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Enthusiasts build an interactive online ‘Listening Museum’ of iconic mechanical keyboard audio samples — 36 mechanical masterpieces available for you to audibly try out
What do Google Sheets experts do for fun? In the case of the staff at sheets.works, they have built The Listening Museum for mechanical keyboard audio aficionados. This is a collection of 36 iconic to modern classic keyboards that have been multisampled and put into an interactive site. Just click on any of the keyboards represented on the page, turn up your speakers, and bash away. The museum features keyboard models, including the IBM Model M, a multitude of Cherry MX models, and popular modern product samples from the likes of SteelSeries and Logitech.
I’ve owned, and still own, some great keyboards, with some vintage models dating back to the 1980s, and newfangled models with hall-effect adjustable actuation switches. However, there are plenty of samples at the Listening Museum that I can’t recall testing/hearing.
The interface at the online museum is pretty good. Clicking on the IBM Model M (for example), a soft keyboard panel appears to the right, so you can make keystrokes by mouse clicking. I did this as I’m currently using a CoolerMaster CK720, which has pretty noisy Cherry MX Blues and Greens across its various zones.
Back to the IBM, and I do believe it would be even noisier than my compact modern input device with gaskets and foam dampening layers. The museum makers assert that the Model M is “the archetypal ‘clacky’ keyboard and the reason people collect vintage boards.”
Its characteristic sound comes from the way “the coiled spring buckles sideways and slaps a pivoting hammer into the membrane. The spring resonates like a tuning fork inside the hollow ABS barrel; the steel backplate amplifies that ring; the big case acts as a soundbox,” explains the Model M section of the museum. “That is why nothing modern sounds like it.”
As I’m actually using Cherry MX Blues while perusing the Listening Museum, I had to check out the accuracy – in the context of my ears, speakers, and environment. There are three MX Blue sampled keyboards to check through, and I must say none of them sounded like my CK720.
That’s a bit of a shame, considering the work put into making the museum. The curators have thought about such disparity, though. If you scroll down to the bottom section of the main page, you can read the headlined plea “A note before you flame us.”
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There, it is made clear that “sound tests are inherently limited: microphone, room, host board, keycap set, codec, and your speakers all color the result.” And key sound can vary a lot between hosts for numerous other reasons. Fair enough, and I was never tempted to flame the curators...
Despite those observations, The Listening Museum could still be a valid resource for understanding the plethora of keyboards and keyswitches out there – and their audible feedback, which is a major part of the experience. If you are interested in exploring keyboards and don’t have a big electronics mall handy, YouTube is another good place to hear lots of well-known and obscure keyboards in action.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
You get 5 sound samples and then the naggin for personal info starts by means of an overlay that obscures the interface and then demands your email address to, no doubt, send you tracking laden marketing spam disguised as articles.
I think the IBM Model M is not that loud. And I do not remember the keys for letters having different sounds. As best as I remember, all keys sounded the same. I have 3 or 4 of them in my garage that I hope to get restored when I can afford it.
