Should You Build Your Own Keyboard?

As much as I’ve loved a good keyboard, I finally got around to building some thanks to some recent changes in the industry. I honestly think now is the easiest time to pick you parts, get them for a good price, and build your first keyboard!
Channels in this video:
LMNO Key: / @lmno-key
Alexotos: / @alexotos
Glarses: / @glarses
Hipyo Tech: / @hipyotech
DailySetupTech: / @dailysetuptech
RandomFrankP: / @randomfrankp
BadSeed Tech: / @badseedtech
skiwithpete: / @skiwithpete
Products in this video:
Omnitype Bauer Lite: geni.us/0yunp
Cidoo V65: geni.us/e9wzk
Womier S-K71: geni.us/g4Uj28S
Space Cables Lindy Lemo: geni.us/QGEyR4
Monokei Standard: geni.us/G2xG8KQ
Hibi June R2: geni.us/8Rkz
Treasure Macro Pad: geni.us/JrYo
Companies Mentioned:
NovelKeys: geni.us/7oBlbnv
Space Cables: geni.us/CADjgI
Drop: geni.us/1900SyA
Shop the merch:
shop.mkbhd.com
Join the Discord:
/ discord
Music licensed from Epidemic Sound:
www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
Follow The Studio:
/ thestudio
/ thestudio
Follow the staff:
Marques Brownlee / mkbhd
Adam Molina / adamlukas17
Alex Wolfe / thealexwolfe
Andrew Manganelli / andymanganelli
Brandon Havard / b_hvrd
David Imel / durvidimel
Ellis Rovin / ellisrovin
Jono Tan / jonotan86
Mariah Zenk / totallynotabusinessacc
Michael Emerick / mikey_emerick
Miles Somerville / someofmiles
Tim McMahon / timmcmahonn
Vinh Dang / danggvinh
Equipment used in this video and others:
Canon EOS C70: geni.us/AtpxW
Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L: howl.me/chHqd63eV8A
Canon RF 28-70mm f/2.8L: geni.us/Tbimi
Sennheiser MKH-416: geni.us/jYxRVj
Sennheiser ME 2 lav: geni.us/0bpKiZX
PowerDeWise lav: geni.us/SRX1Th
Zoom F8n Pro: geni.us/tuv7o8
Hollyland Lark Max: geni.us/mkJRt7
Shot and produced by Andrew Manganelli
Audio by Ellis Rovin
Graphics by Tim McMahon and Michael Emerick

[@Raven]

"No." - My Wallet

[@plutonasa]

"Yes" - Me while ignoring my abused wallet in the corner

[@Nooch13]

😂😂

[@jamescruz8678]

As someone who was once in headphones, custom keyboards, Magic: The Gathering, and gundam all at the same time, I resonate with this 😂

[@saulgoodman2018]

NO. My ears.

[@RudyOMP]

@@jamescruz8678damn pick a struggle man 😂

[@TaehaTypes]

So excited for keyboards to be a more regular feature on this channel!

[@Manganellia1]

We'll see how much I talk on here, mostly wanted this video to be a good intro and then people go watch channels like yours and the others mentioned to get the nutty gritty 😁

[@Sky.H265]

ayo the legend is here

[@TaehaTypes]

@@Manganellia1 It was a great introduction, thank you for presenting us well :D

[@OsvaldoPasillas]

@@Manganellia1 have you guys received the keyboard that Taeha built mor Marquees? looking forward to his opinion on it :D

[@omnitype_official]

Andrew is the GOAT. Thanks for asking us be a part of this! This video is fantastic in helping people dip their toes in the keyboard world! ❤🖤

[@Manganellia1]

Thanks for sending the boards over and the interview! The Dualshot Bauer Lite is gonna hold a special place in my heart

[@worthless_opinion]

Goat of what?

[@harrylane4]

@@worthless_opiniongoat of all time

[@DailySetupTech]

Huge Shoutout to all the creators that made the hobby more accessible for everyone! Also, seeing so many good budget options becoming readily available is awesome. My wallet suffered enough already. 😂

[@ravitheja715]

A shout out to @SwitchandClickOfficial from my side as a long time viewer(she's the creator that introduced me to this rabbit hole, redragon k552 video 2 years ago). She and hipyo are so fun to watch, especially for beginners and casuals.

