I love my V2 CE. Getting that Paypal invoice when I got home from work, after submitting the google form from my phone in the parking lot after the initial form crash panic was an insane feeling. Waiting 18 months was a lot, but it was worth the wait. It was worth not selling it, it’s a great board, but the aftermarket prices are (and were) absurd. I love bringing it to meetups and being able to share the experience of typing on a piece of keyboard hobby history. It has has classic Jane DNA and lineage from boards back when I joined the hobby in 2017, but it has a design that also sort of hinted at what was to come in the next couple years. And yes, that comes with the inconvenience of a right-side flush mini-USB port. 😂
Gotta say, completely agree on getting boards for yourself. I always think - regardless of the hobby - that people care far too much about rarity and value (look at how much people freak out about 1-of-1 hypercars that they'll never even see in real life). In the end, it really doesn't matter how much your board is worth if you don't love typing on it. My current daily driver, the RS60, literally has extras on sale right now. But does it matter at all? No, because I love typing on it. It makes me happy, and I'm glad to see that sentiment being advocated for more.
Yeah, definitely. People keep thinking of keyboards as an investment or clout currency.. just missing the whole point of having a hobby you enjoy. Glad you found something you're happy with!
@@shynnsup8383 WKL Bisoromi RS60, filmed and spring-swapped RNDKBD Ultraglide Blacks, Durock stabs, PBT keycaps. Nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary, just a solid, reliable board without any extra frills.
Really enjoyed this video with the deep dive into TGR boards. I’ve joined more TGR raffles than I can count at this point and still haven’t won a single one. I refuse to pay aftermarket prices, so hopefully I’ll get a W one of these years.
Really enjoyed watching this video, I’ve been in and out of the hobby through the years. It’s fun to hear the history of all these hype products within the hobby after the fact. Really great filming and high production video!
The iron 165 r2 is one of the first boards I have ever gotten. It was way too expensive and a bit basic. It is also my favorite board despite having better boards in my collection.
Iron165r1 was my favorite board for a long time. It just had to go when I minimized collection because I grew out of the aesthetic and sound. But I really loved S+R stuff at the time
Love the dry and crisp sound of the V2 CE because of how different it is from every modern board nowadays, and the rusty screws, dings, and usb mini it came with 😎
i attended big keebs meet in my country for a several times to do my survey on which board and switches im gonna get, and they are kind enough to let me type test their TGR's boards, and from the deepest of my heart i can genuinely say, for something that cost five digits of usd and being hair thin close to being worshipped by the community, their boards is painfully ordinary. i even asked the owners about it and none of them using it as daily driver, some of em isnt using it at all. this is kinda remind me of 2017 hype when people spend 10k on supreme hoodie, just because its supreme😂😂
That point about owning a highly sought after board and "quitting" the hobby is VALID lmao. You're either in the hobby long enough and can appreciate why its highly sought after and maybe even justify the price, or you're just chasing hype for no reason. If someone sells their whole collection to own a Jane and then never look back at keyboards, its like where the fuck is the value in owning a Jane anymore if you don't even like the hobby lol. Great fucking take dude
U know u can open the 910 and Jane magnetic back piece vertically, if u have the keyboard standing up, gravity will do it’s job as u take it off and come off really easily
Good video man thanks! I have only been into keebs since December 2022. Since then I’ve accumulated two Sonnets, an Envoy, two Zoom TKLs, a Momoka Zoo65, and I have some other cheap keyboards that I got because idk why… and then I have my last one, Chimera 65 R2 which I joined the GB and expect that to ship in December this year. I think I’m done buying keebs for a while, I use them every day for work but I don’t use them ALL day every day, so I just can’t justify to keep putting money into these things lol. But still cool to see where TGR came from as I had no idea. Please do more of these history videos, you’re awesome man, thanks again!
When I first built my Jane ME with PP plate it still had the subtle metallic sound when typing. I force break modded it and it was completely gone. Then I received my stainless steel backplate and removed the force break and to my surprise - no metallic sound or hollowness. Also fully built weight is now 6.1lbs which is surprisingly pretty heavy. I am very content with my ME.
Great video, I've only recently joined the keeb comm but it's videos like these that are so informative about the history and classic keebs that make me really appreciate them
The Tomo is underrated IMO, mine has an FR4 plate and has that exact clean and dry sound. I’m very happy with it. The only thing that is not the best is the spacebar sound but that’s most likely because of the FR4. It’s a perfectly consistent spacebar sound but doesn’t have that “porcelain” spacebar thing that I love from some boards. I’m going to experiment with different plates
@@AndyVNguyen oh shiiiiii lol I guess I need to mow some more lawns before I start shopping for one 😅 I think that might be my end game piece for collecting though. I do wish they were serial numbered or a way to authenticate for that price then I would be even more interested.
These keyboards look incredibly generic for the market value and acclaim associated with them. The rigged raffles are also incredibly cringe and off-putting
very interesting view on the tgr brand, but a respectable one i agree with it looking generic and boring but the people buying janes for 2k are doing it for the history and name, some are buying them for the hype.
I love my Tomo. The quality of the anodization is gorgeous and to me it sounds really good. I feel like people are missing out if they're dismissing it
Great video, Andy. Never really thought of going after boards for their history or meaning (while also being solid boards in general), but I like that perspective you share a lot. I just hope I can get a Jane ME aftermarket for retail soon 🥲 Also, factor lookin kinda good tho 🤔
For the 910 & Jane ME, I tried aluminum plate, it was night and day difference, the PC plate harnessed the potential of these two boards a lot. Therefore it made me believe that Monokei just ship with PC plate to cut down cost since these are mass produced. Besides that, amazing video, always fond of videos that go back and provide good insights like these, keep up the good work!
