anyone tried using one of these with renoise
Kazakore, thanks for contacting Cherry, theyâve got very fast customer service.
Anybody who is interested in tactile keyboards might want to search on Ebay for âkeyboard slidersâ and youâll find auctions for keyboards that use microswitches (the âslidersâ in the title is used to refer to the colour of the sliders normally, âblue slidersâ, âwhite slidersâ, etc. which must mean something to somebody! Maybe slightly different types of microswitches used a different coloured slider? Iâve found lots of different shaped sliders too on there.)
These appear to be older keyboards (10 years or more) which were made in the days when just about all keyboards were microswitched, and very high quality indeed, which is why theyâre still working perfectly all these years later, and up for sale on Ebay.
I have no idea whether they have N key rollover, or how much the key rollover is on them, as theyâre from all sorts of (often defunct) manufacturers, but I do have several Viglen microswitched keyboards in my loft which I will get down and have a test on. (The oldest have 5 pin din connectors, and every key is individually soldered to the mother of all keyboard motherboards, so you canât remove them, then I have a smaller Viglen keyboard which doesnât use microswitches as such, it has a membrane, but the keys themselves have some kind of switch system (hard to describe in words) which still gives the same sort of click as a Cherry MX, though not quite as good. Then I have several of Viglenâs last clicky keyboard, again not quite as nice as my Cherry MX, but still much better than any membrane keyboard Iâve ever used.
Isnât it strange how keyboards seem to be the only part of PCs that have gone backwards (and a LONG way backwards) over time, and yet everything else has got better and cheaper on PCs? And strangest of all, is that people just accept it - they put down ÂŁ1,000 for a top of the range gaming PC, or whatever, and happily accept the cruddiest, deadest membrane keyboard the manufacturer could find. Seeing as none of the other PC components are going to damage your hands, (apart from your mouse, if thatâs a bad design), itâs seems strange that the majority of people donât even notice the problem.
As an aside, I can heartily recommend the outstanding A4Tech NB-90D battery free mouse (and the rest of A4Techâs battery free range) - these are optical mice which come with a âmagneticâ mouse pad, which somehow radiates power into the mouse, which has no batteries. You can actually mount the mouse pad UNDER your desk, and just put the mouse on top, and it still works absolutely fine. No batteries to change, and no worries about dirty balls.
If you can get hold of one get the PRODIKEYS they are great value for money and for productivity no need for a full Nkeys keyboard. You also get pressure sensitivity+pitchbend.
http://protman.com/post/qwerty-piano-mod
though if I intend to go fully renoise, Iâll have to swap some more. This was for IT/ST
I like the Razer Tarantula myself, http://www.razerzone.com/p-5-the-razer-tarâŚg-keyboard.aspx â the only board yet to recieve highest score on whatever hardwaresites I visit and that has NEVER failed the ghosttest.
This is the reply I got from Cherry for those that are interested.
WTF have they done with insert/home/pgup/pgdown/delete/end??? I hate keyboards that hash up the order of those keys. I use these keys all the time and when I sit behind a keyboard that has moved around those keys I get totally confused (do I have to say that I never look at my keyboard when I write 
)
All other responses so far have been wrong. There is only one type of keyboard you should ever accept, and that is the IBM model M. You know, the âold loud, clickey onesâ, although you can still buy new ones⌠A company called Unicomp still makes them. Their tactile feedback is unprecedented. Plus, hearing that loud âclickâ also is a form of feedback letting you know you hit the key, plus it is just so satisfying. And, there are no ridiculously useless and in the way âwindows keysâ that do nothing that Ctrl+Esc canât do anyway.
^ Winner
Organic IO, how many keys can you press on your Model M before it locks up? (Or at least, on the Unicomp versions.) I totally agree about the useless Windows keys - who ever uses them?
The rest of you may be interested in this:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Keyboa�ProductID=2789
I apologise in advance for the dreaded âgrey text on white backgroundâ which seems to be all over the internet nowadays. (Firefox users can install Stylish and just add p {color:black} to fix it.)
I would think that the GK-K8000 will allow you to hold down as many keys as you like, and itâs even got a built in sound chip! (And Cherry MX keys, of course. At last, people who spend over ÂŁ1,000 on their gaming PCs will have a decent quality keyboard to use with them.)
That just rocks!
Only downside is that you need two same keyboards, but in two colors.
Funny thing is, just yesterday I thought of coloring some keys on my keyboard to make it more tracker-friendly. The most minimal solution I came up with is coloring the keys between the âblack keysâ, like so:
I just found this keyboard - 16 key rollover.
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=400âŚks%20Technology
Hell, 16 keys ought to be enough for anybody (to paraphrase the immortal Bill Gates sayingâŚ)
And itâs Cherry MX (I would never use a non-tactile keyboard).
Iâm a programmer and I pretty much spend the majority of my day⌠too much of my day, typing/using computers. Iâve also experienced a lot of uncomfortable/painful and crappy setups. Dvorak, Das keyboard, iâve even had my hands on an Optimus Maximus (I wanted it so bad but my wallet cried uncle).
What iâve found in all of this is that scissor switch keyboards are by far the best. If you really want to type fast go for the scissor. Very similar to laptop keys. The keys only have to move 2mm or so it allows you to type ridiculously fast. Its what I use for renoise.
Second best I would say weighted mechanical switches like the Das. Its worth the dough! But what really surprised me about the das when I first tried it is that its quite clicky! But some people like that. Weighted keys feel weird for some people, thereâs a distinct diff. in the way you have to press the keys. It forces me to try not to rest my hands on it while I type which is actually a good thing but iâm quite a bit heavy handed with writting/typing.
Regular membrane switches suck⌠hard. What you might find on a stock dell, ibm, or the bargain bin. Mushy, loud and other kinds of suck.
A lot of gaming keyboards despite the absorbent prices and glowing things, lcdâs and such are still just plain membrane switches. N-Rollover is still quite ridiculous if you intend on typing a lot or using it for renoise. Most decent keyboards no matter what type of switches have a decent rollover. Just check!
I use {Win} + {D} and {Win} + {E} multiple times every day on average. {Win} + {R} is nice although not as often used. Surprised people on a tracker forum, who generally rate using keyboard shortcuts above multiple mouse clicks/movements, wouldnât utilise some of the ones provided by the Windows Key.
As good as it might be, itâs also ugly as fuck ^^ (no offence intended)
Iâve just ordered one of those:
http://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?subâŚ;pid=fkbn104meb
They have a few different versions with different types of switches. I chose the non-clicky cherry switches because Iâm pretty sure it would start to annoy me on late night sessions ^^
Never tried a mechanical switch keyboard before. Hope the high price is justified. ('ll have to pay 52$ just for shipment)
So many keyboards, just one simple function.
Iâve always wanted a keyboard that was more like touch screen, and depending on the program the keyboard display changesâŚto a piano or faders or summit.
And if you want the feel of touching something⌠the screen will vibrate at the point your fingers touch it.
My FILCO arrived on friday. Couldnât stand it the first few hours⌠now I wonât ever give it away. 
Secretly I wish I had purchased the one with the clicky keyswitches ^^
Iâll probably order a tenkeyless next month. If anyone is interested and lives in Germany, we could share the postage fee of 52$