I have 2 critics after hearing the final soundtest: 1. The stabs are bad. A lot of weird sounds of rattle coming from all the stabilized keys except for the backspace. 2. The Enter Key and both R4's are metalic pingy and resonating. They sound like a stock Q1 v1. If you don't regard these 2 things as problems more power to you. Thanks for the very informative review simon!
It does need a rebuild. I should have put more effort into the stabs. Hopefully I can just drown them in lube and fix it without rebuilding sometime on stream *Also, the sound testing equipment is VERY sensitive, and in person I basically can't hear any of it
I just received and built my angle yesterday and you have a pretty good understanding of the board. My enter key does not have a pinging sound, BUT my R4 definitely does have a pinging sound, it is not nearly as bad as the original q1 I built for a friend was but it is 100% there and noticeable. I haven't had any issues with my stabs yet as the shims kept them very tight and i didn't f around with stab lubing effort lol. Other than the pinging I love everything about the board, the finish is gorgeous, literally perfect. The typing experience is exactly what I was looking for, nice and soft. All other rows sound fantastic to my ear. I may do some tuning to try to mitigate the R4 pinging, but overall I'm thrilled with the keyboard.
while the point might somewhat considered valid, the comparison with a Q1 is just plain wrong lol. also, it's my experience that switches are the main culprit of a lot of stab noises. stabs might be perfectly tuned and still rattle, because of the switch stem wobble. it deviates the downward travel and causes the stem stabs to hit the housings, and there is no tuning you can do to avoid it (unless you obviously change the switch). tested so many times, it's almost always the switch stem wobble, this is why I mainly use box stem switches such as TTC wilds.
Received and built my angle yesterday, R4 has a slight pinging issue, otherwise I'm in love with it. The typing experience is exactly what I was looking for, the sound profile is excellent in my opinion, and the finish is insanely excellent, completely perfect, and absolutely gorgeous! I'll have to spend some time tuning to see if there is a solution to the slight r4 pinging issue, but all in all, im a very happy customer. The communication from the vertex team was excellent, updates were fairly frequent, and everything was accomplished promptly and on time! Not a whole lot more you can ask for from a group buy really!
@@gasparritz5862 I don't see why not, I haven't implemented it yet, my guess would be because of the way the gaskets are implemented though probably want to stick to single piece of tape rather than going thicker like I see some people do on the q1. But again i haven't tested it yet so not 100% sure. Also not 100% sure that will fix the issue, since the pinging thing is only present on R4, im curious if there could be another thing causing it, possibly the aluminum plate and the way they have the flex cuts?
@@natevonhartleben2737 oh also concerning the flex cuts, i plan on taping the flex cuts shut, ive seen some people do it and it works wonders. it does come at the cost of flex ofc but this board is flexy af so i dont mind
@@gasparritz5862 just finished the force break mod, can confirm it does entirely remove the pinging issue on R4. I did hear about taping the flex cuts don't plan on trying that myself as in it's current form I am super happy with it! But I know a lot of people prefer that taped flex cut experience, so no reason not too. But at least for your angle I can confirm forcebreak does work! I didn't use electrical tape as I didn't have any on hand, I ended up going with painters tape and that did the trick all the same! Good luck and enjoy your angle when it comes in! It's gorgeous, I wish I could've gotten the starry as well, ended up with the red one (can't remember the name of the red, like merlot or something) but if I could've had both I would've. The finish is the best on any board ive seen.
Thank god i pulled the trigger on this one. I know there are other options, but once i settle for one, its THE one. The Alextos video of the intl version also confirmed that it was better than the proto. All the parts are ready and waiting for this board. Can't wait for my final result. I have a list of want. I only need a Alice, 60%, 40% or Ortho and Topre to complete my journey.
Do you still have the board? How do you like it? My preference has changed so much that I now no longer enjoy this board. Not sure what is so special about it so I got to watch this vid again 😢
Recommendation after the GB closed and its about to fulfill? Wish they would run this again for those of us who skipped due to all the issues from protos.
proud owner of a Fog wkl unit, which is on its way to me as we speak. can't wait to build it with SPstar polaris grays. I knew it was going to be a good choice. keyboards come and go but this one you'll have to pry out of my cold hands.
