I would like to point out that ABS plastic is usually double shot nowadays because of the plastic being easier to mold and while there are some PBT keycaps that are double shot, most are dye sublimated, because of the plastic being harder to mold. PBT is also more prone to warping issues with the longer keycaps while ABS keycaps don't usually have this problem, they do shine faster than PBT.
Thank you for the information! There's really a lot of different manufacturing and material combinations 😊 Another way of solving the warping long PBT keys, like the space bar, is... splitting the spacebar! You also gain extra thumb keys, so it's a win-win 😂
i have an abs keycap set, all of the keys are shiny. granted, when i got them new they were shiny, so they are supposed to be like that, they are also clear
I have a March 1990 Model M which has been my daily driver for just under 20 years now, and not a shiny keycap in sight. Basically, PBT keycaps don't shine in normal use period.
@@DygmaLab I hear what you're saying but that's a hearty "No thank you". I have no interest in a group buy for a variety of reasons, partially because I'm lazy but mostly because I don't think group buys are the way forward for this hobby. It feels like people are finally starting to kick back against the idea of prepaying big money and waiting a year or longer or terrible or non-existent feedback from the manufacturer for some silly plastic rectangles. As for myself, I can adjust to cherry, KAT or DSA because those are all readily available and I've already got sets in each lol
Is XDA COMPLETELY uniformed on all sides? I just got my first set of XDA, but they are blank, and I cannot tell which way is right side up. I always thought XDA had a tiny, tiny raise on each key until I had them in hand.
I've been using the SA profile for a while and a wrist rest definitely helps with the typing angle that the keycaps present. All of this information is really nice, thanks for this!
So I know no one asked, but I will tell you my story. So I have a Varmillo Vintage days without the numpad, and at first I really loved it, with the keycaps being so delicious (visually, I wanted to eat them), they are soo crisp. But I was constantly hitting random buttons, missing keys. And so I thought that maybe I need time to adapt to it, maybe I will be better, it’s just the habbit, isn’t it. My hands are quite big, and I previously really enjoyed typing on mac keyboards and one very flat one from logitech. So I went and bought a cheap xda keycaps on aliexpress, and oh boy why didnmt I do that earlier. The area of the keycap is ever so slightly bigger than the original keycaps I had, but now I don’t miss the keys, and the fingertips feel like they belong in the cap. In other words, it is just what I needed, I needed a flatter keyboard. Of course there are other profiles and I think I will go through some of them in the coming years, but I am glad I did that first step and tried something new. I also use mac, and russian layout. Fortunately for me I know all the keys by heart, so I can type regardless of the type face, but you might want to pay closer attention to what you are actually buying. And for some reason, even though there are no russian letters now on the keyboard, I type faster and more confident if I look at the keyboard. I just “see” where the russian letters are by looking at the english ones, weird, but you might experience something like that if you have a good memory of the layout. Good luck to anyone who made it that far :)
This was very helpful, thank you! Was on the fence with XDA, having an OEM that I keep mistyping on, but enjoyed my flat Logitech. Will try an XDA set now. Thanks!
Be aware if you do get Cherry profile and your keyboard has north facing led's there is a chance that there'll be interference between the switch and keycap but this isn't always the case some switches like all variants of Gateron yellows and all akko switches don't have this problem (there are more switches that don't have this problem but these are the only ones I know of) and the keycap thickness also plays a factor so if your keyboard is north facing I suggest you avoid Cherry just to be safe unless you have one of the switches listed above
Thanks for the info! That's also really important to have in mind when buying one keycaps or others. One note, switches facing north or south, does not depend on the brand of switches, but on the PCB and how the switches are mounted on it
@@DygmaLab yes I know it's the pcb that determines whether it's north or south facing but the switches I mentioned above don't have interference with cherry caps even when they're north facing
You should really mention that if the switches have pins in the bottom/LED's on the top (north facing), most Cherry keycaps will interfere with a lot of switches. This can easily be circumvented by buying long pole switches (like the Akko CS series, or KTT Roses), or south facing keyboards (like the KBD67 Lite, Ikki68 Aurora and a plethora of other enthusiast boards) if you want to avoid the chance of interference as much as possible. Although south-facing boards are slowly getting cheaper, most keyboards that are into the 100 dollar range (exc: Keychron K series, Iqunix M80/L80's, and a lot of gaming oriented keyboards) have north-facing switches. So, it's still something to note for the would-be keyboard enthusiast.
Yep, you're right, the position of the LEDs can have a lot of impact on how the lights shine through. Also, most profiles don't have the shie though options, so we'll reserve that for future endeavors 😅😅 Thanks for the suggestion!
for those reading even further ahead, the CIDOO AMB066 you can purchase the bare bones kit for $60 or get it for $80 as a finished keyboard, south facing LEDS 5 pin hot swap and ofc its an alice layout
By far, the best keycap profile explanation on the internet! Beautiful presenter, knowledgeable, smart and outspoken! You girl have everything! Amazing! New subscriber instantly!
Wow, thank you for your compliments! I'll share those with everyone. We really make a team effort to produce the videos with quality without making them dull 🥰
@@DygmaLab - and it shows! I love every single second of every single video you push out. So informative and funny in the same time, real pleasure to watch!
this video is very informative and literally had everything in one place. I'll recommend this video to my friends that interested in mechanical keyboard!
@@lacylich I'll look into it once ive started getting used to it hehe. i did plan on lubing my previous keyboards' switches, but its a lot of work. maybe ill start with just the stabilizers.
@@mtk3668 there's this video of :3ildcat lubing the switches and stabilizers of his Raise. It's pretty tedious work but the end result is well worth it.
