"it's pretty pepega" That's what I needed to hear. I was considering the drop Ctrl but now I know there are better options than drop at the same price point.
@@selectiveamnesia1033 if you watch the video, hamaji suggests two options.. nk65v2 and rama works KARA (60% though) if you look at the other comments, people are also suggesting gmmk pro
Fun fact: the interior of newer North American made Mercedes creaks when you put a bit of pressure on the plastic trim, so those stabs are the perfect fit to make that keyboard like a North American made Mercedes
Its crazy that even such a low density foam can help the sound so much. Id love to see something like a foam comparison where you go from something like the packing foam you use to sorbothane.
I get that drop is only supposed to be designer shit and good looking over function but i see nothing that can justify a 200$ price point with this product
drop does make very high priced items, but this is their high profile version of the keyboard. the normal alt costs $160 on amazon and even less if you look online. still it’s a lot of money to shell out
@@fush7630 exactly, this isn’t that bad of a deal when you look at it. plus people say the stabilizers and foam isn’t worth it but you can get cherry stabs for $5 off amazon and foam is cheap too
Love the channel! I just ordered an ALT High Profile. I think one thing missing from the video is while the bare bones is $190USD, the ALT can be had with PBT keycaps and your choice of switches (I went with Halo True for the parts) for only $207. If you are new to Drop, just registering will get you a $10 off email coupon code to use too. Bringing the version with switches and keycaps back down to $197USD. Thanks for doing this video, and while it's not your cup of tea, or "meta", I'm still excited to take on the challenge of building it as silenced as possible! (Butyl rubber, PCB foam, Gazzew Boba's). Maybe I can make it into one of your reaction videos and change your mind! Happy new year Hamaji Neo
yeah the glorius gmmk pro was actually designed with enthusiasts in mind and caters to what is considered to be 'good' in the keyboard world, notably south facing switches and a gasket mount.
Idk because looks is subjective to me to doesn’t look good. Then it only has one connection (not to mention in the middle), which is disappointing. However, by the looks on their website it’s $70 is a great price; I would recommend it to others, it’s just not for me tho.
Can I get a link to it? I don't know why I cant find it on their website😂 I've been wanting to get the drop alt high barebones but ill see the one you mentioned if I get the link
I'd still recommend this keyboard for beginners on the keyboard hobby and here is why. Both the Drop alt high profile and low profile are readily available on Drop's website and on Amazon which is a big plus because a person starting this hobby probably does not have the patience to wait on group buys that can take months to obtain. And the three you mentioned NK65, RAMA kara, Idobao 80 while good boards but are not always available. The integrated top plate is really not an issue for some because they probably would rather see a nicer keycaps and decent sounding switches rather than a copper, brass, aluminum or polycarb plate. The stabs, while they are not desirable even high end keyboard will need stab modding, so no issue there. The build on Alt keyboards is a solid aluminum which is highly durable and cost more to manufacture than plastic i.e. the NK65 where verified issues with post cracks due to the screws being used. Novelkeys knew about the issue and yet still decided to ship them with this defect. According to NK it's about "20 percent" which we all don't know if it's the truth. Hollow sounding can be mitigated by sandwiching the pcb with sound dampening foam - done with high end keyboards. No issue at all. Clearance with GMK keycaps on north facing led's. Only with cherry style keycaps, but it's a non issue really because the keycaps don't rub against each other. Only for keyboard snobs! 3 pin switches are not an issue - Glorious Panda 3 pin, tangerine c3 - clip plastic legs = 3 pin. The use of QMK can be challenging in the beginning and takes patience to learn - that I agree with you. The look for some may be outdated, but most 67 percent keyboard all have the same layout - so all comes to preference I guess? The big positive side of this keyboard is the build and quality control. It's a tried, tested and proven keyboard. For some, this keyboard could be their endgame because it does check all the boxes except for the shit stabs!
@@brandonrng I copped a high profile with browns for $160. Even tho I really only needed the case and pcb for my build, $160 is a pretty good deal for how hefty that thing is plus it looks good and I like the extra USB port.
One thing I will say Drop could have and should have done better with the community they have at their disposal. However, one good thing I’ll say about the ALT is that it has been such a good board to learn how to modify keyboards. It’s straight up a gateway drug. It encourages you to modify it and tune it to your liking. If that’s worth it to you than go for it. I wish I knew more about the hobby before I bought one but oh well. Luckily that was around the time it was still worth it.
Got it on sale for $180, put another $70 into it and it's beautiful. I love it, just some stab mods as well as new genuine cherry stabs. Sounds amazing. I got a GMMK Pro pre-ordered, can't wait for that. I bought a foam kit for my Drop from Stupidfishdesigns on Reddit, Cherry stabs. This is my first more higher-end keyboard though, so I'm sure I'm biased. But if you do a few mods it feels really amazing.
Yeah I got a high profile for 160 with browns. Got better stabs, foam and changed the switches and it’s really nice. Ready to go high profile with my browns for $160 is not a bad price.
