KeyslamElectro-capacitive · sound test
Topre sound test: an HHKB Professional Hybrid
An unmodded Happy Hacking Keyboard with 45 g Topre switches, recorded by grcekh on a Yeti Nano and released as CC0. Hear it in four strength bands, then put it next to Cherry MX.
Updated
Short answer: Topre sounds like a soft, low “thock” with a cushioned bottom-out and almost no high click. This pack is an unmodded HHKB Professional Hybrid with 45 g Topre switches, recorded by grcekh and released as CC0, cut into 30 takes.
HHKB 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 “thock thock” typed on Topre strikes from that band, then type below.
About this recording
- Keyboard
- HHKB Professional Hybrid, unmodded
- Switches
- Topre, 45 g
- Keycaps
- Stock (unmodded)
- Recorded by
- grcekh on Freesound
- Uploaded
- November 24, 2020
- Original file
- MP3, 48 kHz, stereo, 3:17
- Microphone
- Yeti Nano USB microphone
- License
- CC0 1.0 (public domain)
- In Keyslam
- 30 takes, 3 of them key-up
“Typing on an unmodded Happy Hacking Keyboard (HHKB) Professional Hybrid with topre switches (45g key weight).” — grcekh, on the Freesound page (checked November 2, 2026)
How a Topre switch works
A Topre switch is a rubber dome with a conical spring inside it. There are no metal contacts: the board senses the spring compressing as a change in capacitance, which is why Topre is called electro-capacitive. The dome gives a rounded bump at the top of the press, and the rubber softens the landing at the bottom.
Topre Corporation in Japan makes the switches. They're best known from the HHKB, a compact 60-key layout with Control where most keyboards put Caps Lock, and from Topre's own Realforce boards. If you want to know why this counts as “thocky”, see what makes a keyboard sound thocky or clacky.
Measured from the app's pack files
What the Topre (HHKB) 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 9.4 dB. How the bands are made.
| Band | Percentile of strikes | Regular-key takes | Space, Return, Delete | Median peak | Audible length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soft | 8th–30th | 6 | 0 | −15.3 dBFS | 55 ms |
| Medium | 38th–62nd | 6 | 1 | −9.2 dBFS | 63 ms |
| Hard | 70th–88th | 6 | 1 | −8.8 dBFS | 67 ms |
| Slam | 92nd–100th | 6 | 1 | −5.9 dBFS | 64 ms |
What this recording adds
grcekh typed 50-word tests on typings.gg for 3 minutes 17 seconds, with no post-production. The board is stock, so this is what an HHKB sounds like out of the box, picked up by a USB desk microphone rather than a studio setup. Space, Return and Delete have one take per band and no soft take: few of the strikes the slicer marked as wide keys passed its clean-take checks, so for soft those keys play the medium take turned down about 4 dB.
Silenced vs unsilenced Topre
Silenced Topre boards exist too, such as PFU's HHKB Type-S and Topre's silent Realforce models, with dampened switches that are quieter again. The uploader lists a standard Professional Hybrid, not a Type-S, so this is the unsilenced Topre sound.
Realforce sound
Realforce keyboards use the same Topre switch family, usually in larger cases and with other key weights. They sound closely related but not identical, because the case, plate and keycaps change the tone. Treat this pack as an HHKB, not a Realforce recording.
Topre vs Cherry MX
Hear the rubber dome against two Cherry switches, then against a board from the same recordist.
- MX Red: the linear Cherry switch, with a harder bottom-out and nothing to cushion it.
- MX Brown: the tactile Cherry switch, with a bump like Topre's but felt through plastic, and a sharper clack.
- WhiteFox: recorded by grcekh too, with the same microphone and the same typing test, so the board is the main difference.
Who it suits
Pick Topre for long writing sessions and anyone who wants a deep, soft sound instead of a click. It's also our first pick for slow ASMR keyboard sounds on a Mac.
Pick something else if you want a crisp, bright keystroke (MX Blue, Leopold) or the hard strike of a typewriter.
Topre (HHKB): questions
Is the HHKB in this recording modded?
No. The uploader calls it an unmodded HHKB Professional Hybrid with 45 g Topre switches, typed with no post-production.
Is Topre quieter than Cherry MX?
Usually lower in pitch and softer at the bottom, though a heavy typist can be loud on either. In Keyslam every pack plays at the same loudness (−28 LUFS for a standard typing passage), so the difference you hear is tone, not volume.
Why do Space, Return and Delete have fewer takes here?
The slicer drops takes that are clipped, cut short by the next keystroke or have another sound in their tail, and few of this recording's wide-key strikes passed. Those keys have one take per band and none for soft; for soft they reuse the medium take about 4 dB quieter. Letters and modifiers have six takes per band.
Keep exploring
Hear Topre (HHKB) on every keystroke.
$3.99 once after a 7-day free trial. On MacBooks with the motion sensor it follows how hard you type; on other Macs you pick the strength.