[@alexotos]

So awesome to see so many people into the hobby, can't wait to catch one of your streams! Here is hoping 2024 for the hobby is awesome.

[@Manganellia1]

Thanks so much for letting me pick your brain!

[@nikewray]

the fact that you invited all of these keyboard creators just made this video amazing ngl

[@alexotos]

Too kind 😊

[@nikewray]

@@alexotos replying to my comment is probably one of the best thing today

[@johndoeble]

That thumbnail smile hits different, it’s literally „😀“

[@JJ-ji9xx]

It’s a bit uncanny

[@jamescruz8678]

As someone who used to be in the hobby, the most amount of fun I've had was actually building it.

[@JaceB99]

I feel like most tech hobbies are like that though. People who build computers for fun enjoy the building and component testing more than just using that computer.

[@alieffauzanrizky7202]

Same as lego, especially that huge $400 sets. By the time it's done now it's just your usual desk showpiece

[@jamescruz8678]

@@JaceB99 It really depends on accessibility. In audio you don't have a lot of solderless DIY kits, if they even exist, but if there were you'd 100% see more people building their endgame setup.

[@dausthrowaway4349]

like Gundams lmao, fun to build but when its finished id go "now where am i gonna put this?~"

[@Manganellia1]

@@alieffauzanrizky7202 in my original script I compared it to LEGO actually!

[@zekedgtl]

I love the place the mechanical keyboard hobby is growing to. The amount that the studios listen to us creators is very reassuring as well

[@eossoon]

I'm a bit of an oldhead from before customs were really a thing and ducky/varmilo with cherry browns were the "enthusiast" option. I stayed through the hobby when customs really started taking off, headed by keycult and RAMA works, built a few so-so keyboards and went on hiatus for a few years until recently when I decided to rebuild my Savage65. I got culture shock from my own hobby by how much the industry had changed! Keycult and RAMA had fallen, multiple trusted vendors executed exit scams, but most of all, everything was so much better, cheaper, and more acessible than before! My Savage65, a keyboard that was made to be minimal in a brutalist design philosophy, used to be 350-450 dollars and attainable aftermarket only. Now it's in stock for 180? Keyboards with more features like screen+knob and more complicated mounting systems than some of the most advanced boards from my day are now starting at 200 dollars! Just 3-4 years ago, that would have run you at least 400-500 dollars! The industry is in an incredible place right now, and I'm glad that there's some more mainstream coverage of this hobby that seems super niche at times. I never thought I would see in stock GMK sets and in stock budget boards that blow my very expensive old customs out of the water. And that's not even mentioning how good switches have gotten. My hand lubed and spring swapped Creams look like bush league compared to some of the offering out today. I tried some Oil Kings and I'm just so impressed by all the new stuff!

[@Manganellia1]

This is an awesome comment, thank you for leaving it! The more I talked to people the more I realized that I wasn't crazy years ago and that it really was that difficult, and it's wild how much has changed.

[@eossoon]

@@Manganellia1 It really was incredibly difficult! You couldn't even buy switches half the time. C3 Tangerines were out of stock, people were fiending for holy panda parts, and the Stealios scandal took the T1s off the market. Now, you can get Oil Kings whenever you want, Holy Pandas from two different vendors, and cool new switch tech from Boba U4Tx Half thocks and Haimu silents. Honestly, it was probably better that you exited the hobby at the time you were looking into it, as many GBs never got fulfilled from that time period. I only recently got my set of GMK Sumi only through a salvage effort from a fellow community member who saved the stock at the warehouse after an exit scam by a previously trusted vendor. As another example, the Satisfaction75 was an endgame board for many. But now there will be a Sat75x budget version and the QK75n exists! Would definitely love to see more keyboard content from this channel. I really love the keyboard community and the inherent customizability of the hobby.

[@jjom01]

I would love to see more Andrew videos reviewing stuff or showcasing his windows set up

[@jlutz63]

AEsthetically pleasing background image

[@benlisi840]

This video literally came at the perfect time. I went down this rabbit hole over the holidays and I somehow ended up getting the QK65v2 in a groupbuy. I'm actually really excited to continue with this hobby!