Imo the monokei manufacturing quality is so good, if you look at it objectively the Jane v2 Me is a bit better than the CE but not having the brass weight just feels bad even though it doesn't add anything to the actual weight of the board (compared to the CE) but it does definitely effect the sound. I'm very happy with my Jane v2 Me and I think my config sounds and feels amazing but I did have to force break to make it sound like the CE. It the ME had a brass weight then the conversation might be a bit different than it is rn even if it was a thin ass bar like the CE had. imo the og jane v2 sounds a bit flat because of how big the weight is and the CE sounds much better because of the thin weight and the dimples. They could have probably added a brass weight and kept the price the same but force breaking effectively does the same thing which is reduce case hollowness. Does it kinda feel bad that the most expensive keyboard I own is the only one I felt the need to force break? Yes but I'm still happy with it. Also I did get the board aftermarket but I got a good price on it and probably what it should be worth compared to what its selling for rn.
why dont they experiment with high tension strings or drums on the bottom of the board? it can produce some tunable boardds which can open a new market like blend the sound world, music and pc. Some kind of bassy string on the bottom perfectly tuned to produce bassy or high pitch sound whatever you like and you can use guitar tuners to tune it.
Solid video as always! As an owner of the OG v2 CE, I disagree about the sound profile, I find that it tends to amplify the bass of switches, I think the dryness you're thinking of comes from the mx blacks used in the tests from supbeez that you showed. If you listen closely though you can hear the internal bassy reverb, almost as if there's desk noise form the board. Lightning's tests use op blacks and doesn't sound dry at all and is really clacky as you would expect from op blacks on alu, however when comparing it to other tests I don't think you can really "trust" it more than others since that isn't really a common combo in the board. That being said to me it's the best board I've ever had, it ticks pretty much every box for me. It's got a super comfy typing angle and front height along with wkl. The bassy sound profile is what I'm looking for in boards vs clacky builds. I've dailied it for the last year and a half as a result. It's the 1 board I'd never sell even if I had to say goodbye to the rest of my collection. Just my 2 cents though, like I said earlier banger video!
I can hear sound processing in some peoples tests.. that’s why I trust certain ones more lol. It’s a nice board, lucky for those who got it in Gb.. as for everyone else.. yeah I’d look for other options lol. Thanks!
V2 CE sounds pretty meh IMO. The metallic noise and echo noise pushed me away from it. It's just sitting on the shelves collecting dust ever since. You can easily find a board that sounds way better, such as Cloudline, No1, or pretty much any other board. Even og Jane v2 sounds better....
i am new to this hobby but i am surely not to any hobby. And what a video, I resonate every word you said. If anything i have learned from my hobby, the no1 thing is always personal sentimental relationships with the object. so back to the TGR. since i do not have that sentimental connection to this hobby. To me its all about the design and maybe the story behind it. I have to say the easetic design indeed clicks with me. the 910 with that PVD silver accent is just so nice. the whole geometry about the side of the keyboard is so simple and minimal. I am not a big fan of that seam that joins the top and bottom part tho. (The overall design reminds me of GTR r34 somehow lol).
Why do people buy keyboard clones? Why do people buy keycap clones? Sure some are cheapstakes, but I would bet that a VERY high % do because of availability. If I cannot buy it directly from the source, I am not paying YOU a premium just because you bought it first.
@@AndyVNguyenI don't buy clones, neither do buy anything aftermarket. But I see a lot of complaints about people buying clones while little to no complaining about designers dont making their sh*t available.
@@brusferatuI think the problem is the reliance on GMK. Iconic sets are getting more and more available like 8008 (in stock gmk), Olivia (Novelkeys PBT), MoDo Light (OTC PBT) but the cool designs mostly rely on gmk which is why it’s so limited. We need to start looking for better manufacturers to produce these keycaps sets like drop DCX to expand availability. As for keyboards, I feel like the premium 350+ boards will most likely never be truly available for the masses as the sheer scale and customer expectation for those boards are fairly high compared to something around the 200 dollar range.
Can’t say I have any builds that were more than $500 in total, but I can say I’ve had more fun modding my Bakeneko than I’ve had configuring any other board. Having lots of PCB / plate options easily accessible with easy access to the plate / PCB is a gift. I’d love to get a Unikorn, but the polycarb January will be my copium
I completely agree with what Andy is saying, having owned both the Jane v2 CE and the ME, I can say that they both share a similar og sound, but I still kept thew CE for prestigious purposes. It does sound about 20% better though I'd say. However, I do have mixed feelings about Monokei though... yes they are bringing a chance for people to kinda feel what typing on a Jane is like and all but I feel like it's also making me think that Monokei are just taking a hyped up name/design and remaking them to make money instead of creating their own og designs. I feel like Monokei is using "allowing more people to experience a Jane" to steer away from the fact that Monokei seems to be leeching off of popular names like TGR and Singa and making large unit group buys/raffles to make money. When's the last time Monokei made their own branded board? Tomo was a "TGR" board also. So yeah, I'm not too sure haha, but either way, it still is a good thing that people get to experience 80% of a Jane I guess, no hate to Monokei! And as always, love your videos :)
Why wouldnt they leave the group buy open for like a week and let everybody who wants one order one, then just make however many are ordered? They do the group buys before actually making them, right?
group buys stink. I will never ever dedicate my time to stalking a website until drop day. build a good keyboard and sell it, and I will buy it after doing extensive research. Otherwise, I will never buy your keyboard. And everyone should do the same. Group buys are unacceptable for a lot of reasons. They artificially drive up demand and limit supply, thereby taking advantage of people. They exclude potential buyers. They limit availability of information. There is no continuation. It's so annoying.
Why I bought mode cnc poly and I wait to see what is left from bb I just order a loki65 at 25% discount I get it Wednesday order few days ago I ain’t got patience and I would get anxiety from the Waite times
I've seen it happen a lot and I can't really say it without leaking screenshots and DMs and I just don't want to go to that level. The toxic people in the hobby love saving screenshots of people
Awesome Video Andy. The 7500USD TGR Jane you refer to at the beginning was actually sold for around 5500 USD - I asked about it the original seller because I am nuts about TGR Janes.
