Norbauer Heavy Grail

Thoughts:
Love the way this looks, really nice and classy. I also love how the stock HHKB look, but this is just different and pretty lol. Even with stock caps I think this slaps, I have no reason to change anything. Comfy board front height and angle, no real complaints there, although I might have a slight preference to the typing angle of the HHKB. Of course though this wasn't bought for it's looks.

I will say right off the bat, I prefer the feel of a stock Pro3 or Pro2 over this board, but no aftermarket case or mods have really done what stock can accomplish. There's something about the organic, bubbly and poppy crispness of a stock HHKB that I just don't think is really captured in any other Topre board or aftermarket case mod. That being said, this is the best case so far, it retains most of the feel of the HHKB but does deviate in a few ways. First thing you'll notice is a feeling of slightly reduced travel but more just a stiffer bottom out, it's not as bouncy feeling because of that (though the usage of bouncy differs vs describing a leafspring board), it feels a slight bit less tactile and more linear, maybe slightly a bit more clean but not in a way that I personally prefer (the spacebar is actually a bit uncomfortable due to this stiff bottom out in comparison). The second difference is that tolerances are tighter, there's a slight bit less vertical travel and horizontal wobble, this makes it feel a bit more taught and smooth than a new stock HHKB (not a worn one though), but less snappy and tactile vs stock. This almost leads it to feel and sound like a bit of a middleground between an unsilenced and a Type S being not as muted and dampened with reduced travel as a Type S but not as lively and snappy as a normal one. I might try and lower the pcb by a slight bit to give the domes more room to see if that changes anything but I'm fine with it for the time being. Wobble isn't as noticeable but isn't that airtight slight scratch feel of the Type S. Overall this to me feels more like a sidegrade to an HHKB, almost a middleground between a Type S, Realforce, and HHKB. It's a neat place to be, but at the same time not fully capitalizing on any of the advantages of the aforementioned. I do think it sounds a lot cooler (at least I like it), and looks sick, so that could be enough to sway some alone lol. If I do have one gripe, it's that there's some slight scratchiness and squeakiness from the plate, that has subsided from use, but would've liked to see that not be an issue out of the box, but since it's going away with break in I can let it pass lol. If you care about having ultimate feel over everything else, go grab a Pro2 or Pro3 stock unsilenced, but if you want to trade a bit of that true feel focus for better sound, build, and maybe better looks, this is the most balanced aftermarket Topre experience I've had (comparing to housings from Sho and Noxary, and some EC conversions). HHKB best Topre, if you want to change my mind, sell me a good old Realforce TKL plz thx

For the build itself, yes I could've lubed and silenced it, but I don't like the feel of silencing rings (and I honestly enjoy the sound without as well), and I don't also like the feel of lubed either although I'd prefer that to silencing rings, if you want that silenced sort of sound you could get that with just lubing on this board. I went with older Pro2 domes for increased tactility and snappiness, but not old enough to become fatiguing or too binary feeling, just right (for now lol). Pro3 Hybrid pcb for bluetooth is actually something I use on my phone lol. I do think that the stock Pro3 HHKB caps are basically the best you can get so no need to mess around with that and put inferior sliders and such, need to keep breaking these in though.

Build:
Norbauer Heavy Grail - Aerospace
ABS Integrated Plate Poron Gasket Mount
Aged Pro2 Domes
Stock Pro3 Caps & PCB
No Lube :3

Equipment:
Neumann U87i (Thiersch Reskin) → Crane Song Flamingo.1 → Prism Lyra 2 OR Beyerdynamic M160 → Flamingo → Lyra 2, OR Nikon D5500
Head level, from seating position, on axis centered alphas, cardioid/hyper pattern. U87 partially coupled to desk, M160 directly coupled.
Max -1db peak (excluding camera), no further processing (1176 not in use)
The U87i is fairly honest with slight sweetness and grandness (unlike brittle Ai rev), reskin and mods add some clarity and slight treble boost at cost of smoothness, close to what you hear typing in person but slightly thinner and more sensitive (to my ear). The M160 is less capable, smoother, darker, and slower opposite reference that shows more desk interaction, not as accurate. Crappy cam mic for bystander and honesty check.

Crappy IKEA slab into acoustic membrane on concrete (slightly hollow and thinner sounding, weighted down with heavy equipment which dampens a bit, isolated from floor)
Aiglatson Studio Synchronize Jacquard (thicker and slightly stiffer, partially isolates from desk)