Timestamps are in the description if you want to compare sound tests on your own or skip to certain sections. At 1:28, ignore "How Does Tape Mod Affect Sound". It should say PE Foam Mod. Foam: amzn.to/3lmLhAp This is not antistatic. I didn't have any issues whatsoever, daily driving 3 boards with it installed. With how little static electricity would be accumulated before it enters the board, I doubt there is any risk at all. Additionally, modern PCBs are incredibly resistant to static, however I would still avoid black foam, as that indicates the presence of carbon, and alongside it, conductivity. *Ranger629* adds that *YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT THIS MOD ON A SOLDER PCB*. The heat from the soldering process can melt the foam and thus damage the PCB. Thank you StylishRabbit and ura for the research guidance!
I think you should include a disclaimer that the PE Foam Mod should only be attempted with a hotswap keyboard. As Hiney has raised up on multiple streams, doing the PE Foam Mod on a soldered PCB can potentially damage your PCB. The high heat from the soldering iron can transfer the heat up the switch prongs and melt the PE Foam. The melted Foam can then flow into the PCB contact points where essentially create insulation between the contacts and ultimately causing the PCB to not work. *Addressing people who potentially will say: "I did it with a soldering iron." Sure, you did it and nothing happened doesn't mean nothing will happen to the next guy. Plastic/foams melt when exposed to high heat. They leave a black layer of gunk behind after they have melted and that is what can potentially cause contact issues between the PCB and switch.
Why would the melted pe foam flow against gravity? Additionally, all of the contacts in the PCB are soldered, melted PE foam isn't going to do anything but get it a bit dirty at most.
@@irgilligan plastics and foams can curl up when burned or melted. The foam here is also not very dense so it's not neccessarily going to melt like wax and drip
some people are saying everyone will be tired of this sound in some months and I was already tired of it by the third keyboard lol jokes aside, great video man it was super entertaining and informative
Subscribed! I talked about this mod with others on discord servers and there were some criticisms about how they don't like the thought of their board being packed with foam, that a good custom board shouldn't have foam, etc. Who's making up these rules and standards? This mod is revolutionary especially for people who can't afford expensive boards. It elevates their "budget" boards like gmmk pro to other high end boards and at the end of the day, if you're happy with it, nobody cares or is judging
The argument is a bit pretentious, but it's fairly true. The higher end of the community sees foam as a sort of crutch, being an "easy way out" of improving sound over actually taking the time and effort to prototype a case that sounds good without foam. When budget becomes a limitation, this argument is nullified because there simply isn't high end design in lower price points. And of course, you are building your keyboard for yourself and not for others, so it doesn't matter. If you like the mod, by all means do it.
Fuck the snobs. You will hear so many of them through out the hobby. I have super expensive boards (like a Haus by Hand Engineering or F1-8X), and I have budget boards. I do whatever I want to them (minus using Cherry MX Browns LMFAO). It's your board, not theirs. Fuck the gate keepers, they're so damn annoying.
Insane production value, quality, and information clarity for such a small channel. Definitely got my sub and looking forward to more scientific breakdowns for various keyboard mods!
Thank you for this!!! It makes me happy that the community is taking sound so seriously, and the stigma against using plate foam (one of my favorite mods) is starting to decrease. You mentioned that it was difficult to predict how it would make the board sound. In my opinion, it actually makes boards sound mostly the same. Since it makes low pitched builds sound higher and higher pitched builds sound lower, it brings everything to the middle, and everything kind of sounds the same because any extremes are normalized. It kind of has a reputation of making "any build sound good".
I'd say it makes any build sounds "decent". If the board is budget, it improves the acoustics, making it go from "okay" to "decent". If the board is premium, it normalizes the acoustics, bringing it down from its unique sounds to "decent"
One unexpected side benefit to me is that it really reduced how noticeable the spacebar sound was, that's my achilles heel in keyboards; in so many of the soundtests I've listened to the spacebars sound plinky or plonky and kinda cheap and loud, I find that they really dominate the sound of many boards that I might otherwise like.
I built a KBD67 Lite for a birthday present and figured it would be fun to experiment with the PE and tape mods. Holy hell that thing turned out better than I expected. I've been playing around with some of my boards since and noticing not quite the same improvement, but changes I'm liking still.
I think you're explanation of the PE foam is correct. its definitely narrowing the sound of the switch down which is why all switches start sounding the same with this mod. This was a really well done video!