Still a wild price.. thanks for confirming for me. I remember seeing some OGs sell a jane for 2,500 quickly and I was like that’s so expensive even if it’s a “deal”.. but people were so thirsty for those sales lol
For me the Jane was a board I didn't get at all. I was happy with my PE Q1, but as I owned and sold more boards that dry clean top mount sound started calling me. When your FBTKL video came out I realized that was the move. Long wait but after some tweaking the FBTKL's my daily now and I couldn't be happier for what I paid. Not sure if popular opinion swayed my opinion or not, but go figure my dream board runs 3k+ 😂
I have never really wanted a Jane but it's interesting to see how most people want it. I just wanted something a little bit more interesting. An MX Black on Alu Jane with beige keycaps is probably the most stereotypical build that people fawn over lol
Hey yo, really appreciate this video that you made! I agree that it's a good rule of thumb to get boards that are about yourself and your feelings for them instead of chasing what's popular. Also, it makes me smile when you covered the tomo. It's really an underrated modern TGR Board, and it was disliked upon for being a 75% besides the unlimited group buy point. I've own one for 8 months and counting and I kept it because it was a collab between Singapore (Monokei) and Malaysia (TGR). As a local Singaporean, it makes me even happier to own a board like that. Being a 75% enjoyer and just want a safe bet for a high end board without worriyng much about QC issues (thanks to monokei's qc) is just the icing on the cake. Tomo fits in my collection like a glove.
I really just don't want to do group buys or raffles again after buying the tomo. After a year and a half of countless delays and waiting I had nearly forgotten I had even bought a keyboard for 600+ after shipping and buying an extra PCB
yeah that Tomo wait was wild.. and now the aftermarket is so low (plenty of sellers for under retail) it makes you feel bad about being an early adopter.. even if the board is mostly solid enough.
So happy you've finally posted a video after a while and you granted us a 25 min vid nice!!! By the way what was the build spec for the tomo? (Switches and plate)
I like this hobby because the sound feel and look is so incredibly subjective. My personal favorite board i have is a class 80 brass halfplate with boba u4t and gmk caps. But nost reviews said it was ok
Andy’s gotta know something, Monokei just announced the final raffle for the ME is next week LMAO another great video, and I think it captures how much the hobby has changed over time with the perception of the collectable side of the hobb
lmao that's just luck! i was tired of having this video stay in my backlog. so cranked it out. I love and hate the collectability side of this hobby. Without it though we'd all just be grabbing foam boards and calling it good
@@AndyVNguyen i have the crimson red jane v2 me, and the silver pink weight on 910!!! I really love the midnight green colors, at least one of them, but did not win 🤣
This is why I always debate for a week or two before getting new boards. Really glad that I kept a look for the cloud line extras and end up able to get one off FCFS.
when you see a person keep winning the raffle it's either 1. they have a lot of friends helping to join the raffle for them or they "hire" their friend to join the raffle for them. 2. they are close to the designer, it's not even the raffle allocation unit. It's just FNF disguised as a raffle win
@@joelng2774 honestly most brand does this. It's not hard to spot. But they can do as they please since it usually does not affect the allocated units for raffle from what i can tell. Also it's their product they can do as they please.
NGL, if I could get onto a TGR group buy, I probably would. They are trendsetters for a reason, and I can't wait to see what their next group buy will be like. I wish they would sell more copies of their board though, especially now with the hobby having grown. They could stand to make some actual major profits on it too, if they sold more.
@@AndyVNguyen Why not dude? It's TGR lol. They do need to try to be better about their fulfillment speed but I bet they're gonna make something pretty cool next time.
your intro made me want to say "hi andy" as if it was aa meeting... Also the burn at 6:22 felt like a "write that down" meme EDIT: finished the video, A+.. i personally love learning/hearing about the history of these well known brands and where they're at now.
hahaha. yeah i definitely know too much about keyboards based on how much time/money I've spent here. Glad you enjoyed the video, it took so long for me to put together and ended up longer than I wanted but hey, it's thorough
i dont get why ppl collect board but dont daily or at least use them in rotation? At the end of the day it's a piece of metal and a tool. I daily my endgame kohaku.
Artisans seem kinda reasonable cause they are all vastly different from one another but all keyboards are all metal rectangles with an accent piece/weight. For that much money you could get cooler and more varied decorations imo.
We've moved past the point in the hobby where things immediately jump massively in price as soon as they drop. Oh, certainly there will be outliers here and there and very limited runs that generate tons of hype, but with more in stock options, more rolling/continuous drops, larger numbers sold via gb's because of the hobby's increased prominence, and just a higher overall quality for all boards there's simply too much supply for the demand to generate such crazy aftermarket values. Whereas in the past even a succeful group buy which sold out quickly would have quite small numbers, now that the hobby is larger those numbers baloon to the point that even if there is scarcity, more will wind up showing up aftermarkert. It's very, very rare for anything that has recently dropped not to be available somehwere at all times, compare that to the way it felt in 2020-2021 to find certain sought after boards where you might find an average of literally a single example per month among all second hand platforms and it just translates to less hype/scarcity driven prices. This is a very good thing.
Definitely. Tons of options to get a decent sounding keyboard. But it's interesting to see how Unikorn and Kohaku still grabs most of peoples attention despite there being plenty of other options.
People with the hyped boards doesn’t want the hype to go down or else they won’t be able to capitalise it. Rest just fall for it😂 You killed it again Andy!
I can get the MONOKEI x TGR tomo blue on sale from a vendor, after watching this video maybe I will wait for something better. I was looking at Matrix Navi.
@@AndyVNguyen it has flex cuts at base of the alphas also there not much options for the pcd i.e only hotswap pcd and two plates only. My search will continue. I might end up getting mode sonnet because how customisable it is when picking colours and weights.
Love the videos. Very happy with my 910 ME, sounds very similar to the tomo, but a bit sharper. Changing the plate to a carbon fiber plate made a huge difference.
I guess in some ways, i buy my keyboards for the same reason. My most “prized” keyboards that I own are the tomo, typ65+, and dan60, all malaysian boards (national pride lol). I even made them all lotr themed. Very happily retired since I realised I spent way too much in this hobby. I wouldn’t mind getting a korn or kohaku down the line though..