[@MrHaydnSir]

this is insane ..for some reason, all this week i've not stopped talking about and looking into keyboards i don't own any - when it comes to my job i have a basic £10 keyboard that sits on my desk, and at home i just use the laptop's own keyboard with my own work, i'm at home on a mackbook pro and the built in keyboard for obvious reason but i am in desperate need of an upgrade ..and an M3 Mac Mini is looking to be the smartest way ..hence ..keyboard research ..and suddenly, The Studio brings me a sign, five days 'til payday

[@JimHegarty]

One of my favourite things to see are videos made by people who are excited about 'their thing'. This is clearly a video made by an enthusiast. To know that there is a whole world out there for people who have found their thing is very cool to see. I have gotten into guitar pedals, and this is very much a tech version of that. Considering how much time is spent with our hands on keyboards it is really cool to see that people care about every aspect of it. Thanks for putting this video out.

[@scrudover1247]

The timing of this is impeccable. I was listening to a waveform clip where you mentioned this video coming soon while I was changing the switches for my brother's keyboard and then changing the keycaps for my own keyboard. It was definitely fun, and I like that you pointed out with HipyoTech that you don't have to go deep into the rabbit hole and build your keyboard from scratch. Incrementally changing stuff on a full kit keyboard seems like a good entry point to the hobby.

[@lopypop]

For newbies that want to try out a prebuilt, just go with a Keychron. Strong value for the price and it'll allow you to "mod" them however you like

[@jpjipperwong]

I appreciate the resources! my issue was always finding ergo layouts. I think thats definitely been lacking so hopefully theres more out there now

[@akukolabs]

Great video! So great to see the hobby expanding. I’ve only been in it for 2 years and it’s already changed so much!

[@Manganellia1]

Thank you!!

[@hawkeye7291]

This was great! love to see more people get into the hobby! Been fun to see how this has grown over the last couple years.

[@Mirtual]

Dude thank you for making this video. I onlt bought my first mechanical keyboard that wasnt gaming branded a few months ago and it's such a cool thing to invest your time into imo😊

[@TheHasenbeck]

It is a great experience. A buddy at work started bringing these extremely custom built ones to the office and I could look away. They knew I’m a knowledge and hobby junkie. Had him send me some links to nudge me towards the right direction. The holidays are the best time to get into it as KFM does a really good base kit and I sourced out components and it’s so amazing to do and enjoy the process and end result of your project

[@Ashlord]

It's so cool seeing the different video creating styles of all the Studio members. Can't wait for more videos, and yours was great, Andrrw!

[@ViktorFury]

This really showed Andrew’s strong suit. Loved this - more please! 🙏🏻

[@reijin121]

Such a great a well timed video, I just purchased a prebuilt and agree with the points in the video. However, yes there is a lot of information out there about keyboards now, but it is over whelming. I got this prebuilt with the intentions of not modding at all, today I find myself now lubing stabilizers and switches. One thing to note is the new HE key switches focused on gaming. Great Video!

[@Shirley36]

I got into this hobby about last year? And I'm now on my 3rd board looking to get a 4th. It's been expensive 🥲 but the one thing that reminds me it's worth it is the fact that so far about 5 different colleagues have independently walked up to me asking me how they can go about getting their own mechanical keyboards because they loved how my office one sounded. And when I let them try typing on it too they were hooked. It tells me I did a good job lol.

[@Shirley36]

Also props to Andrew for this video, super informative and loved hearing from all the different creators in the keeb space, their content has helped me so much getting into the hobby.

[@dazzledave]

​@@Shirley36 How much does it cost to build one? Average cost?

[@bivs_setup]

Awesome video. Your comments reflect my own experience starting out the mechanical journey.

[@dit100]

Thanks for the studio video on keyboards. It was very helpful to someone like myself who is debating on getting into the custom keyboards world. I ended up getting the Cidoo V87 Pro. And I love it.

[@mbillard]

LMNO Key is such a good name for a keyboard channel. I jumped into the hobby during the pandemic and bought into a couple of group buys and refreshing a website to hope to get one of the few extras of a popular set. I stopped completely once I got a few sets and only recently started again, but the beauty of having easier access to so much more things now is you don't feel the same FOMO that triggered some impulse buys back then. I'm also happy to explore the world of low-profile mechanical keyboards that seem to be slowly growing with great options from Keychron and Nuphy.