Thanks a lot for the kind owrds and the subscription 🤗🤗 We must warn you, the more keycaps you have, the more you want. It's one of those things that make you want to buy more, you've been warned 😉
Thanks to you for your kind words 😊 One final piece of advice regarding those 2 profiles, if you have a keyboard with backlight on the keycaps, XDA keycaps with shine through are not very common, so don't despair if they are not easy to find 😉
I have a GMMK pro and I use Mechkey Alpha's black blank PBT keycaps, they're slightly darker than glorious keycaps but exactly the same material and profile, they look so good.
I'm an ortholinear user (ErgoDox mainly) and I find cylindrical keycaps help keep the fingers 'in line'. I found it particularly helpful when I was first learning and hit the wing keys. I haven't tried swapping back to flat/spherical (DSA) keycaps now I've been using it for a few years now 🤔
It's like if those 3 profiles have something in common... Anyway, glad to hear you've found your prefered profile, people try and try and don't reach a conclussion 😉
Really?? I'm confused to buy cherry or xda profile, since I'm hating my OEM keycaps now. I keep getting typos plus using red outemu doesn't help either, when i type in OEM my finger keep getting stuck. Cherry seems interesting but she said it's just lower version of OEM so im conflicted.
don't avoid high profile keycaps, just get a wrist rest. the high profile keycaps (e.g. SA) have a deeper sound which is really nice. i find SA easier to type on that other styles because they curve with the way fingers move.
Thanks to you for your kind words 😊 We try to help in anything we can, if oyu have more questions, you can reach out in any of our socials, we're always happpy to help!
As an ISO-nordic 65% keyboard owner there isn't much to to choose from and ordering from inside EU, to avoid astronomical shipping fees, limits it even more.
You're not alone in that love, it's probably the most requested profile among our community. We're trying to find some more sets with shinethrough though. If you get wind of any, let us know 😉
there's a lot of profiles you mentioned that i've never heard of! but i expected "moa" to make into this list, they're uniform and always come in flashy colors and cute designs, it's pretty interesting
IS IMPORTANT THE SOUND OF THE KEYCAPS, AND THE SATISFACTION WHEN YOU PUSH THEM. THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR CHOOSE YOUR KEYBOARD, MAYBE MORE THAN THE COLOUR, REALLY. SO THE SAME+ WRITING A TEXT. THANK YOU. 👍.
Of course it is important. For some people, it's even more important than the shape and the color. But that's the beatuy of it, everyone has their own reasons to pick the keys, and they are all right 😊 We only give information to people so they can make more informed choices 😉
I understand why since there are so many factors to this but I wish there were more on sound because I heard some people discussing the sound of different sets. Nevertheless, great video with just so much information!
Keycap sounds mainly depend on thickness and material. pbt is apparantly more thocky, and the thicker the caps the deeper pitched it will be. Plate, casematerial, swithces and mounting style also all play a role
Thanks to you for your comment 🙂 In regards to ABS, you're right that they shine faster than PBT keycaps, but they have some advantages. For instance, the light shines better through them, and the materials and painting have improved. Of course it's a very personal matter, just mentionning so y8ou can give them a shot every now and then 😅
Also remember, getting cherry profile keycaps means you need to have switches that have the RGB-through hole facing south. You'll have interference if you put Cherry keycaps on north facing switches.
Yes, and if you have a keyboard with south facing LEDs and switches, the Cherry profile keycaps should have the translucent legends below the keycap stem so that the LED light shines through better. This is a small problem for south facing switches.
@@DygmaLab I wouldnt sacrifice sharp looking top legends, like with gmk sets, for rgb shinethrough. You can still have rgb and have it not be shine through, and it looks good imo.
We feel you 😂😂 We've all been there. This video is in part to help us understand we have a problem when it comes to keycaps. There are just too many, in too many colors, designs shapes and lights 😜😜
Why aint nobody talking about moa keycaps? They are literally the best and the most aesthetic ones. Literally nobody, no youtubers talk about them and they are quite common
"Gaming Rage" I one of the most overlooked problems around. Because everyone slams the keyboard or the table every now and then. It's time for Keyboard companies to pay attentino on it 😂
I just fell down the rabbit hole with custom keyboards ... and I use a mac with an Italian iso keyboard ... how can I solve and find keycaps with iso Italian? also low profile...
ISO keycaps are hard to find Marko... even more if in Italian and low profile. You could try searching on AliExpress for example and on some enthusiast forums 🤔 r/mechanicalkeyboard may also have some recommendations there 🕵️
1:53 that's not at all the case. I use ASA and Cherry profile on my lily 58 and kyria boards without any issue. Scultped key profile does not negatively affect columnar keyboards.
In the video we say that because on columnar keyboards, if the keycaps are sculpted it is easier for your fingers to collide with the ends of the keycaps when sliding your fingers up or down, but it doesn't mean that they have to be uniform. I use for example sculpted keycaps on my Defy and I don't have problems either because I lift my fingers enough, but someone else may have problems with their fingers colliding with the keycaps when sliding them up and/or down 😊
I have a tex shinobi it comes with palm rest and I raise the keyboard from the palm rest so slants forward, and that makes it more comfortable for my wrists.
The negative tilt (raising the side where the palm rests are located) helps a lot to improve posture, you can find more information about that here ruclips.net/video/UAjCgaP_jNw/видео.htmlfeature=shared&t=91
It depends on where you live, and what specific keycaps you need! I would start by checking this out: reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/keycapsellers You can also ask on reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/ if you have more specific needs 😊
There are even more and growing 😂😂 The bare minimum ewe can do is put some information out, that way you won't be overwhelmed or confues the keycaps profile with instuttions such as CIA, GPU, DSD, MI5, and such 😂😂
Hello! Between OEM and KAT, the more similar to ASA are the KAT, they have a taller profile and similar design. However, is more likely to encounter a similar availability issue with them. In contrast, the OEM* are very easy to find with a wider range of options, prices, designs and almost anything you can ask for. Hope this helps 😊 *OEM This is the standard profile for comercial keyboards, that makes it very available, many manufacturers make keycaps with this profile.
