Two months with a Matias Mini Quiet Pro

Wendell · 20 Oct 2013, 06:15

Many people write reviews when they first get their boards and the rush of enthusiasm is still with them. I thought it would be useful to give my impressions after taking a while to become accustomed to this one.

I'm still struck by how solid it feels. It is heavier than you would expect, I guess because of a metal plate in there. There is no flex to the case and it sounds pretty solid when knocked.

I don't care for the current trend in glossy hardware cases and expected to dislike the look of the Matias, but it turned out to be a non-issue. The plastic case is truly black and I've found that I don't notice the gloss. Something that does bother me, though, is the seam around the outside edge. Since the board is small, I reposition it often, and every time I feel the sharp edges of that seam. I keep meaning to apply some sandpaper to it.

As for the "quiet" part, it is, sort of. It is well-damped at both the bottom and top of the stroke. I would say that those aspects of the key action are as quiet as with a typical membrane board but not as quiet as a scissor-switch. However, overall it is not nearly as quiet as a scissor-switch board, because the keycaps clatter as loudly as on any other mechanical keyboard I have tried.

The modifier keys are very good, stable, well-damped, and without any sticking. The space bar in particular deserves special mention. I'm sure it is the best space bar I have ever encountered on any keyboard. It is extremely well damped and stable, with a perfect stroke. It does absolutely nothing to draw attention to itself. I have to make an effort to notice it.

I like that the lettering on the keycaps is in the lower left, because I feel the letters less that way. However, I really do not like the feel of the switches. The problem is that the travel is too rough and the tactile bump is too slight. If I press slowly and at just the right angle, I can feel the tactile bump, but never at typing speed. Also, the rough travel means that I feel some resistance at random stages of the travel that have no relation to the activation point. This issue, combined with the light action, causes me to have frequent unintended strikes in the center and missed strikes at the outside. I find my typing on this board is much, much slower than on any other board I have.

The layout of the board is mostly standard, but I have discovered that even a few rearranged keys can really slow me down. I am constantly hitting "page up" when I want "delete" and "fn" when I want "up". I've decided that for any board I get in the future, every key that it does have must be standard in placement and function. Everything else can be in a function layer.

I wanted a small, quiet board with a standard layout. I looked at every 60% and 70% alternative, and I don't think anything currently available would be better. It's not at my main workstation, so while I don't like this board enough that I would get it again, I don't dislike it enough to go to the effort of replacing it. I think I'm waiting for Realforce to make a 60% with 55g Topres, a properly damped space bar, and no bubble keys.

Muirium · 20 Oct 2013, 11:45

You'll probably be waiting quite a while, then. The only uniform 55g models that Topre makes are the Elite Keyboards commissioned special editions. 55g is the MX green of the Topre world. Greens are only intended for space bars, so it's hard to find whole keyboards using them; while 55g Topre switches are only intended for Escape keys. Crossing a rarer switch with a less mainstream form factor, and you've really limited your choices. The HHKB is a fine 60%, in many ways the best, but comes in 45g switches only, and is not open to commissioned variants like the Realforce.

All these things may change, of course. But you need all of them to change, so there's your wait!

Bubble domed Windows keys are the one thing I can see disappearing soon. Isn't the Windows 8 key supposed to be flat now? I don't use PC keyboards (besides Winkeyless IBMs!) and just assume the dome went to the Recycle Bin in the sky along with the round start button on the interface.

Interesting bit about Matias' space bar damping. What do you think makes it so good for you? The switches or the stabs?

Daniel Beardsmore · 20 Oct 2013, 13:33

I'm not sure what Matias did, but the space bar is really quiet — there's no clang like you get with a Filco (theirs are some of the loudest space bars I've used). They've managed to completely silence the metal stabiliser wire, which is the source of space bar noise. Photos here; it's not clear to me what exactly they did, though:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88005189@N ... 688113659/

Funny how perceptions vary, as I find the Matias Quiet switch to be very tactile.

Belfong · 21 Oct 2013, 05:14

I've used the Matias Quiet Pro for a month and yes I absolutely love the space bar. Best and most quiet especially I have a tendency to press only the left edge and it was totally solid.

As for the switch, I find it equivalent to a MX Clear, so it was harder than blue and as tactile. But yeah, it's not as quiet though.

Hypersphere · 21 Oct 2013, 23:51

Has anyone here compared a Matias quiet switch with a Matias tactile/clicky switch with respect to the feel of the switch rather than just the sound?

