With all the foams installed, it is quite a bit more stiff than you'd think, yeah. The thing is, the moves you'd want to make to achieve something like the sound of a foamed out Zoom65 would make the board feel a bit more firm (move to FR4 plate and use all foam), and the things you'd do to make it feel softer would also make it sound more open (remove JUST case foam but leave anti-static sheet). Luminkey65 is just naturally a very bright-sounding board, so that's the balance it strikes. Ultimately, nothing will ever 1:1 replicate the sound of anything else unless every dimension, material choice, and part variance is exactly the same. As for what you've already tried, I agree with trying U4T's and MTNU, but I don't think DSA was ever gonna make the board sound truly deep as even with PBT that profile is quite thin in construction. I'm noticing you like spherical profiles as well, very based of you. Perhaps another profile to try that might work well if you don't mind the glossy finish is HSA. I have HSA Hyperfuse, and it's quite comfy while also being similar in height to Cherry but offering the spherical face and scooped row sculpture of SA. Just... don't grab a set from Vala right now, not a good situation over there with regard to order fulfillment.

@ i appreciate the detailed response dude 🙇 I think I’ve realized after experimenting with multiple boards that the main culprit for the zoom65 sound is the PC plate with the ridiculous amounts of flex cuts. You’re practically typing on the plate foam. Do you think removing the plate foam from the board or removing it from the alphas would give me a more “marbly” sound and softer typing feel? Curious about your thoughts. The DSA keycaps I’m using are from taobao and they’re uncharacteristically thick! Thanks for the nudge to check HSA! Will check it out

@androuil "marbly" acoustics typically come from the presence of foam, not the absence of it, so removing the plate foam here would only open the sound of the region between the plate and PCB more. Flex cuts will absolutely do what you're observing, so it's correct to assume you're basically typing on the foam. Therefore, removal of any of it will reduce that overall density. You COULD try using something like an HMX Canglan/EVA switch to get more of that dense sound you're looking for that still has a bit of a snap to the bottom-out that produces that pointed foam bottom-out sound.

LOL nah not mine, Clownfish sent his over for me to mess around with. About to record a type test with the Alu plate and some other spicy gear.

I did a follow-up video in which I did a disassembly of the mouse (wasn't keen on how to do it properly at the time) and broke it in the process, so sadly, it's been long gone.

Thanks for the reply. If you have other old finalmouse let me know 😊

You have to pull the Tab keycap and turn the board on. The very first page of the manual describes this.

​@@TheManicGeek Thank you for your fast response. Yes, I know the switch unter the Tab key. But it makes no difference if it on or off.

@andrestern8597 beyond that, I'd check to make sure the battery is plugged in correctly. Those symptoms, as described, sound like either a battery that isn't plugged in properly or was defective, or a connector being damaged. A PCB will still receive power and work in most cases if the daughterboard circuit that feeds power direct from USB port is intact. Barring that, you'd need to reach out to Womier support again. Be sure to verify things you have tried, as that can help get resolution faster, but expect to need to repeat certain steps for verification on their end. Also, reference any previous customer service inquiry you made, along with any reference number it may have tied to it, to let them know they really need to get back to you.

@@TheManicGeek thank you for your advice. I checked the battery and it seems to be plugged in correctly. However, I cannot say whether the connector or the battery is damaged. I wrote an email to womier. Now I have to wait. Thank you very much for your fast response. 🙏 Now I know, that it wasn't my mistake.

It would help the board sound a bit more full, but it won't help the spring ping, scratch of the switches, or the rattle of the stabilizers.

@ I think a fuller sound would do the trick! Thanks!

Sadly no, there's no way to turn it off, at least as of the last time I checked. Odd oversight.

Yeah I mean there's no accounting for personal taste with that. I just found myself endlessly thinking I'd like it better if that logo wasn't plastered there, and on both sides, at that.