No suggestions unfortunately, keycaps with the Mac legends are actually hard to find. Have you tried AliExpress and Kprepublic? Join our Discord or ask on Reddit, some other Dygmates probably can help too 😋
Thanks for an interesting and informative video. I juse sculpted keys (MT3) on my ortholinear Planck keyboard with 0 degree tilt. I think this is a quite comfortable combination, even though the keycap profile has been designed for 5 to 7 degree tilt. I did experiment with different profiles, both sculpted and non-sculpted, but I found MT3 to be the most comfortable one for me. Is it any specific reasons why you mentioned at 1:53 in the video that uniform sets are best for ortholiinear keyboards? Just wondering, because I can't really think of any reasons for why it should be different from a row-staggered keyboard layout.
Thanks to you for taking the time to share your insights 😊 Finding the perfect keycaps for you takes time, and as you did, testing. We can only provide general advice and information, the specifics of each case require concerned users llike you to do their part 😂 About uniform keys: they are very common on ortho keyboards, besides, some orthos that mount sculpted keycaps have the same suculpted in all the rows, for instance, the Moonlader's keycaps are R3 OEM keycaps all around the board Hope this helps, if not, feel free to reach again, it's been a pleasure talking to you 😊
@@DygmaLab Thanks for your reply. I have seen the claim that uniform keycaps are better for orthos before, but haven't understood the reasoning behind it. I do see the advantage in the cases where it is going to fit a wide range of tilting and tenting angles, but for normal keyboard with a set tilt I think it is more a personal preference, like on the row-staggered ones. I wasn't aware of the Moonlander using uniform OEM R3 caps, though, but it makes sense, as they have to accommodate all adjustment angles of the keyboard. On my Kyria split column-staggered board I use uniform keycaps, but this is mostly due to the limited selection of keycaps for Kailh Choc switches. Thanks again for your reply, and keep on making awesome videos and awesome keyboards.
1:54 that's actually something I haven't heard before. Why is that? I always thought that people use uniform profile keycaps on ortho boards because of popular convention
It usually has to do with the way we move our fingers in ortho keyboards. It feels more comfortable. One possible reason is that it's easy to hit keys in the corner when moving diagonally, while on staggered keyboards we usually "access" the keys from one of the 4 sides instead of the corners due to never having a purely diagonal key placement. Profiled keycaps are more "bumpy" so you notice this more on ortho keyboards.
Can you create special caps with the Default Layer #1, for the number PAD? Letter U would have a small number 7 and Letter I would have a small number 8... You could sell that as an optional for the Keyboard
Thank you for the suggestion! The Raise is completely remappable, so users normally change around the location of their keys. Having the numpad printed on the keys won't be for everyone. However, we see how this can help people who like the numpad in the default place 😊
Hi there! We've heard of them, but at some point we had to make a compromise and close the video. Some day we'll get back to all the XDA-like keycaps, but most of them havbe a similar profile, just some small height differences. Still, your point is absolutely valid, some day we'll have to maka a second part and add all the profiles we missed and all the ones that for sure will come 😉
hey, i noticed a profile that isn't in this collection that i'd like to see! its the MA profile. they have a very circular top but a square base which makes them very unique
Looking at this coz I've been using flat low profile laptop keyboard for years. Had a mechanical keyboard for a year and a half now and still couldn't get the hang of it. Tried changing switches and still no improvement with my typing. I read suggestions that I should try flatter keycap profiles instead of the concaved OEM ones I've been using.
We've tested these XVX ones and they're super cool, they have the uniform layout and felt awesome with the Raise 😻 Maybe you can check them out: en.xvxchannel.com/en-eu/products/xvx-horizon-low-profile-shine-through-keycap-set-117-key
I just purchased a Royal Kludge RK96 90% and 5 keycaps couldn't be switched out because the size were too long. It doesn't really bother me much. I have small hands
Hi there, that happens sometimes with modifier keys if the set does not have extras for different sizings. But if it does not bother you, it's still great!
The video seems pretty under researched. First off the ABS mentioned in the video pretty much only applies to cheaply produced keycaps, and the manufacturing process of ABS varies depending on price. There's nothing wrong with these, its just that the video fails to point out that currently, the leading brand of keycaps is GMK which produces exclusively Double-shot, ABS Cherry profile keycaps which are significantly thicker and sound completely different from the keycaps described in the video. GMK keycaps are also mainly community driven, i.e. designed by hobbyists and keycap designers and ran as group buys. The main selling point of them is quality, the double-shot molding is very clean, legends super crisp and quality is very well controlled. ABS also allows the keycaps to come in a much wider range, and much more vibrant colors. PBT keycaps are also mostly dye-sublimated instead of double-shot. Apart from Polycaps by kineticlabs, I believe most other manufacturers of PBT keycaps use dyesub (with the exception of Chinese manufacturers selling GMK clones). I recommend watching Jimmy Nguyen's keycap video cos he dives deeper into the custom keycaps scene.
We realize there are more manufacturing methods used for the different materials, and that trends are also changing! We will release another version of this video with many updates 😄
We did not gather all the models, just some of the more common and distinctive. We'll consider making a second part with the suggestions, thanks for the input!
![ABS vs PBT vs Rubber! What Are The Best Budget Keycaps in 2023? [RK61 Giveaway Closed]](/img/1.gif)
"Why are you buying them?"
*sweats nervously in empty wallet*
Sometimes it's worth it 😂
I do not have an answer I just like being broke
@@rangshiSome would argue that living on the edge is more thrilling.
