1.1 Problem with wire (curve) inside the stem. 1.2 Wire problem (dangling in the housing clamp where the stabilizer wire bends). 2. Keycap problem (curve) 3. Switch problem (curve) 4. Stabilizer lubrication problem. 5. The problem of the plate (yes, it may have a bend, which will cause tension) 6. Problem with the PCB board (yes, it can also be crooked and this will cause tension)
I love the Ghostbar. It makes the sound more muted but also sounds a lot more solid and deep pitched. I ended up putting a Ghostbar on all my keyboards
I'd already lubed my switch and double lubed my stabs before watching but that only did so much to fix the issue. watching this I lined my space bar with two layers of foam (some random foam i'd been saving from a keychron box from yonks ago) and taped that down with painter's tape. the difference is night and day! it's brought the sound profile of the spacebar wayy more in line with the rest of the keeb. still having some issues with uneven sound near the edges of the spacebar but i reckon that's a stab wire issue, and honestly it's pretty minor. good stuff, thanks for the vid!
love this video, really enjoyed all the sound tests and experimentation, thanks for all your time on this! One item I’d call out that I don’t believe was explicitly mentioned was the impact of warped spacebars or bent wires. If you get a bent spacebar, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do (short of trying to apply heat and bend it back). Bent wires may be able to be bent back.
Just started using my qk75 again after daily driving my bauer lite. Just realized the spacebar is super pingy so this is perfect timing! About a year or so ago you got me into keyboards and I have built 6 so far. 2 for me and 4 for my friends. Thanks again :)
For spacebars that rock from side to side (as seen in your video) you will also want to look at the stabilizers made specifically for long-pole switches. Both TX and Gateron have offerings that should help.
As someone who enjoys long-pole switches, and the odd Frankenswitch, I discovered very early on that long-pole/reduced travel switches aren't great with normal stabilizers. You can also look into stabilizers shims as well. Geon makes some pretty good ones 👍👍
As soon as you mentioned stem rattle i started applying tape directly to the stem feeds on my bar. Cut the x's open so the stems would easily put the tape out of the way. Seems to have helped quiet a bit, at least until i can pull out the stabs and see how un-level they are and lube them.
It's because PBT is more prone to warping than ABS, with longer keycaps being more susceptible to it, so there were QC issues. It doesn't have anything to do with sound.
tbh never realized how much of a difference the tape could make. I've resorted to using foam in one previous build with good success, but my issue is usually the stabilizers 4/5 times. Current go-to is the C3 Equalz v3 stabs
Seeing those spacebars there is only one thing that might make a big difference: make them solid. The sound comes from the bottom, the switch, and resonates inside the hollow spacebar. So what difference would there be if it is not hollow anymore? And I do not mean with foam, but I mean a solid bottom. Maybe I'll try 3D-printing one...
i had the same problem with my stabilizers. i tried everything until i got 5 pins switches and it was way better i was using the akko wine white switches and they sounded and felt really good but they werent very stable on the board which led to spacebar and enter keys sounding slight mushy rattle. until i tried a couple different 5 pin switches they were the answer!
The greatest trick to making your stabilizers sound great is the plumbers mod, wrapping the stabilizer ends in 2 loops of plumbers tape and then lubing over the tape. I've repeated the mod on every single stab of all my keyboards and it instantly removes any ticking while also making the stabilizer keys sound deep and full. This mod has not yet failed me.
omg ill be thoroughly paying attention when i get around to watching this vid - just going off the title alone....my spacebar situation has been so bad for so long 🙏
I hope it helps 😅 If it’s regarding the stabilizers and lubing, don’t forget to check the links in the description to those tutorial videos, they are great 🙂
I hope it helps 😅 If it’s regarding the stabilizers and lubing, don’t forget to check the links in the description to those tutorial videos, they are great 🙂
I really liked the Ghostbar on my Halo65, so I got another one for my Keychron K6 Pro... and was immediately disappointed. I didn't realize it at the time, but one of the reasons for the improved sound dampening was the inclusion of these silicone strips attached to the board, and without them the Ghostbar's sound profile is more or less the same as any generic PBT spacebar. I did some testing with other spacebars and came to the conclusion that the Ghostbar and silicone inserts, used in conjunction, are what facilitate the vastly improved sound profile found on the Halo65. Not sure why they're not included with the spacebar itself, and of course they don't appear to be sold separately anywhere. I've tried looking for them, but the closest I've found are made from rubber (KPREPUBLIC Spacebar Plate Rubber Strip). Maybe those would work, but I haven't gotten the chance to test it yet. It's just such a let down though, since after using the Ghostbar on the Halo65, every other spacebar that I use just sounds wrong in comparison.