These videos are so good, taking a more scientific and dissecting material effects on keyboard sound - for the amount of time and money the mk community sinks into the hobby, im surprised no one did this sooner! I have a suggestion for another acoustics analysis / comparison video: how adding soft materials (deskmats, towels, t-shirts) underneath the keyboard will affect sound! It's an easy enough way to instantly change the external environment of the keyboard, and very under-explored in my opinion. (Perhaps another video focused on desk material :3? Although that one will be harder perhaps. I have a glass-and-metal desk and the entire desk pings when typing. T. T So I use a custom padded fabric deskmat)
I just did this on my Frog TKL by Geon.. And it completely changed the sound profile. It's crazy how drastic of a change it was. It sounds deeper + marble-y now. Just like you said, clacking two stones together. I have heard that this mod changes the sound profile to basically the same thing for all boards and switches, so I am curious how it affects each board. But yeah, my Frog now sounds like a Jelly Epoch lol
@@muCephei_ your right i would also say there's clack but I think right now this is a trend but ultimately it's person to person when it comes to sound. I like this sound but I won't be using it on my next board cause like he said in the video it can make boards sound the same
@@tylerlee9217 Oh yeah,, i knew i forgot clack, but I don't actually like the clack personally. The sound science is a tricky to figure out, but I do agree that I would like my boards to all sound different.
I think it would have been nice to see these mods on cheaper budget boards. Most high end boards like the Mode already sound really nice and at that price point, people can just alter the pitch by swapping their switch. Budget boards like the GK stuff or NK65 always sound plastic(y) so if there was a way to mod those boards to sound more poppy and crisp, then I think it would be more fun to play with
I need this in my life. BRB doing this on my $25 ultra budget amazon special mechanical keyboard. I'll let you folks know the results. Edit: This makes the keyboard sound exactly how nearLucid described. Doesn't matter how the keyboard sounds originally. This mod brings it to a more neutral "creamy" sound profile. While it does sound pretty good, it's definitely not for every keyboard. It should help a lot more with fully metal keyboards that have very little dampening the first place. Tape I found makes almost no difference. Of course the obvious disclaimer that doing this makes bending pins much easier, so careful with switch installation. Do not try this with soldered switches. It will 100% melt the foam and leave a very gooey, sticky mess.
no lie, thats some glorious ass wrist/typing you got there. First video I watched of yours and I just realized i need to be hovering my wrist more too, esp with split ergo
I believe the more stiff the panel/surface the sound bounces to, the less it will likely to get dampened but just redirected instead. Thats probably the reason why acoustic sound dampeners are often included or combined with flexible materials like cloth. The sound bouncing to a flexible(ex: cloth/cotton/soft foam) surface would likely dampen more than bouncing to a harder/stiffer(solid plastic/metal) surface.
So I did try this mod in A Test build of YMD 75v3+ YMDK 84, coupled with Stock Durock T1,Akko ASA LA Keycaps, PCB Dampening Felt, and Silicon inside of the case. The sound is so poppy! I am loving it!
I love that you broke it down in a scientific way and with some sources. Just got into the hobby and working on my sisters board soon and she wants the creamy sound just like the alpine. You get a sub from me, hope to see more content like this!
I'm using the tape mod and the KBDFans switch pads on my Fuji65 alongside the Boba U4Ts and it did improve the sound overall. Pretty good mods for very little money spent.
"comparing the jelly epoch to the alpine, the sound really isn't too far off from the jelly epoch" thats is very true, it sounds like a copy. Btw nice vid and explanation, keep it up.
Another great video! I've been very curious about the mechanisms behind these mods ever since I tried them out. Fascinating stuff. From my experience with the GMMK Pro, the tape seemed to deaden the sound to a degree that I didn't like so I prefer going with just the PE foam on that board. On a cheaper board I did both since it sounds pretty bad and needs all the help it can get lol
Wait, you updated the description to include anti-static foam? Although it is probably fine to use, it's actually safer to use regular, non-conductive PE foam. Anti-static foam is not meant to be used with electronics while they're plugged in, it's meant to dissipate static shocks away from the electronics it is wrapping. It is conductive (albeit barely so), and therefore somewhat risks shocks transferring from the case to the PCB. You should probably keep the foam link as the regular, non-antistatic foam.
I did this mod and my results are pretty interesting (I didn't record and compare the sound side by side, I'm just going by feeling): I use unlubed gateron reds for my Q and E (my keys for osu!) and lubed reds for the rest of the board. The lubed reds sound deeper than before, but the unlubed ones sound higher pitch than before. pretty cool!
Interesting analysis. I actually think the tape sounds better without the PE, which adds a more clacky almost machine gun sound. Totally subjective, but now I even wonder whether I want the PE mod. Tape always seems good to me - I love it. I'll have to think more about it.