[@traxaber]

We need a video on the keyboard Taeha just made for Marques!

[@MrSkullhead0]

Taeha types has one on his channel!

[@jhonyblanco9239]

Andrew this video was worth the wait! Also, I love the cidoo more and more every time I hear it!

[@bornashamloo]

As a long time MKBHD/Waveform subscriber and a dude whose knee-deep in the custom keyboard hobby, this video was a joy to see on my notification shade

[@MrSkullhead0]

Woooo! A huge channel bringing to light this amazing hobby. If you’re new and reading this: I advise you to try and find a local discord where people setup meetups at public areas to show off their keyboards. It’s the best and easiest way to see what you may like in a board without having to spend money on it. The best part of the hobby is the people you share your keyboard journey with.

[@BrazenNL]

Been using a Corne with low profile Chocs for a while now, and I love it. No more pain, no matter how long I work/hobby.

[@CreaminFreeman]

I’ve been in this hobby for over 10 years at this point, it’s so great seeing how far our community has come!

[@Jezee213]

Awesome job Andrew! This was very fun to watch. I've built 2 so far and my next is going to be difficult but I want to try it, I wanna get the case of either a re-make or original Apple M0110 board that came with the Macintosh but do it modern with new pcb, switches, caps, stabs etc.... At first I wanted to just get one and do a restore but they are hard to find a working one that just needs a cleaning and some love, replacing switches and stuff is hard and expensive so, just having the look would be amazing!

[@rfezzie]

Recently completed my first build and it was definitely worth it for me. Like you, I had been eyeballing the hobby for a long time and recently took the jump. It's certainly not for everyone, but as someone who works from home and also plays games, it was definitely worth it to me. And it's a lot easier than you'd think to build!

[@Hollabit1]

I got interested & built my first keyboard a couple months ago and Hipyo was definitely a big help. I thought I wanted a tactile and quiet switch, because I've never liked loud keyboards. Hipyo showed me that THOCK exists and I never knew that's what I wanted until I heard it. So satisfying

[@MichaelBertolino]

Andrew, this is so cool! I've been in the hobby for about 4 years now and am reaching endgame, so I'm excited to have a new channel to watch for more keyboard content!

[@beatricelugli5745]

thank you for making the video and adding all the resources! This makes it so much more accessible (: so, I think I'll have a go and replace my sad lab keyboard

[@Jean_E]

Andrew making videos is becoming favorite about the studio channel! 😂

[@Kimberly_jk]

alexotos and the studio?! world colliding

[@horeyezen]

Same!!!!

[@esaedvik]

Yes, you should. The feeling of a completed build is just so good. Recently, I really had to get back into ergo keyboards due to all kinds of arm pains; I built a Keychron V10 with Tecsee Ice Candy switches and a really dope spacecraft-themed Drop+MiTo MT3 Godspeed keycap set I found locally, which was a complete hail mary. The most important thing was that all my pains and aches went away with this keyboard thanks to the Alice ergo layout. And it sounds _amazing_ too, such thock. Love typing on it.

[@RightonOh]

First of all, great video! Building custom keyboard is so much easiler and friendly nowaday. I tried several GB (Group Buy) around 2014~2018, majority of the experience kept me away from custom keyboard. But I see some change in 2023, maybe will get back to this side hobby in 2024.

[@AndyLawsonawl]

I went deep into this a few years ago and got scared by all the things you warn me about against. Mebs it’s time to start small and build it slowly, like any other hobby. Thanks for making me start small x

[@DctrGizmo]

This video came out as I was replacing the switches on my Keychron Q1 which I got a month or so ago! This is a great hobby to get into but you can easily fall down the rabbit hole.

[@nateperry405]

I have to use a split keyboard by order of my physical therapist. Because my shoulders are so wide my fingers end up going numb when my hands and arms are narrowed for too long. Sadly, their are not as many options for split keyboards. Keeps me from overspending though.

[@Drew311Drew]

As someone who likes clacky keyboards, I'm surprised you don't have Neo, QK, or Bakeneko in your collection

[@CheeseTurbulence]

I love this change as well, it's so much easier to get parts and there are so many, small but not insignificant "quality of life" improvements that make building a board or even finding parts so much more fun these days. 🤩

[@benjaminli188]

I recently got into this hobby, it's nice seeing bigger channels covering keyboards!

