But What Does It Sound Like?
The Topre Typing Experience
Typing on a Realforce is a genuine pleasure. I’ve mentioned several times now, enthusiasts are split over the Topre switch. It’s either they get it and love it, or it’s a meh. Being a keyboard enthusiast means there’s no right or wrong switch, just what feels right for your hands. I’m firmly in the ‘finest rubber dome ever made’ camp with Topre, and I love typing on my Realforce 87U at work. For home and gaming, I’m slowing down a bit and am slowly gravitating away from MX blacks towards lighter switches. I know I’ll eventually arrive at 35g Gateron clear switches, but for now 50g Gateron yellows are where I’m at.
There’s a couple of things that happen when you push down a key on a Realforce keyboard. The first is the immediate feeling of the polished PBT keycaps against your fingers. You will miss that feeling at the end of the day. Then key goes down, the resistance at the top gives in and then a silky smooth throw all the way to the bottom. When the key reaches the bottom, there’s a very pleasant thock sound. Some may call it the Topre fart, but that’s different than the thock. When you release the key, the rebound is quick, snappy, then there’s a high pitched upclack, or tick. What makes Topre so compelling is the sum of all these actions, the keycaps, the silky smooth downstroke, the thock, and then the uptick. You can do this millions of times on a Topre board, and it will always give you pleasure doing so.
Now, this is where I must be hard on the RGB. While it may have an all 45g actuation force, the top of the stroke it is quite stiff, delivering very good tactility, but more than a regular Realforce. This gives the RBG a nice, snappy feel, from the top of the stroke. You still have the silky smooth down stroke, which feels lighter than a regular Realforce, but it lacks the thock thock of a Realforce. The RGB has more of a thud than a thock. Then the clear acrylic switch tops clearly accentuate the uptick sound, making them loud and harsh. The whole keystroke sounds hollow and not very pleasant. Let me show you what I’m on about, with sound samples.
Typing Sound Samples
One of the many aspects I find so interesting about keyboards is how they sound. The RGB doesn’t sound like a Topre Realforce (you can find sound samples in our GMMK review for reference), it’s missing the signature thock-thock sound. I’ve made some audio recordings with various keycaps to see if changing the keycaps would help the RGB regain some of its Realforceness.
I selected two sets, the Ducky One dye-sublimated PBT and PMK’s Borealis DSA (in ABS plastic), to find out if there was a keyset that would bring out the thock. I recorded at 24-bit, 48KHz resolution, and then converted to LAME for your enjoyment. Consider this as close to benchmarking a keyboard as it gets. First are the default keycaps.
This is the stock sound. If you listen closely, there is a little bit of thock in there, but it is dominated by the thud on the downstroke and the uptick of the slider hitting the top of the switch housing after. You can also hear how bass heavy the RGB is as well, it shook the table it was on and I’m not a heavy typist. Very solid keyboard. The test rig showed a slight ringing, not a ping as you’d find with an MX board, but a ringing, which was right under the APC key.
The Ducky One PBT dye-sublimated keyset is possibly the best keyset I have at the moment. It features thick polished PBT, crisp lettering, and if you don’t mind the blue color, makes for a superior feeling typing experience. Listening to the sound sample, you should hear a more pronounced thock-thock, though still dominated by thud and uptick. These keycaps give a more chesty and satisfying typing experience than the default, and the backlight gave a nice underglow.
Realforce-PMK-Borealis-DSA.mp3
Replacing the keycaps with something a little more frivolous, PMK’s Borealis DSA set fits the bill nicely. These multicolored keycaps represent the colors of an Aurora Borealis, and are made with doubleshot ABS, with glow in the dark legends. Being thin ABS keycaps, the Borealis DSA has a similar, yet higher pitched, sound like the default keycaps. There’s still the dominant uptick, and the bassy thud, but the thock is in there. Going off a little bit, typing with a DSA profile keyset is very different from a normal keyboard profile, and super enjoyable. I would use this keyset more often if I could read the legends during the day.
With the sound samples, we can say that there’s only a little bit of difference to be had with changing out the RGB’s stock keycaps. They are very good already. I think most customers who buy a RGB won’t even think about changing them. But if you do want to get back some of the Realforce thock, something you may not realize your missing, you’ll want to get the thickest, baddest, and bestest, PBT keycaps you can find. The RGB will always sound like the RGB, but at least you can get a little more thock with PBT.