Suggestion for sound test - Type a bit slower that way people can hear the individual key presses instead of the extremely fast cluster where it all just kinda blends together ahah
Just a FYI everyone is wrong about the reason for the PE giving the extra pop it has nothing to do with filtering sound or material used. It has to do with compressing the switch pins into the PCB so there is a buffer for when downstroke vibrations come down they spread into the PCB. Don't believe me try the swagkeys or KBD foam with the larger cutouts to where you are not compressing the switch pins into material and they actually mute the switch instead of making it louder. I used Glad press and seal a few weeks ago (3 layers) to the top of my think 6.5 and it pops like no other and even retains switch sound signature.
My uneducated opinion is that PE foam is not about absorbing or amplifying low or high frequency sounds, it's more like it rounds off some of the squarer sound waves. But just a bit.
I personally like the sound of the tape mod but NOT the PE foam mod, at least not in my keychron Q1 (alu plate, U4ts). At first I did both mods without really comparing the results but slowly really got annoyed by some of the frequencies of the switches. They sounded muffled and scratchy. I think the scratchiness comes from the U4ts not being lubed (yet), while the muffled sound definitely was due to the PE foam mod. I got rid of the foam and now it just sounds so much clearer and more crisp.
So many mods.. so many places to put foam in... i cant choose. When i finally get all my keyboard materials i'm gonna have to try all , test them and finally solder
Watching his typing test "Yeah this is how a good typist should type" Remembering typing test videos where a dude types with only using 4 fingers from both hands, and I shudder......
You should try adding 2-3 layers of tape, having only 1 layer is way thinner than having foam. Thinking logically, foam is thicker meaning it will ofc absorb more sound.
Surely the acoustics work the other way round? High frequencies are less likely to be absorbed or pass through the tape than low frequencies. High frequencies will reflect back off the tape. The tape is too flat to diffuse high frequencies. Like the walls of a studio. The imperfections in a painted surface are not sufficient to diffuse sound, so we use diffusers. The tape causing a higher pitch makes sense since the high frequencies reflected off the tape will reverberate underneath the keycaps. The acoustics of ehats going on is probably quite complex, leading to different outcomes with different setups
I Just made my first keyboard for $155, I electrical tape modded, PE foam modded, as well as using three layers as medical raps as a dampener. The whole build took about eight hours, and it genuinely sounds almost just as good if not better than tons of $250-400 builds I've seen. Note: Sometimes the quality of a keyboard's sound can be hindered by the microphone it is being recorded with, so what I mean is that it sound as good as $250-400 builds through a microphone , my keyboard sounds like a dog turd in the wind on a hot summer day that was pissed on and spat at when listened to on my phone's microphone. The PE foam mod is the number one biggest keyboard cheat there is, it turns a $100 sound into a $300 sound (Classic keyboard W) ↓ ↓
If you can find a thinner PE foam (0.1mm) you won't need to poke holes into the foam for the switches because it can pierce right through it, making it much faster to do!
You ask me...your keyboards sounded great with no mods...I think the pe and tape mods are more for cheap $50 and under keyboards. And that's why everyone started going it, because to make a cheap keyboard sound good...because stock they sound not great. Thanks for the video..great job!!!!
for what i´ve tried so far will all foam mods, is for sure that part of the sound just bounce straight back causing the overall sound louder, is a nightmare in certain cases with switches that already are loud, will not name few of them but that´s for sure. In other case, the tape mod is the one that more bounce back have, since is just a solid later of material, for how sounds works, having diferente materials, in plate/case reduce the vibrations over typing, so for example alu case+alu plate is not the best solution out there, havig an alu case+with pom plate or viceversa make the best sound wihout needs of any kind of foam so far, also the last foam in the bottom case, will do two thing, first will absorbs the bounce, so less echo in the sound, as any other foarm in a recording studio, also having non flat surface could help, also still bounce the sound, having less travel distance allways will make the sounds bounced to be louder. Another var that affect the sound more than foam is the keycaps itself, when the sound it bounced it still keep part in the bottom keys, and it act like a bell, the sound can vary based mostly in the thickness of the keycaps, since most of them have the same shape at end. also the size of the cap can affect the sound, that´s why the usual big spacebars sounds more noisy and bad in general compared with other caps, also, that´s depending on the case itself, some cases have more distance from the case to the bottom of the pcb, in the R4, making these row sound more thocky in comparison, if you can relate, dispersion in high pich notes is more in short distance than low frecuencies, causing the bounce to sound more low. That´s happen with any sound in general, from acoustics. You know that the base itself is a resonance box, don´t need any foam at all, just good design, and diferent mats, to avoid annoying vibrations out there.
