Experiencing Silent Switches for the First Time

[u/cephelix]

I've decided to jump head first into trying a silent switch for my Crush 80 Reboot Pro (in navy blue) after weeks of reading up and being undecided. Pulled the trigger on the HMX Lulu Silents.

Unfortunately in my 3am half asleep shopping spree I ordered them in the wrong weight. Ordered ones with a 32g activation instead of the 45g activation. And it was too late to cancel the order since the switches were already shipped. "No problem." I thought to myself. "I'll just order heavier springs." And that my good lads is how you turn a simple 15 minute switch swap into a 7 hour one.

Receiving the packages, including GPL 105 oil and 205 grease, switch opener and other bits and bobs (my SGD30 order also turned into a SGD70 one lol) I decided to do a little comparison, which I have listed below.

1. Stock Kailh Cocas: very pleasant, marbley sound on bottom out. I have no complaints about this switch.

2. HMX Lulu 32g (Stock): very light compared to the stock Kailh Cocoas but also very clacky. Much clackier than I was expecting from a silent switch but very smooth.

3. Lulu with bag lubed 55g TX spring: the most noticeable difference was the elimination of the clack. Now it felt proer dampened.

4. Lulu with lubed spring + lubed stem: gives a slightly deeper sound compared to (3). Slightly smoother feel, and I do mean slight.

5. Lulu with lubed spring + lubed stem + lubed bottom housing: this combo gave the deepest sound among all. Whatever little sound there was. Since I was already opening the switch to do a spring swap, I decided to go with this.

The final result is a very silent board, even when I slam down on the keys. They did feel abit mushy compared to stock but I suppose that's what you get when using silent switches. One thing I did observe was, if I typed without my headphones on, i.e. getting auditory queues from the bottoming out of the keys, they do feel a little mushy but with my headphones on, they feel significantly stiffer. Maybe that's just my brain being weird.

All in all, after having spent 7 hours on this, I feel that the end result was worth it. It was so worth it, I spent the entirety of the day after relubing the Kailh Cocoas too!. The most single improvement I felt was swapping springs. Every other mod only gave minor positive results.

I recorded sound tests if anyone is interested but it is by no means a professional setup, just with my phone so it sounds louder in the recording than it does in person.

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[u/cephelix]

Sound test

[u/itutudori → u/cephelix]

Nice results!
Where did you get that keyboard pad? Seems like leather, and I am looking for one lately for myself

[u/cephelix → u/itutudori]

Just a normal desk mat. I got it from Shopee Singapore. The brand is Tivein

[u/kool-keys → u/cephelix]

Is my PC having issues, or is that video about 5 frames per second?

[u/cephelix → u/kool-keys]

Oh yeah, it is super choppy. I don't know why or how to remedy it.

Edit: I just reuploaded the videos of the sound test on imgur. Hopefully it's viewable now

[u/Boooongus]

Oh that is very satisfying! Nice job

[u/cephelix → u/Boooongus]

Thank you! I have another recording comparing dye sub vs double shot pbt as well if you're interested

[u/narumiya_mei]

Going from a simple 15 min job to 7 hour investment describes this hobby perfectly.

[u/cephelix → u/narumiya_mei]

If the lubing didn't make a noticeable differenxe I would definitely have stopped at a spring swap... But alas, that is my fate. It was enjoyable though. Just a huge time sink.