[@RohinNair]

Been waiting for this one for a while!

[@actualfox4204]

My first mechanical keyboard is literally a $15 gaming keyboard, modded it with foam and tape. Later on I changed the keycaps which costs more than the original keyboard and now I changed the switches to linear. honestly feels pretty good for a keyboard I mostly built myself :)

[@eossoon]

I just finished the video and jeez what a collection... You've got a TGR Jane AND a Keycult?

[@johannesssssssss]

The experience you had with the Bauer Lite was my experience with the Zoom65. I even did a good chunk of mods to it :D

[@LizardMan8675309]

This video got me to build my first high end keyboard, I went for the leobog hi75 and outemu panda switches!

[@edenem]

Love seeing hipyo tech on this :3 typing this on my custom cidoo v65 (that I got for $80) because of you :)

[@TemProduction]

Custom Mechanical Keyboard Community is the BEST Community there is. PERIOD

[@Clackbait]

Wow. Love to see the keyboard hobby getting more light shined on it! ❤

[@albnori]

Just bought my first reaaaaally good sounding mechanical keyboard 3 days ago, it is a different typing experience and love it for gaming also. Womier s-k71 is the model I highly recommend it, it is around 99$, thonks and its metal build ( a bit heavy 1.2kg but solid build )

[@kosi5]

LMNOKEY is such a great name for a keyboard channel. Love it! (Typed on Yunzii AL66 Keyboard)

[@bandittree]

Oh man, my worlds have collided! Super cool to see my favorite tech people coming together, wild to see so many homies from the keeb community on The Studio channel

[@nerdgrafx]

As someone who fell into the rabbit hole and spend more than enough money on a variety of kits, building the keyboard is definitely the most enjoyable part. Most ended up sounding the same since there was one sound profile I really liked over others. Now I'm just seeing if I can find a low profile one that sounds as good as the regular switches.

[@jwags24]

Loved this! Building a keyboard always seemed so fun.

[@HipyoTech]

Great video! Thanks for having me on!

[@Manganellia1]

Thank you so much for joining and for all your content 🙏really helped a lot in putting this together!

[@jorschachblatant1934]

Seeing Glarses this serious almost put me to the point of disbelief.

[@DoctorX17]

It's really great how you can go all the way from a cheap, prebuilt keyboard and maybe swap your switches/caps, to luxurious fancy ones with artisan keycaps and hand-built/lubed switches and all that you put together every piece... Personally I want to design and fabricate from scratch some day, but don't have a lot of time and money, so I just went with a Glorious and picked switches and keycaps. About the price of a Corsair premium keyboard, but I got to put it together myself without lots of work and research. It's also wild how huge the spectrum of preference is. Personally I don't like the sound of any of your keyboards, but you'd probably think my super loud CLICKITY CLACK Blue and White crunchy switches are, lol.

[@NURYT]

today i jsut moded my apex pro tkl i desolder all the rgb and switches and took them out i loubed all the switches and then i holly modded the stabilizers and then tape moded and foam moded i love the end result. i am writing all of this cuz i need an excuse to type one the keyboard its realy fun now i love it.

[@games_with_austin]

Love seeing Hippio on the channel! Been subscribed to him for years!

[@games_with_austin]

All of these creators in this video could be cool to hear on the waveform pod :D

[@LengTche]

I am simple. I prefer my keyboard as flat and silent as possible. Mechanical keyboards never did it for me, but your video was still fun to watch.

[@bernardomotard]

Got PBTs on my K2 and love them

[@jaysondoster9729]

Alexotos is an absolute legend. Love watching his streams.

[@dr_aditya_choudhary]

It was so satisfying video. The end was better than most asmr videos!

[@FerdinandZebua]

I want a silent keyboard. One that won't disturb my siblings or my mother at 1:00am while I'm pulling an all-nighter. I'm currently experiencing that such a keyboard setup is impossible to find.

[@nyalan8385]

I’ve been into this hobby for years, however due to things being out of stock, or in stock but too expensive for me to afford, it’s taken me about 3 years to slowly piece together my first keyboard. I’ve just now bought the final part and it comes in in about 2 weeks

[@lucaslemepm]

Does anyone know if it would be possible to make a keyboard in other languages? How would the configuration work?