Everyone says that lmao. They're happy with what they have but a Singa W can change their mind. I'm stupid lucky to have both rn so I'm not tempted by much
@@AndyVNguyen it’s literally the only thing I’m looking at right now…unless a typ60 somehow makes itself available. But fr tho, this hobby really threw off what I considered “expensive”.
Hi, great video. Something I've been wondering why is there such a big keyboard hobbist community in singapore/vietnam? I know of many artisans, keyboards etc that are made in those countries.
25:08 more on this, I had a conversation with one dude who recently sold his own keyboard and owns a TON of vintage cherry stuff he said "my collection in keycap vintage ( og dyesubs cherry) around $40,000" "that's small" "i think you're young" dude had to have grown up filthy rich to say that and those were for keycaps alone too
@@AndyVNguyen yeah thats true but the way he made it sound like 40k and on keycaps of all things wasnt alot was very telling to me. I can only imagine what they spent on other things like boards or switches
"What is the point of getting a clone keyboard" idk man paying $330 for a V2 CE during *****'s first GB seems like the best deal I've ever seen in that hobby, it's not even about the cloning lmao
well i entere every unikorn run this year and i got 0. NADA. Do it think its fixed sometimes ? yeah cause i dont believe they follow their rules from already raffles winners. but whatever .
Still like a good brass weight, but could just be because of the time i got into the 'hobby'; but i havent touched another board since i got my 'endgame' a year ago
the clone keyboards are pretty noticeable in the finish of the brass for the og jane v2, reminds me of some video i watched of taeha signing some dudes jane v2 not knowing it was a fake lol
@@AndyVNguyen well in the beginning it looks the same but if we talking about the k**** boards the brass gets real dirty like there is no finish on it, smudges real easily
@@AndyVNguyen ruclips.net/video/TuOpr0a8MdM/видео.html at 5:33, it's not just the brass but also the back plate that gets smudged super easily- looking at mechmarket sold ones
Feelin bad about my Unikorn clone /s 😅 took Ls in the raffle so just designed and CNC’d my own, actually super fun! It’s pretty much 1:1 plus a bunch of memes on the weight and battery slot for wireless
Use code ANDYV50 to get 50% off your first Factor box at bit.ly/3H9tJB3!
I love my V2 CE. Getting that Paypal invoice when I got home from work, after submitting the google form from my phone in the parking lot after the initial form crash panic was an insane feeling. Waiting 18 months was a lot, but it was worth the wait. It was worth not selling it, it’s a great board, but the aftermarket prices are (and were) absurd.
I love bringing it to meetups and being able to share the experience of typing on a piece of keyboard hobby history. It has has classic Jane DNA and lineage from boards back when I joined the hobby in 2017, but it has a design that also sort of hinted at what was to come in the next couple years. And yes, that comes with the inconvenience of a right-side flush mini-USB port. 😂
Thank you for posting keyboard video. This is my cocaine
I’m glad that we accept that we have a problem. No, I’m not leaving it.
Cocaine would probably be cheaper 😔
Gotta say, completely agree on getting boards for yourself. I always think - regardless of the hobby - that people care far too much about rarity and value (look at how much people freak out about 1-of-1 hypercars that they'll never even see in real life). In the end, it really doesn't matter how much your board is worth if you don't love typing on it. My current daily driver, the RS60, literally has extras on sale right now. But does it matter at all? No, because I love typing on it. It makes me happy, and I'm glad to see that sentiment being advocated for more.
Yeah, definitely. People keep thinking of keyboards as an investment or clout currency.. just missing the whole point of having a hobby you enjoy. Glad you found something you're happy with!
@@shynnsup8383 WKL Bisoromi RS60, filmed and spring-swapped RNDKBD Ultraglide Blacks, Durock stabs, PBT keycaps. Nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary, just a solid, reliable board without any extra frills.
Really enjoyed this video with the deep dive into TGR boards. I’ve joined more TGR raffles than I can count at this point and still haven’t won a single one. I refuse to pay aftermarket prices, so hopefully I’ll get a W one of these years.
Only raffle I have ever won was a Nue lol. And that was bc no one entered
Well tomorrow is the raffle for thhe last tgr run at monokei, so
@@ryelo5448 So there’s still a chance…..
Really enjoyed watching this video, I’ve been in and out of the hobby through the years. It’s fun to hear the history of all these hype products within the hobby after the fact. Really great filming and high production video!
The iron 165 r2 is one of the first boards I have ever gotten. It was way too expensive and a bit basic. It is also my favorite board despite having better boards in my collection.
Iron165r1 was my favorite board for a long time. It just had to go when I minimized collection because I grew out of the aesthetic and sound. But I really loved S+R stuff at the time
Love the dry and crisp sound of the V2 CE because of how different it is from every modern board nowadays, and the rusty screws, dings, and usb mini it came with 😎
i attended big keebs meet in my country for a several times to do my survey on which board and switches im gonna get, and they are kind enough to let me type test their TGR's boards, and from the deepest of my heart i can genuinely say, for something that cost five digits of usd and being hair thin close to being worshipped by the community, their boards is painfully ordinary. i even asked the owners about it and none of them using it as daily driver, some of em isnt using it at all. this is kinda remind me of 2017 hype when people spend 10k on supreme hoodie, just because its supreme😂😂
Cool story bro. High $$$$ doesn't always means quality.
@@ahmedkurukuru4175 hmm, thats odd.
so whats the word EndGame referred to ?
@@HITMAN80gimo endgame is the keyboard that finally satisfies you to the point where you stop buying keyboards
That point about owning a highly sought after board and "quitting" the hobby is VALID lmao. You're either in the hobby long enough and can appreciate why its highly sought after and maybe even justify the price, or you're just chasing hype for no reason. If someone sells their whole collection to own a Jane and then never look back at keyboards, its like where the fuck is the value in owning a Jane anymore if you don't even like the hobby lol. Great fucking take dude
U know u can open the 910 and Jane magnetic back piece vertically, if u have the keyboard standing up, gravity will do it’s job as u take it off and come off really easily
I’d be afraid of dropping the keyboard or the plate sliding down on the case, but thank you!
