Das Keyboard 4 Professional | Ultimate | root

This keyboard is a fine keyboard indeed! very impressed with it. It arrived just this morning but I do have some really good first impressions. I have been hopping from keyboard to keyboard lately trying to find something that really fit my needs long term. I am a typist that spends work as well as down time typing out documents and spreadsheets. I have tried so many keyboards over the last month and was beginning to lose hope. The Das keyboard revived my hope. Typing: First of all this is the best typing experience I have had in a long time. The strokes are clean and light. Lighter than most blue switch key boards I have been trying which surprised me. I suspect this has something to do with the keycap quality. I feel fluid and just as fast typing on the Das as I would on any of my other preferred keyboards. Something I hold to a high regard is the acoustics of the board when I am typing. Many keyboards that I keep trying, often over 130 dollars and "built like a tank" sound dreadful. Notably the Razer black widow and the Code 104, both of which I wanted to love. But again their over the top hefty construction of plastic made it sound like you were hitting wood against Nerf Guns with each keystroke. Often times it would just completely drown out the sound of the clicky keys themselves which was infuriating. Again the keystrokes on the Das are crisp and the sound it makes is satisfying and not obnoxious at all, at least to a person who likes mechanical keyboard sounds. Appearance: The Das keyboard looks amazing. I went with the ultimate version with the blank keycaps and the black lettering in the top right corner. Man is it clean and professional. The aluminum front plate is super clean and sharp. Doesn't reflect a bunch of light and still has the nice cold and textured touch. Super lovely choice on their part. Again, I love the blacked out look of the keyboard. I dont mind the red accents on the volume knob and the ruler either. Subtle and slick. A part of me wishes those accents came in something more neutral like gray but again, its so subtle that it would never compete with a set up up that had a theme to it. Materials: The keycaps are very nice. While they are still ABS plastic they have to be some of the best ABS caps I have every used. Sturdy and slightly textured as well as being kinda light too. I love them honestly. The plastic and aluminum body is super nice. It's got heft but it's light by comparison to other boards that strive to be built well. The cord is a thick rubber cable. I hear a lot of reviews wishing it was a braided cable and I can vouch for that desire but I really dont think its worth docking any points for something like that. especially because a lot of braided cables I've had, especially with Logitech, which unravel, fray, and start looking gross after a while. This rubber cord is sturdy and will look the same throughout its shelf life so I am happy with it. Functionality: On top of all the great things I can say about the board from a minimalist and professional use standpoint, it actually has some of the best feature sets for me. The volume knob and media controls is fantastic and super well done. The knob is tactile and gives you some clicky feedback when you turn it which is a pleasure to use. The ruler on the back is something I might use? The addition of the ruler is not a con whatsoever in my opinion. It's implementation does not interfere with the experience of the board at all and its there if you need it. Some have said that they wish it lifted the board up a bit more. I understand where they are coming from but for me it's actually perfect. The Das also has 2 USB passthroughs which is a luxury I have been living without since my old Black Widow days back in 2012. I am very happy to have that again. Other biased pros: Fits perfectly with my favorite wrist rest which is a HUGE plus for me. It doesn't take up a ton of room on my desk which is nice Cons: I do have just one small complaint. The keyboard had some blemishes right on the box which kind of upset me a bit at first. Theres a scuff on the aluminum on the right side of the board as well as on the long + key on the same side. They are small enough to where I will live with it because you cant notice unless you really look but again that's a little upsetting. For 165 dollars I just think that is pretty sloppy and unacceptable. All in all I love this keyboard and I think finally my hunt for a keyboard can finally be put aside for awhile as I will most certainly be using this keyboard out of the rest of mine going forward. Update: 6/4/2018 So I've had this keyboard for a bit now and it's still a daily driver. I do swap it back and forth between my Filco and that will most likely continue to happen just because I like hopping from board to board. But this thing is such a beautiful beast. I HIGHLY recommend getting a new set of quality keycaps for it though. It was a huge game changer. I bought some ninja font thick PBT keycaps for it and wow does it sound and feel amazing compared to the stock caps which were cheap by comparison but still pretty good for stock caps. Anyway get some fancy caps for this thing as the mileage from the upgrade will be more worth it than other keyboard in my opinion.