No, I'm not addicted. I can stop any time I want 😂
theres some really cheap, but really good quality keycaps on amazon
I would like to point out that ABS plastic is usually double shot nowadays because of the plastic being easier to mold and while there are some PBT keycaps that are double shot, most are dye sublimated, because of the plastic being harder to mold. PBT is also more prone to warping issues with the longer keycaps while ABS keycaps don't usually have this problem, they do shine faster than PBT.
Thank you for the information! There's really a lot of different manufacturing and material combinations 😊
Another way of solving the warping long PBT keys, like the space bar, is... splitting the spacebar! You also gain extra thumb keys, so it's a win-win 😂
@@DygmaLab Split space bar FTW.
i have an abs keycap set, all of the keys are shiny.
granted, when i got them new they were shiny, so they are supposed to be like that, they are also clear
Yea I have been hearing the opposite of what was said in this video with regards to pbt vs abs
I have a March 1990 Model M which has been my daily driver for just under 20 years now, and not a shiny keycap in sight. Basically, PBT keycaps don't shine in normal use period.
I wish XDA were more common, especially in darker sets, uniform height suits me best but since I can't get what I want I live with cherry or KAT.
Maybe you can find or organize a group buy for a special dark XDA set! Just look in the specialized forums 😁
@@DygmaLab I hear what you're saying but that's a hearty "No thank you". I have no interest in a group buy for a variety of reasons, partially because I'm lazy but mostly because I don't think group buys are the way forward for this hobby.
It feels like people are finally starting to kick back against the idea of prepaying big money and waiting a year or longer or terrible or non-existent feedback from the manufacturer for some silly plastic rectangles.
As for myself, I can adjust to cherry, KAT or DSA because those are all readily available and I've already got sets in each lol
Is XDA COMPLETELY uniformed on all sides? I just got my first set of XDA, but they are blank, and I cannot tell which way is right side up. I always thought XDA had a tiny, tiny raise on each key until I had them in hand.
@@YeahNaw I'm no expert but yes, I believe they should be completely uniform.
@@barrylinkiewich9688 can confirm, I have an XDA set and they’re completely uniform in shape and height
I’ve never seen so much relevant info on keycaps in one video before. Thanks for this! One profile you missed that I love: NP
Thanks! I'm glad you found the video useful! NP - will take note of that when we make another keycap video :)
Np is just slightly modified XDA, so it's not really that worth including in a video like this, but enjoyable.
NP Ice cream daily driver here c:
I've been using the SA profile for a while and a wrist rest definitely helps with the typing angle that the keycaps present. All of this information is really nice, thanks for this!
Thank you very much! We try our best to help the community 😉
So I know no one asked, but I will tell you my story. So I have a Varmillo Vintage days without the numpad, and at first I really loved it, with the keycaps being so delicious (visually, I wanted to eat them), they are soo crisp. But I was constantly hitting random buttons, missing keys. And so I thought that maybe I need time to adapt to it, maybe I will be better, it’s just the habbit, isn’t it.
My hands are quite big, and I previously really enjoyed typing on mac keyboards and one very flat one from logitech. So I went and bought a cheap xda keycaps on aliexpress, and oh boy why didnmt I do that earlier. The area of the keycap is ever so slightly bigger than the original keycaps I had, but now I don’t miss the keys, and the fingertips feel like they belong in the cap. In other words, it is just what I needed, I needed a flatter keyboard. Of course there are other profiles and I think I will go through some of them in the coming years, but I am glad I did that first step and tried something new.
I also use mac, and russian layout. Fortunately for me I know all the keys by heart, so I can type regardless of the type face, but you might want to pay closer attention to what you are actually buying.
And for some reason, even though there are no russian letters now on the keyboard, I type faster and more confident if I look at the keyboard. I just “see” where the russian letters are by looking at the english ones, weird, but you might experience something like that if you have a good memory of the layout. Good luck to anyone who made it that far :)
This was very helpful, thank you! Was on the fence with XDA, having an OEM that I keep mistyping on, but enjoyed my flat Logitech. Will try an XDA set now. Thanks!
Be aware if you do get Cherry profile and your keyboard has north facing led's there is a chance that there'll be interference between the switch and keycap but this isn't always the case some switches like all variants of Gateron yellows and all akko switches don't have this problem (there are more switches that don't have this problem but these are the only ones I know of) and the keycap thickness also plays a factor so if your keyboard is north facing I suggest you avoid Cherry just to be safe unless you have one of the switches listed above
Thanks for the info!
That's also really important to have in mind when buying one keycaps or others.
One note, switches facing north or south, does not depend on the brand of switches, but on the PCB and how the switches are mounted on it
@@DygmaLab yes I know it's the pcb that determines whether it's north or south facing but the switches I mentioned above don't have interference with cherry caps even when they're north facing
You should really mention that if the switches have pins in the bottom/LED's on the top (north facing), most Cherry keycaps will interfere with a lot of switches. This can easily be circumvented by buying long pole switches (like the Akko CS series, or KTT Roses), or south facing keyboards (like the KBD67 Lite, Ikki68 Aurora and a plethora of other enthusiast boards) if you want to avoid the chance of interference as much as possible.
Although south-facing boards are slowly getting cheaper, most keyboards that are into the 100 dollar range (exc: Keychron K series, Iqunix M80/L80's, and a lot of gaming oriented keyboards) have north-facing switches. So, it's still something to note for the would-be keyboard enthusiast.
Yep, you're right, the position of the LEDs can have a lot of impact on how the lights shine through.
Also, most profiles don't have the shie though options, so we'll reserve that for future endeavors 😅😅
Thanks for the suggestion!
The newer Keychron V series are south-facing, for those reading this a year later.
for those reading even further ahead, the CIDOO AMB066 you can purchase the bare bones kit for $60 or get it for $80 as a finished keyboard, south facing LEDS 5 pin hot swap and ofc its an alice layout
By far, the best keycap profile explanation on the internet! Beautiful presenter, knowledgeable, smart and outspoken! You girl have everything! Amazing! New subscriber instantly!
