Clicky switch · sound test
Cherry MX Blue
sound test.
The loudest of the four, and the one everybody means when they say “mechanical keyboard.” Press any key below to hear a real Cherry MX Blue board, or type a full sentence — the rhythm is most of the effect.
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Press any key to start
What you are hearing
How a Blue
actually sounds.
A Blue makes two distinct noises, and that is the whole character of the switch. There is a sharp, high click on the way down, and a second, slightly thinner click on the way back up. Typing at speed produces an overlapping stream of them, which is why a room with one Blue board in it is impossible to ignore.
The click is also *separate* from hitting the bottom of the keypress. You get the click, then the plastic-on-plastic knock of bottoming out, and the two land close enough together to read as one busy sound. Compared with the other three, everything sits higher in pitch — there is very little low end to it.
The player above is loaded with Frost Click, this site's name for the Cherry MX Blue 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.
The click comes from a two-piece stem. A loose plastic collar rides on the slider, gets caught partway down, and is then released to snap against the housing. Because that collar is a separate part, it clicks again when it is pushed back up, which is where the second, lighter sound on release comes from. Nothing about the click is electrical — it exists purely to be heard and felt.
- Operating force
- 60 cN
- Pre-travel
- 2.2 mm
- Total travel
- 4 mm
- Feel
- Tactile bump plus an audible click
The honest version
Who a Blue
is really for.
Pick it if
- You want people to hear you typing, or you simply like the sound and work alone.
- You want unmistakable confirmation that a key registered without looking.
Skip it if
- You share an office, take calls, or record video — a Blue is the single fastest way to annoy other people.
- You type late at night in an apartment with thin walls.
- You hit keys hard; the click layered over a heavy bottom-out gets fatiguing after a few hours.
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
Blue 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 Blue
on your Mac?
This page only makes sound while the tab is focused. TypeLouder plays the same Cherry MX Blue 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
Blue
questions.
Is a Cherry MX Blue too loud for an office?
For a shared office, usually yes. It is the loudest of the common Cherry switches, the click sits in a frequency range that carries, and it fires twice per keystroke — once down, once up. If you like the sound but share a room, playing the recording through your own headphones gets you the sound without anyone else hearing it.
Do Cherry MX Blues click when you release the key as well?
Yes, and it is a good part of why they sound so busy. The click mechanism is a separate collar on the stem that snaps on the way down and again on the way back up. The upstroke click is lighter and higher than the downstroke, but at typing speed the two blur into one continuous stream.
What is the difference between a Cherry MX Blue and a Brown?
Both give you a bump you can feel partway through the press, but only the Blue adds the click mechanism that makes the noise. A Brown is the same idea with the volume turned down: same broad feel, far less sound, and lighter at 55 cN against the Blue's 60 cN.
Can I get this sound without buying a clicky keyboard?
Yes — that is what this page is playing. The recording here is the same audio TypeLouder plays on a Mac, so you can type on your existing quiet keyboard and hear a Blue on every keystroke, at whatever volume you choose, through your speakers or privately through headphones.
The audio on this page comes from a community-recorded sound pack of a Cherry MX Blue 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.