Keychron Q1 Pro - custom mods.

Posted on August 12, 2023 • 6 min read • 1,218 words

A walk through of the custom mods I made on my Q1 Pro.

The Keychron Q1 Pro

The Q1 Pro is a very well built mechanical keyboard. Actually it is better than most keyboards out of the box. For about many years the Das Keyboard professional 4 have been my daily driver and I was quite pleased with it’s performance.

In the process of switching to MacOs a colleague decided he wanted a better keyboard to match the experience. At first I was reluctant and planned on just keep using my DasKeyboard with my macbook while it was connected to the dock, but something itched in the back of my head, so I decided to a little research on keyboards. From there it was a rapid descent into the madness that is mechanical keyboards.

I quickly stumbled upon the keyboard content creators on youtube and all their keyboards, sound tests and mods. I fell in love with the sound of a well build keyboard and got annoyed by all the rattles my DasKeyboard had.

Just above you can hear an example of the Q1 stock vs modded here, even stock it sounds very nice. But the modded version is what drove me over the abyss.

So lets get into all the modding I’ve done so far to my new keyboard.

#1 The switches

Starting with the most basic things; The Q1 Pro comes with hot swappable switches. That means testing out another switch type is easy and requires no soldering like it would on more conventional mechanical keyboards.

As the Q1 gave me the option, I decided upon using better switches for the keyboard. Switches, lubing etc. is another rabbit hole hidden within the rabbit hole that is mechanical keyboards all together.

I bought my Q1 Pro with keycaps, and switches. I actually bought 2 Q1 pro’s - one for personal use at home and one for work (I have just gotten an new keyboard at work and would be to much to expect them to hand over another one just because I’ve gone crazy). Incredibly smart and clever as I am, I bought one with Gateron Brown tactile switches and one with Gateron Red linear switches, so I would have more options.

None the less those options was not enough for me as I was already neck deep in the Kool-aid. I needed more custom switch options, sadly as I live in Denmark a lot of the most popular switches are hard to come buy or needs to be ordered from across the pond. The most premium option I could get my hands on within a reasonable amount of time was the Glorious Panda switches.

Theese switches can be bought factory lubed, wich for me was a big selling point as I was not ready to invest the amount of time required to take apart every switch, lube and assemble them again.

Switch lubing is done to minimize the rattle and scratchy sounds, while preserving the mobility and actuation force of the switch.

#2 The O-ring mod

The O-ring mod is also a very easy mod to do. All you need to do is buy some O-rings and put them around the stem of your keycaps - the part that connects to your switch stem. The process is pictured above.

What this mainly accomplishes is giving the keys a bit of bounce. As the Q1 Pro PCB is gasket mounted and the board has quite a bit of flex from stock, this was noy my main motivation. What is also accomplishes to some extent is to remove a bit of the clacky sounds the keycaps makes when they are bottomed out. This mod is probably what had the least impact on my keyboard, but it did make a subtle difference in sound and a bigger difference in feel.

O-rings comes in multiple configurations of hardness and thickness.

• 40A is a softer ring, creating a quieter and more pillowy typing experience
• 70A is a harder and more rigid ring.

The rings i bought came in two thicknesses: 1.5mm and 2.5mm. The 2.5mm is primarily for gaming as the thickness reduces the amount of travel the key kan make and in doing so makes the keypresses a bit “quicker”.

As I live with a family and share an office space when working at the office and my primary focus with this keyboard build is for productivity purposes I went with the 1.5mm 40A rings.

This giver me a better typing experience while also reducing sound a bit from the softer O-ring. A choice the family and coworkers are bound to appreciate although this board is by no means silent, not even close!

#3 The tape mod (Tempest mod)

This is a really cheap mod to do and it adds a lot of value for next to nothing. By taping up the back of your PCB with multiple layers of non conductive tape you can really get that "*thocky*" sound and feel from your keyboard.

If I only had one mod I could do to my keyboard this would probably be what I would go with.

The mod is also really easy to do. For many keyboards the PCB can be taped up while still connected to the board. My last board i applied the tape mod with keycaps etc. still on the board. Unscrew the backplate and start taping up the PCB.

I went with 3-4 layers of tape, and made sure the layers got a good grip on the the layer below it to try and encapsulate the sound a bit more.

#4 Dynamat mod!

This mod might have been overkill. Dynamat extreme is a material invented for cars to sound proof them, dampening road noise and rattles making for a more comfortable ride and a better car stereo experience.

I decided to do this mod as the Q1 Pro comes with an aluminium case and the case had at little pinging to it. Especially when tapped with a nail on the sides of the case. This mod fully eliminated that, and added more “thock” to the keypresses in my opinion. Might just be wishful thinking on my part but I feel like this mod was worth it.

What would I like to try in the future?

Although the Q1 Pro is a very solid board stock all the above mods have really improved the sound and typind feel of this board. But even then the keycaps that comes with the boards stock are now showing their limit.

They sound a bit “clacky” now; since the mods I did to this board dampened and removed a lot of the other sounds the keycaps sounds are now more prominent.

They are by no means bad and this is the best keyboard I ever had both in typing feel and sound, but as I started out saying I am now neck deep in the Kool-aid and more wants more.

So at some point I will most likely invest in some thick double shot PBT keycaps for an even better sound and typing feel.