@@AtracBreezy I got mine ALT HP for $205 since I opted for cherry mx blue ($20) also got a free set of pbt skylight keycaps. I think this is still a great price, because with any of the other options, the cost quickly go over $300+. So I don't fill bad at all. Just gonna do some mod, and will have a great sounding keyboard with excellent RGB.
NIce video man! Im just wondering are those Hot swappable slots stabled? Cause I know hot swaps are sometimes vibrate since they're not soldered to the pcb
As someone who has never built keyboard, would you recommend getting a prebuilt one or building one myself? Also what kinda budget should I have to get a good sounding board?
I would say something you build will sound better than a prebuilt 90% of the time. It’s a little time consuming and worrisome to check for compatibility between build parts, but my first build was about 237$ for the case, plate, pcb, nice stabilizers, and switches + switch lube. Compared to my old DROP CTRL, which was 180$, I love it way more.
I personally really like the Drop Alt, one of the major selling points for me was it being hot-swappable. Once modded, the stabs are fine if you do it right. Overall I think the review was too harsh, the Drop Alt is pretty great, but I do agree the price is steep.
I find the problem with most custom keyboards is their chunkiness, and their height along with the angle makes them less ideal for ergonomics. This is really the one reason i got a Drop keyboard, the low profile, and it's ability to be angles not to the front and rear. I added some gateron silent ink V2 blacks with krytox, switch films, durock stabs with dialectic grease, stab foam stickers, and some dampening rings to my pbt key caps. The thing is super silent and perfect for office environment. Typing 8+hours a day and no fatigue or hand cramps.
Please can someone help I got banned from the server for being 11 but it says in the q and a that if you have permission from parents your good please help please
I bought this board for my first mechanical keyboard build and I still haven't had a chance to build it since my keycaps come in april of 2021. I bought this board on july/august of 2020 should I return it or keep it?
Seeing the new Glorious GMMK Pro and the RAMA Kara its definitely not worth the 200 usd price point. did you get the NK65 Milkshake, or going to buy the Stellar65 when ragan drops it?
If you look at their website, you can get the DROP ALT for $162 right now. Also, the keyboard now comes with switches and keycaps. I still wouldn't recommend buying it, but at least your saving a lot of money now. Update: If you chose to have Cherry MX switches then you'll be paying an additional $20.
I honestly feel like cherry keycap manufacturers are the ones that need to fix their designs so the caps don't interfere with switches on north-facing boards.
Man I don't know what mic you use but every one of your builds has this scoopy amazing sound to it that I can only replicate with minimum 3 deskmats. And you have it with no mats at all. Awesome stuff
I was wondering if you have some recommendations on better keyboards with the same acrylic/halo effect (like kbkd75 v2) I'm currently looking at Nuphy halo 65 but if you know some really cool ones, that would be great!
Bro this content may have that same hamaji like production but i feel like he betrayed his fans i get that he is making content that he likes, but who wants to watch keyboard reviews all day. It is t original content go watch linus tech tips or someone else. I get that he doesnt like tf2 anymore but he could still do gaming videos like hamaji craft or make vids on other things than keyboard. He probably wanted to do variety content but it didnt make him much views so he stuck to one thing only again.
@@venz0h420 Mech keyboard community is growing. This is a smart move. TF2 is a dead and dying game with rarely any video fanbase. He’s smart for sticking to this type of content.
@@tristanfirepro yeah i know that but still only doing mech keyboard content is boring as fuck hamajicraft was pretty cool his variety content was better imo
I managed to get a fully built drop alt high with halo trues and a keycap set for just over $200 during black Friday, the main reason it appealed to me was because it was simply available. I had been searching other websites for months and nearly all the keyboards mentioned were sold out or unavailable. Its definetly not S tier option but it was at my door within days and I've really enjoyed it after modding stabs and switches. QMK is awful tho no cap.
does anybody know how I should lube some Zilents v2- 78g - Tactile (Blue) switches? (from KBD Fans) What type of lube should I lube and how should I do it. Also, I am also looking at how to lube some gold stabilizers (KBD Fans also)
I also agree that the criticism is too harsh towards the drop alt, but unfortunately that is inherent in the entire keyboard scene, not just by Hamaji. The board has a lot of faults, but for the most part they can be fixed with a little love from the end-user. Also if you are familiar with QMK then you should know you can compile your own firmware and add VIA / VIAL (Open-Source Alternative to VIA) support. You can also add Open-RGB support through custom firmware that will allow you to sync your keyboard with your entire RGB setup if you are so inclined. The best part about the community disliking the alt is that you can pick them up dirt cheap (I've bought two so far for around $50. each) which makes this a really good buy for a beginner. It's what I started my son on. However if you want a really good starter keyboard then I would definitely recommend the QwertyKeys QK65 (Made by Owlabs). It can be had for around the same price as the Drop Alt, when they were in stock, but I'm sure due to its popularity they will be releasing another round soon. And if you don't need the 65 layout and / or prefer a smaller 60 layout they are doing a group buy on the QK60 right now.