What I interpreted from this video is that you could technically use only foam on the alphas to make them all go lower in pitch since the alphas are normally higher pitched than the mods. Since the mods are typically deeper than the alphas, the pe mod might make them become higher pitched, so it might be better to not use them on some boards.
Thank you for such an insightful video. Your videos have helped me a ton since im very new into the keyboard scene. I had a question though. Would you recommend PE foam moding if your keyboard comes with an extra Case Foam & PCB foam & Switch pad or is it only recommended for those who dont have case and pcb foams? Is your alpine 65 only modded with tape and PE foam?
Putting foam in the keyboard wont change the pitch. not like a filter would by bringing out lows or highs. the foam reduces resonance in the board and also change the frequency the the board can resonate at witch then makes the board sound higher / lower.
Alpine 65 with no mods…damn, that sounds great! Alpine 65 with tape…damn that sounds great! Alpine 65 with PE foam…damn that sounds great! Alpine 65 with tape and PE foam….damn that sounds great!
Dude really nice video. I may have to discuss with you some keeb questions I have for some of my upcoming videos. I also like your editing methodology for the sound comparisons.
Great video. Great tips. BUT DUDE Cut it out with those random flashing white dots on the screen. I swear my phone display was crapping out! Scary stuff.
![Eminem - Fuel (feat. JID) [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/t5H_CewqpKA/mqdefault.jpg)
Timestamps are in the description if you want to compare sound tests on your own or skip to certain sections.
At 1:28, ignore "How Does Tape Mod Affect Sound". It should say PE Foam Mod.
Foam: amzn.to/3lmLhAp
This is not antistatic. I didn't have any issues whatsoever, daily driving 3 boards with it installed. With how little static electricity would be accumulated before it enters the board, I doubt there is any risk at all. Additionally, modern PCBs are incredibly resistant to static, however I would still avoid black foam, as that indicates the presence of carbon, and alongside it, conductivity.
*Ranger629* adds that *YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT THIS MOD ON A SOLDER PCB*. The heat from the soldering process can melt the foam and thus damage the PCB.
Thank you StylishRabbit and ura for the research guidance!
is there anyway I can get this foam without having to buy like 500ft of it?
I think you should include a disclaimer that the PE Foam Mod should only be attempted with a hotswap keyboard. As Hiney has raised up on multiple streams, doing the PE Foam Mod on a soldered PCB can potentially damage your PCB. The high heat from the soldering iron can transfer the heat up the switch prongs and melt the PE Foam. The melted Foam can then flow into the PCB contact points where essentially create insulation between the contacts and ultimately causing the PCB to not work.
*Addressing people who potentially will say: "I did it with a soldering iron."
Sure, you did it and nothing happened doesn't mean nothing will happen to the next guy. Plastic/foams melt when exposed to high heat. They leave a black layer of gunk behind after they have melted and that is what can potentially cause contact issues between the PCB and switch.
Why would the melted pe foam flow against gravity? Additionally, all of the contacts in the PCB are soldered, melted PE foam isn't going to do anything but get it a bit dirty at most.
@@irgilligan plastics and foams can curl up when burned or melted. The foam here is also not very dense so it's not neccessarily going to melt like wax and drip
Ahh so that’s why my keys don’t work sometimes oop
Is this reddit or RUclips
@@deccapod8957 lmao
Awesome breakdown and mod! But dear god that sounds so tedious hahaha
it actually doesnt take that long
It seems like it takes far less time than hand lubing switches.
@@prithvib8662 definitely quicker than hours of hand lubing
lol
Honestly doesn’t take that long (as long as your putting it into a new build) exact-o blade and fine tweezers to cut and poke holes
This was such a well-produced video sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh
shesh
not so scuffed I see
sheeesh
Hi shoobs
Ikr
Your WPM seems substantially higher than other content creators who do sound comparison videos, and it really helps to show the differences in sound.
the upside of using dvorak
@@ee1yd colemak better
@@ee1yd colemak better
@@kinga1925 workman best
@@ikeworkman4449 comment is 5 months ago i use neither sticking to my qwerty typing fast doesnt matter when you can already type 100 wpm atleast
some people are saying everyone will be tired of this sound in some months and I was already tired of it by the third keyboard lol
jokes aside, great video man it was super entertaining and informative
Subscribed! I talked about this mod with others on discord servers and there were some criticisms about how they don't like the thought of their board being packed with foam, that a good custom board shouldn't have foam, etc. Who's making up these rules and standards? This mod is revolutionary especially for people who can't afford expensive boards. It elevates their "budget" boards like gmmk pro to other high end boards and at the end of the day, if you're happy with it, nobody cares or is judging
The argument is a bit pretentious, but it's fairly true. The higher end of the community sees foam as a sort of crutch, being an "easy way out" of improving sound over actually taking the time and effort to prototype a case that sounds good without foam. When budget becomes a limitation, this argument is nullified because there simply isn't high end design in lower price points.