Wow, thank you for your compliments! I'll share those with everyone. We really make a team effort to produce the videos with quality without making them dull 🥰
@@DygmaLab - and it shows! I love every single second of every single video you push out. So informative and funny in the same time, real pleasure to watch!
this video is very informative and literally had everything in one place. I'll recommend this video to my friends that interested in mechanical keyboard!
Glad to know you liked it! I hope your friends find it useful 😉
Also
If your PCB is north facing there may be some interference with cherry keycaps
So it's best to check if they work
You mean to say "if your PCB has north-facing LEDs". Doesn't matter which way the PCB itself is facing ;) But yeah, pretty vital info they left out.
Just got my raise a few days ago, and i'm super happy! Still getting used to using it in split mode. Its the best keyboard ive owned so far!
@@lacylich I'll look into it once ive started getting used to it hehe. i did plan on lubing my previous keyboards' switches, but its a lot of work. maybe ill start with just the stabilizers.
Yey! Super happy to hear that!
@@mtk3668 there's this video of :3ildcat lubing the switches and stabilizers of his Raise. It's pretty tedious work but the end result is well worth it.
I just bought and already thinking of keycaps to try, this video really helped a lot in educating myself. Thank you. You earned my subscription!
Thanks a lot for the kind owrds and the subscription 🤗🤗
We must warn you, the more keycaps you have, the more you want. It's one of those things that make you want to buy more, you've been warned 😉
thank you for your detail explanation. and your English is very easy to listen for non-native me. now im thinking of my next keycaps cherry or xda ...
Thanks to you for your kind words 😊
One final piece of advice regarding those 2 profiles, if you have a keyboard with backlight on the keycaps, XDA keycaps with shine through are not very common, so don't despair if they are not easy to find 😉
Thanks for this! I just bought my first custom keyboard DIY kit and wasn't sure what keycap profile to get and this really helped!
We are glad you found it useful! Let us know how you find your new keyboard! 😍
Great job covering lots of the less common keycap profiles, very helpful for me!
Thank you!!
this was way more in-depth than I had anticipated. great work!
will be referring back to this for sure
There's so much good info out there. We want to make sure people have a place to find it! Thank you for the praise 💖
I have a GMMK pro and I use Mechkey Alpha's black blank PBT keycaps, they're slightly darker than glorious keycaps but exactly the same material and profile, they look so good.
I'm an ortholinear user (ErgoDox mainly) and I find cylindrical keycaps help keep the fingers 'in line'. I found it particularly helpful when I was first learning and hit the wing keys. I haven't tried swapping back to flat/spherical (DSA) keycaps now I've been using it for a few years now 🤔
Good to know! We'll note it and dig more info for upcoming videos. Thanks!
My favorite keycap profile by far is KAT. Then I would say ASA (by Epomaker) and MDA. And for uniform profile I'd say KAM but DSA is also nice
i reccomend checking out the NP profile. its sold on divinikey
Which one you prefer? MDA or ASA?
@@SLEEPZERO_Speciall ASA
I bought a set of MT3 Susuwatari keys and my fingers just LOVE them.
Cool! They're easy to reach, right? 😉
Susu gang!
You are spot on! I move my fingers horizontally and prefer a bit larger surface. Found DSA to be my absolute favorite. Second best is XDA/ZDA. :D
It's like if those 3 profiles have something in common...
Anyway, glad to hear you've found your prefered profile, people try and try and don't reach a conclussion 😉
Really?? I'm confused to buy cherry or xda profile, since I'm hating my OEM keycaps now. I keep getting typos plus using red outemu doesn't help either, when i type in OEM my finger keep getting stuck. Cherry seems interesting but she said it's just lower version of OEM so im conflicted.
don't avoid high profile keycaps, just get a wrist rest. the high profile keycaps (e.g. SA) have a deeper sound which is really nice. i find SA easier to type on that other styles because they curve with the way fingers move.
I agree on the wrist rest! There's a limit to how low keycaps and switches can be, so raising your wrists is almost a necessity 😊
Just in case anyone else also frequently comes back to this video for reference:
5:42 DOM
5:58 DSA
6:12 G20
6:26 TEX
6:38 XDA
6:52 OEM
7:09 SA
7:20 OSA
7:38 CHERRY
7:52 DCS
8:08 DSS
8:29 HSA
8:48 KAT
9:13 KAM
9:23 MDA
9:42 MG
9:56 MT3
10:06 TAI-HAO CUBIC
Thank you!! You're the real hero. I'll add that to the description so the video has timestamps.
@@DygmaLab No prob!
Tried PBT OSA by Keychron, loved them so much after OEM.
Also, it is by far the best video on key profiles I was able to find. Thank you!
Thanks 🫶
I got low profile Choc switches and I'm pretty happy.
Low profile or high profile, as long as you have a mechanical keyboard it will be worth it 😄
Thank you. I just bought my keyboard and want to customize it. This helped a lot with the keycap sizes
Glad we could help!
this channel deserves more views tbh
Thanks for your kind words 😊
I like the high profile and spherical shape of the SA profiles, especially OSA. It looks good!
Yaaaas, that profile is amazing 😍
I'm new to mechanical keyboard world and found this video frickin amazing. Thanks for the knowledge! 🤘
Thanks to you for your kind words 😊
We try to help in anything we can, if oyu have more questions, you can reach out in any of our socials, we're always happpy to help!
@@DygmaLab That's so kind, thankyou!
3 days ago i never even knew about custom keyboards now every video youtube recommends is on the subject
We hope you're liking the content so far, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask here or to our socials 😊
I would add one more point if possible:
xda has equal height for each keycap
True! Thanks 😄
Very helpful! Thank you very much for the details. XDA worked out for me (6:37). Cheers.
