Wooden rhyme full of bosom, the rhythm of the heart between the fingers: thousand yuan level wooden Alice keyboard - AMX60 brief review.

foreword

The layout of the keyboard is full of surprises. There are always things you can't think of in the keyboard circle, but there is nothing you can't do. From the top spot in the full range in the early years to the fire with 98% of the configuration and the blowout of 65%, it is hard to decide who is more popular.

As a keyboard lover, I am very fond of those weird keyboard arrangements. However, if you want to say which keyboard arrangement that is not so mainstream has become a real phenomenon in these years, the Alice arrangement is definitely doing my part. Its entry threshold is relatively low, so new products are frequently launched in the community. I've also collected and played with quite a few Alice keyboards over the past few years.

However, if it is an ordinary male model Alice kit, there is not much to say. But the AMX60 that I want to briefly review today is really interesting. It was produced by a team specializing in wooden keyboards - Craftsman Academy. It is an Alice keyboard with a wooden casing.

The keyboard itself can choose TOP and Leaf-Spring Mount structures, and it can also be installed without beryllium copper.

from GB post

unpack

In terms of packaging, AMX60 directly puts the kit body and accessories into a customized storage bag and isolates it with hinges. However, unlike traditional storage bags, this time it has customized the shape of Alice inside, which is worthy of praise. However, if the keyboard with Alice is more than 65%, I will not consider carrying it out, because Alice’s split layout makes 65% of the floor area close to 80%. I may be more inclined to the traditional 65% and short for carrying out. axis keyboard.

In terms of accessories, in addition to the shell and liner, this time, Lao Zhou also gave an additional gift of the satellite shaft and aviation plug-in cable molded by Lao Zhou himself, as well as the wooden hand rest that matches the shell. The positioning plate is made of FR4 material, with a high-elastic design with legs, which is not only compatible with Spring’s beryllium copper structure, but also can be directly used with the upper and lower covers.

shell

The outer shell is made of North American black walnut solid wood, but I don’t know much about wood, so it’s hard to make a reasonable judgment on it. Friends who are knowledgeable can share your views in the comment area.

From the perspective of machining, compared with traditional keyboards, Alice keyboards are more difficult to process. At the same time, the processing of wooden keyboards is indeed more niche and difficult than traditional aluminum alloy materials.

In terms of design language, there is no other design on the front except for a light bar in the lower left corner. The three attached LOGO stickers can be decorated by yourself, but the wooden keyboard itself does not need too much decoration, so I only put one on the top. As an embellishment.

The edge of the shell has been polished to a certain extent to make it smooth and not cut your hands. The seam design of the upper and lower covers, but I personally prefer the design that covers the sky or slightly reveals the bottom case.

The bottom case does not use the design of hidden screws, it comes with foot pads, and additional four foot pads are added to ensure that the bottom remains flat after the installation is completed.

liner

For the liner, I chose AMX60 dual-mode PCB with Owlab beryllium copper to form a Leaf-Spring Mount structure. The default positioning plate is slotted FR4, and the standard eva shaft pad, IXPE sandwich cotton, shaft bottom pad, and bottom cotton. Full-key hot-swapping and support for ladder Caps are commendable.

look inside

For the upper cover part, due to the shrinkage of the wood itself and the irregular shape of the Alice arrangement, the proportion control after shrinkage is a big challenge for processing, especially the three function keys in the upper left corner, the risk of breaking is relatively high. big. Therefore, a fixed plate was added during the processing, but due to the particularity of Alice’s arrangement, this positioning plate must be stopped by the CNC during half of the processing, and then the left three keys are processed after the fixed plate is installed to avoid the left Risk of breaking the triple bond.

The bottom shell part is reserved for battery slots and beryllium copper installation positions

Assembly plan

Shaft

In terms of the shaft body, this time the assembly is customized by the full stop, and the Jinyu shaft produced by KEYGEEK (key geek).

The parameters are as follows:

Shaft Type – Linear 5 Angle Shaft

Bottom pressure – 57.5g

Spring length g - 22.0mm

Spring Type - Single Section Gold Plated Extended

Trigger Travel - 1.8mm

Lid material - uhmwpe

Bottom Shell Material - Nylon+uhmwpe

Axis-Materials - mix pom

Full stroke - 3.7mm

Compared with ordinary PC materials, uhmwpe upper cover has stronger toughness and lower friction coefficient. The spring rebounds powerfully, and the collision sound is very loud. There are 10 contact bars on the upper cover to increase precision, enhance stability and smoothness. The POM shaft with a dust-proof wall is also in a good lubrication state at the factory. Although it is not perfect, there is no noise. For a lazy person like me, it is not a big problem to use it directly. If you have high requirements for this piece Players can disassemble and lubricate by themselves.

keycap

Before the kit arrived, I originally prepared the Jinyu keycaps of the same style as the switch body as a match, but the actual situation is not very ideal.

The matching effect is to turn the jade into a pile of green toothpaste, piled up on the keyboard, turned over and over again, and finally replaced it with the black lamp keycap produced by PBTfans.

Although the public opinion fermented fiercely some time ago, I still hope that more players can take a rational view of the product and the craft itself. KBD fans did not deal with it properly and caused many conflicts. I hope that after the public opinion is over, manufacturers can face up to some Attitude is a problem. At the same time, I also hope that players and friends will not be used by those so-called "supporting piracy" remarks, advocating copycats, and taking pride in playing piracy.