And of course, you are building your keyboard for yourself and not for others, so it doesn't matter. If you like the mod, by all means do it.
Fuck the snobs. You will hear so many of them through out the hobby. I have super expensive boards (like a Haus by Hand Engineering or F1-8X), and I have budget boards. I do whatever I want to them (minus using Cherry MX Browns LMFAO). It's your board, not theirs. Fuck the gate keepers, they're so damn annoying.
my guy gmmk pro is literally 160 dollars thats so dam expensive bruh
Insane production value, quality, and information clarity for such a small channel. Definitely got my sub and looking forward to more scientific breakdowns for various keyboard mods!
For all people who are not sure how to do a review of the keyboard and demo how each insulating material works, this is how you to it!
Well done!
Thank you for this!!! It makes me happy that the community is taking sound so seriously, and the stigma against using plate foam (one of my favorite mods) is starting to decrease.
You mentioned that it was difficult to predict how it would make the board sound. In my opinion, it actually makes boards sound mostly the same. Since it makes low pitched builds sound higher and higher pitched builds sound lower, it brings everything to the middle, and everything kind of sounds the same because any extremes are normalized. It kind of has a reputation of making "any build sound good".
I'd say it makes any build sounds "decent". If the board is budget, it improves the acoustics, making it go from "okay" to "decent". If the board is premium, it normalizes the acoustics, bringing it down from its unique sounds to "decent"
One unexpected side benefit to me is that it really reduced how noticeable the spacebar sound was, that's my achilles heel in keyboards; in so many of the soundtests I've listened to the spacebars sound plinky or plonky and kinda cheap and loud, I find that they really dominate the sound of many boards that I might otherwise like.
That's an interesting point, Maybe PE modding exclusively the Spacebar, or anything with a stabilizer.
I feel like changing my thesis topic to this now lol subbed
LOL keyboard theory
ridiculously underrated channel
they're gonna have 10k in a month watch
@@ethqxn yep
I built a KBD67 Lite for a birthday present and figured it would be fun to experiment with the PE and tape mods. Holy hell that thing turned out better than I expected. I've been playing around with some of my boards since and noticing not quite the same improvement, but changes I'm liking still.
I think you're explanation of the PE foam is correct. its definitely narrowing the sound of the switch down which is why all switches start sounding the same with this mod. This was a really well done video!
These videos are so good, taking a more scientific and dissecting material effects on keyboard sound - for the amount of time and money the mk community sinks into the hobby, im surprised no one did this sooner!
I have a suggestion for another acoustics analysis / comparison video: how adding soft materials (deskmats, towels, t-shirts) underneath the keyboard will affect sound! It's an easy enough way to instantly change the external environment of the keyboard, and very under-explored in my opinion.
(Perhaps another video focused on desk material :3? Although that one will be harder perhaps. I have a glass-and-metal desk and the entire desk pings when typing. T. T So I use a custom padded fabric deskmat)
Thank you! I'll keep both in mind.
I just did this on my Frog TKL by Geon.. And it completely changed the sound profile. It's crazy how drastic of a change it was. It sounds deeper + marble-y now. Just like you said, clacking two stones together.
I have heard that this mod changes the sound profile to basically the same thing for all boards and switches, so I am curious how it affects each board.
But yeah, my Frog now sounds like a Jelly Epoch lol
Insane amount of work for a small channel! The editing, and disassembling quite a few boards for testing, more motivation than I could ever have.
Great mod but can't wait to see in a few months when everyone becomes tired of this sound. Though I'll be keeping it for a while.
Yeah, i thought the same thing, but how many sound variations are there that are pleasing to the ears?
Thock, pop, and silent?
@@muCephei_ your right i would also say there's clack but I think right now this is a trend but ultimately it's person to person when it comes to sound. I like this sound but I won't be using it on my next board cause like he said in the video it can make boards sound the same
@@tylerlee9217 Oh yeah,, i knew i forgot clack, but I don't actually like the clack personally. The sound science is a tricky to figure out, but I do agree that I would like my boards to all sound different.
I like a quiet deep clack
I think it would have been nice to see these mods on cheaper budget boards. Most high end boards like the Mode already sound really nice and at that price point, people can just alter the pitch by swapping their switch. Budget boards like the GK stuff or NK65 always sound plastic(y) so if there was a way to mod those boards to sound more poppy and crisp, then I think it would be more fun to play with
I feel like the PE Foam had the greatest impact on the Alpine65 - that was a serious change in frequency.
