Keyboard Guide

A thocky keyboard makes a deep, muted, low-pitched sound on each keystroke instead of a high clack. Here's what creates thock, what it sounds like, and which builds the RateMyKeyboard community rates as thockiest.

A creamy keyboard sounds smooth, soft and even, with no scratch, ping or rattle on any key. Here's what creates that sound, how it differs from thock, and the builds the community rates as creamiest.

Thocky describes pitch (deep and low) and creamy describes texture (smooth and soft). A keyboard can be one, the other, or both. Here's how to tell them apart, with community data on each.

Thocky keyboards sound deep, muted and low; clacky keyboards sound sharp, bright and high. The difference comes mostly from keycaps, plate, case and dampening. Here's what drives each, with community data.

The biggest ways to quiet a mechanical keyboard are silent or linear switches, a desk mat, case foam, tuned stabilizers and softer keystrokes. Here's what each fix does, from free to most involved.

Linear switches press smoothly from top to bottom; tactile switches have a bump you feel when the key actuates. Linears are popular for gaming and smooth sound, tactiles for typing feedback. Here's how they compare.

The tape mod is a few layers of tape stuck to the back of a keyboard's PCB. It usually makes the sound deeper, poppier and less hollow. Here's how to do it, whether it's safe, and how it compares with foam.

Yes. The case is the body every keystroke resonates through. Heavier, stiffer, well-dampened cases cut ping and hollowness; light, hollow cases add echo. Here's how case material compares in community ratings.

A mounting style is how the plate and PCB attach to the case. It affects how stiff or flexible typing feels and how sound travels. Here's how gasket, tray, top, bottom, sandwich, O-ring and plateless mounts compare.

A gasket mount keyboard holds the plate between strips of soft material instead of screwing it to the case. That makes typing feel cushioned and usually sounds softer and more even. Here's how it works and whether it's worth it.

The plate holds your switches, and its material changes how stiff typing feels and how bright or muted the keyboard sounds. Here's how aluminum, brass, steel, FR4, polycarbonate, POM and carbon fiber compare.

Keyboard sizes are named for how much of a full 104-key layout they keep. 60% drops arrows and the function row, 65% adds arrows, 75% adds the function row, TKL drops only the numpad. Here's what each includes and who it suits.

Yes. Keycaps are one of the biggest influences on how a keyboard sounds. Thicker, denser keycaps sound deeper; thin ones sound higher and clackier, and profile changes the tone too. Here's what the community data shows.