Good to hear! Finding the profile that fits you is a great feeling, glad you found your match 😁😁
wow even as an enthusiast I never new how many keycap profiles there actually are, I must say my favorite keycap set is my GMK Pulse Mitolet set
You have a very fine taste 😂
Do you like the purple or the black&blue?
@@DygmaLabI really like the purple
@@sunflwr3721 Both were good answers, those keys look sick 🙂
@@DygmaLab thx
Your explainer videos are really good. It's a great template for inspiring creators like me.
Happy to hear that!
Me with my beginner RK61 in hand, completely overwhelmed: I guess you can wait a couple more months bud
It's a great starting option!
Once you're used to touch typing, moving to a split keyboard is an awesome experience 😄
awesome high quality video... how do you only have 3k subs?
keep up the great work!
Thank you! We're grateful for the 3k people that want to see our videos 😊
Holy cow, this is an amazing video. It has so much information in one place, thank you so much.
Glad it was helpful 😄
As an ISO-nordic 65% keyboard owner there isn't much to to choose from and ordering from inside EU, to avoid astronomical shipping fees, limits it even more.
You're totally right. ISO layouts have few and expensive choices 😥
Probably the most detailed keycap profile video on RUclips.
Thanks a lot 😀
We try to be as informative as we can 😊
i think i just fell in love with the xda profile.. its so pretty
You're not alone in that love, it's probably the most requested profile among our community. We're trying to find some more sets with shinethrough though. If you get wind of any, let us know 😉
I don't truly understand why many manufacture's forget about the Spanish Latam layout. *Stress intensifies*
Some day we will get there! It probably has to do with the demand, If there's enough demand, a manufacturer will make it 😄
there's a lot of profiles you mentioned that i've never heard of! but i expected "moa" to make into this list, they're uniform and always come in flashy colors and cute designs, it's pretty interesting
We are glad you like our video! Definitely we'll need to make a part 2 😜
I like the ChosFox CFX profile. Great low profile option meant for kailh choc switches. I like how they feel and they don't break the bank on price.
That's an interesting profile!
No idea what she was talking about but I could listen to her all day.
She has a way with words 🤷♂️
IS IMPORTANT THE SOUND OF THE KEYCAPS, AND THE SATISFACTION WHEN YOU PUSH THEM. THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR CHOOSE YOUR KEYBOARD, MAYBE MORE THAN THE COLOUR, REALLY. SO THE SAME+ WRITING A TEXT. THANK YOU. 👍.
Of course it is important. For some people, it's even more important than the shape and the color. But that's the beatuy of it, everyone has their own reasons to pick the keys, and they are all right 😊
We only give information to people so they can make more informed choices 😉
@@DygmaLab OF COURSE !!! FOR THAT, I ASK YOU THAT IF YOU WANT SHOW IT FOR TO HAVE MORE INFORMATION. 😊😄😉😘. Oh... THANK YOU!! 🌹🌾.
@@agatagarcia4454 We have some new keycaps coming, so probably we will some make new content on the topic 😊
@@DygmaLab Perfect!!😋😎
ABS keycaps can be double shot as well. Ever hear about GMK?
And PBT does not have to be double shot.
yes, i wish she covered the abs double shot, there are some really nice abs out there too. but of course a lot of junk abs
We'll talk about this in our next Keycaps video 😊
MOA profile is my favorite, surprised it wasn't mentioned here.
We'll look into into it for a future video with even more in-depth comparison 😊
Hi great videos. Learnt a lot from your videos.
That's awesome! Thank you for your words!
I understand why since there are so many factors to this but I wish there were more on sound because I heard some people discussing the sound of different sets. Nevertheless, great video with just so much information!
Keycap sounds mainly depend on thickness and material.
pbt is apparantly more thocky, and the thicker the caps the deeper pitched it will be.
Plate, casematerial, swithces and mounting style also all play a role
Thank you! We will make other videos comparing sounds too 😊
Very informative video, thanks. I really can't stand ABS keycaps because of the shine. That goes for expensive GMK ones too.
Thanks to you for your comment 🙂
In regards to ABS, you're right that they shine faster than PBT keycaps, but they have some advantages. For instance, the light shines better through them, and the materials and painting have improved. Of course it's a very personal matter, just mentionning so y8ou can give them a shot every now and then 😅
Also remember, getting cherry profile keycaps means you need to have switches that have the RGB-through hole facing south. You'll have interference if you put Cherry keycaps on north facing switches.
Yes, and if you have a keyboard with south facing LEDs and switches, the Cherry profile keycaps should have the translucent legends below the keycap stem so that the LED light shines through better. This is a small problem for south facing switches.
@@DygmaLab I wouldnt sacrifice sharp looking top legends, like with gmk sets, for rgb shinethrough. You can still have rgb and have it not be shine through, and it looks good imo.
Good informative video, love the look of the MT3/SA with some Box Jades, loud and thocky!
They do look awesome! Unfortunately, they are not that cheap 🥲
Everytime I buy caps my fiance just laughs. At this point I tell her I need help.
Awesome video btw.
We feel you 😂😂
We've all been there. This video is in part to help us understand we have a problem when it comes to keycaps. There are just too many, in too many colors, designs shapes and lights 😜😜
Underrated video. Very informative.
Thank you 🥰
Great video. Didn't think of the ergonomics part while choosing keycaps before
Every small bit counts 🙂
They don't make the biggest difference, but they make some and it's important to keep thos details in mind 😉
Really great VID!!!! Excellent information. Thanks again
Our pleasure!! Glad you liked it 😁
Exactly the info I needed. THANK YOU!