Some pros and cons

After the assembly, after a week of use, some ideas and opinions about this kit have gradually formed.

Let me talk about some problems first. First of all, it is not very easy to connect the battery cable and the small board cable during the installation process. Due to the limited length of the cable, the cable must be connected at a tricky angle. Secondly, screw installation still inevitably has the risk of misalignment and wire slipping. Compared with traditional aluminum alloy or plastic, the installation of wood is more difficult to control. Finally, it is about the upper left three keys. Due to the reason of the fixed plate, the pressing cannot touch the bottom, and the conventional keycap will be stuck by the edge. Although it can be triggered normally, the user experience is still a bit regrettable.

After talking about some slots, let's talk about the part of this keyboard that satisfies me.

In the AMX60 keyboard, the actual experience of the liner made me feel unexpected. I chose the dual-mode PCB at first because it has Bluetooth function. I didn’t have too high expectations for the actual performance of the liner. Although the AMX40 liner The effect is also heard to be very good, but after all, it is a bigger 60 Alice, and it is more difficult to do than the traditional 60.

After a week of actual experience, the liner of the AMX60 is still very good in terms of consistency. The beryllium copper structure is adopted, the overall toughness is strong, and the rebound is relatively easy. The feel of the Gasket with this structure is not particularly soft and elastic, but a more solid feel. From my personal point of view, this solid feedback feel is also in the middle of my strike zone. In the usual typing process, the deformation is not exaggerated. However, it may be that I still have a filter for Spring in my eyes. I still think that the feel of Spring is better. However, the materials and prices of the two keyboard shells are different in various aspects, so it is difficult to compare horizontally.

At the same time, many merchants and players on the market are too much pursuing the gimmick of soft bullets, but neglecting the consistency of the feel. I think this is putting the cart before the horse. In the actual experience, the consistency of the feel is very important for the comfort and experience of the keyboard.

Regarding the sound part, let’s talk about the cavity first. The interior filling of this keyboard is relatively sufficient. At the same time, in theory, wood, as a natural material, has a certain sound absorption performance, which can absorb part of the sound wave energy, thereby reducing sound reflection. and spread. The cavity sound of wood will have obvious attenuation during the transmission process, and the volume will gradually decrease; while the cavity sound of metal is better in sound conduction, the attenuation is small, and the volume can last longer. The density and structure of the wood also has some effect on sound transmission. Wood is usually relatively dense and therefore has a slower sound propagation speed than other materials such as metal, which may have a certain slowing effect on the generation of cavity sound.

But I lack targeted research in this field. The above is just my personal opinion. Some words are like throwing a brick. I look forward to stimulating more discussions and exchanges. Friends who have research on materials are welcome to share in the comment area. insights.

The sound of the keyboard is affected by many factors, including the keycap, the shaft body, the bottom shell, the internal structure of the keyboard, etc., and the material of the shell is only one of them.

In terms of weight, relying on the wooden shell, the weight of this AMX60 is much lighter than that of aluminum alloy, but it is still very heavy compared to plastic. With dual-mode support, I still think this keyboard is not a good choice for carrying out. As a %60Alice keyboard, the AMX60 is still relatively large in size and is not suitable for carrying in a bag. In comparison, a 40% in-line or low-axis compact layout is more to my liking.

Summarize

Personally, I am quite satisfied with this AMX60. First of all, I am a lover of Alice configuration. I have written a long analysis about Alice configuration before. If you are interested, you can read my previous column.

In terms of price, the single shell is 999, and the dual-mode is 1299.

Price is indeed an important consideration for a keyboard. For friends who don't play keyboards, the price of AMX60 may seem more expensive. But for keyboard lovers and customized players, this price is actually relatively cheap. Most customized entry-level products are priced at around 1,000 yuan, and the cost of machining is often affected by the yield, batch size, and man-hours, and cannot be compared with the machining costs of major manufacturers, let alone mass injection molding. keyboard case.

In terms of feel experience, the performance of this keyboard is relatively better among the current Alice keyboards at this price, which is also in line with my personal preference for solid feedback.

Although this wooden keyboard satisfies my curiosity about wooden materials and can also be used for daily use, I personally think that if ordinary players just want to experience the arrangement of Alice, it may be more economical to choose a plastic or aluminum alloy keyboard. . These materials are widely used in keyboard production, their stability and durability have passed the test of time, and they are relatively easy to process and manufacture. At the same time, there are more choices of plastic and aluminum alloy keyboards in the market, and the price range is also larger.

Small Green Hourglass Photo by Yu Yu JunW

As a natural material, wood requires unique craftsmanship and experience in keyboard production. Wooden keyboards put forward higher requirements for manufacturers in terms of material selection, processing, and coating.

However, for some players who have a soft spot for wood keyboards, AMX60, as a keyboard with a wooden shell and dual-mode function, can meet their curiosity and unique needs for wood materials. At the same time, I personally think that the details and craftsmanship of AMX60 are handled quite well.

Personal preference and budget are two important considerations when shopping for a keyboard. The fun of customizing the keyboard is that by choosing different keyboard accessories and materials within the budget, you can combine a keyboard that meets your personal taste and needs.

from GB post

Wood rhyme stays fragrant, key composes new poems——AMX60

I also hope that the carpenter will bring more interesting wooden keyboard kits to this circle after Sunday.

If friends are interested in the production process of wooden keyboards, I will also find an opportunity to interview Lao Zhou and talk about his journey of wooden keyboards.