My first mechanical keyboard with modern switches (instead of the older buckling-spring assemblies) was a Velocifire VM01. It served me well, but I decided recently to splurge and go for a more premium deck – in this case the Das Keyboard Prime 13 with Cherry MX Brown keyswitches. It does, I must admit, have a very different feel to my significantly cheaper VM01 Keyboard. It’s not unpleasant. The switches feel very similar to the way my old Unicomp Model M buckling spring keyboard felt. There’s a very satisfying buoyancy to the keys (for lack of a better word). It’s a genuine joy to type on. I look forward to using this keyboard for National Novel Writing Month. The backlighting is even and strong – much more so than the VM01. The steel faceplate is cool to the touch and very solid. There’s no noticeable flex, even when I press very hard down on the center of the keyboard or pick it up and twist the corners away from each other. The keycaps feel nice, have a clear and professional-looking font to them, and have very little wiggle which is a nice change from my VM01. That’s a difference that $75 will get you. I may still need to put O-ring dampeners on the keys. We’ll see how loud the keyboard actually sounds once I get it set up in my office. I don’t notice the audible “PING!” when releasing larger keys such as the space bar and backspace buttons that annoyed me with the VM01. That’s a level of quality I expected – but it’s nice to see that my trust in the Das company wasn’t unfounded. This is definitely one of the nicest premium keyboards I’ve ever used – if not the best period. One very minor criticism – on keys that have two legends on them (like the number/symbol keys along the top and the bracket/curly brace keys on the side) the backlight only illuminates the top symbol and not the bottom. This is probably due to the fact that Cherry switches have their LED on the top of the switch…but it would have been nice to have both light up still. I don’t know if it’s just my unfamiliarity with the Cherry MX Brown switches, but I notice myself adding a lot of extra spaces in my writing. I’ll have to see if that goes away with more regular use. It could be that the space bar on my old Velocifire VM01 was just less sensitive and I’m used to really banging it to get it to actuate. Haha. The large buttons on this keyboard do require what seems like a lot less pressure to register than I’m used to on the VM01. I’m not sure if that’s real or imagined. Although I was assured when I bought the VM01 that the OUTEMU off-brand brown switches were comparable to Cherry MX Browns – I’m going to have to disagree. There’s a decidedly different feel to these branded Cherries on the Das. Again, this may just be confirmation bias since I paid almost twice as much for this keyboard as the VM01 – but I feel like the Cherry switches are just smoother, and require less actuation force. This is the closest feel I’ve found in a post-Model-M keyboard to the buckling spring monster I used back in the day. The keys pop back up in a satisfying and strong way. The sound is nice and clacky without being *completely* over the top. The overall look and feel of the keyboard itself is very high-end and professional looking. I see some of my coworkers bringing in high-end VGA keyboards and realize that the “gamer” aesthetic isn’t really for me. I would feel juvenile using a board with multi-colored lights on it like some twenty-something’s sports car. The cord is braided, which you’ll either love or hate. I personally like the look and feel of it myself. It terminates in 2 USB 2.0 plugs – one for the keyboard and one for the USB pass-through port on the top right of the keyboard. I like to use this for my wireless mouse receiver. It’s discreet and keeps it out of my way. This was my first purchase from Das, and I don’t believe it will be the last. It took me a long time to be able to justify the price to myself but now that I’ve used it first hand I don’t know that I’ll be willing to go back to squishy ten dollar membrane keyboards again. Das may well have ruined me for them.

