KBDFans TFV2 Review - Improved but Still Making Mistakes

[@JYMV]

Hey guys, have you seen my Animal Crossing Switch?

[@erikopinaldo]

Great review overall, but especially loved your opening sequence! The lighting was superb

[@x7N1NJ47x]

mine didn't just let out smoke... it caught on fire and the cable melted! i have to thank the folks over on the kbdfans discord for helping me get it sorted though. what a disaster it was getting this thing built though!

[@HipyoTech]

Loving your b-roll lately!!!!

[@pe6470]

So this is in-fact the TFV2.1! I have the OG TFV2, which differs in that the PCB's USB-C connector, get this... had to be RIPPED-OUT to fit in the case. Yes. I've never owned a regular, tray-mount Tofu so I cannot compare: but I do love the rounded edges and general shape and looks. Mine is the HHKB and while I really wished they had offered other tops for it, I guess they knew they would end-up redesigning. The plate and mount are all the same: brass plate, an abnormal amount of holes to somehow screw to the PCB. I only used the two holes, one either side of the PCB. Hotswapping is no issue. Sound is ok. Not incredible. Feel is also ok. I ended-up with using Holy Pandas or T1s in mine, which I feel worked best with that brass plate. It's one of my favorite boards for big tactility somehow! The Ribbon is a gigantic pain and I do NOT understand why a left-side USB port just wasn't an option. 60% PCBs are readily available, and standardized. The ribbon kinks and folds and I really worried it'd break on me. I ended-up disassembling the board and retiring it. That being said, I really did have a soft spot for it. Nice looks (mine is the dark grey which looked insane with GMK Space Cadet or Oblivion), good feel once I tuned the right switches for it, AND it was my cheapest board. It's good value for those who are DIY-minded and don't mind doing a bit/lot of tuning. It is NOT for those expecting a ready-to-go 'custom'.

[@DustinVang]

Another great one! thank you for the huge amount of detail :)

[@chrinaldi]

Filling the niche right there. Comprehensive review for bespoke custom mechs. Hopefully you get the chance to review RAMA soon (preferably someone donated their board temporarily for review or something).

[@AelkamPlay]

Thank you so much for the review! With the ribbon cable problem documented now, i hope they fixed it on the recent group buy that happened (i bought the hhkb version so i really hope they do)

[@wagonet]

production quality of keyboard reviews is getting to another level, nice video. subbed.

[@mikejason3822]

Thank you for pointing out about the non-recessed USB port at 2:23! Such ignorance is not at all suitable for a custom keyboard at the price point.

[@cooperlender8567]

Such a good video. I was captivated the whole time. Bravo!

[@Taiyakeys]

Production quality gets much better each video 👌

[@leem0401]

I have the TFV2. I didn't really understand how to connect the motherboard to daughterboard since there was no instructions. Other than that, I was impressed by the finishes and quality. Brass is quite dull compared to the images but since you don't really see it anyways, it doesn't really bother me. The product is good and their shipping is really fast but KBDFans need to focus more on user experience. Sending PCB that is incompatible with the product is simply their fuck ups that ruin their sales potential. I still have faith in KBDFans and they have a lot of potential to grow even bigger.

[@rawrpwnsaur]

got a kbd75v2 a couple months ago and the silver top case had a bunch of small dings on it out of the box. perfect bottom case though.

[@arkadystarovoyt5734]

Have been using this board as my daily driver for about 7-8 months. Its a great board but i already replace daughter board to the extra one that it came with , the first one just stopped working. I got another replacement daughter board from the third party that is compatible with DZ65 RGB v2. I think this has something to do with the wire being jammed inside without proper channeling or at least enough room to lie flat. Specially when using provided foam. Other that that the board is great. Feels good and sounds good. Have C3 Tangies and Durok v2 stabs.

