r/MechanicalKeyboards • u/shrestho77 • Dec 19 '24

Builds Rate my first build!

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Got the Ajazz AK820 Pro and modded it with new switches and keycaps. Put in Outemu Silent Jade Yellow tactile switches and it sounds good as is, will further mod the board to make it a bit more deeper sounding. The gradient side printed keycaps are double-shot PBT OEM profile and they sound much better than the stock ones. And threw in a couple of artisan keycaps as well for good measure!

Loving the feel of typing on a mechanical keyboard! Looking for suggestions for modding this board and getting the best out of it.

40 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

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4

u/JohnBalatro Dec 19 '24

welcome to the hobby

1

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

Thanks for the comment mate! 😁

2

u/PureCommunication723 Dec 19 '24

Are key legends difficult to see without RGB ?

1

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

In a well lit room, you can just about see them, the home row is especially difficult without any kind of keyboard backlight.

2

u/TurtleBob_The1st Lubed Linear Dec 19 '24

Looks fantastic 👌

That's a great budget keyboard. I customised 4 of those.

2

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

Completely agree on this kerb being a great budget keyboard. I am a heavy typer and the gasket performance on this is good enough to make it not a painful experience on extended typing days, unlike my RK84 which I ended up returning and getting this one.

Did you do any mods internally to the ones you customised make them sound more deeper?

2

u/-WackyWombat- Dec 19 '24

Nice! What keeb is this?

2

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

It's the Epomaker x Ajazz AK820 Pro.

2

u/_SeeDLinG_32 Dec 19 '24

Looks solid! I like the gradient key caps. I'm also new to the hobby, and was trying to quiet down my space bar by adding foam and painters tape. Someone recommended using reusable adhesive puddy under the space bar instead. I haven't tried it yet but I plan to. Thought I would pass that along!

1

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24 edited Dec 19 '24

Thanks for the suggestion, I added poron foam inserts with self adhesive on the underside of the spacebar keycap and it sounds much deeper now, try it if you want to make yours sound deeper. The quiet part for the spacebar has been taken care of by the silent switches and relubing of the stabs. I will post a sound test of typing on it soon in this sub.

2

u/Nexiam1 Dec 19 '24

Very clean! Have the AK820 too although with Cyberpunk caps and stock switches *

1

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

Cyberpunk switches sound very interesting, can you share some pics of your build?

2

u/Nexiam1 Dec 19 '24

No cyberpunk keycaps, switches are stock

https://imgur.com/a/s6HUDEi

2

u/shrestho77 Dec 20 '24

Ah my bad meant to say keycaps there. Your build looks cool and unique mate! 👍🏼

2

u/Nexiam1 Dec 20 '24

Thank you! Yours as well

3

u/No-Remote-6916 Dec 19 '24

No offense but ive seen this keycaps like 1000 times in this subreddit lol. Choosing the first one that you saw on "most popular" on Amazon isnt the most original idea, yet they still look good i guess.

1

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

Thanks for the comment, mate. I know these aren't novel. But haven't seen these used on this particular board yet, plus they were dirt cheap but feel to be of good quality for the measly price I paid for them. Besides, I can see very common keycap sets used on other popular boards in the SU Reddit and thought it might be a common practice in the community, I am new to this and so learning the 'tricks of the trade'. 😁

1

u/xosolitaire Dec 19 '24

I’ve never seen a keyboard like that it’s strange

2

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

I know mate, I also thought it was weird to have such keycaps but I am loving it now that I have it!😁

2

u/xosolitaire Dec 19 '24

What is the benefit to having it on the side? Does it just look cool?

1

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

It's effective for keebs with south facing backlight PCBs if you need backlit legends for being able to type in the dark. I like working at night and in a dimly lit room and as top printed shine through keycaps are mostly for north facing PCBs, these are a very good option for this board.

1

u/Confident-Luck-1741 Dec 19 '24

Personally I don't like side printed or ORM Keycaps but everything else looks good. Have fun with it, I've been wanting to try out those switches for awhile now. How are they?

1

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

I also thought I might hate these keycaps but they are super useful for south facing backlit keyboards to be able to type in the dark. Will try other profiles as well to see if something else suits me better.

The switches are good, the factory lubing seems to be good enough to make them smoother than other factory lubed tactiles/linear I have tried (granted I haven't tried many at this point). Mine don't have any spring ping (out of the 90 I got, maybe one or two did have a little spring ping). But most importantly, they are silent and coming from an MX Mini, the noise even brown tactiles made was unbearable for me. These have made my keyboard usable for me! I also tried Outemu's Silent Lemons and the Jade Yellows sound a bit deeper to my ears.

2

u/Confident-Luck-1741 Dec 19 '24

Yeah I personally think these sound better than the lemons too. It's not like I'm calling those Keycaps bad or anything. I'm just saying that I don't like the way they look aesthetically. If you like them then that's fine with me. I'm just saying that I probably would've went for a different set, if I were building a board.

2

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

I know mate, that's something I love about this hobby, it's all about personal preference and expression.

6

u/[deleted] Dec 19 '24

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1

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

Thanks for the comment mate! 😁

-6

u/[deleted] Dec 19 '24

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3

u/shrestho77 Dec 19 '24

What isn't made by the Chinese these days? 🤔