KeyslamLinear · sound test
Gateron Red sound test: a GMMK TKL keyboard
A GMMK TKL fitted with Gateron Red linear switches, recorded in mono by IRF1010N through a USB microphone kit and shared as CC0. Press a band to go from a soft tap to a slam, then put it next to Cherry MX Red.
Updated
Short answer: Gateron Red is a light linear switch with no click and no bump, so what you hear is a smooth press, the bottom-out and a quick return. On this GMMK TKL the bottom-out is dark and a little hollow, with a short, boxy note under every key that most likely comes from the case. The pack is cut from a CC0 recording by IRF1010N on Freesound into 42 takes across four strength bands.
GMMK keyboard sound test
Each button plays real strikes from one strength band of this recording. Natural mix lets every key vary, like normal typing. Headphones help.
Press a band to hear “gateron red” typed on Gateron Red strikes from that band, then type below.
About this recording
- Keyboard
- GMMK TKL (Glorious), tenkeyless
- Switches
- Gateron Red, linear
- Keycaps
- Not stated
- Plate and mods
- Not stated
- Recorded by
- IRF1010N on Freesound
- Uploaded
- August 10, 2021
- Original file
- WAV, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, mono, 0:41
- Microphone
- TAWAPYZ USB microphone kit
- Part used
- from 0:02
- License
- CC0 1.0 (public domain)
- In Keyslam
- 42 takes, 6 of them key-up
“Typing on a GMMK TKL keyboard with Gateron Red switches. Microphone: TAWAPYZ USB Kit” — IRF1010N, on the Freesound page (checked November 2, 2026)
Gateron Red: the MX Red recipe from another maker
Gateron builds its Red to the same numbers Cherry uses for the MX Red: a straight-sided MX-style stem, roughly 45 g of force where the key registers, 2 mm of travel to that point and 4 mm to the bottom. There's no click jacket and no tactile leg, so the switch adds almost nothing of its own between the top and the bottom of the stroke.
That leaves two impacts per keystroke. The stem lands on the housing floor, then on release the spring throws it back against the top housing. Everything else you hear, the pitch, the body and any hollowness, is the keycap, the plate, the case, the room and the microphone. Builders often say Gateron linears feel smoother in travel than Cherry's; that's a feel, and no recording can show it. Our guide to clicky, tactile and linear sounds puts the Red family in context.
Measured from the app's pack files
What the Gateron Red pack contains, band by band. Peak is the median take's loudest sample; audible length is how long it stays within 30 dB of that peak. Soft to slam spans 14.0 dB. How the bands are made.
| Band | Percentile of strikes | Regular-key takes | Space, Return, Delete | Median peak | Audible length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soft | 8th–30th | 6 | 2 | −17.9 dBFS | 66 ms |
| Medium | 38th–62nd | 6 | 4 | −11.2 dBFS | 79 ms |
| Hard | 70th–88th | 6 | 4 | −6.9 dBFS | 63 ms |
| Slam | 92nd–100th | 6 | 2 | −3.8 dBFS | 59 ms |
The GMMK TKL and its hollow note
The GMMK is Glorious's modular board: its sockets are hot-swappable, so switches pull out and push in without soldering. The TKL size drops the number pad and keeps the arrows and the navigation block. The uploader names the board, the switches and the microphone, and nothing else, so keycaps, plate and any mods stay unknown.
Listen under the bottom-out and you'll hear a short, pitched “tok”. When we measured this pack's regular-key takes, the energy near 320 Hz stood about 20 dB above the frequencies on either side, and it fades within the first few tens of milliseconds of each press, so it reads as hollow rather than ringing. The MX Red takes have no such peak. Because the two switches share a spec, the case and plate are the likely source, not the Red itself. Keyslam's only filter on these takes is a 45 Hz high-pass, so the note stays as recorded.
41 seconds through a USB mic
IRF1010N uploaded this in August 2021: a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz mono WAV, 41 seconds long. Keyslam starts cutting 2 seconds in. Being mono, it has no left or right of its own; the spread you hear in the app comes from Keyslam panning each key to match its place on the keyboard.
The gaps between strokes are close to silent, so the takes end cleanly. Every regular-key band holds six takes, and six key-up takes cover the release. Space, Return and Delete have 2–4 per band. The soft and slam ends have fewer: a session this short gives the builder only so many of the dark, long-ringing strikes it reads as wide keys, even with this pack's recipe letting it set aside up to 26% of presses for them (the default is 14%). From soft to slam the peaks climb 14.0 dB, the 4th widest of the 15 packs. That's more than the 12.7 dB of the MX Red pack, so light and heavy typing sit further apart here.
Gateron Red vs Cherry MX Red and Gateron Yellow
Two linears to play against this one: Cherry's Red, built to the same spec, and Gateron's own Yellow.
- MX Red: Cherry's Red, the same nominal weight and travel, in a Corsair K95 recorded raw at 96 kHz. Brighter and plainer, with no boxy note under the press.
- Vintage Technics: Gateron's Yellow, the slightly heavier linear, here lubed and fitted with MX tops in an old Technics-branded board. At medium strength it is 30 dB down after 49 ms, where these Reds take 79 ms, so it stops sooner and sounds more muted.
| Pack | Type | Recorded by | Soft to slam | Audible length (medium) | Hear it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateron Red | Linear | IRF1010N | 14.0 dB | 79 ms | |
| MX Red | Linear | handygaber | 12.7 dB | 78 ms | |
| Vintage Technics | Linear, modded | zrrion | 13.2 dB | 49 ms |
Who it suits
Pick Gateron Red if you like a darker linear with some body behind each press, and you don't mind hearing the case as well as the switch. Its soft-to-slam range is the 4th widest of the 15 packs, so on a MacBook with force sensing a light touch and a hard one sound clearly apart.
Pick something else if the hollow note bothers you: MX Red is the brighter, plainer linear, and the Gateron Yellows in Vintage Technics are shorter and more muted.
Gateron Red: questions
Gateron Red vs Cherry MX Red: do they sound the same?
Not in these recordings. On paper the switches are close: both linear, about 45 g, 2 mm to actuation and 4 mm of travel. But these are different boards, recorded by different people, and the Gateron pack is darker, with a boxy note near 320 Hz that the Cherry pack doesn't have. From soft to slam the Gateron pack spans 14.0 dB and the Cherry pack 12.7 dB; at medium strength their takes stay within 30 dB of the peak for 79 ms and 78 ms.
What is the GMMK TKL in this recording?
The tenkeyless version of Glorious's GMMK: no number pad, and hot-swap sockets so the switches can be changed without soldering. The uploader names the board and the Gateron Red switches; keycaps, plate and mods aren't listed.
Why does this Gateron Red pack sound hollow?
Each press carries a short, pitched note in the low mids, near 320 Hz in our measurement of the takes. It fades within a few tens of milliseconds, which is why it sounds hollow rather than ringing. It's part of the recording, most likely from the board's case, and the pack keeps it.
What microphone was used?
The uploader lists a “TAWAPYZ USB Kit”, a USB microphone. The original is a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz mono WAV, 41 seconds long, uploaded in August 2021.
Keep exploring
Hear Gateron Red on every keystroke.
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