[@jammies701]

Nice vid mate

[@anti1337speak]

Good review and oof for KBDFans. Another case of one step forward and two steps back. I did get one of their b-stock high profile tray mount cases back in August and was kind of surprised it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected (mostly a scratch on the weight, which is whatever, ano looked pretty good), so I feel that their machining QCs have gotten better but too bad they're still struggling with hardware and general packing. Couple of friends who got some stuff from them recently also received pcbs with some bad diodes and also reportedly were missing case screws and whatnot, so I'm imagining they're also just struggling with the big increase in market size.

[@jaredhee4194]

best keyboard reviewer in the GAME

[@GiulioGovoni]

Bought the HHKB version, and had many problems with the USB C internal connector: After many attempts (connecting to the PC, it recognized correctly and LED was on, but in the time I started to use, it stopped work, everytime) decided to ask to customer care. Luckly, tried other times with the different connector, and It started again to work fine. Definitely agree with you, general construction is pretty good, but for the price, the standard or some parts could be better.

[@098751thg]

Excellent video sir!

[@HeadShotKilla10]

you can gasket mount these like i did to mine and it improves alot of the flaws with this case, the sound signature becomes alot better

[@arkadystarovoyt5734]

I ordered the board with board foam and plate foam.. The sound is great with both, even too quiet to my taste. Love the THOCK

[@zachariahm.kemper7406]

I'm assuming the keying being the same on both top and bottom is so you can give the board negative angle, if the keying is the same and the screw placement is the same then the only problem would be the usb then coming out the front of the device, would have been much better on the left or right so you could give it negative angle

[@spinkey4842]

it would be a nice gesture if companies would include a screw driver if the holes or screws aren't standard

[@aydoooo]

I agree with the plate criticism. Brass has probably the single worst sound and feeling properties while also being relatively expensive. Why not offer an optional, thick polycarbonate plate? Can't be that expensive to manufacture.

[@kale1309]

Just bought a d65, coming in Monday. Got high hopes after this video

[@catnaptv_plushshow]

I misssd the in stocks by seconds :(

[@kale1309]

@@catnaptv_plushshow the board is great! Didn't ship with gaskets though.... although kbdfans have already sent an email and they should arrive in two days. Sucks they didn't come with gaskets but kbdfans were at least quick to fix.

[@christopherchalcraft1134]

this is my first mechanics keyboard and i was pretty upset when it was not working. looked around for ages but did not find anything. thanks so much for this video and i will try to get the usb working this weekend. i still don’t follow 100% but probably need to look more in-depth. great video. do you know if anyone did a build stream?

[@xCuSt0Mx1]

thanks for giving me info on this board earlier

[@jamarionquavientavious4269]

Would you take this over a D60 if you didn’t care about bottom out harshness and only sound?

[@JYMV]

I haven't had a d60 but if it's anything like the d60, it'll sound similar enough to the tfv2 that you should probably just choose what looks better for you

[@SpookySkeletonGang]

I would love to have the TFV2, but it's no longer available. I considered a tofu HHKB but I don't like the sharper edges. I currently have a b-stock standard tofu and will probably upgrade when a nice HHKB style board becomes available.

[@Dogspark841]

oof. the company that is more of a mixed bag than any keeb company out there :*(

[@emerrinsytchannel1214]

Kprepublic is much, MUCH worse in this regard :D

[@Dogspark841]

@@emerrinsytchannel1214 oh yeah i didin't even think about that one lol, you are right though. I guess, more accurately, of sites I would actually buy from, kbdfans is the most of mixed bag, aka i wouldn't buy from kprepbulic :)

[@emerrinsytchannel1214]

@@Dogspark841 i have bought from kprepublic before, trick is to buy from their AliExpress store so that Ali can handle disputes for you if there's issues If you buy from the kprepublic website you'll never see your money again if there's something wrong

[@fliggopolis]

I wish I had this video a week ago. I had the new ribbon cable connector and neither of the daughter boards worked out of the box.

[@tlm2096]

very cool intro

[@Sidiann]

What exactly does the daughter board do in mechanical keyboards? if you don't know how to explain it can you refer me to anywhere?

