Linear switch · sound test
Cherry MX Black
sound test.
The heavy linear — the same smooth travel as a Red with a stiffer spring behind it, and the deepest, most muted sound of the four. Press any key to hear a real Cherry MX Black board.
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What you are hearing
How a Black
actually sounds.
A Black is the darkest sound of the set. Like the Red it has no click and no bump, so you are hearing the keystroke and nothing else, but the heavier spring changes the character of it: the bottom-out is fuller and lower, and the return is firmer and more audible.
It is also the most *even* of the four. There is no sharp attack anywhere in the press, which makes a fast typist on Blacks sound closer to a low, steady drum than to a stream of clicks. If you have seen someone describe a keyboard as sounding expensive, this end of the range is usually what they mean.
The player above is loaded with Midnight Thock, this site's name for the Cherry MX Black recording. Switch packs with the buttons and type the same sentence again — comparing two switches on identical text tells you far more than tapping one key on each.
Why it sounds that way
The mechanism
behind the noise.
Mechanically a Black is a Red with a stronger spring — a plain linear stem with no tactile bump and no clicking part. The extra force is the entire difference, and it changes the switch more than it sounds like it should: you press more deliberately, rest your fingers without triggering keys, and hit the bottom with more weight behind you.
- Operating force
- 60 cN
- Pre-travel
- 2 mm
- Total travel
- 4 mm
- Feel
- Linear — no bump, no click, heavy spring
The honest version
Who a Black
is really for.
Pick it if
- You are heavy-handed and keep actuating lighter switches by accident.
- You want the deepest, most muted sound available without dampening a board yourself.
- You rest your hands on the keyboard while thinking and want the extra resistance.
Skip it if
- You type long documents all day — 60 cN adds up over thousands of keystrokes, and this is the switch most likely to tire your hands.
- You want rapid repeated presses to feel effortless. A Red does that better.
Hear the others
Compare it
against the rest.
Or open the full keyboard sound lab to play all eight across an entire keyboard, and read the guide to getting these sounds on a Mac.
Head to head
Black against
the others.
Each page loads two recordings side by side, so you can type the same sentence on both and flip between them instantly.
Want to know whether the sound actually helps you type? Run a typing speed test with this switch playing on every keystroke.
Take it with you
Want a Black
on your Mac?
This page only makes sound while the tab is focused. TypeLouder plays the same Cherry MX Black recording system-wide — in your editor, your terminal, your email — on whatever keyboard you already own, through your speakers or privately through headphones.
It never reads or stores your keystrokes, and it has no network access at all.
Get TypeLouder — $2.99 one-timemacOS 15.5 or higher · No subscription
Good questions
Black
questions.
Are Cherry MX Blacks too heavy for typing?
It depends on how you type. At 60 cN they are the heaviest of the four common Cherry switches, and people with a light touch usually find them tiring over a long day. Heavy typists tend to prefer them, because the extra resistance stops the accidental presses that lighter linears invite.
Why does a Cherry MX Black sound deeper than a Red?
Same switch, stronger spring. The heavier spring means each press lands with more force and the key returns harder, which shifts the sound lower and gives it more body. Neither one has a click or a bump to add higher-pitched noise on top, so the difference in weight is most of what you hear.
Which switch is quietest overall?
Of these four, the Black and the Red are the least intrusive, because linears make one sound per press instead of two or three. The Black is the deepest and carries the least across a room, while a Blue is the loudest by a long way. For genuine silence you need dampened switches, not a different standard one.
Can I get this sound on a Mac?
Yes. This page plays the same recording TypeLouder uses, so a Mac can produce the deep linear thock on every keystroke of a keyboard that makes almost no sound of its own — including a MacBook's built-in one.
The audio on this page comes from a community-recorded sound pack of a Cherry MX Black board, used under the MIT licence. Cherry and Cherry MX are trademarks of their respective owner; this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.