Can top mount still sound good? | Sneakbox MGA Standard with Black Inks | Sound Test ASMR
11Keyboard: Sneakbox MGA Standard
Plate: POM
Switches: Gateron Black Inks
Lube/Film: 205g0/deskeys
Keycaps: PBT Striker
Insulation: none/paper towel/shelf liner and paper towel
Deskmat: Aqua Control+
What do I think about the Alice layout? It's pretty nice. I can definitely see myself being a fan of this layout. I got used to typing on this in about 2 hours and could get to my speed on a standard layout in about 3-4 hours of use. I really enjoy the spacing of the keys on Alice keyboards and it has helped me enforce touch typing.
What do I think of the board and the sound and feel? It's very meh. The heft is there, it weighs in at 1730g fully built which is actually quite heavy for a "65%". However, this thing in its stock form, very muted and sounds kinda dead/hollow. Even with the POM plate, I couldn't get much of the sound to be there or the flex. Testing it without the bottom case (just the top assembly), it sounded so full and poppy and vibrant. Somehow after screwing it into the bottom case that all went away. I assume since the plate isn't isolated and so all that sound is traveling into the heft of the bottom case. Somehow, adding the paper towel and then force break modding it didn't help much, but when I added the paper towel on top of some shelf liner, it helped quite a bit. It restored a bit of the sound that I had heard when it was just the top assembly. However, it did just make it even stiffer than it already was. This thing is now solid and is kinda uncomfortably stiff, yes even with the pom plate. At least the sound is somewhat nice to my ears. It is a refreshing sound, away from all the gaskets and PE foam for a little bit. Not saying that I prefer this sound over those, but it is a nice breath of fresh air. This is why I opted not to try to PE foam this or add tape to it. I wanted to see if I could get that signature top mount sound out of this board and sure did I. I think I need to try this with plate foam.
If you want me to add PE foam to this lmk, I am not opposed to the idea.
ps. i still like pe foam and gasket boards more tho
Timestamps:
0:00 - Stock
1:02 - Force Break Mod + Paper Towel
2:02 - Force Break + Paper Towel + Shelf Liner