Growing up as a kid in the late 70's and early 80's, keyboards were mostly crisp, clacky, and sturdy. They evoked feelings of working on something special. Computers *were* special back then. Keyboards had well designed actions, built around techniques such as leaf spring mechanical switches, buckling springs, and a number of other innovations. But over the years that followed mass production techniques and tightening profit margins led to the industry-wide adoption of lightweight, plastic-feeling keyboards with keystroke actions built upon rubber domes. Nowadays a typical OEM keyboard might have a production cost of a few dollars, and a spongy, rubbery action to match. We sailed right past midrange scissor switch actions into the low end rubber dome action with barely a thought, arriving at mediocrity. Mid-range keyboards from reputable manufacturers still build upon the rubber dome actions, so even upgrading from OEM or $12 keyboards to the $40 - $50 range significant improvements in the action are not found. So again, we are duped into settling with mediocrity. There is hope out there. Cherry MX switches, Topre switches, and other mechanical style switches are being manufactured for keyboard actions. They're expensive compared to rubber dome keyboards. Each key has a mechanical switch of some sort beneath it, rather than a sheet of heat-molded rubber domes. And the mechanical switches are made with precise characteristics -- softer, firmer, clicky and tactile, non-clicky and tactile, and smooth linear. Each style is designed with a different market segment in mind; linear being the preference of gamers, tactile (clicky or quiet) being the preference for those who's keystrokes produce text, softer for light-press typists, and firmer for mashers. The Cherry MX Brown is a soft, tactile, quiet key, with a subtle bump at the actuation point. With practice muscle-memory is able to get accustomed to that bump, and users become able to type without bottoming out the keys. Typing speed and accuracy often improve, and finger fatigue is reduced compared to typing on keyboards where you have to bottom out each stroke (rubber domes, for example). I debated back and forth between this keyboard and one from WASD, and ultimately went for the Das-4 because of the sturdy aluminum face and USB3 hub. It arrived today and I've had a chance to put it through its paces. While it may take a day or two to get used to the feel, it's going to be a pleasure getting there. Lifting it, the keyboard feels like a tank. Typing on it, the keyboard feels absolutely fantastic. However, I may still add 2mm O-rings to reduce clatter, though I'll wait until I've gotten more accustomed to the tactile feel of Cherry MX Browns. It's possible I'll develop more of a habit of not bottoming out my keystrokes. This sounds too predictable, but when I first plugged it in and began typing on it my first notion was "Wow!" Pros: Heavy and sturdy like you might imagine a keyboard in a 1960's NASA mission control center. A light, tactile, pleasing touch with ample stroke and precise response. The tactile bump of Cherry MX Browns allows me to type without bottoming out the strokes. Already with a little practice my typing is feeling more effortless. USB 3 hub. Nice, sturdy media controls with a well-engineered volume knob. Beautiful design. If there is a better feeling and better engineered keyboard on the market, I sure can't find it. The keycaps are crisply engineered, flawless, and elegant. Cons: Because it is built to last, and made of metal, bottoming out keystrokes makes a bit of clattering that you wouldn't be accustomed to if you have spent years obliviously enduring the misery of rubber-dome keyboards. A set of 2mm O-rings would alleviate that issue, and they are easy enough to order. It's too bad the keyboard manufacturer doesn't make O-rings a special-order option as WASD does. Another con is that the keyboard's elevated support is a little on the low side -- the keyboard sits slightly flatter than I would prefer. But after a few hours I'm already getting used to it. Nearly every mechanical keyboard has a spacebar that seems to stick up a little higher in the air than space bars for dome keyboards. That takes a little time to get used to as well, but after awhile will begin to feel normal. Conclusion: If quality and feel are more important to you than price or RGB lights, this keyboard must be on your short list. The keyboard seems to strive for elegance, feel, and function while eschewing trendy light shows and annoying color schemes. Updated 2/4/17: I've been using the DAS Keyboard 4 Professional with Cherry MX Brown key switches for a few months now. And I even installed first WASD red, and later WASD blue O-rings to further customize the feel. The keyboard feels so nice to use I barely notice it's there. It's a pleasure to type on. ...and then I go home from my office, and when I sit down at the home computer I place my hands over the mid-range "rubber dome" style keyboard, and loathe every moment. The solution? I ordered a second DAS Keyboard 4 Professional and a set of WASD blue o-rings. One at work, one at home. Great keyboards! Updated 9/30/2017: I've been using one of these at my office, and one at home. The one that has had the most use is in my office. I'm a software engineer, and type all day long. The key caps have become a little polished, but the symbols have