@2:40, you've probably got a cracked stem in the spacebar, or (less likely) the stem on that stab has worn down. Regardless, the problem is that the spacebar stem isn't gripping the stab stem properly, causing it to pop up. If it's a cracked stem, you can try something like Tamiya Extra Thin cement to fuse the split (I had to do this with a set from Tai Hao). If the stab stem is a bit worn down, then a small square of plastic kitchen film can help with grip. A lot of times when people are having trouble eliminating stab rattle, and nothing they do works, it's this kind of fitment issue.
The thumbnail is quite misleading. The video itself only tackles the rattling issue of stabs briefly. But if it wasn’t for the thumbnail, I wouldn’t have clicked on the video otherwise.
9:06 This is a joke, right? These two sound identical. I'm listening on 2K worth of Focal and Universal Audio audio gear, and these two sound literally identical.
1.1 Problem with wire (curve) inside the stem.
1.2 Wire problem (dangling in the housing clamp where the stabilizer wire bends).
2. Keycap problem (curve)
3. Switch problem (curve)
4. Stabilizer lubrication problem.
5. The problem of the plate (yes, it may have a bend, which will cause tension)
6. Problem with the PCB board (yes, it can also be crooked and this will cause tension)
Yep, blu-tac is definitely my favourite spacebar mod. I was wondering why I’d never heard a youtuber recommend it before now!
I love the Ghostbar. It makes the sound more muted but also sounds a lot more solid and deep pitched. I ended up putting a Ghostbar on all my keyboards
I'd already lubed my switch and double lubed my stabs before watching but that only did so much to fix the issue.
watching this I lined my space bar with two layers of foam (some random foam i'd been saving from a keychron box from yonks ago) and taped that down with painter's tape.
the difference is night and day! it's brought the sound profile of the spacebar wayy more in line with the rest of the keeb. still having some issues with uneven sound near the edges of the spacebar but i reckon that's a stab wire issue, and honestly it's pretty minor.
good stuff, thanks for the vid!
Thank you! Glad it helped 🙂
love this video, really enjoyed all the sound tests and experimentation, thanks for all your time on this! One item I’d call out that I don’t believe was explicitly mentioned was the impact of warped spacebars or bent wires. If you get a bent spacebar, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do (short of trying to apply heat and bend it back). Bent wires may be able to be bent back.
Thank you so much and you’re absolutely right, I could/should have mentioned those points as well 🙂
Just started using my qk75 again after daily driving my bauer lite. Just realized the spacebar is super pingy so this is perfect timing! About a year or so ago you got me into keyboards and I have built 6 so far. 2 for me and 4 for my friends. Thanks again :)
Bauer's are shipping?!
Bauer Lite yup! I think they just did a restock and it might still be going on :)
For spacebars that rock from side to side (as seen in your video) you will also want to look at the stabilizers made specifically for long-pole switches. Both TX and Gateron have offerings that should help.
I didn’t even know there were spacebars specifically made for long pole-pole switches! 😯 Thanks for pointing that out, will check ‘em out! 🙂
As someone who enjoys long-pole switches, and the odd Frankenswitch, I discovered very early on that long-pole/reduced travel switches aren't great with normal stabilizers.
You can also look into stabilizers shims as well. Geon makes some pretty good ones 👍👍
As soon as you mentioned stem rattle i started applying tape directly to the stem feeds on my bar. Cut the x's open so the stems would easily put the tape out of the way. Seems to have helped quiet a bit, at least until i can pull out the stabs and see how un-level they are and lube them.
I forgot about that option...
The sinister intro was very well done, great music choice throughout also :)
Thank you! 🙏 🙂
6:01 I've always wondered why so many vintage keyboards had PBT keycaps but an ABS spacebar. I think you've provided the reason for this right here!!!
It's because PBT is more prone to warping than ABS, with longer keycaps being more susceptible to it, so there were QC issues. It doesn't have anything to do with sound.
tbh never realized how much of a difference the tape could make. I've resorted to using foam in one previous build with good success, but my issue is usually the stabilizers 4/5 times. Current go-to is the C3 Equalz v3 stabs
Seeing those spacebars there is only one thing that might make a big difference: make them solid.