You're welcome! We also have some content related to switches and even talked about Keycaps for Ortholinear keyboards in a different video 😉
Why aint nobody talking about moa keycaps? They are literally the best and the most aesthetic ones. Literally nobody, no youtubers talk about them and they are quite common
Maybe we should prepare a part 2? 🤔
@@DygmaLab hell yeah dawg, ive been looking for one of these
I love that she addressed slamming the keyboard in rage.
"Gaming Rage" I one of the most overlooked problems around. Because everyone slams the keyboard or the table every now and then. It's time for Keyboard companies to pay attentino on it 😂
I know most ppl who watch keyboard videos are aware of the terms but I'm new so treat us like we know nothing!
Don't worry, we've all been there, that's why we try to make this instructional, to try to guide you through rabbit hole 😊
I just fell down the rabbit hole with custom keyboards ... and I use a mac with an Italian iso keyboard ... how can I solve and find keycaps with iso Italian? also low profile...
ISO keycaps are hard to find Marko... even more if in Italian and low profile. You could try searching on AliExpress for example and on some enthusiast forums 🤔
r/mechanicalkeyboard may also have some recommendations there 🕵️
1:53 that's not at all the case. I use ASA and Cherry profile on my lily 58 and kyria boards without any issue. Scultped key profile does not negatively affect columnar keyboards.
In the video we say that because on columnar keyboards, if the keycaps are sculpted it is easier for your fingers to collide with the ends of the keycaps when sliding your fingers up or down, but it doesn't mean that they have to be uniform. I use for example sculpted keycaps on my Defy and I don't have problems either because I lift my fingers enough, but someone else may have problems with their fingers colliding with the keycaps when sliding them up and/or down 😊
I have a tex shinobi it comes with palm rest and I raise the keyboard from the palm rest so slants forward, and that makes it more comfortable for my wrists.
The negative tilt (raising the side where the palm rests are located) helps a lot to improve posture, you can find more information about that here ruclips.net/video/UAjCgaP_jNw/видео.htmlfeature=shared&t=91
Any recommendation on where to buy DSA/XDA keycaps? any specific amazon seller/shops, etc?
It depends on where you live, and what specific keycaps you need! I would start by checking this out: reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/keycapsellers
You can also ask on reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/ if you have more specific needs 😊
People buy new caps because they're keybored. Very interesting video. Lots of great-looking keyboards.
Thanks a lot!
Great video, informative and well done. I wanted to learn about MOA keycaps but they were not mentioned, :-(
Sorry! We couldn't cover all profiles 🥹
This was such a great video! Extremely helpful
Thank you very much!
We hope to expand it in the future,m adding even MORE keycap designs that have been created in the las years 🙂
1:55 thanks! i did not know that. i was just gonna build my ortholiniar keyboard.
Tell us how it goes with your keyboard! 😍
Wow! Wasn't expecting this video to be this in depth
The title didn't lie 😜
Dygma... Ligma... Dygma... Hmm, I've figured it out "DYGMA BALLS!!!"
Yeah, Dygma balls will be our next product 😜
That was really helpful, thank you!
Our pleasure! Happy to help!
Which keycaps is used in the Dygma Raise when it is shipped?
The Raise is shipped with OEM profile keycaps.
You make great videos Dygma Lab, i like the info and the presentation too, and your thumbnails are very funny eg re Qwerty :)
We're glad you like them! 🥳🎉
My favorite are the KAT and the XDA
They have a nice concave surface, right?
hell ya kat is the best for typing
This was such a good informative video, I... didn't know there were so many, lol~
There are even more and growing 😂😂
The bare minimum ewe can do is put some information out, that way you won't be overwhelmed or confues the keycaps profile with instuttions such as CIA, GPU, DSD, MI5, and such 😂😂
I really like Akko’s ASA profile. Unfortunately, they’re always out of stock. I wonder would OEM or KAT be a good alternative.
Hello!
Between OEM and KAT, the more similar to ASA are the KAT, they have a taller profile and similar design.
However, is more likely to encounter a similar availability issue with them. In contrast, the OEM* are very easy to find with a wider range of options, prices, designs and almost anything you can ask for.
Hope this helps 😊
*OEM This is the standard profile for comercial keyboards, that makes it very available, many manufacturers make keycaps with this profile.
@@DygmaLabthank you very much for responding! I figured OEM was the way to go.
1:30 in those cases a pillow works great. Assuming there's space for that in your desktop, of course, but still.
Of course it helps. We've found that even folding a towel helps in these situations 😊
This is amazing, is there an infographic 😬? I’ll probably but the wrong keys for the wrong board at some point.
I'm afraid not 😅
I want to invent a keyboard profile where the keycaps are literally shaped like teeth. There would probably be a lot of chatter.
I'm sure you can find people online who can make or have already done this 😂
no.
Great video, thank you. I'm having a problem finding Mac keycaps. Preferably shine-through, OEM profile. Any suggestions? Thanks.
No suggestions unfortunately, keycaps with the Mac legends are actually hard to find. Have you tried AliExpress and Kprepublic?
Join our Discord or ask on Reddit, some other Dygmates probably can help too 😋
Thanks for an interesting and informative video. I juse sculpted keys (MT3) on my ortholinear Planck keyboard with 0 degree tilt. I think this is a quite comfortable combination, even though the keycap profile has been designed for 5 to 7 degree tilt. I did experiment with different profiles, both sculpted and non-sculpted, but I found MT3 to be the most comfortable one for me. Is it any specific reasons why you mentioned at 1:53 in the video that uniform sets are best for ortholiinear keyboards? Just wondering, because I can't really think of any reasons for why it should be different from a row-staggered keyboard layout.