not faded at all. The key strokes feel as good as the day I got the keyboard. ...maybe even a little better with age. It's my "daily driver". Recently my company provided a second office for me a little closer to home, with the understanding that I would split my time between the offices. For my third mechanical keyboard I ended up going with a Logitch Professional (tenkey-less, with Roamer-G switches). The Roamer-G switches have a slightly shorter keystroke, and the overall feel of that keyboard is more plastic. The Roamer-G switches don't allow for o-ring installation, so it clatters a little more too. But I had to try something new. One thing I can say for the Roamer-G switches is that they feel smoother right out of the box than Cherry-MX Browns. But with age the MX Browns acquire that smooth feeling too. Overall I'm convinced that I like the Das Keyboard better. (A few weeks of use and I have to conclude the MX browns are smoother, and feel more high-end. Sticking with browns in the future.) Update 12/2018: I now have the same keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches. I put blue O-rings under its key caps to reduce bottoming-out clatter. It took longer to get used to the click blues than the subtle browns, but I also like them very much. If it weren't for the fact that the noise level using blues is higher than when using browns (disturbing to others but gratifying to the typist) I would have to say for typing I prefer the nuanced qualities of both. The blues feel a little more crisp, slightly firmer. Browns a little less tactile, and a little softer touch. Both are excellent. If you don't care about making some noise typing, and want additional crispness, get the blues. If you are a gamer do not get the blues, as their reset point is higher in the stroke than the contact point, making them slower switches for rapid bouncing on a single key. Totally irrelevant for typists. Browns: softer touch, more subtle tactile bump, quieter. Blues: clicker, more crisp feel, slughtly firmer spring. Both, excellent. Update 6/30/2020: I have three of these, now. One at each if my two offices, and one at home. Two of them are MX Brown switches (soft tactile) and one is MX Blue (soft tactile&clicky). I got the blue on accident (thought I was ordering a brown), but kept it and love it too. I've now been typing on these since 2016, and they're still as good as new. The key caps are easy enough to remove for the occasional deep cleaning, but if you avoid spilling drinks on them these keyboards are built to last. They get plenty of use, but aside from the key caps having a more polished look to them you would barely know they're several years old. And the laser etching is still intact. The switches still feel great too.

I've been using this keyboard for roughly a month so far, and I love it. I'm actually finishing up a coding assignment consisting on over 1000 lines of Java, so I think I'm ready to give a fair review. Up until now, I've used laptop keyboards (MacBook Air, ASUS laptop, etc) and your standard $15 Office Depot fare. You know, the cheapest Logitech keyboard on the shelf. And all of those have been perfectly fine for my needs. Until now. I was talked into getting a mech keyboard from a friend who loves his. I took the plunge on this and boy was it worth it. The difference is akin to the going from cheap Walmart boots to top of the line work boots, or from a disposable razor to an expensive one with 5 blades, or a lawn chair to an expensive ergonomic office chair. Yes, the cheaper version will do the job, and you may even get used to it over time. But once you experience the higher quality offering, you'll appreciate the difference and be glad you spent more money in the long run. If you type a lot, you will really appreciate the "feel" that the keys have, and the satisfying clicky sound that each key has when you press it. You'll also appreciate the solid breaking point between "unpressed" and "pressed" that mechanical keys have. Overall, it is a much more ergonomic and enjoyable typing experience than with a non-mechanical keyboard. It is hard to explain unless you try it. If you spend a lot of time typing (like me), I highly recommend a mechanical keyboard. Given my experience with this keyboard so far, the solid construction, the sleek good looks, and the legendary reputation that Das Keyboard has as a company, I recommend this one. Remember to also pick up a wrist pad if you don't already have one - the keyboard sits up relatively high, and it's horrible for your wrists to type without one. You want your wrists to be completely level if possible when typing. When I bought this keyboard, it was around $125. Is it worth taking the plunge when you can "get the job done" for as little as $10? If you only use the computer occasionally, then no, it is probably not worth the extra $100+. If you use a keyboard daily for your job, hobby, or leisure activities, for several hours a day, then it is definitely worth it. Do you wrists and fingers a favor and get the best. EDIT: I've decided to revise this review, due to recent developments in the Mechanical Keyboard market. At the current price of ~$140, the Das Keyboard Model S is just overpriced. It's still a great keyboard, but in terms of value, is quite lacking. I would instead recommend a CM Storm keyboard, which use the same switches, but have an equally great build quality.

