Where I’m At
Basically, I know just the very basics. I’ve thought about building a keyboard many times and I have the technical means/knowhow to do such. I know there are very personal things like keystroke length, pressure, etc. that goes into it but I don’t have enough experience typing on keyboards that aren’t garbage to really know what I want. Advice on figuring that out would be really helpful.
As far as things that I know that I need:
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Backlighting. The lighting in my space is not great and it really helps (for me, since I don’t always have hands on the keyboard) to be able to quickly identify a key. I know this might deduct from the budget a lot, but I’m willing to absorb it because I consider this a must-have. Static color is fine, I don’t need full programmable RGB
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100% keyboard. I have the space and use all the keys for games, macros, etc. 6 years ago I got a giant grin on my face when I finally used the scroll lock key for what it’s designed for.
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Quietness is more important than feel for me. As much as I’d love one of those crazy Model Ms that have the servos for a replica perfect typing feel, I often am on voice chat while doing things so that’s a no go.
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I can’t do the split ergo thing, as cool as it seems. My brain has been trained to touch type poorly, and there’s no way I’m gonna be able to get away from that.
Budget
If this is possible for $200 or less, that would be great. If someone knows of something prebuilt, or a possible combination of parts that could fit within this budget I’d be very grateful. I can go a little over by piecemealing parts, but sooner rather than later would really be preferred. I’m tired of having either cheap or half broken keyboards.
Thanks
I use a keychron at work and it’s very good for the price. Not a heap to choose from in the 100% range but all very reasonably priced. If you’re after serious quietness you probably want linear switches but these are often pretty polarising to people. There’s no tactile click at all when you’ve activated the key. You might be surprised what you can get away with on VC though, I use a condenser mic and a keyboard with blue keys and generally have no problems with people hearing it. Good mic positioning on a boom helps a lot, and some new noise cancelling technologies are pretty excellent at blocking clicks. With a headset mic it would be really unlikely to be heard.
I’m stuck on a desktop condenser mic and don’t have a boom, so that really factors in. I should have added that to the post. That means that not only the clack of the keys is important, but also the vibration they may cause. Modern noise filters can do a lot, but I’m not sure if they can do that much. I’ll check out keychron stuff - thanks!
If you have the room for it and don’t already, you should see if you can get a shock mount for the mic if you can’t put it on a boom. It would make a big difference for those vibrations!
I have boom stands from just casually having a full PA system, but this mic isn’t really compatible. I’m now thinking of fabricating some kind of bracket that will hold it 🤔