Alps SKCM Black vs Alps SKCM Cream Damped
The Alps SKCM Cream Damped against the Alps SKCM Black is really a question about noise: one carries silencing pads and the other gives you a full bottom-out. Our full switch library already points each of these at the other. Hear them back to back below with the trims matched before you read a single number.
Hear them back to back
simulated from real specssound loads on your first tapShortcuts: press A or B anywhere outside a text box to fire that burst. Use the volume trims to loudness-match the pair before judging which sounds better.
Spec by spec
| Spec | Alps SKCM Black | Alps SKCM Cream Damped |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Tactile | Tactile (silent) |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 70 g | 70 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | not published |
| Pre-travel | 1.7 mm | 1.7 mm |
| Total travel | 3.5 mm | 3.5 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | Yes |
| Factory lubed | No | No |
| MX-compatible stem | No | No |
| Price tier | Premium | Premium |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Both of these are rated at actuation, which is the one case where the advertised numbers compare directly. Every other force row still has to be matched basis to basis.
Verdict
Stroke character is a tie. Two tactiles feel alike under a finger, which pushes the decision onto the rows below the type row. Only one of them is silenced. The Alps SKCM Cream Damped has the pads, and in a room with other people in it that beats every other row here. Actuation is the only row with a figure for each of them, and both figures read 70 g. Our picks: the Alps SKCM Black for gaming, the Alps SKCM Cream Damped for typing and a shared office.
- Gaming pick
- Alps SKCM Black
- Typing pick
- Alps SKCM Cream Damped
- Office pick
- Alps SKCM Cream Damped
Force curves
Alps SKCM Black
Alps publishes no bottom-out force for this switch, so the dashed end of the curve is an estimate, not a spec. Everything up to actuation comes from the published numbers.
Alps SKCM Cream Damped
Alps publishes no bottom-out force for this switch, so the dashed end of the curve is an estimate, not a spec. Everything up to actuation comes from the published numbers.
Alps SKCM Black or Alps SKCM Cream Damped: the long answer
This one is decided by sound before anything mechanical. Played back to back, the Alps SKCM Black is duller, softer vintage tap against rubber-cushioned thud both directions, 1980s proto-silent from the Alps SKCM Cream Damped. Only the Alps SKCM Cream Damped is pad-dampened. That removes the top of the bottom-out entirely, which is a bigger change than any number in the table above, and it is why the Alps SKCM Black is the one people hear through a wall. One caveat we repeat wherever a player appears: no studio recording sits behind either of these. They are built from what each maker publishes and what the community reports.
Back to the mechanical side. The stroke is the same shape on both: both give a finger something to aim at on the way down. That leaves the spec sheet to separate them. Both come out at 70 g at actuation, and actuation is the only point with a figure for each of them, so the tie is on the spec sheet rather than proven in the hand. Travel is a straight match, 1.7 mm of pre-travel and 3.5 mm in full on both. Nothing here is decisive on its own, which is why the sound comparison matters more than usual on this pair.
On price and practicality, both are premium priced. Neither ships lubed, so budget an evening with a brush if you want either at its best. Worth knowing before you order: neither of these uses an MX style stem, so neither will drop into a standard hot-swap board or accept ordinary MX keycaps, and they do not share a mount with each other either.
This one genuinely splits. The Alps SKCM Black for games, because the two are close enough here that either works, and our scoring gives it the nod by a hair. The Alps SKCM Cream Damped for writing, since its keystroke stays consistent and comfortable across a full day of writing. The Alps SKCM Cream Damped for an office, as the pads stop the bottom-out from traveling past your own desk. The player above is the cheapest part of this decision, so use it before your wallet is involved.
There is more on both than a head-to-head can carry. Start with the Alps SKCM Black page and the Alps SKCM Cream Damped page, or test how your current keyboard performs with our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Alps SKCM Black or Alps SKCM Cream Damped for gaming?
We pick the Alps SKCM Black for gaming. The two are close enough for gaming that either works; our scoring defaults to it by a small margin.
Which is quieter, the Alps SKCM Black or the Alps SKCM Cream Damped?
The dampened one, which is the Alps SKCM Cream Damped. Silencing pads are the only thing inside a switch that reliably lowers volume, and only one of these two has them.
Which has the heavier spring, the Alps SKCM Black or the Alps SKCM Cream Damped?
Neither, as far as the published numbers go: both are rated 70 g at actuation, the only measuring point with a published figure for each. Bottom-out is where two switches matched at actuation often diverge, but neither switch here has a published bottom-out figure at all. Treat this as a tie on the spec sheet rather than a proven match in the hand.
More comparisons
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