[@asan1050]

Thank you for posting.

[@Hphotography]

I don’t understand or relate to this keyboard craze at all but I 100% enjoyed learning about it!

[@coleydotmp4]

Thank you for the good work sir. It's easier than ever, and cheaper than ever! and it is soooo worth it!

[@hrolvnir]

coley we all ❤ ur channel

[@HouseMusicAllNightLong]

Have you tested the OnePlus mechanical keyboards? I was tempted to get one but not sure how good they actually are.

[@andrewmanganelli7519]

I haven't but would love to!

[@zackbassett]

Bro rocking the Lawrence merch! That’s how I know you have a good sense of taste.

[@pavlovs_frog]

audio team killed it on this one, keyboard demo asmr bits sounded so good

[@joshunas7701]

Andrew really should host a dedicated gaming channel for the MKBHD studio.

[@Adamsappletechsupport]

me who thought I could flash and reset a keyboard but instead somehow broke it and every time I plug it in to my pc doesnt even light up anymore but works on my mac. anyone know how to help :( all I did was do something with the drivers or something? idk I followed some tutorial hoping flashing and resetting would genuinely fix my keyboard from doing a right shift does volume down and enter does volume up. with up arrow being play and down arrow being pause on everything I plug my keyboard into. PS its a magagee mk-star if that helps if any keyboard expers can help. Im tired of using my logitech k150 and want to go back mechanical.

[@BrysonTheTomato]

I remember you guys talking about keyboards on the podcast!

[@ToastyBap]

Here's some more really great creators for anyone looking to get into Keyboards! Reviews: -Avinash Kunjamboo -Cheese Turbulence -nearLucid -TaeKeyboards -Lewis Toh Builds/Typing videos: - :3ildcat - markerchun -Lil Shoosh

[@anixben]

Andrew mentioning the Logitech G Pro in the intro makes me feel validated about my gaming ride or die😤

[@banannahz9722]

What were the keycaps on your Cidoo V65 Pro? It's beautiful.

[@andrewmanganelli7519]

Just the ones that come with it! Everything on that board is straight out of the box

[@banannahz9722]

Oh wow, thanks! @@andrewmanganelli7519

[@Simply_Emu]

Next you need to explore the ergonomic mechanical keyboards community. So many awesome and cool keyboards and accessories being made by those folk

[@adezzyade]

I have no passion for keyboards but I love hearing about this

[@EvanNakagawa]

I love the idea of building my own keyboard, but I could never find the exact features I wanted. I enjoy the luxuries such as custom backlighting effects, wireless connectivity, full-sized board with num pad, etc.

[@Aria_Saarkia]

so good to see Andrew doing his own video!!

[@ChrisSierra]

I'm going to set those last 25 seconds on a loop and fall asleep peacefully tonight

[@austi]

this is an addiction recruitment video

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

My first mech keyboard was a Havit 100% from amazon with really bad rgb. Did the tape mod and lubed the stabs and it was amazing. Good board to get into.

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

My biggest pain in the ass in the whole keyboard thing was to find a hotswap iso pcb, non existent 3 years ago (I had to solder my mill max sockets in by hand), and iso-de keycaps..

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

gmk overrated

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

Note the havit only cost like 30 bucks and not 100 bucks. Low end custom boards are also about 100 bucks and quite expensive.

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

Iso-de keycaps still a pain in the ass to find as it seems. I should do another keyboard with me gateron cap keyboards 🤔

[@VishnuVardhanS]

Hey, where's that master chief helmet in the background from?

[@MrHaydnSir]

okay, WWDC around the corner, need to actually order a keyboard in prep for my mac upgrade - going from a macbook to a BYOKDM desktop

[@asalirafik7]

ANDREW IS THE MEMBER OF MARQUES TEAM I WOULD FOLLOW IF HE STRATED KZbin CHANNEL

[@FreedomBU]

That a maingear MKBHD pc in the back?

[@paul_sanchez]

anyone knows the name of that first song?

[@TotallyHonestReviews]

Is there silent keyboard? To not hear anything while typing?

[@Manganellia1]

There's lost of silent switches! Then adding things like foam and you can make one pretty damn quiet!

[@TotallyHonestReviews]

@@Manganellia1 Thanks! 🙂