I need this in my life. BRB doing this on my $25 ultra budget amazon special mechanical keyboard. I'll let you folks know the results.
Edit: This makes the keyboard sound exactly how nearLucid described. Doesn't matter how the keyboard sounds originally. This mod brings it to a more neutral "creamy" sound profile. While it does sound pretty good, it's definitely not for every keyboard. It should help a lot more with fully metal keyboards that have very little dampening the first place. Tape I found makes almost no difference. Of course the obvious disclaimer that doing this makes bending pins much easier, so careful with switch installation. Do not try this with soldered switches. It will 100% melt the foam and leave a very gooey, sticky mess.
Bro, why do u have only 2.6k subs? I felt like I was watching a 520k RUclipsr's video.
Like, damn, your edit is sick af.
no lie, thats some glorious ass wrist/typing you got there.
First video I watched of yours and I just realized i need to be hovering my wrist more too, esp with split ergo
I find that with boards with steeper typing angles, it helps a lot with comfort and speed.
Hovering the wrist seems like it would improve speed but also make your arms get real tired
@@aygwm It feels perfectly natural to me, but I’m also a percussionist so make of that what you will
nice, i did this mod to my first ever custom keyboard build and now it sounds a lot deeper and a lot poppier and creamier, thanks for the video
I believe the more stiff the panel/surface the sound bounces to, the less it will likely to get dampened but just redirected instead. Thats probably the reason why acoustic sound dampeners are often included or combined with flexible materials like cloth. The sound bouncing to a flexible(ex: cloth/cotton/soft foam) surface would likely dampen more than bouncing to a harder/stiffer(solid plastic/metal) surface.
Both mods really helped the sound of my prebuilt outemu red keyboard. This is next level budget modding right here.
So I did try this mod in A Test build of YMD 75v3+ YMDK 84, coupled with Stock Durock T1,Akko ASA LA Keycaps, PCB Dampening Felt, and Silicon inside of the case. The sound is so poppy! I am loving it!
really well considered and produced - thanks for sharing this and I love your balanced perspective!
I love that you broke it down in a scientific way and with some sources. Just got into the hobby and working on my sisters board soon and she wants the creamy sound just like the alpine. You get a sub from me, hope to see more content like this!
I'm in awe about how good your Alpine 65 sounds :O
I'm using the tape mod and the KBDFans switch pads on my Fuji65 alongside the Boba U4Ts and it did improve the sound overall. Pretty good mods for very little money spent.
I like the switch pads a lot as well. It takes a while to put them on, but the sound is better than PE I think.
Holyyyyy man this is such good production quality. It’s mad how underrated u are mate
"comparing the jelly epoch to the alpine, the sound really isn't too far off from the jelly epoch" thats is very true, it sounds like a copy. Btw nice vid and explanation, keep it up.
this is a real legit informative video to watch before modding keyboards!! I now have to go buy thin PE foam
Another great video! I've been very curious about the mechanisms behind these mods ever since I tried them out. Fascinating stuff. From my experience with the GMMK Pro, the tape seemed to deaden the sound to a degree that I didn't like so I prefer going with just the PE foam on that board. On a cheaper board I did both since it sounds pretty bad and needs all the help it can get lol
Wait, you updated the description to include anti-static foam? Although it is probably fine to use, it's actually safer to use regular, non-conductive PE foam. Anti-static foam is not meant to be used with electronics while they're plugged in, it's meant to dissipate static shocks away from the electronics it is wrapping. It is conductive (albeit barely so), and therefore somewhat risks shocks transferring from the case to the PCB. You should probably keep the foam link as the regular, non-antistatic foam.
best. comment. ever. there are a lot of questions regarding this in many places and forums. thank you for sharing this.
Thanks for sharing this!
so the foam he has linked in the desc is non-conductive? I got a GMMK pro with some PE foam but want to buy non-conductive just to be sure
Mod my keychron q2 today for the first time, took me 5 hour to finish it. It's worth the tiime !!
Dude, you have a very beautiful way of typing. Nice look and sound.
Alpine 65 with tape sounds...... chefs kiss!!
Thanks again for the in-depth explanation! You've cleared all my doubts this time.
This is really interesting, I prefer the sound of plateless designs, and this brings some of the sound found in some of my favorite boards.
I did this mod and my results are pretty interesting (I didn't record and compare the sound side by side, I'm just going by feeling):
I use unlubed gateron reds for my Q and E (my keys for osu!) and lubed reds for the rest of the board. The lubed reds sound deeper than before, but the unlubed ones sound higher pitch than before. pretty cool!