Yeah, but for the price and target audience, I'm not sure how many users would care. They COULD do what Luminkey does and just sell a small extension kit to give the caps up to TKL compatibility. That'd make me pretty happy, actually. Eventually, when they release their own Alice line of boards, revamp the kits to add in Alice bars. FR tho, the caps are so nice otherwise.

Yeah I have to confess while I DO really like how top mount FINISHES, implementing it with a ball-catch system and no way to properly open it without loosening the tension of the catches... isn't The Way TM. It seems like ChilKey is moving away from it with their future releases that use case closure systems like this one, though ND75 LP did still slip through with top mount... and magnetic closures that you CAN'T adjust to make the case easier to open.

One feature doesn't work without filing the plate, my board didn't tell time, and the case foam was glued to the PCB. If you think that's nitpicking, then you have terribly low standards for your products. Let's sail right on past the shit top mount implementation, too.

It drops the overall pitch of the board by, I suspect, providing a less resonant surface for sound to hit due to its increased hardness and density. I didn't have it prep'd for this review, but we got to use it on a viewer's board when we tested all three plates, and we found the PC assembly has the biggest impact when using the Brass battery cover, whereas the Alu plate showed barely any tangible difference in noise. FR4, being middle of the road like it is, MIGHT benefit depending on switches used; with Astrals, it will DEFINITELY help. It's all basically an "it depends" scenario, like so much of this hobby. That the option exists at all on a board this accessible and with this general level of build quality is, to me, pretty noteworthy. You can literally lean into whatever your preference is with this board with maybe ONE add-on purchase of the right plate or battery cover or use of a specific piece of the foams.

@TheManicGeek very interesting. ive got the pc top version and it comes with the brass cover out of the box. ive not yet tried the stock pc plate as i have my own stabs and want a 7u sb so i bought it with an alu plate and been using it since day 1 im itching to try a soft plate for awhile now so i guess imma order me a PC or PP for this. might go with PP tho, thanks for the detailed response!

Should just require an Allen key to remove the two fasteners at the rear of the board flanking the LED strip. I don't recall them being Philips head or requiring anything special.

Yeah, it's a great board. It's not too much to think about, and it's easy to mod.

That's actually kinda insane! They actually don't make 'em like they used to anymore, it seems.

@TheManicGeek The world has changed. It was "the quality" before not the marketing & money. I bought my i7 4770k in March 2014 with Corsair H100i, and they both are still in service. Wanted to replace it with newer 14900k, but Intel wasn't lucky enough with these CPU's, as well as not lucky with Core Ultra 200. It looks like these two veterans have to serve me more time that I expected. I dont want to switch to AMD (nothing bad about them, but I am Intel fan, at least I was). I also was a big fan of Corsair, but they want too much money for less quality now. It's just a brand, with no soul.

Copper internal and external weights for this model. All models except the Blackout come with Brass internal weights as standard and, except for a few models, Alu external weights, which shouldn't impact sound TOO much since they're not all that large or thick. Going Blackout, I'd add on the Brass internal weights, which would being the board acoustically on par with the other models and still be a touch cheaper.

@@TheManicGeekThanks for the reply! Do you feel like it would sound a little fuller with some case foam? Using headphones to listen and it sounds a little hollow?

@RandomKeebs to my ear that's just sort of the sound a top mount-style mount makes with an Alu plate (bottom mount here), so I kinda like it, but if you use foam, you'd want to use their specific foam kit as there's a max of 3mm between the back of the PCB and the case floor, less behind hotswap sockets. Alternatively, different plates might also help, and the different magnet configuration for the final release might also play a role in applying more manageable, even force along the case perimeter and easing some of that noise.

There is nothing wrong with liking a board at any price and buying a nice set of keycaps for it that offers enough expandability that it can then also be carried over to a better keyboard if/when the end-user decides it's time to change their board. I've put $45 keycaps on boards that cost $300 or more and they looked and sound great. I've put $99 keycaps on boards that cost half as much and they were great.

