KeyslamGet Keyslam

Switch comparison

Cherry MX Blue vs Brown vs Red: what each one sounds like

Three real recordings, matched for loudness and played back to back. Pick a strength, press play, and listen for the click, the bump and the glide.

Download for MacTry it in your browser →

Updated

MX Blue keycap

Short answer: Cherry MX Blue makes two sounds on every press: a sharp click as the key actuates, about halfway down, then the bottom-out. That makes it the loudest and brightest of the three. MX Brown has a bump you feel but no click, so it sounds like a rounder, muted clack. MX Red is linear, with no bump and no click, so you hear a quick, smooth bottom-out. Blue is the one people notice across a room; Brown and Red sound much closer to each other.

Hear Blue, Brown and Red back to back

Every button types the same phrase, the quick brown fox: the first row varies the strength like real typing, and each row below holds one strength. Soft plays real light strikes from each recording and slam plays strikes from the hardest ~8%. All three packs are leveled to the same loudness, so you're comparing character, not volume. Headphones make the click easiest to hear.

StrengthMX BlueMX BrownMX RedBack to back
Natural (varies like real typing)
Soft
Medium
Hard
Slam (hardest ~8%)

Each column is a different keyboard and recording: MX Blue from “Mechanical Keyboard 'Cherry Blue Switches'” by EricsSoundschmiede; MX Brown from “Mechanical Keyboard Cherry MX Brown” by majod; MX Red from “Keyboard clicking typing Cherry Red Mechanical” by handygaber on a Corsair K95. All CC0 on Freesound. Boards, keycaps and microphones differ, so treat this as three real keyboards, not a lab test of three switches.

Or type it yourself

The three switches on paper

SwitchTypeWhere the sound comes fromActuation forceTactile peakActuation pointTotal travel
MX BlueClickyClick jacket snaps on the way down and again on the way up, plus the bottom-out50 cN60 cN2.2 mm4.0 mm
MX BrownTactileBottom-out and top-out; the bump itself is nearly silent45 cN55 cN2.0 mm4.0 mm
MX RedLinearBottom-out and top-out only45 cNNone2.0 mm4.0 mm

Specs: Cherry MX Original data as listed in Wikipedia's list of keyboard switches, which cites Cherry's product pages. 1 cN is about 1 gram of force.

What our three recordings measure

We measured the strikes this page plays. Every pack in Keyslam is leveled to the same loudness, −28 LUFS on a standard typing passage, so none of the three plays louder than the others. What differs is where each strike's energy sits.

PackEnergy below 1 kHz1 to 4 kHzAbove 4 kHzSoft to slamKey-up takes
MX Blue keycap MX Blue15%71%14%11.5 dB6
MX Brown keycap MX Brown57%40%3%10.9 dB4
MX Red keycap MX Red30%61%9%10.2 dB6

Method: the average spectrum of the first 43 ms of each of the 24 regular-key strikes (6 per band) in each pack, 40 Hz to 16 kHz; soft to slam is the median level of each strike's first 40 ms, slam band minus soft band. Measured November 2, 2026 from the files on this page.

Read it this way: a Blue strike puts 71% of its energy between 1 and 4 kHz, close to the range where human hearing is most sensitive, so it sounds sharp and carries. The Brown recording keeps 57% of its energy below 1 kHz, which is why it sounds rounder. The Red sits between them, with 61% in the middle band.

Cherry MX Blue vs Brown sound

Both switches have a bump. The difference is a small part called the click jacket. In a Blue, the jacket rides on the stem, catches on the way down, then snaps free with a click just as the key actuates, and resets with a softer click on the way up. A Brown has the bump without the jacket, so it only makes the two sounds every MX switch makes: the stem bottoming out in the housing, and the stem hitting the top of the housing when the spring pushes it back.

So a Blue adds two clicks to every keystroke and a Brown adds none. Pick Blue if you want every actuation confirmed out loud. Pick Brown if you want feedback you mostly feel, at a volume the people near you can live with.

Cherry MX Blue vs Red sound

This is the widest gap of the three. A Red has no jacket and no bump: a light 45 cN spring and a straight slide to the bottom. All you hear is a quick bottom-out and a quick return. A Blue needs 50 cN to actuate, peaks at 60 cN at the bump and clicks on the way through. Reds suit fast, light typing and gaming. Blues suit people who like to hear each key register.

Red switch vs brown switch sound

The closest pair. Neither clicks, both actuate at 45 cN and both travel 4 mm, so most of what you hear is the bottom-out, and that depends on the keyboard more than the switch. If you bottom out on every key, you'll hear little difference between them. The Brown's bump, 55 cN at its peak, can stop a light typist short of the bottom, which is quieter. In our recordings the Brown is the darker of the two, but they come from different boards and microphones, so part of that gap is the board.

What about MX Black and Gateron Red?

Two more linear switches are in Keyslam: the MX Black pack is a Leopold FC980M PD with Cherry MX Black switches, a linear with a heavier spring than the Red; the Gateron Red pack is a GMMK TKL with Gateron Red switches. Each is a different board and microphone again, so play them next to MX Red to hear how much the board changes a linear sound.

Which Cherry MX switch is quietest?

Of these three, Blue is the loudest because of its click. Red and Brown are close; how hard you bottom out and what the keyboard is made of matter more than the switch. Cherry also makes silent versions, such as MX Silent Red, with dampers built into the stem.

To quiet any board, try rubber O-rings under the keycaps, a desk mat and a lighter touch. If you want the sound without the noise, play a recording through headphones instead. And if all three are too much, the Laptop pack, a close-miked 2018 MacBook Pro, is a duller, subtler tap.

Why soft and slam sound different

Each pack is cut from one real typing recording. Every strike is detected and paired with its key-up, then the strikes are sorted by natural loudness into four bands and each band is leveled to a consistent target. Soft comes from the lighter presses, slam from the hardest ~8%. On a MacBook with Apple's motion sensor, Keyslam picks the band from how hard you actually hit; on other Macs you choose it. How force sensing works.

Each switch on its own

MX Blue keycapCherry MX Blue sound test46 takes from EricsSoundschmiede's recording, with a typing boxMX Brown keycapCherry MX Brown sound test42 takes from majod's recording, with a typing boxMX Red keycapCherry MX Red sound test46 takes from handygaber's recording, with a typing box

Cherry MX sound: questions

Which is louder, Cherry MX Blue or Brown?

Blue. Its click jacket adds a sharp click on the way down and a softer one on the way up, on top of the bottom-out that both switches make. In Keyslam both packs play at the same leveled loudness, so the Blue sounds sharper rather than louder.

Are the Blue, Brown and Red packs recorded on the same keyboard?

No. Each comes from a different CC0 recording on Freesound: MX Blue by EricsSoundschmiede, MX Brown by majod and MX Red by handygaber on a Corsair K95. So the comparison also reflects each board, its keycaps and the microphone.

Do Cherry MX switches make a sound when you let go?

Yes. The spring pushes the stem back up against the top of the housing, and a Blue clicks again as its jacket resets. Keyslam plays real key-up sounds from each recording: 6, 4 and 6 takes in the Blue, Brown and Red packs.

Keep exploring

Mechanical keyboard sound typesClicky, tactile, linear, buckling springs, Topre and typewritersThocky vs clacky vs creamyWhat the sound words meanKeyboard sound testAll 15 boards, one phrase each

Pick a switch, then hear it on every key.

Keyslam plays Blue, Brown, Red and 12 more real keyboards and typewriters in all your apps for $3.99 once.

Download for Mac$3.99 lifetime