any ping on your k70?

Hi,

I have the k70 rgb with mx reds and I've noticed some ping on keypresses, mostly on the spacebar. It's not resonating a lot but it really feels like a metallic sound echoing after the switch hit the bottom.

Anybody else have this on their k70

Adding a sound file for reference. I'd say it sounds a bit worse in person since my microphone is not top quality.

Been checking youtube videos and I notice some have it, others don't. Could be the microphone each is using though.

So, is this the normal sounding of this type of mechanical keyboard?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/01eweh0u8ylnoja/Keyboard%20sound.wav?dl=0

That's a side-effect of the metal backplate since the keys are mounted directly on to it. If you bottom out a key it can resonate within the plate which makes that ping sound. Nothing really you can do about other than get used to it. I personally was a bit put off when I first got my K95, but now I don't really mind it at all.

Hi powerpuncher :)

Well, I'll probably get used to it. I was mostly wondering if all k70/k95 were doing this or if only mine was sounding like this (in which case I would have checked for RMA). So what you are saying is that this is pretty normal considering the physical characteristics of the k70/k95?

I tried to watch a couple of youtube videos of people having k70 and listened carefully to their keyboard sound. Some definitely have it:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07QLsMko6NE[/ame]

Some seem like they do not:

[ame]

Then again, could be the positioning/quality of the microphone.

I just want to make sure since I'm still in my store warranty period and I could go and exchange it if something's wrong.

Out of curiosity, which type of switch do you have on your k95?

I see, thanks for your reply.

Edit: found another video where it seems there is no ping

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAsXYZF2AhE[/ame]

(cue at 2:18 and 3:28). The guy has brown switches though.

I have a K70 (blue led's) with cherry mx reds and my keys have not been pinging for the past year. Lately though once in a while the ODD key will ping but only once and it wont repeat again on that key. I really doubt the metal backplate theory because the sound is not repeatable. a key might ping once and I can press the key dozens of times hard and soft etc., and the ping will not re-occur at that time on that key. it is very rare when it does it to do it but when it does it is annoying because the keys sound like cheap crap when that happens.

If it IS back plate resonance as some say then why would corsair not look at sound as a testing factor on a $200 keyboard regardless of what combination of materials is causing the sound. If sound was irrelevant, then why do many people crave MX blue switches? It is the keys that resonate, not the backplate. The resonance sounds like it is coming from the spring inside the switch to me.

If it is NOT resonance of the backplate, then it is probably faulty design by cherry. it is not as though mechanical keyboards are new technology - they are decades old. None of the mechanicals I have used in the good old days ping. not sure why some are saying this is normal for mechanicals - maybe normal for cherry. Perhaps those 20 year old fabricating machines at cherry just aren't cutting it any more. Watch Linus's video on the Cherry factory tour in germany - they are shown only old 20 year old equipment and told that they have cutting edge equipment elsewhere in the factory but you cant see them. Funny cause the 20 year old machines were actually making keyboards as opposed to sitting as museum pieces. Most companies don't invite popular internet personalities (free PR!) to their factory and show them only their oldest technology and simply intimate that they have cutting edge machines elsewhere that you cant see. Usually it is the other way around - you show your latest equipment and hide the old stuff. Add to that the fact that Cherry cannot make enough plastic switches for how long now - many many months and one should really wonder about cherry.

several other keyboard manufacturers are starting to make their own switches - companies that used to use cherry switches. people just blow that off as cheap Chinese "knock-offs", but perhaps these companies know something about cherry that the general public do not.

Merranza if it bothers you return the keyboard. This is not a cheap board; you don't have to settle for second best. you should not have to "get used" to pinging switches and try to convince yourself this is normal. Look at other brands of switches and see if you like them - don't fall for the cherry bias. if you really like the cherry's best then keep returning the keyboard until you get one that doesn't ping.

Look around this site at all of the physical problems reported with cherry keys (as opposed to the other keyboard bits which are not cherry's fault), keys sticking, blue keys no longer clicking, keys repeating on their own etc. You will find faults like these on any key switches regardless of manufacturer. satisfied users rarely go on the internet and declare how happy they are, only when someone has a problem will they let people know. So any manufacturer you look up will seemingly be the worst ever because generally there will be little positive comments compared to the many complaints. This is normal for any manufacturer. however cherry has all the same type of complaints that other brands have and yet the other brands of switches are labeled as garbage because they have these problems, and cherry is declared top shelf.

You decide.

Have you tried flipping the switch? I mean pressing it down and sliding your finger off so the key snaps up. I can make almost every key ping a bit like that (some more some less) and if I hold my ears to them it does sound like a spring resonating.

I personally don't mind that really, but if that new information puts you off, Merranza, I'd consider RMA. I've RMA'd a G510 two times in the past because the keys were grinding against the housing when being pressed.

