Great sound, no foam, budget king? Techbear TB8-TKL review!

The Techbear TB8-TKL has all the nice-to-haves in 2024, including the quick assembly ball-catch screw less design, a beautiful "ripple" pattern weight, and a decent sound signature even without any foams. And you get all this for under $200... it's a great time to jump into the mechanical keyboard hobby! Check it out at the link below!
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00:00 intro/unboxing
00:06 who is tech bear studio?
00:24 NLandKeys exit scam?
01:10 TB8 specs
01:37 no foam performance?
02:05 typing sounds | cherry MX black (deskeys films, 205g0), no foam)
02:29 typing sounds | HMX swift, no foam
02:47 typing sounds | HMX swift, all foams
03:09 typing impressions
03:32 TB8 vs Neo 80
03:41 TB8 vs TKD cycle8
04:19 the bottom line
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nlandkeys.com/products/gb-tb8...
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Sound test setup:
Qwertykeys Neo 65 | gasket mount | carbon fiber plate | Various GMK keycaps
Typing test signal chain:
Michael Joly modded Rode NT5 (X-Y stereo pair) 6 inches above desk surface
SoundDevices MixPre 3 ii recording in 32-bit float
Sennheiser MKH416 (a-roll mic)
Sennheiser MKE600 (scratch audio)
Camera setup:
BMPCC4k w/ Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO(overhead)
BMPCC4k w/ Voigtlander 17.5mm f/.95 (face cam)
BMPCC4k w/ Lumix 30mmf/2.8 macro (shoulder cam)
Sony A7iv w/ various lenses (b-roll)

[@ImOnMy116]

Interesting board! Sorry to hear about more vendor issues, it’s harder and harder to recommend anyone go into a GB unless they’re willing to accept the risk. Certainly feel like most GB runners have a good and trustworthy track record, but never wish for others to have problems.

[@TheBigGiant_SpaceChiken]

Very good concise review! And good call on deciding to do a foam-less sound test on all the boards. That way people that like foam-less or foam builds can get a better idea what the sound may be with their preferred build.

[@nihalprakash8883]

Those stabs are crying out for some tuning

[@sinnerairsoft8487]

23mm front height?????

[@kesamek8537]

Mid price TKL space should be interesting as an upgrade route but looking at the Galaxy80 and NuPhy it's hard to see clear value from spending more ... is the input latency better? or worse? is there an optional north facing PCB? are there some optional encoder knobs? media keys? dedicated capslock indicator? Choices that are purely cosmetic are everywhere. What we need are functional benefits too.

[@KiD2x2]

200$ is nowhere near mid price :)))))

[@xAlbo94]

@@KiD2x2 Semantics. For one person, a Mercedes E class would be considered an expensive "high end car" yet to someone else of different means it'd be considered a "mid" car. Honestly the terms "budget" and "mid tier", etc. should just be done away with and instead compare similarly priced boards using actual price points. You don't compare a Toyota Camry, to a Mercedes E350, to then a Porsche 911 Carrera S

[@shadowasii4492]

​@@KiD2x2 yeah its rather budget ;)

[@kesamek8537]

@@KiD2x2 personal opinion, up to $150 is budget, $150-$1,000 is mid price, over $1000 is Norbauer.