Cherry MX Brown MX2A vs TTC Golden Brown V3
Nothing in the spec sheet decides between the Cherry MX Brown MX2A and the TTC Golden Brown V3, so this comparison comes down to voice and to what each one costs to fill a board. Our full switch library links the two to each other for that reason. Play the A/B bursts below to hear them back to back, match the volumes, then read the spec table and the verdict.
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 | Cherry MX Brown MX2A | TTC Golden Brown V3 |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Tactile | Tactile |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 45 g | 45 g |
| Bottom-out force | 60 g (our estimate) | not published |
| Pre-travel | 2 mm | 2 mm |
| Total travel | 4 mm | 4 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | No |
| Factory lubed | Yes | Yes |
| MX-compatible stem | Yes | Yes |
| Price tier | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Cherry and TTC both advertise an actuation force, so the two headline figures in this table are measured at the same point and can be read against each other. Cherry publishes no bottom-out figure for the Cherry MX Brown MX2A, so the figure marked "our estimate" is our own derivation from the forces that are published rather than a rating. What actuation force actually measures .
Verdict
Stroke character is a tie. Two tactiles feel alike under a finger, which pushes the decision onto the rows below the type row. Weight is hard to separate here: each is rated 45 g at actuation, and that is the only measuring point with a published figure for each. What really separates them is sound, with the Cherry MX Brown MX2A tending toward soft, slightly sandy mid-pitch tap and the TTC Golden Brown V3 toward measured mid-pitch tap, medium bump. The Cherry MX Brown MX2A comes out ahead of the TTC Golden Brown V3 for gaming and for typing, and it is the safer of the two in a shared room, so this comparison has one answer instead of a set of them.
- Overall pick
- Cherry MX Brown MX2A
Gaming, typing and a shared office all point at the Cherry MX Brown MX2A, so printing the same name three times would tell you nothing. One pick it is.
Force curves
Cherry MX Brown MX2A
Cherry publishes no bottom-out force for this switch, so the 60 g at the end of the stroke is our estimate and the run into it is dashed. Everything up to actuation comes from the published numbers. How we derive it.
TTC Golden Brown V3
TTC 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.
Cherry MX Brown MX2A or TTC Golden Brown V3: the long answer
Specs first, since the feel gap is what you notice in the first minute of typing. The stroke is the same shape on both: each one puts a felt event in the middle of the stroke. That leaves the spec sheet to separate them. They land on the same 45 g at actuation. That is the only measuring point with a figure for each of them, and bottom-out is exactly where two switches matched at actuation tend to separate. Cherry publishes no bottom-out figure, so treat that 60 g as our estimate. The two stroke depths are identical, 2.0 mm to actuation inside 4.0 mm of total travel. Nothing here is decisive on its own, which is why the sound comparison matters more than usual on this pair.
The ears usually get the last word here. Put them through the player above and the Cherry MX Brown MX2A lands as soft, slightly sandy mid-pitch tap where the TTC Golden Brown V3 lands as measured mid-pitch tap, medium bump. Both packs are synthesized rather than recorded, so read the comparison as a faithful sketch of each voice and not as a measurement of it.
On what they cost to fill a board, both are mid priced. Factory lube on both, so the smoothness you hear in the player is roughly the smoothness you get.
That leaves an unusually simple answer, because one switch wins on all three counts: the Cherry MX Brown MX2A is our pick for gaming, for typing and for a shared desk. On speed, the honest answer is that either would do, and it wins on a margin too small to feel. On typing feel, its keystroke stays consistent and comfortable across a full day of writing. On noise, it is the quieter of the two once the room is listening. That leaves the TTC Golden Brown V3 to anyone who preferred its voice in the player above, which is a good enough reason on its own. None of this beats hearing them yourself, which the player above lets you do in about a minute.
There is more on both than a head-to-head can carry. Start with the Cherry MX Brown MX2A page and the TTC Golden Brown V3 page, or test how your current keyboard performs with our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Cherry MX Brown MX2A or TTC Golden Brown V3 for gaming?
We pick the Cherry MX Brown MX2A for gaming. The two are close enough for gaming that either works; our scoring defaults to it by a small margin.
Is the Cherry MX Brown MX2A quieter than the TTC Golden Brown V3?
Nothing in either one is built to reduce noise, so on raw volume this is a tie decided by your keyboard rather than your switch. What you will actually hear is a difference of pitch and texture, which the player above shows better than a sentence can.
Which has the heavier spring, the Cherry MX Brown MX2A or the TTC Golden Brown V3?
Neither, as far as the published numbers go: both are rated 45 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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More vs TTC Golden Brown V3
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