How to make a keyboard sound thocky
Updated
On a mechanical keyboard, four changes make it thockier: foam in the case, thick PBT keycaps, lubed switches and a gasket mount. A laptop keyboard cannot be modded that way, but a keyboard sound app can play a thocky board for every key, and Teclo lets you push any of its packs deeper with sliders.
1-day free trial · $4.99 once · up to 3 Macs · macOS 13+
Secure checkout, payments byStripe· 14-day refund, no questions asked
Pick a pack, then press any key or tap the keys below. These are the same samples the app plays.
On a mechanical keyboard
Epomaker’s Sound Lab gives four steps under “More Thocky”, which it describes as “deeper, fuller, more resonant character”:
| Step | Epomaker’s note | Effort | More on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add case foam | “3mm EVA foam between PCB and case bottom.” | Open the case | Foam mods |
| Swap to thick PBT keycaps | “1.4–1.5mm wall thickness for warmer pitch.” | Pull and replace caps | PBT vs ABS |
| Lube stems with Krytox 205g0 | “Eliminates scratch noise; isolates the deep thock.” | Open every switch | Lubed vs unlubed |
| Switch to gasket mount | “The single biggest structural change toward thocky.” | A new case or board | Gasket mount |
Start with the cheap, reversible ones. Foam and the tape mod mean opening the case; keycaps only come off and on. Lubing means opening each switch, which Kinetic Labs walks through with a switch opener, a brush and tweezers. A gasket mount usually means a different board. Lubing the stabilisers under Space, Shift and Return is worth doing on the way: Epomaker names a poorly tuned stabiliser as the source of the “Rattle Defect”.
Too much damping goes past thock into dull. Epomaker calls foam “The dial that decides ‘muddy thock’ vs ‘clean thock’”, and thick PBT works against a marbly sound: “Very thick PBT muddies the bounce.”
On a MacBook or any other keyboard
A laptop keyboard has no plate, foam or switches to change. What you can change is what you hear: a keyboard sound app plays a sound for every key press, through your speakers or headphones. With Teclo:
Pick a thocky pack first. Boulder is the deep, ringing one; Pebble and Cushion are rounder and softer, with the most low end of the keyboard packs. To go further, click Create in Teclo’s window. Under Design, pick the pack to start from and move the sliders. These are what they do in Teclo’s code at the end of their travel:
| Slider, toward | What it does |
|---|---|
| Deep | Lowers everything above 2 kHz by up to 12 dB |
| Soft | Lowers everything above 1 kHz by up to 12 dB |
| Long | Makes the ring and the press up to 1.6 times as long |
| Low | Lowers every frequency by up to half an octave |
| Quiet (click) | Turns the click down to as little as an eighth, and the highs above 5 kHz at the start of each press by up to 18 dB |
Press Preview to hear it, then Save. Your sound appears in the list under Custom.
If you have modded a real keyboard and like its sound, Teclo can record it: under Record, choose My keyboard and press A, Space, Return and Delete three times each. Teclo asks for the microphone only when you record.
| Pack | Brightness (Hz) | 90% of energy in (ms) | Low/high (dB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder | 2,428 | 18.1 | -11.5 |
| Pebble | 2,370 | 13.2 | -7.8 |
| Cushion | 2,380 | 8.4 | -8.3 |
The packs are synthesized and imitate the effect of a heavy case, thick caps or rubber domes; none is a recording of a modded board. Setting up the app from scratch is on how to make your Mac’s keyboard sound mechanical, and what thock means is on thock, clack and creamy.
Questions
What is the cheapest way to make a keyboard thockier?
Foam or tape. Epomaker suggests 3 mm EVA foam in the bottom of the case; the tape mod costs a roll of painter's tape and can be undone. Switch and Click warns to use non-conductive tape and not to tape a board with a battery inside.
Can a membrane or laptop keyboard sound thocky?
Not by modding: there is no plate, case foam or switch to change. A sound app plays a mechanical sound instead, through your speakers or headphones, for every key you press.
Which Teclo pack is the thockiest?
Boulder, a linear in a heavy aluminium case: it takes 18.1 ms to deliver 90% of its energy, the longest of the keyboard packs. Pebble and Cushion have the most low end.
Sources
Other facts on this page come from these pages, read on or before the date above.