Good video man thanks! I have only been into keebs since December 2022. Since then I’ve accumulated two Sonnets, an Envoy, two Zoom TKLs, a Momoka Zoo65, and I have some other cheap keyboards that I got because idk why… and then I have my last one, Chimera 65 R2 which I joined the GB and expect that to ship in December this year. I think I’m done buying keebs for a while, I use them every day for work but I don’t use them ALL day every day, so I just can’t justify to keep putting money into these things lol. But still cool to see where TGR came from as I had no idea. Please do more of these history videos, you’re awesome man, thanks again!
When I first built my Jane ME with PP plate it still had the subtle metallic sound when typing. I force break modded it and it was completely gone. Then I received my stainless steel backplate and removed the force break and to my surprise - no metallic sound or hollowness. Also fully built weight is now 6.1lbs which is surprisingly pretty heavy. I am very content with my ME.
Heavy backplate for the ME seems to work a lot of magic for it, even though CF looks best imo
Great video, I've only recently joined the keeb comm but it's videos like these that are so informative about the history and classic keebs that make me really appreciate them
Home gym looks insane. You should totally post a tour. Love the Watson plates
amazing video andy, id love to see more lore videos/things explained like this
We got more in the works!!
Oh man. Andy coming through with the Saosin shirt. 🔥
YESSIRR
Nah my endgame is the Dygma Defy!
The Tomo is underrated IMO, mine has an FR4 plate and has that exact clean and dry sound. I’m very happy with it.
The only thing that is not the best is the spacebar sound but that’s most likely because of the FR4.
It’s a perfectly consistent spacebar sound but doesn’t have that “porcelain” spacebar thing that I love from some boards.
I’m going to experiment with different plates
This is how I have my Tomo set up and I love it.
Lets say i got some money to spend how should i go about getting an alice?
Go on mechmarket discord and offer to buy. It’ll be like 4k
@@AndyVNguyen oh shiiiiii lol I guess I need to mow some more lawns before I start shopping for one 😅 I think that might be my end game piece for collecting though. I do wish they were serial numbered or a way to authenticate for that price then I would be even more interested.
One came up for 1600 actually idk if still available . Yeah serial numbers are dope. My vkc is one of the non numbered ones so kinda sucks
at least you were honest on why you want/ own one Its about what it means to you not what it means to everyone else.
yeah definitely. i don't even use it often I just pull it out for nostalgia lol
@@AndyVNguyen mine is Zoom65 olivia coz its my first board and the starting point of me and my sister into the hobby :)
Should of used small auto trim tool way easy
These keyboards look incredibly generic for the market value and acclaim associated with them. The rigged raffles are also incredibly cringe and off-putting
very interesting view on the tgr brand, but a respectable one i agree with it looking generic and boring but the people buying janes for 2k are doing it for the history and name, some are buying them for the hype.
I love keyboard history and lore
I'm glad you enjoy it!
6:14 "this is how olive should look like.." **cough** KFA **cough cough**
I love my Tomo. The quality of the anodization is gorgeous and to me it sounds really good. I feel like people are missing out if they're dismissing it
Tomo is such a sleeper
Great video, Andy. Never really thought of going after boards for their history or meaning (while also being solid boards in general), but I like that perspective you share a lot. I just hope I can get a Jane ME aftermarket for retail soon 🥲
Also, factor lookin kinda good tho 🤔
Really appreciate the mindset behind the video!
you're welcome!
For the 910 & Jane ME, I tried aluminum plate, it was night and day difference, the PC plate harnessed the potential of these two boards a lot. Therefore it made me believe that Monokei just ship with PC plate to cut down cost since these are mass produced.
Besides that, amazing video, always fond of videos that go back and provide good insights like these, keep up the good work!
Imo the monokei manufacturing quality is so good, if you look at it objectively the Jane v2 Me is a bit better than the CE but not having the brass weight just feels bad even though it doesn't add anything to the actual weight of the board (compared to the CE) but it does definitely effect the sound. I'm very happy with my Jane v2 Me and I think my config sounds and feels amazing but I did have to force break to make it sound like the CE. It the ME had a brass weight then the conversation might be a bit different than it is rn even if it was a thin ass bar like the CE had. imo the og jane v2 sounds a bit flat because of how big the weight is and the CE sounds much better because of the thin weight and the dimples. They could have probably added a brass weight and kept the price the same but force breaking effectively does the same thing which is reduce case hollowness. Does it kinda feel bad that the most expensive keyboard I own is the only one I felt the need to force break? Yes but I'm still happy with it. Also I did get the board aftermarket but I got a good price on it and probably what it should be worth compared to what its selling for rn.
why dont they experiment with high tension strings or drums on the bottom of the board? it can produce some tunable boardds which can open a new market like blend the sound world, music and pc. Some kind of bassy string on the bottom perfectly tuned to produce bassy or high pitch sound whatever you like and you can use guitar tuners to tune it.
There’s not that much space down there
l hope you love Pho and keyboard at the same time. Great video Andy. Keep it up, bro !
From a quick glance it looked exactly like my razor TKL huntsman 😂
Solid video as always! As an owner of the OG v2 CE, I disagree about the sound profile, I find that it tends to amplify the bass of switches, I think the dryness you're thinking of comes from the mx blacks used in the tests from supbeez that you showed. If you listen closely though you can hear the internal bassy reverb, almost as if there's desk noise form the board. Lightning's tests use op blacks and doesn't sound dry at all and is really clacky as you would expect from op blacks on alu, however when comparing it to other tests I don't think you can really "trust" it more than others since that isn't really a common combo in the board.
That being said to me it's the best board I've ever had, it ticks pretty much every box for me. It's got a super comfy typing angle and front height along with wkl. The bassy sound profile is what I'm looking for in boards vs clacky builds. I've dailied it for the last year and a half as a result. It's the 1 board I'd never sell even if I had to say goodbye to the rest of my collection. Just my 2 cents though, like I said earlier banger video!
I can hear sound processing in some peoples tests.. that’s why I trust certain ones more lol. It’s a nice board, lucky for those who got it in Gb.. as for everyone else.. yeah I’d look for other options lol. Thanks!