The following review is regarding my experience with the Das Keyboard Professional (w/ Cherry MX Blue switches), which I’ve owned for several months now. I also own the Cherry MX Brown version of the same keyboard. SPECIFICATIONS Cord Length: 6.5’ Top Panel Thickness: ~ 1 mm Top Panel Material: Anodized aluminum (matte), though feels similar to powder-coated finish BUILD QUALITY The build quality of this keyboard is its strongest attribute. It’s extremely solid – there is no flexing of the keyboard at all. The keyboard is also perfectly stable on my desk as I type. After using it daily for several months now, the keyboard looks brand new. There hasn’t been any fading of the text on the key cap labels, and the black finish of the key caps hasn’t changed either. While the top panel of this keyboard is made of a solid piece of metal, the bottom is plastic (though a pretty solid feeling plastic). I suppose if the bottom of the keyboard was also made of metal that may be better, though it is possible that the plastic bottom is more effective in absorbing vibrations. DESIGN & FEATURES This keyboard is very well designed. The non-flashy approach looks great to me, particularly compared to so many of the mechanical keyboards that look maybe a bit over the top. The font of the key-cap labels is traditional looking, which I prefer to the extra-large stylized font found on many gaming keyboards. The media keys are, in my experience, useful and well-placed. The inclusion of a dedicated “sleep” button is also very useful to me, and many other mechanical keyboards I looked at didn’t have one. In the Windows power settings, I set the sleep key to put my display into standby rather than put my computer to sleep. The volume knob is also useful to me, and I think the way in which it is placed (where it hangs over the right edge of the backplate slightly) makes it easy to adjust. The knob appears to be made of plastic, with a rubberized finish along the side and a red (looks like anodized) ring accenting the top. While I’d prefer to have the volume knob be entirely black, the red accent doesn’t stand out too much and I imagine some people would actually like it. The das keyboard logo is, in my opinion, cool and it looks good on the top-right of the backplate. Just under the logo are the blue indicator lights for num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock. The indicator lights do the job and look great from a normal typing position, though they do put out quite a bit of light straight up – in a dark room my ceiling is illuminated in blue light just above the keyboard (I keep num lock on always). The magnetic stand / ruler of this keyboard actually seems to work pretty well. It provides a nice even support across the entire keyboard, and I never have an issue with the keyboard sliding on my glass desk. I admit that I haven’t yet had a need to take the stand off and use it as a ruler, but maybe to some it would be more useful. The USB 3.0 hub (two ports) along the top right of the keyboard is very useful to me. I have my wireless mouse adapter plugged into one of them. These USB ports are an actual hub as opposed to a pass-through, so the keyboard only requires one port on the computer. Regarding the keyboard’s cord – it does seem to be attached to the keyboard securely, though it is pretty darn thick. It attaches right in the back-center of the keyboard. It is nice having an extra long cord – though for my particular setup I still need to use a USB extension cable with it. I would definitely prefer to have a cord that isn’t operantly attached. Also this keyboard doesn’t have a backlight, which hasn’t been an issue for me as my monitor provides enough light to illuminate the keyboard, but for the price a plain white backlight would still be a nice option to have. Additional features include NKRO (which does work – supposedly it is disabled by pressing shift + mute), and Das Keyboard claims this keyboard’s firmware can be updated (though not sure what could really be changed). This keyboard requires no software or drivers, which I definitely prefer compared to keyboards from many of their competitors (like Corsair, Logitech, Razer – all of which want you to have their own software always running). CHERRY MX BLUE VERSION I purchased the cherry MX Blue version, and this