Thank you very much for your replies, it's really, really appreciated.

@dogman1911

I'm not a computer newbie, but I'm fairly new to mechanical keyboards. I have to agree if you look around for cherry switches on the web, the first couple pages you'll read will talk about them like the perfect switch. If you keep searching on them, you'll discover more and more problems/complaints. Your positive/negative feedback argument where people mostly comeback to write about negative feedback than positive one is 100% valid and I keep saying this to friends who shop around for new stuff online.

@Powerpuncher

Pretty much all my keys ping if I flip them. Like you said, some are worse than others. Aside from the audio excerpt I posted, the closest example of how my keyboard sounds is this youtube video:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07QLsMko6NE[/ame]

Now, I'm really not the type of customer to complain about everything and all just to be a pain in the ***. I'm picky for sure but I always give credit/communicate to others I know when a product is well built (ie: My hats off to Corsair thread I made a few days ago). I'm loving all the other aspects of this keyboard (yes software is buggy and while I would have appreciated everything to be top notch when I bought it, I know at least it can be patched and will evolve). I've bought my memory, power supply and computer case from Corsair and their products are top notch. On top of it, my case arrived with a broken side panel window and while the RMA process was a real nightmare with the online store I made business with, Corsair issued a replacement panel in less than 2 hours sent back to my place free of charge when I contacted them by email without asking for any proof of purchase/damage which is absolutely tremendous customer service according to me. I just want to make sure I got the best possible product for the price I paid and like dogman1911 said, it's not a cheap keyboard.

I should have put more emphasis on noticing if the switches were sounding the same on my first K70 rgb with brown switches. I had it for a few days only before going back to the store to exchange it for a K70 rgb with red switches but I'm not sure it was as bad to be quite honest. I really do prefer the feel of reds but I wonder if the problem doesn't appear worse on reds compared to browns considering the complete linear mechanism of the switch. Like you know, the actuation/force diagram of browns clearly shows the tactile bump requires more pressure on the downstroke but the upstroke line clearly mimics the downstroke one meaning the switch coming back to it's initial position probably slows down a bit more while resetting and passing the bump (were not talking about something visible for the eye or even really that can be felt with the finger). The red switch clacks on the board when you bottom out and probably gets back to its position without any hindrance (besides the force decreasing) resulting in a similar clack going back up. Now I'm not saying I hold the absolute truth here and I could be wrong as it's all speculative but it seems fairly logical to me.

I"ll be honest, I hope James or any other Corsair representative replies in this thread and gives Corsair's position on the matter. On my side, I will probably go back to the store and at least try out the demo K70 they have on the floor and check for that ping sound to see if it's common behavior.

I really do prefer the feel of reds but I wonder if the problem doesn't appear worse on reds compared to browns considering the complete linear mechanism of the switch. Like you know, the actuation/force diagram of browns clearly shows the tactile bump requires more pressure on the downstroke but the upstroke line clearly mimics the downstroke one meaning the switch coming back to it's initial position probably slows down a bit more while resetting and passing the bump (were not talking about something visible for the eye or even really that can be felt with the finger). The red switch clacks on the board when you bottom out and probably gets back to its position without any hindrance (besides the force decreasing) resulting in a similar clack going back up. Now I'm not saying I hold the absolute truth here and I could be wrong as it's all speculative but it seems fairly logical to me.

Yes, that does make sense, and I now think that it might be (maybe not a characteristic but more of) a problem of the switch design, like you said. It might occur on the other switches as well, but I don't think as pronounced as on the red's.

And I don't think that is a problem caused by old manufacturing machinery. I don't see how new machines would prevent the switches from pinging. It's probably just a design flaw, as I said.

Yes, that does make sense, and I now think that it might be (maybe not a characteristic but more of) a problem of the switch design, like you said. It might occur on the other switches as well, but I don't think as pronounced as on the red's.

 

And I don't think that is a problem caused by old manufacturing machinery. I don't see how new machines would prevent the switches from pinging. It's probably just a design flaw, as I said.

I'm leaning toward your reasoning too: probably a design flaw. Now, I've watched a couple of youtube videos of people with K70 reds but also other brands with reds. I've also screened geekhack and other online forums on that matter. It's hard to get a pure objective evaluation on that matter considering A) ping isn't heard the same for different individuals B) microphone/recording set ups differ from one person to another on youtube.

From what I've observed up to now though, the K70 ping on reds seems worse compared to other brands. Stabilizer issue? I doubt about it. So what's the difference between K70 and most other brands: the aluminum plate. The problem is probably not the aluminum plate in itself but the combination of the aluminum plate with the design flaw of red switches where the aluminum exacerbates the reverberation of the ping (where on most other brands, the sound reverberates on plastic). Up to now, that's my guess.