Thanks to you for taking the time to share your insights 😊
Finding the perfect keycaps for you takes time, and as you did, testing. We can only provide general advice and information, the specifics of each case require concerned users llike you to do their part 😂
About uniform keys: they are very common on ortho keyboards, besides, some orthos that mount sculpted keycaps have the same suculpted in all the rows, for instance, the Moonlader's keycaps are R3 OEM keycaps all around the board
Hope this helps, if not, feel free to reach again, it's been a pleasure talking to you 😊
@@DygmaLab Thanks for your reply. I have seen the claim that uniform keycaps are better for orthos before, but haven't understood the reasoning behind it. I do see the advantage in the cases where it is going to fit a wide range of tilting and tenting angles, but for normal keyboard with a set tilt I think it is more a personal preference, like on the row-staggered ones.
I wasn't aware of the Moonlander using uniform OEM R3 caps, though, but it makes sense, as they have to accommodate all adjustment angles of the keyboard. On my Kyria split column-staggered board I use uniform keycaps, but this is mostly due to the limited selection of keycaps for Kailh Choc switches.
Thanks again for your reply, and keep on making awesome videos and awesome keyboards.
Great vid! My favorite keycaps are gmk cherry, and my favorite set Is gmk botanical
Thank you!!
Opened this video trying to figure put what profile my keycaps are because i forgot it and it was a surprise seeing the exact ones pop up at 6:40 lol
😊😅
Love this video! So full of information with jokes scattered around! Thanks!
Thanks a lot for the kind words 🙂
We put a lot of effort in the video, we're very glad it's able to help!
1:54 that's actually something I haven't heard before. Why is that? I always thought that people use uniform profile keycaps on ortho boards because of popular convention
It usually has to do with the way we move our fingers in ortho keyboards. It feels more comfortable. One possible reason is that it's easy to hit keys in the corner when moving diagonally, while on staggered keyboards we usually "access" the keys from one of the 4 sides instead of the corners due to never having a purely diagonal key placement. Profiled keycaps are more "bumpy" so you notice this more on ortho keyboards.
Really useful summary!
Thanks a lot! We tried to help others so they don't have to find all the info we had to research 😅
Can you create special caps with the Default Layer #1, for the number PAD? Letter U would have a small number 7 and Letter I would have a small number 8... You could sell that as an optional for the Keyboard
Thank you for the suggestion!
The Raise is completely remappable, so users normally change around the location of their keys. Having the numpad printed on the keys won't be for everyone. However, we see how this can help people who like the numpad in the default place 😊
Have you heard of ZDA? I think it’s a YMDK brand thing, supposed to be a slightly higher profile XDA I guess
Hi there!
We've heard of them, but at some point we had to make a compromise and close the video.
Some day we'll get back to all the XDA-like keycaps, but most of them havbe a similar profile, just some small height differences. Still, your point is absolutely valid, some day we'll have to maka a second part and add all the profiles we missed and all the ones that for sure will come 😉
hey, i noticed a profile that isn't in this collection that i'd like to see! its the MA profile. they have a very circular top but a square base which makes them very unique
Thanks for the info! Maybe we can include that in future videos! We'll keep that in mind! :)
Nice and comprehensive 10/10
Thank you!
Looking at this coz I've been using flat low profile laptop keyboard for years. Had a mechanical keyboard for a year and a half now and still couldn't get the hang of it. Tried changing switches and still no improvement with my typing. I read suggestions that I should try flatter keycap profiles instead of the concaved OEM ones I've been using.
We've tested these XVX ones and they're super cool, they have the uniform layout and felt awesome with the Raise 😻
Maybe you can check them out: en.xvxchannel.com/en-eu/products/xvx-horizon-low-profile-shine-through-keycap-set-117-key
KDA looks nice, good thing the set I was looking at IS KDA!
Never expected to find Tense in this video. Ever.
I just purchased a Royal Kludge RK96 90% and 5 keycaps couldn't be switched out because the size were too long. It doesn't really bother me much. I have small hands
Hi there, that happens sometimes with modifier keys if the set does not have extras for different sizings. But if it does not bother you, it's still great!
What keyboard is that at 1:51? I have a kinesis gaming RGB edge and love it, but always looking for a handful of changes.
It's the Dygma Raise. We've got many videos about it 😊
You can see it here: dygma.com/products/dygma-raise
Thanks for so much information! Maybe I should try SA variants next time because I have small hands.
Good to know!
Remeber to keep in mind the height of the keyboard, that's really important when buying high profile keycaps 😊
The video seems pretty under researched. First off the ABS mentioned in the video pretty much only applies to cheaply produced keycaps, and the manufacturing process of ABS varies depending on price. There's nothing wrong with these, its just that the video fails to point out that currently, the leading brand of keycaps is GMK which produces exclusively Double-shot, ABS Cherry profile keycaps which are significantly thicker and sound completely different from the keycaps described in the video. GMK keycaps are also mainly community driven, i.e. designed by hobbyists and keycap designers and ran as group buys. The main selling point of them is quality, the double-shot molding is very clean, legends super crisp and quality is very well controlled. ABS also allows the keycaps to come in a much wider range, and much more vibrant colors. PBT keycaps are also mostly dye-sublimated instead of double-shot. Apart from Polycaps by kineticlabs, I believe most other manufacturers of PBT keycaps use dyesub (with the exception of Chinese manufacturers selling GMK clones). I recommend watching Jimmy Nguyen's keycap video cos he dives deeper into the custom keycaps scene.
We realize there are more manufacturing methods used for the different materials, and that trends are also changing! We will release another version of this video with many updates 😄
@@DygmaLab awesome! That’d be great!
I noticed ASA keycap profile is not featured in this video. I think they're used in Akko/Epomaker keyboards. Is there any info about those?
We did not gather all the models, just some of the more common and distinctive. We'll consider making a second part with the suggestions, thanks for the input!
nice textbook of keycaps profile!