CannonKeys Ortho60 (Tester)
- Received: November 4th, 2023
- Weight (built):
Summary
When I was a newcomer to the keyboard hobby I always wanted to find my preference and see what I resonated with. Unfortunately, switch sample packs were not the easiest thing to come by and often they would have very generic “red, brown, and blue” switches available from various manufacturers, and it was difficult to try the more enthusiast level switches out there. The first sample pack I was able to get my hands on, and part of why I used JWK Alpacas for a year was from a small hobbyist vendor called Hippokeys. In that sample pack there was a medium variety of enthusiast switches and it was pretty much the only of its kind.
Flash forward to a couple months ago, a few vendors were offering sample packs of the switches they were selling including Cannonkeys. Cannonkeys offered a Collectors Edition Sample Pack for 40 dollars, which had 57 switches available to try. It also came in a really neat translucent switch container which I thought would be a nice little room decoration.
After I got the sample pack, it occurred to me that this would be a great opportunity to create a “switch tester board” that I could share with people in my life to help then find the kind of switch the meets their preferences. Rather than using a thick piece of acrylic like other switch testers, I wanted the switches to at least marginally emulate how they would sound in a board without making each switch sound too different from the other based on where they were positioned in the board. I originally looked at something like the ID75, which is a 75 key ortho PCB that fits in GH60 compatible cases. However, after weighing my options, I found that it would simply be more affordable to go with Cannonkeys’ Ortho60 kit instead.
To maintain a consistent sound from each switch, I also needed to make sure the keycaps I used for each switch were identical to each other, so for that, I decided to go with the blank white XDA profile keycaps from YMDK on Amazon.
I printed custom dye sublimation sheets and transferred them directly onto the blank XDA keycaps so it is immediately clear which switch you’re pressing.
- Brown = Tactile
- Blue = Clicky
- Red = Linear
- Tan = Silent Tactile
- Pink = Silent Linear
Switches Used
These are all the switches included in the original collectors edition sample pack.
- Anubis Tactile
- Blue Macaw Silent Tactile
- Blush Light Tactile
- Cerulean Tactile
- Cherry Blossom Linear
- Cherry MX Black Linear
- Cherry MX Clear Tactile
- Cherry MX Red Linear
- Chocolate Toffee Linear
- Gateron CJ Linear
- Coffee Chip Tactile
- Coral Silent
- Gateron Baby Kangaroo Tactile
- Gateron Baby Raccoon Linear
- Gateron Black Ink Linear
- Gateron G Pro 2.0 Yellow Linear
- Gateron Oil King Linear
- Gateron Luciola Linear
- Gateron Mizu Mink Linear
- Gateron Milky Yellow Black Bottom Pro Linear
- Gateron Pro Milky Yellow 1.0 Linear
- Gateron Pro Milky Brown 1.0 Tactile
- Gateron New North Pole 2.0 Linear
- Gateron Full Nylon Yellow Linear
- Gateron Quinn Tactile
- Haimu Pastel Azalea Linear
- Haimu Pastel Flan Linear
- Haimu Heartbeat Silent
- Haimu Pastel Lemon Linear
- Haimu Pastel Mint Tactile
- Haimu Pastel Peach Linear
- Haimu Pastel Sky Linear
- Haimu Pastel Thistle Tactile
- Haimu Whisper Silent Tactile
- JWICK Black Linear
- JWICK Yellow Linear
- FLCMMK Ice Mint Linear
- Keygeek Luxury Linear
- Korbs Linear
- Lavender Linear
- Lilac Tactile
- Lilac Linear
- Mauve Linear
- Ultramarine Linear
- MOMOKA Frog Linear
- Neapolitan Tactile
- Raed R2 Linear
- Naevy R2 Tactile
- Blaeck R2 Linear
- Seal Linear
- SP-Star Sacramento Linear
- Sunny Side Up Linear
- Dark Amber Tactile
- Aurora Series Blue Linear
- Aurora Series Clear Linear
- Aurora Series Fog Linear
- Aurora Series Pink Linear
Other switches
These were switches I included to make up for the empty slots that were not filled by the switches from the sample pack,