is the version that I have been using most the time since I bought it several months ago. I personally like the “crisp” feel of the blue switches, though I will admit that I worry about them being too loud at times. This worry led me to also purchase the same version of this keyboard with the brown switches. CHERRY MX BROWN VERSION I purchased the cherry MX Brown version of this keyboard as well, and I tried it off and on over the last few months, as well as exclusively for a few weeks. Well I did like many aspects of the brown switches; overall I have concluded that I prefer the blues. The brown switches were quieter than the blue switches, but I never got over the way they felt more “mushy” compared to the blue switches. PRICE So, I like the keyboard - so far, it’s the best of any mechanical keyboard I’ve owned. The price is steep, and if it perhaps had backlit keys the price would seem more reasonable. That being said, a keyboard like this should last a very long time, and I would recommend it all things considered. I would give it a 4.5 star rating if I could, but I feel that a five star rating is more appropriate than a four star one.

This keyboard was delivered to me on the 22nd of October, I took it out of its box to test it out and fell in love. I currently use a Corsair K70 RBG 2016 edition for at home use. So I had to get this keyboard for work. About three weeks later (November 9th I believe), the switch for the N key has broke, no longer clicks, and the key registers instantly the moment you lay a finger on it. Making it extremely frustrating to use at work when I have to type, and type a lot. Having to go back every few works to delete a few N's just because my finger grazed it made the keyboard impossible to use. So I am attempting to send this back to get a refund, maybe I'd try the Ultimate Edition, maybe I'll buy another Corsair.. maybe I'll just stick to a membrane keyboard at work. I really trusted Das Keyboard because it's a German company and I thought it'd have that German build quality, but these are made in Taiwan from what I read. On top of that, the USB cord from the keyboard isn't braided, which isn't really too big of a problem, but the one on my Corsair really makes me look at things differently, especially when the prices are comparable. A few things I do love about the keyboard: The cherry MX blue switches are just so amazing for typing, when they don't break. Listening to their clicky feedback in cadence with my typing sounded like music to my ears and is absolutely one of the biggest things I will miss most about this keyboard. The volume dial, absolutely amazing. Much better than a volume rocker. It even has tactile feedback while turning it. The USB ports. I'm missing the keyboard already. The fact that this keyboard has TWO USB ports was just astonishing. I plug my mouse into one of the ports when I am at work because I bring my Logitech G502 with me, and it just makes things so much better. I haven't used the second port much yet, but when I first opened it I had to plug another keyboard into it just for laughs, and boy did I laugh when it actually worked. Pros: 1) Keys make you feel like you're the king of the office, the sounds they make are loud enough to remind your coworkers of this status. 2) Volume dial (With tactile feedback. Just wish the mute button had some feedback) 3) It looks bad ass 4) Aluminum body. It's a heavy keyboard and it feels amazing 5) Textured keys. This one might just be me, but my K70's keys are smoother than a baby's butt, and I prefer the texture on the Das Cons: 1) Quality issue. Key switch broke after three weeks. 2) Lights that notify you when caps lock, number lock, ect are turned on, is a laser instead of a normal LED. This is very annoying and causes a large light on your ceiling. 3) Cable isn't braided 4) No feedback when pressing media keys 5) Item is hard to place back in box Overall this is a very nice keyboard but won't agree with everyone's personal preferences. I wish these were made in Germany and had the country's famous build quality, but I most likely just had a bad apple being as others have had their Das Keyboards for years. I would love to give Das another try, I also would hope a company rep would reply to this review and inform me about the problem I had with this keyboard.