Would be nice if people reading this thread could throw in their k70/k95 experience while stating which type of switch they have. Also, if they own another brand/material keyboard, talk about the ping sound of their keyboard regarding of which type of switch they use.

my K65 has ping on a key. It just came out of the box. It actually occurs in mint condition.

Which key and what type of switch?

I just got a K70 (non-RGB) today, red LEDs and Cherry brown switches. I noticed that ping that you're talking about, in particular on the N key. I think I isolated it down to the Cherry switch itself - if I take the key cap off, I can make the ping sound even louder if I just swipe my fingernail off the little cherry stub. Certain keys have this while others don't. And I'm discovering more as I randomly rip off more key caps.

It could also be a problem in the switch's attachment to the keyboard casing. I'll note that this is my first (modern) mechanical keyboard so I don't know much about the keyboards.

To me it's a minor annoyance. I'm still trying to figure out if it's something that makes it worth returning.

Hi,

 

I have the k70 rgb with mx reds and I've noticed some ping on keypresses, mostly on the spacebar. It's not resonating a lot but it really feels like a metallic sound echoing after the switch hit the bottom.

 

Anybody else have this on their k70

give a read to the post by The Solutor

here.

this defect grants an RMA. Stating otherwise is like saying that, just because on RGB keyboards LEDs have a strong inclination to failure because of design reasons, broken LEDs are a "normal characteristic".

If linking to other forums is prohibited, I apologize, and you moderators may remove the link.

give a read to the post by The Solutor

here.

 

this defect grants an RMA. Stating otherwise is like saying that, just because on RGB keyboards LEDs have a strong inclination to failure because of design reasons, broken LEDs are a "normal characteristic".

 

If linking to other forums is prohibited, I apologize, and you moderators may remove the link.

I did go back to the store yesterday:

-I can confirm the aluminum plate of the keyboard has a direct impact on sound resonance. Played with a store demo of the K70 (non-RGB) and the metallic echoing sound was there. For sure, in a big room/surface like the store, it's not the same as a smaller home room, but it was there. This weekend, I was downstairs sitting in front of where my pc/K70 are and my gf asked me a question so I answered back by yelling so she could hear me upstairs and I heard my voice echoing on the metallic plate. So there is definitely something that can be heard when those switches clack on the board. In my opinion, this is the basic design of the keyboard and nothing can really be done about it except a change in terms of design.

-This echoing sound is very different from the ping which can occur with a bad switch mechanism. My "1" key on the numpad and a couple other keys had ping so I exchanged the keyboard on that basis. My new unit is much better. They keys/switches feel a bit more firm and there doesn't seem to be any noticeable ping on keys ("insert" key might be a bit more noisier but nothing close to what I had with my first K70).

That's good news.

My ping is like what this video showing.

[ame]

Key bounces back and generates sound. It may be different from yours.

If that's actually exactly how your keyboard sound, it's worst than what I had. My "1" key had sound close to a spring that you hit and reverberates.

But like I said, even my new keyboard has some noisier keys than other like my "insert", "K", "P". What I realize though is, while the key press force might be balanced for all cherry switches, it's probably close to impossible to have 104 keys sound exactly the same due to each individual spring and their position on the keyboard. There's a limit to what's acceptable though. If your board sounds like what can be heard on the video, I think that's unquestionably an RMA case.

Thanks for your input. It will help users like me determine what is ping.

It's new so I may contact to customer support.

New K70 RGB Red here and after a week some of my keys exhibit the same sound. It's not the downward motion, but the return motion when you take your finger off that causes the pinging sound.

It's frankly really annoying. Are these individual keys going to get even worse over time or break even? Expensive keyboard and we get this? I'd like to hear what a Corsair rep has to say say about it, right here on this thread.

Lol.. RMA or store exchange: except I got the sails logo version and they're out of stock again from Scan in the UK atm.

There can be a metallic ping sometimes but its normal. Due to the way Cherry MX keyswitches are manufactured, you may get some minor differences but all are still within a tolerance threshold.

 

If the tings really annoy you, we can change the keyboard for you (since the key switches can't be replaced). There isn't a guarantee that the next key won't have it though as it could be on a different key (or none at all). This is going to be inherent in all Cherry switches (RGB or single LED) too.

Thanks for the reply James. TBH with you though - it makes the keyboard sound a little cheaply made for such an expensive keyboard, even though it's "within a tolerance threshold". Not good, you've got to admit.

Do you have any information as to whether the sound may go away after a few months or so... or are we stuck with this metallic ting forever?

Regards Jamie.

Do you have any information as to whether the sound may go away after a few months or so... or are we stuck with this metallic ting forever?

Quick bump