If you use Q and E for osu I'm gonna bet you're no better than a 6 digit
@@sebaitor i was like 37k at the time. Now I'm 30k.
appreciate the amount of effort you put into this video esp. with all those build swaps
I totally misread that thumbnail, I kept waiting for the great-sounding $6 keyboard to appear lol.
Interesting analysis. I actually think the tape sounds better without the PE, which adds a more clacky almost machine gun sound. Totally subjective, but now I even wonder whether I want the PE mod. Tape always seems good to me - I love it. I'll have to think more about it.
Going to have to try both of these mods when my ikki68 aurora arrives, video is an absolute banger as always.
Yeah! That's what I'm planning to do as well!
combine both and turn something decent better.
great video and explanation loving the production
Multiple tape layers would change the sound way more.
Great video btw!
Great video, I just wish you didn't type 300 wpm for the entire time lol. A mix of fast and slow would be great :)
I wish that I found your channel earlier!! It’s awesome and high quality.
Suggestion for sound test - Type a bit slower that way people can hear the individual key presses instead of the extremely fast cluster where it all just kinda blends together ahah
This is the best video on this that I have watched! Thats an instant sub from me! Makes me want to try it on a few of my budget boards
You always deliver well made videos with such high production quality. Well done!
I love the way you edit, and film your videos
Excellent content. And boy, you are one hell of a fast typist.
Just a FYI everyone is wrong about the reason for the PE giving the extra pop it has nothing to do with filtering sound or material used. It has to do with compressing the switch pins into the PCB so there is a buffer for when downstroke vibrations come down they spread into the PCB. Don't believe me try the swagkeys or KBD foam with the larger cutouts to where you are not compressing the switch pins into material and they actually mute the switch instead of making it louder. I used Glad press and seal a few weeks ago (3 layers) to the top of my think 6.5 and it pops like no other and even retains switch sound signature.
!!! Real mod always in the comments
My uneducated opinion is that PE foam is not about absorbing or amplifying low or high frequency sounds, it's more like it rounds off some of the squarer sound waves. But just a bit.
ahhh this is a video Apple something would make because of how high quality it is
Something satisfying about the way this guy types :)
I personally like the sound of the tape mod but NOT the PE foam mod, at least not in my keychron Q1 (alu plate, U4ts). At first I did both mods without really comparing the results but slowly really got annoyed by some of the frequencies of the switches. They sounded muffled and scratchy. I think the scratchiness comes from the U4ts not being lubed (yet), while the muffled sound definitely was due to the PE foam mod. I got rid of the foam and now it just sounds so much clearer and more crisp.
So many mods.. so many places to put foam in... i cant choose. When i finally get all my keyboard materials i'm gonna have to try all , test them and finally solder
Watching his typing test "Yeah this is how a good typist should type"
Remembering typing test videos where a dude types with only using 4 fingers from both hands, and I shudder......
You should try adding 2-3 layers of tape, having only 1 layer is way thinner than having foam. Thinking logically, foam is thicker meaning it will ofc absorb more sound.
I might as well buy some rolls of foam... 😂
Surely the acoustics work the other way round? High frequencies are less likely to be absorbed or pass through the tape than low frequencies. High frequencies will reflect back off the tape. The tape is too flat to diffuse high frequencies. Like the walls of a studio. The imperfections in a painted surface are not sufficient to diffuse sound, so we use diffusers. The tape causing a higher pitch makes sense since the high frequencies reflected off the tape will reverberate underneath the keycaps. The acoustics of ehats going on is probably quite complex, leading to different outcomes with different setups
Foam mod is based af. Really adds a lot to the sound profile.
I Just made my first keyboard for $155, I electrical tape modded, PE foam modded, as well as using three layers as medical raps as a dampener. The whole build took about eight hours, and it genuinely sounds almost just as good if not better than tons of $250-400 builds I've seen.
Note: Sometimes the quality of a keyboard's sound can be hindered by the microphone it is being recorded with, so what I mean is that it sound as good as $250-400 builds through a microphone , my keyboard sounds like a dog turd in the wind on a hot summer day that was pissed on and spat at when listened to on my phone's microphone.
The PE foam mod is the number one biggest keyboard cheat there is, it turns a $100 sound into a $300 sound
(Classic keyboard W)
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You probably wouldn’t see this but is there any PE foams that are like 15ft long lol. I just need this for one keyboard
strongly informative and well produced; great content
Thanks for referring to Jelly Epoch - Syrah
If you can find a thinner PE foam (0.1mm) you won't need to poke holes into the foam for the switches because it can pierce right through it, making it much faster to do!
hi steve, we loved your contribution to the mod, the reddit post was great!