I have an OG v2 CE and it outclasses all of my other boards in terms of feel and sound. The only one that holds a candle to it is my HHKB Type S.
topre scratches a diff itch. I recently got a modded realforce and it’s def a nice complement
V2 CE sounds pretty meh IMO. The metallic noise and echo noise pushed me away from it. It's just sitting on the shelves collecting dust ever since. You can easily find a board that sounds way better, such as Cloudline, No1, or pretty much any other board. Even og Jane v2 sounds better....
@@tendieman69 Different strokes for different folks.
@@tendieman69if urs sitting on a shelf, sell it to me :p
i am new to this hobby but i am surely not to any hobby.
And what a video, I resonate every word you said. If anything i have learned from my hobby, the no1 thing is always personal sentimental relationships with the object.
so back to the TGR. since i do not have that sentimental connection to this hobby. To me its all about the design and maybe the story behind it. I have to say the easetic design indeed clicks with me. the 910 with that PVD silver accent is just so nice. the whole geometry about the side of the keyboard is so simple and minimal. I am not a big fan of that seam that joins the top and bottom part tho. (The overall design reminds me of GTR r34 somehow lol).
Why do people buy keyboard clones? Why do people buy keycap clones? Sure some are cheapstakes, but I would bet that a VERY high % do because of availability.
If I cannot buy it directly from the source, I am not paying YOU a premium just because you bought it first.
Just buy something else instead
@@AndyVNguyenI don't buy clones, neither do buy anything aftermarket. But I see a lot of complaints about people buying clones while little to no complaining about designers dont making their sh*t available.
@@brusferatuI think the problem is the reliance on GMK. Iconic sets are getting more and more available like 8008 (in stock gmk), Olivia (Novelkeys PBT), MoDo Light (OTC PBT) but the cool designs mostly rely on gmk which is why it’s so limited. We need to start looking for better manufacturers to produce these keycaps sets like drop DCX to expand availability. As for keyboards, I feel like the premium 350+ boards will most likely never be truly available for the masses as the sheer scale and customer expectation for those boards are fairly high compared to something around the 200 dollar range.
Bro. You keeping it too real. The keycult fanboys are going to boycott you.
Just bought a B stock extra Tomo for a good price. Excited to try it out! Agree that there’s a bit of fomo/hype that comes from anything TGR
Can’t say I have any builds that were more than $500 in total, but I can say I’ve had more fun modding my Bakeneko than I’ve had configuring any other board. Having lots of PCB / plate options easily accessible with easy access to the plate / PCB is a gift. I’d love to get a Unikorn, but the polycarb January will be my copium
And that’s def what makes it fun. That’s why I made fun of the that people just wanted that one thing and they’d be “done”
I completely agree with what Andy is saying, having owned both the Jane v2 CE and the ME, I can say that they both share a similar og sound, but I still kept thew CE for prestigious purposes. It does sound about 20% better though I'd say. However, I do have mixed feelings about Monokei though... yes they are bringing a chance for people to kinda feel what typing on a Jane is like and all but I feel like it's also making me think that Monokei are just taking a hyped up name/design and remaking them to make money instead of creating their own og designs. I feel like Monokei is using "allowing more people to experience a Jane" to steer away from the fact that Monokei seems to be leeching off of popular names like TGR and Singa and making large unit group buys/raffles to make money. When's the last time Monokei made their own branded board? Tomo was a "TGR" board also. So yeah, I'm not too sure haha, but either way, it still is a good thing that people get to experience 80% of a Jane I guess, no hate to Monokei! And as always, love your videos :)
Good point, I always thought Yuktsi got a cut from the sales.. do they not?
@@AndyVNguyen Don't have an answer for that one, Yuktsi should do?
10:22, worth mentioning about FCFS type of stuff is that there are a LOT of bots set up to "snipe" high demand boards on a FCFS basis.
And with the raffle system there are people who generate tons of emails to basically guarantee wins. People have been selling 910 Me and Jane Me wins
lets pour one out for our homie the boogie u killed after the initial intro
F
Why wouldnt they leave the group buy open for like a week and let everybody who wants one order one, then just make however many are ordered? They do the group buys before actually making them, right?
group buys aren't money printing machines, they still have to process it. more units = longer QC period and more likelihood of B, C stock units
Ah, gotcha
group buys stink. I will never ever dedicate my time to stalking a website until drop day. build a good keyboard and sell it, and I will buy it after doing extensive research. Otherwise, I will never buy your keyboard. And everyone should do the same. Group buys are unacceptable for a lot of reasons. They artificially drive up demand and limit supply, thereby taking advantage of people. They exclude potential buyers. They limit availability of information. There is no continuation. It's so annoying.
Why I bought mode cnc poly and I wait to see what is left from bb I just order a loki65 at 25% discount I get it Wednesday order few days ago I ain’t got patience and I would get anxiety from the Waite times
9:55 this is f*cked up
It be how it be
Thank you for calling out the shady raffle methodology in obtaining these keyboards. This is why I hate that nonsense. FCFS for life.
I've seen it happen a lot and I can't really say it without leaking screenshots and DMs and I just don't want to go to that level. The toxic people in the hobby love saving screenshots of people
What’s your tomo configuration?
Matcha latte on pc iirc
@@AndyVNguyentop mount or oring mount ?
Imagine paying thousands of dollars for a keyboard with an outdated connector
babe wake up andy posted
Awesome Video Andy. The 7500USD TGR Jane you refer to at the beginning was actually sold for around 5500 USD - I asked about it the original seller because I am nuts about TGR Janes.
Still a wild price.. thanks for confirming for me. I remember seeing some OGs sell a jane for 2,500 quickly and I was like that’s so expensive even if it’s a “deal”.. but people were so thirsty for those sales lol
For me the Jane was a board I didn't get at all. I was happy with my PE Q1, but as I owned and sold more boards that dry clean top mount sound started calling me. When your FBTKL video came out I realized that was the move. Long wait but after some tweaking the FBTKL's my daily now and I couldn't be happier for what I paid. Not sure if popular opinion swayed my opinion or not, but go figure my dream board runs 3k+ 😂
I have never really wanted a Jane but it's interesting to see how most people want it. I just wanted something a little bit more interesting. An MX Black on Alu Jane with beige keycaps is probably the most stereotypical build that people fawn over lol
Hei Andy how do you compare Jane V2 ME to Geon F1 series? Which do you prefer?