I have built two of these for people and I found that if you add some of the kbdfans little pads that go under the switches over the socket it makes it sound a billion times better
Hello Mr. Neo would you recommend for me to build my own custom keyboard or get a prebuilt keyboard like the Apex Pro Tkl or a group buy on novel keys or something
What other keyboard is that good and sounds thay good hotswap for 200 I havent found any got nk65 v2 lots of ping and plate mount stabs not good portico is good but not aluminum
Keyboard noob question: how long does the lube last in the stabilizers or switches after application? Like after how long on average would i have to take it apart and relube it?
Only real critique, and maybe something to consider in future videos, when you have b-roll of typing and you’re talking about the sound being hollow, it would be really nice to sound up on what you mean before moving on. Other than that, awesome video!
This was a really good idea for a video! I still think you need to invest in better foam though. Some neoprene or EVA foam works amazingly for keyboards and makes a way bigger difference.
Great video man completely agree with everything. I bought the hype a while ago and at the time I regretted it. BUT, after some pretty intensive mods I actually really enjoy using this keyboard. I replaced the stabs with lubed and tuned durock plate mount stabs, put a decent amount of foam in the case, replaced the key caps with something more readable (I find the shine through key caps very hard to see when the backlight is off), and replaced the switches with lubed glorious pandas. Was it worth all that time, effort, and money to take an already expensive keyboard to a somewhat enjoyable typing experience? Definitely not. But I am pretty satisfied with it at this point and I do like using it. Unless you MUST HAVE the aesthetic that this keyboard provides, I would go with something different like the other budget options suggested.
Hey would you consider buying a barebones ALT drop for $100 + $10 shipping? I'm not really sure of the quality of this case, and how it compares to KBD fans/NK64 etc
I have been waiting for a video like this. I am a gamer, and just like high quality peripherals, but am not a real keyboard enthusiast or collector. I got the Drop ALT low profile, and I really want to lube my kailh silvers and get real cherry plate mount stabs. I already lubed my stabs, but I think I need to add a bit more for my spacebar.
hey, im new to this whole keyboard thing and like 2 weeks ago built my first keyboard with the alt. All of a sudden a collum of keys stop working and i have decided to try and exchange for another one. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem with pcb or if this is a freak accident.
Drop said somewhere in their discord or website a while back... They will never change the PCB on the CTRL and ALT because they want to keep the RGB, if they do, it'll be a whole new board and it won't be called the ATL/CTRL. But it's still a top seller that brings in a ton of money so they're really not motivated to change up the design anytime soon. I do think they will DROP a new gasket keyboard to compete with the GMMK PRO soon.
With 200 you can get the tofu 60 soldered kit (around 150 if you don’t get the brass plate) and then you can either get 50 dollar keycaps or switches like hk gaming keycaps or some gateron yellows if you want to spend less money
For that money, just get a Keychron K2 K6 or even the K8, at their highest config (aluminum, hot swap RGB) they are at $110 USD and have Bluetooth capability for mac and windows. Or even the recently released C1/2 max out at around $80 (RGB and hot-swap, no Bluetooth though)\ EDIT : The C boards have aluminum faceplates
Would love to see a review on the GK68xs, I got one and really like it. Think it has some features that youll like but the software sucks, takes some getting used to. If you have a BT 5.0 receiver it will use that which helps with the connection due to all aluminum case. Plus I cant figure out how to get foam in the case without making the usbc port not line up, curious if youd be able to figure that out Looking forward to the Glorious Pro 75% board coming in February.
Glorious GMK, GMK Pro (not out yet but will likley be better) or that one cheap Bangood TKL Kit (I just ordered one) are a much better value and will likely be better.
About the stock stabilizers: I had just as much trouble removing them and had to remove the plate and push them out from behind. I think the tabs that retain the stabs in the plate are much more aggressive than what you'd expect.
I bought a keychron K6 hot swappable for $80, Halo clears for $45 (70 pack), and some better stabilizers for around $25. Overall probably more value in that vs the Drop Alt.
Can someone suggest a keyboard alternative to this? I just want a nice 65% keyboard similar to this without the downsides. I do however like the looks and customizability.
I really like how the keyboard looks like, but 190 barebones is really high. And I need my iso layout, for the money I could make myself a full backyard custom iso board with soldered hotswap sockets. Like what I already did lol
I tried to use one of those flimsy switch pullers that came with my gmmk and the puller twisted while i was pulling a switch and it flyed away and thank God it wasn't damaged as I dont have replacement switches.
You forget that for this price range as well, they allow you to customize the firmware for the keyboard and add multiple layers for easy key binds and fully customizable LEDs. I wouldn't say this keyboard is pepega but the price can be adjusted. Not meant for absolutely everyone, always gonna be a better option out there. It's all preference.
I had the Drop Carina on preorder but cancelled it because I realized I didn't want another plate mount 60% board and there were so many better options out there. Can't wait to see your video on the GMMK Pro when that ships!
Honestly, if they added 5-pin, Pcb-mount stabs, foam, and a non-integrated plate, the price would be worth it. But the only thing going for it at the price is it’s looks.
I thought the point of the drop alt was that you can mod the absolute fuck out of it, its a great learning board as it encourages moding. if you can get it on sale it is a good first keyboard