Thin flex cut pcb's enforce a requirement of foam to build the board and have it still be usable. It limits the customization of the product for the end-user and isn't even required to have maximum usable assembly compression if the product is designed properly in the first place. Even just eliminating the flex cuts would be fine if the case required a slim PCB to provide enough room under it in the case, but this board doesn't require that either as the bottom case has plenty of room... so it's a waste of an option on this board.

FR4 plate on pro, stainless steel bottom weight on pro, different switches, and double battery life on pro.

It's tough to sell cushioned, muted bottom-out to enthusiasts these days, but this is true with a full travel switch. With a long pole switch, the travel of the stem may actually be less than what the thickness of the o-ring would dampen.

Update: I thought I'd try stacking both sets of gaskets to the top side of the plate to make the contact to the case more direct. The alphas sound significantly louder as a result, a little more in-line with the F-row. Really fun with clicky switches.

Wait until you find the AliExpress listings for non-flex-cut Alu plates... they're kinda nice 😏

Yeah this one was a bit subtle with the differences. I also didn't have the greatest of audio setups at the time so that definitely negatively impacted my ability to catch that nuance. I also didn't lube the factory switches particularly heavy, so that didn't really change pitch as much as it smoothed out the existing acoustic profile and generally make the board feel nicer to type on. Spring ping definitely improved, but again... shit audio situation at the time. Not an excuse, just the facts.

You can check it out here (Affiliate Link): cannonkeys.com/products/cerberus?variant=42626203713647&ref=manic I only had today with it, so as far as long-term testing goes, I can't give you insight on that, but my initial impressions are quite good. Having taken a look at several other similarly priced projects in the past, I feel like buyers will be happy with what they get almost regardless of the selected configuration. That said, it's premium: $285 starting price, with the one I REALLY want, Demonic, being VERY limited and ranging from $380 for soldered to $405 for ZMK wireless hotswap. This is one of those projects that's as much a daily use tool as it is functional art, and I absolutely plan on getting one for my personal collection at some point... but your mileage may vary.

It's 285 from cannonkeys website.

That's a crazy deal for this board tbh

I got mine for 28$ lmao

It was 38 and I had a 10$ free credit

I thoroughly enjoy Rainy75 and still have it in my rotation thanks to some additions I made, but I think ND75 will be the better pick overall if you want more viable build options and, outside of top mount, a far easier build experience. That said, if you prefer a softer, supple typing feel and aren't fussed over wanting/needing to rebuild the board, Rainy75 Lite or Standard actually makes a ton of sense; the FR4 plate for the Pro model takes things a different direction in feel and sound.

I'd test fit first just to confirm trimming/filing needs to be done as there COULD be some stabs that fit better than Stupid Stabs or Typeplus. In my case, I filed the front and rear of the stab cutouts and trimmed off the small sections that protrude around the switch in the stabilized sockets. Enter is gonna be the area to pay the most attention to, specifically at the "front" of the cutout since the orientation of the cutouts is flipped vs. PCB-mount and prioritizes plate-mount stabs.

@@TheManicGeek any specific screw in stabs u might recommend then?

@Limpcart I'm waiting on a fresh model to arrive so I can do some more testing, but initial thoughts are to try Knight Stabs if you want screw-in with a nearly painless setup, or Cherry Clip-ins if you want to go with a simpler PCB mount install and you don't have keycaps that hold o to stabilizer stems with an iron grip. As with all stab recommendations I make, your mileage can and will vary based on a host of factors like keycap alignment and switch operation characteristics. In the meantime my most solid recomme d is to axtually just re-tune the stock plate mount stabs as they seem to actually be pretty good once you address the factory lube being kinda poop dookie. Use a pipe cleaner for the stems and housings, wipe off the wires with a paper towel, and re-tune with your preferred lube (I use 206g2 on my stab stems and wires).

Damn, that's quite the compliment. Thanks for tuning in and enjoying what we do! I've actually got some more coverage of Rainy75 I'm working on as a retrospective piece to see how well the board has aged and why that may not even matter.