@@nearLucid love your videos as well! Top notch work guys.
this channel is going to blow, good job!!
You ask me...your keyboards sounded great with no mods...I think the pe and tape mods are more for cheap $50 and under keyboards. And that's why everyone started going it, because to make a cheap keyboard sound good...because stock they sound not great. Thanks for the video..great job!!!!
for what i´ve tried so far will all foam mods, is for sure that part of the sound just bounce straight back causing the overall sound louder, is a nightmare in certain cases with switches that already are loud, will not name few of them but that´s for sure. In other case, the tape mod is the one that more bounce back have, since is just a solid later of material, for how sounds works, having diferente materials, in plate/case reduce the vibrations over typing, so for example alu case+alu plate is not the best solution out there, havig an alu case+with pom plate or viceversa make the best sound wihout needs of any kind of foam so far, also the last foam in the bottom case, will do two thing, first will absorbs the bounce, so less echo in the sound, as any other foarm in a recording studio, also having non flat surface could help, also still bounce the sound, having less travel distance allways will make the sounds bounced to be louder.
Another var that affect the sound more than foam is the keycaps itself, when the sound it bounced it still keep part in the bottom keys, and it act like a bell, the sound can vary based mostly in the thickness of the keycaps, since most of them have the same shape at end. also the size of the cap can affect the sound, that´s why the usual big spacebars sounds more noisy and bad in general compared with other caps, also, that´s depending on the case itself, some cases have more distance from the case to the bottom of the pcb, in the R4, making these row sound more thocky in comparison, if you can relate, dispersion in high pich notes is more in short distance than low frecuencies, causing the bounce to sound more low. That´s happen with any sound in general, from acoustics. You know that the base itself is a resonance box, don´t need any foam at all, just good design, and diferent mats, to avoid annoying vibrations out there.
What I interpreted from this video is that you could technically use only foam on the alphas to make them all go lower in pitch since the alphas are normally higher pitched than the mods. Since the mods are typically deeper than the alphas, the pe mod might make them become higher pitched, so it might be better to not use them on some boards.
Even w/o mods, the Mode 80 sounded really good.
I did this mod as well as the tape mode using 2 layers of duct tape instead of masking tape, and it sounds immaculate.
As always great video and in-depth explanation!
Thank you for such an insightful video. Your videos have helped me a ton since im very new into the keyboard scene. I had a question though. Would you recommend PE foam moding if your keyboard comes with an extra Case Foam & PCB foam & Switch pad or is it only recommended for those who dont have case and pcb foams? Is your alpine 65 only modded with tape and PE foam?
Putting foam in the keyboard wont change the pitch. not like a filter would by bringing out lows or highs. the foam reduces resonance in the board and also change the frequency the the board can resonate at witch then makes the board sound higher / lower.
the fact that they pack it in pe foam is crazy lol
finally a video that talk about keyboards sounding in a very scientistly way. not like those useless videos over youtube.
scientific*
@@nearLucid oh thank for correcting it 😂 I'm bad at english
How do you have such amazing editing/video quality abd ibky sub4k subs? Awesome vid
I'm gunna try this automotive fabric electrical tape, should work better then usual paper-tape based mod
Woah I got featured :0 Love the videos!
crazy how $2 can make any keyboard sound as good as an "endgame" one, as well as making all switches sound similar lmao
Foam mod is basically what tape mod wished it could be.
The graphs for switchs' sound profile are awesome. Can you please make a video introducing some switch in that way?
possibly, although it is different depending on the environment, and the graph shown was an exaggeration.
Alpine 65 with no mods…damn, that sounds great! Alpine 65 with tape…damn that sounds great! Alpine 65 with PE foam…damn that sounds great! Alpine 65 with tape and PE foam….damn that sounds great!
Incredible typing speed :D
So, the “nice sounding keyboard” sounded like a rattle can / spray paint can rattles....
Finally a scientific answer to why we need more keyboards!
Dude really nice video. I may have to discuss with you some keeb questions I have for some of my upcoming videos. I also like your editing methodology for the sound comparisons.
Thanks! Our discord is in the description so we can chat for sure
Awesome tutorial and analysis!
Great video. Great tips.
BUT
DUDE
Cut it out with those random flashing white dots on the screen. I swear my phone display was crapping out! Scary stuff.
sorry, it's a film effect we like, we will not be changing it.
At first I thought you tape modders were full of crap. Might actually try the PE mod as it doesn't risk destroying my PCB with adhesives.
Wow I'm so glad I found your channel. An actually objective and scientific approach to keyboards.
DAMNNN that typing was insane
Jelly sounds so niceee