ID80 Plus with Mode Reflex Linears Sound Test
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Board: ID80 Plus
Board insulation: Packaging material (less than 1/16" thick) that probably didn't do anything.
Plate: Integrated aluminum plate.
Keycaps: GMK Cafe
Switches: Mode Reflex Linears (very similar to regular JWK switches, 63.5g spring weight) lubed with 205g0, 0.15mm TX filmed, and springs lubed with 105.
Stabilizers: Gateron plate mount stabilizers lubed with 205g0 and XHT-BDZ. Holee modded spacebar.
Mat: randomfrankp x novelkeys topographic deskmat
Cable: Bear Cables coiled YC8 cable. Affiliate link below.
The purpose of building this board was to take a direct competitor to the GMMK Pro. There are a few variants of the ID80 and the main takeaway from them is that they sound a bit hollow. The Plus is a cheaper variant and the acrylic bottom was supposed to make it sound less hollow. It's .. a bit less hollow but still is, especially in the spacebar.
How does this compare with other boards in the price bracket?
This board is $159, so it's $10 cheaper than the GMMK Pro but has an integrated plate. Technically speaking, it's less impressive than the GMMK Pro. That is true on paper. The sound of the KBD67 Lite and IKKI68 Aurora sound more full than this without the hollowness.
In terms of sound and feel, the feel is stiff just like the GMMK Pro, but that's because it's an integrated plate. The sound is hollow but in my opinion, I like the sound of the board itself. I have a few boards that have hollow sounds (and I've experienced worse hollowness, such as the plateless boards) and in my opinion it is not THAT distracting. I do prefer the overall sound of the alphas and mods (other than spacebar) in the ID80 Plus versus the GMMK Pro. The GMMK Pro alphas are very muted - and if that's your thing, that's dope. For me, I got into custom mechanical keyboards for the sound.
The board has very minimal space for any foam at the bottom, and the bottom piece is used for diffusion of the underglow RGB. So you have to be careful about what you put there. Due to the design of the bottom piece being just a flat sheet that screws in.. you won't be able to easily silicone pour this. The void space changes from taller to very minimal from top of the board to the bottom. This made it difficult to get any foam in there - it ended up causing the acrylic piece to bow unless I used a piece that fit the thinner portion of the case. Which ended up being very minimal foam.
The underglow of this is way brighter than the GMMK Pro so if you're into that, that's definitely a plus. From the top, the underglow goes UP (toward the cable) and SLIGHTLY to the sides. You can also see a light bar in the rear of the board due to the fact that the case design slopes outward. This allows you to see a light bar as you're typing. It looks pretty cool.
Would I buy this board? Not for me. Would I suggest this board for someone else? It boils down to layout again. If you need a 75%, then there's not a lot of options. I'd personally take this hotswap option over the GMMK Pro so that someone can actually test switches and hear the differences. Hollowness comes with the territory for cheaper boards (see the aluminum Brutal60) and it's not so bad. The alternative is to use a mute silicone that ends up - you guessed it - muting the sound of the switch a bit too much.
Let me know what you think of the review in the comment section below!
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Recorded with:
Sony A7SIII - https://amzn.to/39B3O5Q
Sony 16-35 F2.8 Gmaster - https://amzn.to/2QiwARo
Sound recorded via Deity Vmic D3 Pro - https://amzn.to/3hkEpic