The sound comes from the bottom, the switch, and resonates inside the hollow spacebar. So what difference would there be if it is not hollow anymore?
And I do not mean with foam, but I mean a solid bottom. Maybe I'll try 3D-printing one...
i had the same problem with my stabilizers. i tried everything until i got 5 pins switches and it was way better
i was using the akko wine white switches and they sounded and felt really good but they werent very stable on the board which led to spacebar and enter keys sounding slight mushy rattle. until i tried a couple different 5 pin switches they were the answer!
The greatest trick to making your stabilizers sound great is the plumbers mod, wrapping the stabilizer ends in 2 loops of plumbers tape and then lubing over the tape. I've repeated the mod on every single stab of all my keyboards and it instantly removes any ticking while also making the stabilizer keys sound deep and full. This mod has not yet failed me.
that putty mod sounds awesome!
Great video. Im really intrested in the ghost bar. Really wannted to try them out and if they can maybe they will release a 7u size
Thank you! I hope they make a wider version too, the more options we have the better 🙂
omg ill be thoroughly paying attention when i get around to watching this vid - just going off the title alone....my spacebar situation has been so bad for so long 🙏
I hope it helps 😅 If it’s regarding the stabilizers and lubing, don’t forget to check the links in the description to those tutorial videos, they are great 🙂
I hope it helps 😅 If it’s regarding the stabilizers and lubing, don’t forget to check the links in the description to those tutorial videos, they are great 🙂
I really liked the Ghostbar on my Halo65, so I got another one for my Keychron K6 Pro... and was immediately disappointed. I didn't realize it at the time, but one of the reasons for the improved sound dampening was the inclusion of these silicone strips attached to the board, and without them the Ghostbar's sound profile is more or less the same as any generic PBT spacebar. I did some testing with other spacebars and came to the conclusion that the Ghostbar and silicone inserts, used in conjunction, are what facilitate the vastly improved sound profile found on the Halo65. Not sure why they're not included with the spacebar itself, and of course they don't appear to be sold separately anywhere. I've tried looking for them, but the closest I've found are made from rubber (KPREPUBLIC Spacebar Plate Rubber Strip). Maybe those would work, but I haven't gotten the chance to test it yet. It's just such a let down though, since after using the Ghostbar on the Halo65, every other spacebar that I use just sounds wrong in comparison.
@2:40, you've probably got a cracked stem in the spacebar, or (less likely) the stem on that stab has worn down. Regardless, the problem is that the spacebar stem isn't gripping the stab stem properly, causing it to pop up.
If it's a cracked stem, you can try something like Tamiya Extra Thin cement to fuse the split (I had to do this with a set from Tai Hao). If the stab stem is a bit worn down, then a small square of plastic kitchen film can help with grip.
A lot of times when people are having trouble eliminating stab rattle, and nothing they do works, it's this kind of fitment issue.
Thanks a lot for those insights 🙇♂️, I never thought about that and need to check the spacebar for cracks. Thank you! 🙂
I’ve always been interested in your thoughts on ergonomic keyboards
There will be one later this year (if it eventually ships and arrives 😅)
@@CheeseTurbulencecan’t wait
what putty did you use
The thumbnail is quite misleading. The video itself only tackles the rattling issue of stabs briefly. But if it wasn’t for the thumbnail, I wouldn’t have clicked on the video otherwise.
Well the thumbail nailed it then I guess 😂
its about the spacebar what did you expect ?
@@arkaneforyou Maybe wire balancing, or maybe the tri lube method, or maybe... something entirely new and different that no one else mentioned.
Nice vid mate
As always, thank you! 🙂
I love it, i´m gonna try the tape! =)
Thank you and enjoy! 😄
From the vintage keyboard world: leave the spacebar alone-it is supposed to sound different. 😅
Klebeknete😂
4:43 what are those awesome keycaps?
Those are the default keycaps that ship with the white version of the NuPhy Halo boards, they don’t seem to be selling them separately though 😔
9:06 This is a joke, right? These two sound identical. I'm listening on 2K worth of Focal and Universal Audio audio gear, and these two sound literally identical.
I guess you wasted your money as I can hear a clear difference on my $300 soundbar
You have hearing issues
11:12 C U R S E D
I'm a linear spacebar tactiles for everything else person
I for one am so totally here for the bad languages jokes!
Wundervoll!
UHU patafix > tesa TACK
8:25 demonetized