| Switch Type: | Tactile (Silent) |
| Mount Type: | PCB Mount |
| Travel Distance: | 2.0mm Actuation | 3.8mm Total |
| Force: | 50g Operating | 67g Bottom-out |
| Price: | £7.00 (10 pieces) on KeyCrox UK |
The Durock T1 Silent Shrimp is a silent tactile switch. It is the silent version of the Durock T1.
TL;DR
It’s a great switch for those looking for a relatively affordable silent tactile switch with a “p” like tactility just like the unsilenced Durock T1. It’s also slightly less mushy than the Gazzew Boba U4, but more pingy at stock.
It’s a top tier silent tactile switch! You don’t get many of those around at this price point. I’d say this is a pretty good buy.
Smoothness: 7/10
On-centre keypresses are decently smooth with very slight levels of scratchiness at very slow keypresses. However, at normal typing speeds, they feel very smooth.
Off-centre keypresses do show more levels of scratchiness at slower keypresses; this is especially apparent at very slow keypresses as some keystrokes become unpleasantly scratchy. Again though, these pretty much go away at normal typing speeds.
Overall, whilst it suffers from slower keypresses, it’s actually decently smooth all around… as long as you’re not a particularly slow typist that is.
Durock T1 Silent Shrimp switch disassembled.
Weighting: 9/10
According to Durock’s Amazon page, these switches actuate at 2.0mm with a bottom-out force of 67g at 3.8mm.
However, many sites will tell you slightly different things. For example, both switches.mx and Divinikey mentions a 4mm total travel. This isn’t a massive deal, but it’s good to remember that these are silent switches which usually have slightly less travel compared to their non-silent counterparts due to the silencing dampeners on the stem.
Durock T1 Silent Shrimp stem showing silencing dampeners.
In the real world, it has the “p” shaped tactility that the original T1 has. Although, since the total travel is slightly reduced, I bottomed-out more often. It also features the same ‘no pre-travel before the tactile event’ feel which I’ve come to like with many tactile switches. These are EXCELLENT!
Durock T1 Silent Shrimp force curve by bluepylons.
Overall, it’s not quite the perfect weighting for me, but I still love it just like with the original T1. Believe me, it’s a very close second compared to the Cherry MX Clear – another amazingly weighting tactile switch.
Sound: 7/10
In a very quiet room, the first thing I noticed was the pinging of the springs. It’s subtle, but audible enough that it may annoy some people. As for me? I didn’t mind it.
However, in a typical office environment with chatter, printers and other noises in the background, the pinging isn’t noticeable.
Note: The spring for the switch used for the spacebar has been swapped. It is using the spring from a Cherry MX Clear. Keep this in mind when listening to the typing demonstration.
Overall, it’s quieter and better sounding than a rubber dome. It’s a pleasant-sounding switch.
Typing Performance: 7/10
These switches have one fatal flaw – the switch installed in my spacebar kept getting stuck. This is due to a rather weak spring which wasn’t strong enough to lift the stem back up again; an issue the original T1 also had (with the Right Shift key that time). It’s disappointing that even after 1.5 years, Durock still hasn’t fixed this issue!
This was a big enough issue that had I replace the spring for the spacebar switch. I used the spring from the Cherry MX Clear to alleviate this issue. This is also sometimes an issue for other keys when typing very slowly, but the issue isn’t as severe. And for those who are going to ask, no… it’s not my stabilizers.
With all that said, the switches are relatively smooth, highly consistent, adequately tactile and excellently weighted. They also aren’t as mushy as the U4 which is a plus for me. Though, don’t expect it to feel like a traditional non-silenced switch either.
Overall, if only the issue with the spring was not present, it’d be an easy recommendation from me. Still, despite that it’s still a pretty well-rounded switch to type on.
Gaming Performance: 9/10
The combination of its relative smoothness, soft bottom-out feel and excellent weighting meant that this was extremely comfortable for gaming.
Additionally, I perceived a ‘sharper’ tactility compared to the Boba U4. The Shrimp’s tactility feels heavier which I slightly prefer. Although, even when trying them out side-by-side, they feel very similar.
These switches are also suited for both fast and slow-paced games as its dampening pads meant that it was extremely quiet in slow-paced games whilst providing adequate tactility in faster-paced games.
Overall, it’s an amazing switch for gaming. Just test out all the keys before gameplay to ensure there aren’t going to any sticking keys to annoy you.
Final Score = 39/50 (78%)
Places to purchase this switch:
KeyCrox | AliExpress | Amazon