F1-8x sounds great looks boring af and is too steep angle
Hi Andy, great video! What are the keycaps at 6:11 please? Thanks!
Gmk white on black with gmk hangul white on black add on kit
Ayyy the saosin rep, i see you
Hey yo, really appreciate this video that you made! I agree that it's a good rule of thumb to get boards that are about yourself and your feelings for them instead of chasing what's popular. Also, it makes me smile when you covered the tomo. It's really an underrated modern TGR Board, and it was disliked upon for being a 75% besides the unlimited group buy point.
I've own one for 8 months and counting and I kept it because it was a collab between Singapore (Monokei) and Malaysia (TGR). As a local Singaporean, it makes me even happier to own a board like that. Being a 75% enjoyer and just want a safe bet for a high end board without worriyng much about QC issues (thanks to monokei's qc) is just the icing on the cake. Tomo fits in my collection like a glove.
I really just don't want to do group buys or raffles again after buying the tomo. After a year and a half of countless delays and waiting I had nearly forgotten I had even bought a keyboard for 600+ after shipping and buying an extra PCB
yeah that Tomo wait was wild.. and now the aftermarket is so low (plenty of sellers for under retail) it makes you feel bad about being an early adopter.. even if the board is mostly solid enough.
Really digging these long form videos!
Love to hear it!
Love the recent video formats on discussing known keyboard brands in the hobby. Hoping this type of format continues.
So happy you've finally posted a video after a while and you granted us a 25 min vid nice!!! By the way what was the build spec for the tomo? (Switches and plate)
Factory lubed aflion matcha latte on PC with o ring mount
@@AndyVNguyen honestly that sound tesr was a banger haha! Thanks for the quick reply
Guac is bougie AF
-Guac enjoyer
I like this hobby because the sound feel and look is so incredibly subjective. My personal favorite board i have is a class 80 brass halfplate with boba u4t and gmk caps. But nost reviews said it was ok
The true endgame is knowing you're happy with what you have and not being tempted by anything else
I feel like it's about 3rd time you referenced typ65+ as a good 65 (which it really is). Would really love to see a review!
Someone buy me one plz
Andy’s gotta know something, Monokei just announced the final raffle for the ME is next week LMAO
another great video, and I think it captures how much the hobby has changed over time with the perception of the collectable side of the hobb
lmao that's just luck! i was tired of having this video stay in my backlog. so cranked it out. I love and hate the collectability side of this hobby. Without it though we'd all just be grabbing foam boards and calling it good
Very proud owner of TGR Jane V2 ME, and TGR 910 v2 ME! Got really lucky!
Sick! What colors.. I need a red jane in my life..
@@AndyVNguyen i have the crimson red jane v2 me, and the silver pink weight on 910!!! I really love the midnight green colors, at least one of them, but did not win 🤣
Bruh you have the one I want lol. Seems the first drop of the blue ones is not as popular.
@@AndyVNguyen there's a final re-run on June 23rd, hope you get lucky there bro for a crimson red jane! :)
Love my TGR Alice
Nice conk
a video that is more than 20 minutes long? hell yes!
This is why I always debate for a week or two before getting new boards. Really glad that I kept a look for the cloud line extras and end up able to get one off FCFS.
when you see a person keep winning the raffle it's either
1. they have a lot of friends helping to join the raffle for them or they "hire" their friend to join the raffle for them.
2. they are close to the designer, it's not even the raffle allocation unit. It's just FNF disguised as a raffle win
You mean singa? Kekw
@@joelng2774 honestly most brand does this. It's not hard to spot. But they can do as they please since it usually does not affect the allocated units for raffle from what i can tell. Also it's their product they can do as they please.
Good job and good content!!
NGL, if I could get onto a TGR group buy, I probably would. They are trendsetters for a reason, and I can't wait to see what their next group buy will be like.
I wish they would sell more copies of their board though, especially now with the hobby having grown. They could stand to make some actual major profits on it too, if they sold more.
Would you wait almost 4 years tho?
@@AndyVNguyen Why not dude? It's TGR lol. They do need to try to be better about their fulfillment speed but I bet they're gonna make something pretty cool next time.
I’m in ur walls andy! :3
Oh yeah loved the vid too
thanks!
your intro made me want to say "hi andy" as if it was aa meeting...
Also the burn at 6:22 felt like a "write that down" meme
EDIT: finished the video, A+.. i personally love learning/hearing about the history of these well known brands and where they're at now.
hahaha. yeah i definitely know too much about keyboards based on how much time/money I've spent here. Glad you enjoyed the video, it took so long for me to put together and ended up longer than I wanted but hey, it's thorough
i dont get why ppl collect board but dont daily or at least use them in rotation? At the end of the day it's a piece of metal and a tool. I daily my endgame kohaku.
Because it’s a cool decoration. People collect artisans and never put them on boards
Artisans seem kinda reasonable cause they are all vastly different from one another but all keyboards are all metal rectangles with an accent piece/weight. For that much money you could get cooler and more varied decorations imo.
I don’t yuck peoples yum . I too use my keyboards. Hard. All my gmk is shined to hell
We've moved past the point in the hobby where things immediately jump massively in price as soon as they drop. Oh, certainly there will be outliers here and there and very limited runs that generate tons of hype, but with more in stock options, more rolling/continuous drops, larger numbers sold via gb's because of the hobby's increased prominence, and just a higher overall quality for all boards there's simply too much supply for the demand to generate such crazy aftermarket values. Whereas in the past even a succeful group buy which sold out quickly would have quite small numbers, now that the hobby is larger those numbers baloon to the point that even if there is scarcity, more will wind up showing up aftermarkert. It's very, very rare for anything that has recently dropped not to be available somehwere at all times, compare that to the way it felt in 2020-2021 to find certain sought after boards where you might find an average of literally a single example per month among all second hand platforms and it just translates to less hype/scarcity driven prices. This is a very good thing.
