Timbobs
5539
7
4
Let me start off with saying the M8 keys feel and work great… BUT, sitting next to someone that’s using a M8 and is wearing a headphone, it can be quite annoying hearing all the clicky-clacks. So I went on a mission.
The keys used on the M8 are Kailh low profile switches. I first wanted to see if there’s a low-noise key available that you can just swap out. There are a few different options, so I ordered a sample pack with one of each.
Bad news: none of those are really quieter.
Good news: If you want more clicky sounds, you’ve got a lot of options! (The dark blue one feels like making music on a retro computer, if that’s what you’re going for)
Pressing down a key makes some sound, but I soon realised that most of the sound comes from releasing the keys. A little spring pushes the key up. On the brown part there are small tabs that catch on the plastic frame. That’s the part that’s making most of the sound.
Here’s just the brown plastic part that gets caught. Schematic view with extra comic book noise indicator ;)
I had a sheet of rubber laying around, so I cut out tiny pieces of rubber that will fit in the keys. To see if it will help with dampening the sound.
As you can see, these bits are tiny… if you make them too big, the keys won’t have enough travel to be able to release the keyswitch, resulting in a permanently pressed key.
On the clear plastic bit, there’s a little indent where the brown part slides in, make sure it’s not too big so it fits in.
On the key itself, I placed two small strips of rubber to also dampen the sound of keys being pressed down.
The rubber I used is about 1 mm thick. I used rubber because that’s what I had laying around. You could probably also use some kind of foam, squishy plastic, fabric, your cats hairball, etc. Just make sure it’s durable and non sticky.
Here’s a comparison of the unmodded buttons (shift and start), buttons with just the small rubber inside the keys (right and edit), and both up and down rubbers (left and down (You can see one small line of rubber falling out as I hadn’t glued them down when I recorded the video ?).)
I tried pressing down on each key roughly the same, harder than you normally would when just using the M8. But you can clearly hear the difference, and in normal use it’s much quieter. Now I feel less of an annoyance when using the M8 somewhere like in a train or when sitting in the living room with headphones on while my gf is watching tv.
Do the keys still work?
Yup, still work fine!
Does it feel different?
Maybe a little bit. There’s a bit less travel than the unmodded keys. But you’ll quickly get used to it. I haven’t had any wrong keypresses so far.
Is it easy to do?
It’s finicky. Small bits, having to open the complete keyswitch, making sure the springs and little bits don’t fall out or get lost. Take your time, don’t put too much force on the plastic when opening the keys. Good thing is, you can always order new keys when you break something.
Should I do this mod?
People who do mods like these don’t ask if they should or why they should. ?
§