron CJ switches because they were available and seemed to fit what I was after, I lubed/holee modded the stabilisers (the stock ones!), put thin foam in the case, and got a set of cute IBM-coloured keycaps to remind me of my original Pentium 1 (100MHz! Blistering fast...) computer, again, because they were locally available (NicePBTs in beige) -- I got a great sounding, awesome looking, great feeling mechanical keyboard and I got it fast and locally. That was more important to me than anything else.
Waiting a year+ for some GMK keycaps was just mental. Never going to haha
I got into this hobby quite a while back, I'd say a good 5 years ago at least. It was around the time that I built my first proper PC and everybody was saying I NEEDED a mechanical keyboard and everybody said cherry MX was best but nobody knew why or what the difference was between each switch (or even had tried each switch). This was long before the big hype that is the modern keyboard scene as we know it today. I did a lot of research and stumbled across Chyrosran22's channel, it was great and for quite some time I went down the rabbit hole of looking for vintage keyboards. Custom keyboards at the time often ALWAYS lacked 1 feature (that until very recently I still thought I needed) - a numpad. I ended up buying lots of vintage keyboards for cheap, picked up an old Chicony board with MX blues (never do this), a old semi mechanical thing that felt quite interesting, lots of different bits, I was ultimately in search of a cheap IBM model M, or something with Blue Alps, but these boards were often going for crazy money so this was never going to work out.
Shortly after this I finished the college course I was doing which meant my home PC would be used for nothing but gaming and very little typing. At this point I had decided a wanted a linear switch. I HATE typing on linear's but they are just the best for gaming, when you want quick key presses with nothing in the way it has to be linear. I picked up the monstrous original Corsair K95, the one with the massive bank of G keys off to the left hand side. This had cherry reds. I knew that this wasn't ultimately what I wanted but it was so much better to game on than those previous vintage boards that I settled with it for quite some time. Then probably about a year and a half or so later Chyrosran22 did a video on the SteelSeries Apex Pro. He was genuinely impressed with how smooth the key switches were. I loved the look of it also and he gave it a glowing review so I knew I had to get one. The price at the time was ~£200 so I decided to wait a bit to see if that would come down and then randomly me and my mate were checking Amazon and I don't know if it was a price glitch or something but they keyboard popped up for £150. I instantly bought it and I also convinced my mate to as well. I have no regrets and its a great keyboard, but it is sooooo smooth, I just can't type properly on it!
So I was sorted for a gaming keyboard, which was fine for now as all I used my PC for was gaming. However I have just started an apprenticeship for which I am studying for a degree at university. So now I finally have to go back down this rabbit hole as I really need a keyboard for doing a lot of typing!
So so much has changed. I've loosely followed the hype train but not religiously enough to know what switches to avoid and what are the best. I think for my taste I will end up liking something like Kailh box switches, however I have never tried them so I just don't know. I wanted ZealPC to make a less tactile version of their clickiez switch - closer to blue Alps - I think this will be the holy grail of switches. I've ordered a switch tester which would be my advice for anyone to do first if you are inexperienced. Also don't use it like its a tester - its hard because its just one switch but don't sit there pressing it from the top with one finger, try to image you're typing on it almost if that makes sense? I have a base for this keyboard I'm going to make, managed to find the EVGA Z-15 on amazon for £55 last year, which is a full size hot swappable keyboard. and I've ordered some nice but obviously knock off g-mky AFSA profile keycaps from Ali-express. I'm working on the assumption that I may like Kailh box Pinks or Chosfox Artic Fox V2 switches best - but without trying them I just don't know. Maybe I'll post an update after the test arrives.
I know this will not be my endgame keyboard, bit it should definitely get me close! I know now that - since using a keyboard without a numpad at my new job - that I do not need one, so this opens up a lot more options for me in the custom keyboard world. This was a great video, it kind of summed up the conclusions I had came to myself over time. I wish I had done this sooner though, but alas I am finally scratching that itch and will soon have my first sort of custom keyboard! :D
This really helped thank you 🙏🏽 I got a change of mindset going into this now
I'm relatively new to the hobby but I've owned mechanical keyboards for a while, and the way I tried to approach it is to ask myself WHAT I wanted in a keyboard, having typed on them for going on 45 years? Once I answered that, I could then narrow down the keycaps and switches, as well as the likely boards. (I do a lot of work in a dark room, so I ended up with pudding keycaps from Glorious, and I use a lot of tactile switches. I chose the ROG Azoth for my board - it's hot-swap, the company *encourages* modding it, and it's a solid base keyboard. Latest switch I'm trying is the Gateron Baby Kangaroo v2s (what a marketing gimmick that name is!), which are supposedly one of their best tactile switches (and seem quite popular at the moment). So I bought a set. Risking $50 for switches is far less expensive than risking $250 for a bum keyboard, so if the GBKs don't work out, I'll try another maker. Tons of tactile switches out there. I wanted the keyboard quiet but not silent, so I got new screw-in stabilizers and did the famous tape mod. The screw-ins, when combined with some cushioning foam and the tape mod, are surprisingly quiet for the big keys.
I did have an advantage in that I used to build PCs for fun and mucked around inside desktop replacement laptops, the big, clunky things that they were in the 2000s and 2010s. Mucking around inside a keyboard is even easier, when it's made to come apart. Not going to even attempt more advanced stuff yet than that, but it's at least a good start.
Been out of the game for a decade since I got a Filco Multicam, just wanted to let you know this was really helpful in bringing me back to speed on the state of the hobby.
Took me 4 keyboards before I actually found what I liked... I kept chasing 'Thock' only to realise I personally found it to be very dull and boring then tired one of my keyboards without foam and it opened up a whole new world to me. I think that trial and error and a lot of experimenting is the only way to find out what's actually best for you. Great video!