[@JYMV]

Daughter boards are just a point of refinement for keyboards. They allow the separation of the usb port from the main pcb which will often be designed to have movement. You can also have the usb port be located lower down and parallel to the resting surface

[@vhen10k]

At last there's a review on this and I'm watching this using tfv2 ewhite.

[@arkadystarovoyt5734]

I got this board couple moth ago, it was my daily driver and i love it until 1 day it was dead as a brick. Daughter board cable was dead as you mentioned. I swapped the daughter board to the one extra they provided and its been working since. I am afraid that if it goes dead again i dont know where to get another daughter board as i cant seems to find an extra on KBD fans website to be sold separately. If i only knew about this problem before purchasing.. specially after they raised prices. Now i ordered Bella,,,just couldnt resist. Hopefully it wont be the same issue. If anyone know where to get an extra Daughter board that would be sweet..

[@elciego-zo2jb]

Is there a work around for the USB port? Can it be installed deeper?

[@JYMV]

There's not much the user can do. Kbdfans could potentially make a revision of the daughterboard with the port retracted a bit, but the current one has mounting points that are not negotiable

[@elciego-zo2jb]

@@JYMV I see... thanks for taking time to answer!

[@nw379]

What are the keycaps facing the camera at 1:30 in?

[@JYMV]

They're an unnamed aliexpress set. You can probably find it fairly easily by searching "pbt keycaps"

[@SamiyuruSenarathna]

What 60% boards temporarily disconnect when shocked? Btw, dc60rgb-v2 does not have proper ESD protection?

[@JYMV]

Everything including t60, m65a, qxp, polaris, e6v2 any many many more. I've been told that often times "ESD protection" listed as a feature just mean protection from shock coming through the usb cable, which is basically never. Protection from daily shocks come from electrically connecting metal parts to Ground, which is done on the tfv2 to some capacity

[@SamiyuruSenarathna]

@@JYMV That means we can connect the metal case to usb shield to enable this protection if it is already not there right?

[@JYMV]

Yes I believe so. I remember an old guide doing it for the m65a

[@SamiyuruSenarathna]

@@JYMV Good to know that. I researched a bit and found out that dz60rgb ansi v2 actually has ESD protection. It has a ESD chip near the UDB socket. However, it only mitigates surges from the input.

[@Yapan22]

is that enjoypbt? the black & white keycaps

[@JYMV]

I had two in the video. One was GMK Honeywell & Co and the other GMK Olivia

[@lris6318]

Wow you are so epic and cool I wish I was more like you

[@jarenlim387]

Feels like they shouldn't have gone with the daughterboard design. Nothing wrong with having the cut out on the left side like the tofu - no need to fix what isn't broken

[@reviewforthetube6485]

Still has that horrible tofu sound or should I say kbd sound damn was hoping one day there sound would get better regardless the d65 is finally getting closer to what I would expect and def tolerable and sounds pretty nice lol

[@treeleaf6471]

Good great fantastic

[@godlikeG]

great video but the board can be modded to sound awesome. i did a gummyworm gasket mod on mine it sounds amazing. i have a video in my channel to show case it's potentials

[@jaypao8276]

why do you sound like taekeyboards?

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensen1051]

2:58 LOL

[@katsuutheunker]

6:22 scares me most

[@truthasweallknowit428]

lmao that logo bit funny af

[@Crokto]

lol if you shocked your keyboard and it didnt fuckin *die*, ima call that a win

[@Ponker]

Ponker bless TFV2. No D60.

[@gainsborough25]

that logo burn tho!!

[@seanms35]

6.25u spacebar. Always.

[@gainsborough25]

that ACNH switch tho!!!!

[@Derpygamer27YT]

mx browns bad, ur in denial

[@koip4903]

MX browns are bad, you're in denial.

[@excitableboy7031]

Preference, sheep.

[@petitelao8901]

mx browns are bad, you're in denial

[@luisfontinelles5834]

dude, u make a movie