Great keyboard. Purchased my first in 2020, five years ago, and while it was still functional, the spacebar had gotten squeaky and the letters had worn off several keys. Decided to treat myself to a new one for Christmas, and while I'd originally tried to order a cheaper keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches from a different manufacturer, decided that this one is worth the price - the keyboard feet/kickstand on the back allows it to be positioned for a comfortable wrist angle, the keys are large and comfortable to use, and I love the Cherry MX Brown switches - they're my favorite type of cherry switches, the perfect amount of clicky/resistance. This isn't a gamer keyboard - there are no fun lights, no backlighting at all - but it's perfect for someone who likes to write and types a lot (literally millions and millions of words typed on that keyboard over 5 years.) One weird thing, not a dealbreaker or anything, but it does require 2 usb ports to plug in. But it's easy to use, comfortable, and I'm definitely going to keep using this as my keyboard for as long as they make it.

I am a big fan of the classic clicky-tactile keyboards such as those found on the old IBM PC keyboards. My main computer at home still has a Unicomp "buckling spring" keyboard, which is my favorite to type on, but unacceptable if other people are around (those key switches are too noisy for crowded office environments). At my work office, I hated the feel of the generic rubber dome keyboards of the sort that come with practically every computer. I bought a Matias Quiet Pro keyboard, which had the tactile feel and excellent response, but was quiet enough to avoid complaints from coworkers. But the key switches used by Matias seem to have a high failure rate, and I had the first keyboard replaced under warranty, then the second one started to have increasing problems with switches that would not reliable register when pressed, or which would double or triple register when pressed once. Matias seemed unconcerned and actually told me on the phone that these keyboard could only be expected to last about one year! So I dropped the Matias keyboard and looked for a high quality keyboard with mechanical key switches yet a fairly quiet sound level. I settled on this "Das Keyboard 4 Professional Soft Tactile MX Brown" keyboard. It uses the Cherry brand MX Brown series key switches, which are the quieter of the two MX models that have the clicky tactile feel and response ('brown' is the designator of this switch version, and the key switch top and stem are colored brown). At the advice of Das Keyboard (a company in Texas), I also ordered an additional quieting kit from Mechanicalkeyboards.com, which consisted of a bag of clear/white rubber O-rings and a key cap pulling tool. I inserted the O-rings under every key cap, and this cuts the noise of a keystroke by perhaps half, making the overall keyboard even quieter. It is still noisier than the typical generic rubber dome computer keyboard, but it is within reason. This is a very expensive keyboard, so there needs to be performance and physical quality. This is a heavy and solid keyboard, and feels like it is glued down to the desktop when I try to pick it up. The top plate is a heavy thick metal plate with a frosted/matte black anodized finish. The key caps have white lettering, which Das Keyboards says are laser etched; so they are not decals like the cheap keyboards use, and there should be no problem with key cap lettering wearing off. All of the wider keys have mechanical 'bails' underneath, so no matter where you press the kay cap, if moves down smoothly as if you had pressed it dead center. The keyboard also has a very nice 'media center' control panel at it upper right. One key puts the computer to sleep if you press it for a few seconds. Another key toggles sound 'mute' on and off. Three keys act for return-to-start (of a sound file or other sound media), go to end of file, and play/pause toggle. A large volume control knob can be turned from the top or 'rubbed' along its right edge. The keyboard connected to the computer over a USB cable, and the keyboard has two USB pass-through ports on its rear edge just behind the Das Keyboard logo (near the media controls). My one real complaint is that instead of using the traditional legs to tip the rear of the keyboard up to a higher level, this keyboard has a red plastic bar that attaches to the bottom rear of the keyboard using magnets. This just seems kind of dumb, and not an advantage over the conventional way of doing it. Worse, the keyboard actually seems to tilt backwards slightly when the bar is not installed, and is only flat when the bar is installed. To raise the rear for a slight forward slope, as most people are probably used to, you need to put a couple shims of some sort under that bar to make it taller.