I am now using a HHKB Pro 2 as my daily driver after using an IBM Model M for many years and more recently an IBM SSK. Oddly enough, despite the vast differences between Topre 45=gram switches and IBM buckling springs, I like them both about equally well. If I could alter the HHKB Pro 2, I would ask for 50- or 55-gram switches, silenced upstroke, and a black case with white and light gray lettered keycaps.

Regarding spacebars, the best I have tried are the HHKB Pro 2, CM QFS with mx greens, and the Tex Beetle with mx blues. I've tried a Matias mini tactile pro, but I do not remember how the spacebar felt or sounded. I think the spacebar on the HHKB Pro 2 achieves its balance and unobtrusive sound via a good stabilizer mechanism with its Topre switch. The CM spacebar benefits from the heavy green spring, and the Tex Beetle gains advantage from the short length of the spacebar, which lessens stabilizer rattle.

Wendell · 22 Oct 2013, 07:37

rjrich wrote:Regarding spacebars, the best I have tried are the HHKB Pro 2...

I went to Akihabara several years ago expressly to buy a HHKB, but the one I tried had a space bar that clacked loudly. Just couldn't stand it. How is the space bar on the Pro 2 compared to the rest of the keys?

Muirium · 22 Oct 2013, 11:22

That's the thing with stabs: they vary. Even between otherwise identical keyboards. They seem to be a bit of a hack.

I agree with RJ about heavy switches softening stab clack. The insane space bar on my IBM PC/XT Model F actually feels pretty nice. Its intense spring weight compensates for its extreme width. I doubt there's anything magic about the stabiliser itself. And I'm not too keen to look, either, as I've been warned against it.

Now I've got the caps to try some stab-free layouts, I think that's the direction I'm going. Itty bitty space bars open up a lot of crafty opportunities for row 0 real estate. And pinkie function keys beside the little Shifts…

Hypersphere · 23 Oct 2013, 21:56

Wendell wrote:
rjrich wrote:Regarding spacebars, the best I have tried are the HHKB Pro 2...
I went to Akihabara several years ago expressly to buy a HHKB, but the one I tried had a space bar that clacked loudly. Just couldn't stand it. How is the space bar on the Pro 2 compared to the rest of the keys?

Compared to my previous boards (IBM Model M and IBM SSK), the HHKB Pro 2 is very quiet. However, now that I am becoming accustomed to the new board, I am becoming sensitive to the fact that many of the keys on the HHKB Pro 2, including the spacebar, "clack" on the return stroke. The "thock" on the downstroke is not at all objectionable to me, but I am now considering a future silencing mod to quiet down the clack on the upstroke. It is still possible to purchase a type-S HHKB Pro 2, but this model is extraordinarily expensive and only available in white. My HHKB Pro 2 boards are black, with the black keycaps replaced by a lettered white and light gray set.

Despite the clack, which seems no worse on the spacebar than other keys (but of a different pitch), the action is very good -- it responds evenly and well from any angle or anyplace along its length. The same can be said of the spacebars on my Model M and SSK, but these are much noisier overall than the spacebars on my HHKB Pro 2 boards.

Belfong · 27 Nov 2013, 10:57

I don't know if many people in DT know this but Matias is planning on a GB on their planned 60% keyboard. 60% Matias Quiet Pro switch. This is something I am looking forward to. And there were suggestion to use the italicise font that was made popular in the early Apple keyboards. I am so pumped up by this!

Muirium · 27 Nov 2013, 11:11

Cool. A Matias switch 60% could be quite appealing. All the more if it's Bluetooth.

Belfong · 27 Nov 2013, 12:20

This will be in January.

Hypersphere · 05 Dec 2013, 18:24

Belfong wrote:I don't know if many people in DT know this but Matias is planning on a GB on their planned 60% keyboard. 60% Matias Quiet Pro switch. This is something I am looking forward to. And there were suggestion to use the italicise font that was made popular in the early Apple keyboards. I am so pumped up by this!

This would be an interesting development. However, it would have to be truly exceptional to lure me away from either my HHKB Pro 2 or IBM SSK.

Wendell · 09 Dec 2013, 18:42

Belfong wrote:Matias is planning on a GB on their planned 60% keyboard. 60% Matias Quiet Pro switch.

Please post a link to details when they become available.

I think the switches could be better after lubing the stems. The rattling keycaps I suspect is a harder problem to solve.

Belfong · 23 Dec 2013, 14:53

Yup, once I have more details, I'll let you know.