We all love a good-sounding keyboard. But there’s a problem: many ergonomic keyboards don’t exactly sound great.
Why should our ears have to suffer just because our wrists are comfortable?
That was one of the challenges we wanted to tackle with the Dygma Sonsei. But getting a satisfying typing sound wasn’t as simple as stuffing the keyboard with foam, especially when the goal was also to make it thin, lightweight, and portable.
Why do some ergonomic keyboards sound hollow?
The first step was understanding why some keyboards sound so much better than others.
After taking apart some of our favorite-sounding keyboards, one thing quickly became clear: they’re packed with foam.
Many ergonomic keyboards, on the other hand, have little more than the PCB inside the case. And that makes a difference.
Every time you press a key, you’re not just hearing the switch itself. You’re also hearing vibrations traveling through the keyboard and sound resonating inside the case. That’s one of the reasons some keyboards can have a more hollow or rattly sound, while others feel and sound much more solid.
To reduce the hollow sound in the Sonsei, we added a layer of soft Poron foam to the bottom of the case, precisely cut to fill as much of the empty space as possible.
But that was only the beginning.
There’s also a thin 0.5 mm PE foam layer on top of the PCB and another 1 mm layer of denser Poron between the PCB and the top plate.
These layers help reduce structure-borne sound — in other words, vibrations traveling through the keyboard.
The gasket-mount dilemma
Foam isn’t the only thing that affects how a keyboard sounds. Another important factor is how the keyboard is mounted together.
In many keyboards, the plate or PCB is rigidly attached to the case. This means vibrations from every keystroke can travel directly into the housing and affect the resulting sound.
One common way to reduce this is with a gasket mount.
Instead of rigidly attaching the plate to the case, gasket-mounted keyboards support it with soft materials such as silicone, rubber, or foam. This helps isolate the assembly from the housing and can make the typing experience feel and sound less harsh.
But there was a problem.
The Sonsei isn’t just an ergonomic keyboard. It was designed to be a travel keyboard: thin enough to sit on top of a laptop and comfortable enough to use without a wrist rest.
The gasket-mount designs we explored would have made the keyboard thicker than intended.
So there were two options: make the keyboard thicker to accommodate a gasket mount, or find another way to achieve the desired sound.
We chose the second option.
Instead of using a gasket mount, the Sonsei uses a top-mounted design combined with carefully selected layers of foam to help control vibrations and resonance.
The team also ensured there were no unnecessary fitment tolerances and that the switches sat tightly in place to reduce unwanted vibrations.
Is it exactly the same as a gasket mount? No. But it allowed the Sonsei to remain extremely thin without giving up the sound we were aiming for.
Switches make a huge difference
You can have the most carefully engineered case in the world, but if your switches sound terrible, you still have a very expensive box full of terrible-sounding switches.
This is particularly challenging with low-profile ergonomic keyboards.
Many of them use Kailh Choc V1 switches. They’re compact, which makes them useful for keeping keyboards thin, but we found it harder to achieve the deeper, more satisfying sound we were looking for with them.
For the Sonsei, we chose Gateron KS-33 2.0 switches from the POM series.
Besides their sound profile, these switches also auto-lubricate as they’re used.
But switches are only part of the equation.
Keycaps also change how a keyboard sounds
Even a small piece of plastic can make a surprisingly big difference to the sound of a keyboard.
A keycap’s material, thickness, and shape all influence the final result.
Many ultra-low-profile ergonomic keyboards use extremely thin keycaps, such as Tai-Hao Thins. They’re useful for keeping a keyboard as low as possible, but they produce a different sound from keycaps with a more traditional shape.
For the Sonsei, we chose DSA low-profile, double-shot PBT keycaps.
They’re still slim, but their construction helps achieve the typing sound and feel the team was looking for.
At this point, all the main pieces were in place: the foam layers, mounting system, switches, and keycaps.
How does the Dygma Sonsei actually sound?
A sound test on its own doesn’t tell you much, so the Sonsei was compared with one of our favorite-sounding low-profile keyboards: the Lofree Flow.
It was also compared with other low-profile ergonomic keyboards.
Of course, sound is subjective. Some people prefer a deep, muted sound, while others enjoy a sharper and more pronounced click or clack.
There’s nothing wrong with either preference.
The goal with the Sonsei was to create a keyboard that sounded full and satisfying without being loud or hollow.
What if we hadn’t cared about sound?
There was one final experiment worth trying.
What would the Sonsei have sounded like if it had been designed more like a typical ultra-low-profile ergonomic keyboard?
That meant removing the sound-damping layers, using Choc V1 switches, and pairing them with ultra-thin keycaps.
In other words: what if sound hadn’t been part of the design process at all?
The result showed just how much the combination of materials, switches, keycaps, and acoustic treatment can change a keyboard's character.
So, did we make the best-sounding ergonomic keyboard?
That’s ultimately for each person to decide.
But one thing became clear during the development of the Sonsei: you don’t necessarily need a thick, heavy keyboard to get a satisfying typing sound.
You need the right combination of materials, switches, keycaps, mounting choices, and attention to detail.
And maybe a little more foam than you’d expect.
How does the Sonsei compare to your favorite-sounding keyboard?
Join the discussion on Reddit or Discord and share your thoughts.
See you there 💜