Definitely. Tons of options to get a decent sounding keyboard. But it's interesting to see how Unikorn and Kohaku still grabs most of peoples attention despite there being plenty of other options.
@@AndyVNguyen the unikorn still has that sound profile that you cant really seem to find in other similar oring boards surprisingly.
People with the hyped boards doesn’t want the hype to go down or else they won’t be able to capitalise it.
Rest just fall for it😂
You killed it again Andy!
haahha forreal though. if you go in the geekhead thread for the jane v2 ce, there's a LOT of shitting on the Me
I can get the MONOKEI x TGR tomo blue on sale from a vendor, after watching this video maybe I will wait for something better. I was looking at Matrix Navi.
Tomo is solid. I don't know if the Navi will have good sound/feel. The last few run of boards had too many flex cuts
@@AndyVNguyen it has flex cuts at base of the alphas also there not much options for the pcd i.e only hotswap pcd and two plates only. My search will continue. I might end up getting mode sonnet because how customisable it is when picking colours and weights.
@@AndyVNguyen watch build stream of the board with Alexotos didn't sound great, nice looking board only.
Love the videos. Very happy with my 910 ME, sounds very similar to the tomo, but a bit sharper. Changing the plate to a carbon fiber plate made a huge difference.
Your 910 Me sounds as full as the Tomo sounds? Lucky
@@AndyVNguyen the default PC plate makes it sound super thin. Changing that is mega worth
Def didn’t love the pc plate
love your videos I am new to the keyboard world and having a history is super meaningful partly why i got me a tofu 65 OG
Tofu 65 OG ahhaha. I’m glad the videos can help!
I guess in some ways, i buy my keyboards for the same reason. My most “prized” keyboards that I own are the tomo, typ65+, and dan60, all malaysian boards (national pride lol). I even made them all lotr themed. Very happily retired since I realised I spent way too much in this hobby. I wouldn’t mind getting a korn or kohaku down the line though..
Everyone says that lmao. They're happy with what they have but a Singa W can change their mind. I'm stupid lucky to have both rn so I'm not tempted by much
@@AndyVNguyen it’s literally the only thing I’m looking at right now…unless a typ60 somehow makes itself available. But fr tho, this hobby really threw off what I considered “expensive”.
Typ60 isn't too bad. I just assembled it poorly lol. I started picking up gym stuff again and that stuff kinda made keyboards feel cheap lol
Loving the historical videos like keycult and TGR.
i love my f1 8x and my other boards will probably be given away before i even sell them.
F1-8X is top tier sound for sure
Hi, great video. Something I've been wondering why is there such a big keyboard hobbist community in singapore/vietnam? I know of many artisans, keyboards etc that are made in those countries.
Proximity to China where a lot of stuff is made?
meanwhile me with 230$ dareu a84 pro that I bought only for 80$ hahaha ,,,I am poor that why I bought cheap ass full aluminum case keeb
love the vid man, thanks . all are pretty accurate
25:08 more on this, I had a conversation with one dude who recently sold his own keyboard and owns a TON of vintage cherry stuff
he said "my collection in keycap vintage ( og dyesubs cherry) around $40,000" "that's small" "i think you're young" dude had to have grown up filthy rich to say that and those were for keycaps alone too
You can grow up poor and end up being successful later on in life
but I wouldn't have 40K in keycaps no waiii
@@AndyVNguyen yeah thats true but the way he made it sound like 40k and on keycaps of all things wasnt alot was very telling to me. I can only imagine what they spent on other things like boards or switches
I feel like this video is for people who aren't really in the hobby.
A lot of people in the hobby came kore recently and missed a lot of this
"What is the point of getting a clone keyboard" idk man paying $330 for a V2 CE during *****'s first GB seems like the best deal I've ever seen in that hobby, it's not even about the cloning lmao
If your only basis is lowest cost, then there’s no further discussion to be had. Clones/fakes will always be cheaper
aaay that's lightning typing on my keyboard haha
YOO nice lol. Nice build
fuckk i missed out hella :(( i just started getting into keyboards
once you caught up to how bad vendors are doing right now.. it's a big yikes
well i entere every unikorn run this year and i got 0. NADA. Do it think its fixed sometimes ? yeah cause i dont believe they follow their rules from already raffles winners. but whatever .
I wouldn’t know I’ve never won a unikorn either lol. Mine is from FCFS days. Is there a rule against multiple wins?
Great TGR history lesson.
I love videos like this
rumble for the heavy squats lesgoooo
Skrillex is my passion
Still like a good brass weight, but could just be because of the time i got into the 'hobby'; but i havent touched another board since i got my 'endgame' a year ago
I typically prefer having a brass weight, tricks my brain into thinking it's more worth the money
the clone keyboards are pretty noticeable in the finish of the brass for the og jane v2, reminds me of some video i watched of taeha signing some dudes jane v2 not knowing it was a fake lol
is the finish worse or better? and oh lmao that's awkward haha
@@AndyVNguyen well in the beginning it looks the same but if we talking about the k**** boards the brass gets real dirty like there is no finish on it, smudges real easily
ah i see. Yeah that'd be gross
@@AndyVNguyen ruclips.net/video/TuOpr0a8MdM/видео.html at 5:33, it's not just the brass but also the back plate that gets smudged super easily- looking at mechmarket sold ones
is the start just andy flexing all his og keyboards
I borrowed hella keyboards for this video lol
@@AndyVNguyen ah k
Bruh the KFA roast 😆foreal tho I have no idea how they haven't caught more shit over how awful the freebird tkl colors turned out
They somehow have a solid community that’s willing to believe whatever excuses they make. It’s impressive
Feelin bad about my Unikorn clone /s 😅 took Ls in the raffle so just designed and CNC’d my own, actually super fun! It’s pretty much 1:1 plus a bunch of memes on the weight and battery slot for wireless