Clicky vs Linear · sound comparison
Blue vs Black
sound test.
The brightest sound in the lineup against the darkest. Same 60 cN spring weight, opposite personalities: one snaps and sings at the top of the range, the other lands low and heavy. Type the same sentence on both and hear the whole spectrum.
Now playing
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Type a sentence on A, then flip to B and type it again
What to listen for
The difference
you'll hear.
These two share a spring weight and nothing else. The Blue splits every keystroke into a sharp click down, a lighter click up, and the knock of bottoming out — busy, bright, and high-pitched. The Black is a heavy linear: one deep, full thock per press, with no click and no bump anywhere in the travel.
Because both take 60 cN to press, the force of typing is identical — what changes is where the sound goes. The Blue pushes everything upward into the clicky range that carries across rooms; the Black pushes it down into a low knock that stays near the desk. They are the treble and bass of the same keyboard.
The player above is loaded with Frost Click (Cherry MX Blue) and Midnight Thock (Cherry MX Black), this site's names for the two recordings. Comparing both on the same typed sentence tells you far more than tapping one key on each.
On paper
Side
by side.
| Cherry MX Blue | Cherry MX Black | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Clicky | Linear |
| Feel | Tactile bump plus an audible click | Linear — no bump, no click, heavy spring |
| Operating force | 60 cN | 60 cN |
| Pre-travel | 2.2 mm | 2 mm |
| Total travel | 4 mm | 4 mm |
| Hear it alone | Blue sound test | Black sound test |
The honest version
Which one
is for you?
Pick the Blue if
- You want typing to sound like typing — bright, busy, and unmistakable.
- You work alone, or with people who genuinely do not mind the click.
Pick the Black if
- You want weight and resistance without any of the noise reaching other people.
- You like the deep, muted, expensive-sounding thock rather than a click.
- You are heavy-handed and want a switch that pushes back.
Since the effort is the same, this is purely a question of taste in sound and feel. The Blue turns every keystroke into an announcement; the Black turns it into a quiet, weighty landing. If you cannot decide, type a full paragraph on each recording above — almost nobody stays undecided after that.
Keep comparing
Other
match-ups.
Or open the full keyboard sound lab to play all eight packs, race the clock in the typing speed test, and read the full four-way switch comparison.
Take them with you
Both switches,
on your Mac.
This page only makes sound while the tab is focused. TypeLouder plays the same Cherry MX Blue and Cherry MX Black recordings system-wide — in your editor, your terminal, your email — on whatever keyboard you already own, so you can live with each sound for a day before buying any hardware.
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 vs Black
questions.
Cherry MX Blue and Black both need 60 cN — do they feel the same?
No. The number is the same but the journey is different: the Blue has a tactile collar you push past, which then snaps to make the click, so the press has a distinct event in the middle. The Black is smooth from top to bottom with the resistance spread evenly across the travel. Same weight, very different keystroke.
Which is quieter, Cherry MX Blue or Black?
The Black, decisively. It produces one low-pitched sound per keystroke while the Blue produces three, two of them in a bright range that carries. Of the four common Cherry switches, these are the loudest and the most muted — which is exactly why they make a useful side-by-side.
Is the Cherry MX Black good for typing all day?
Only if you have a firm touch. At 60 cN, pressing thousands of keys adds up, and light typists usually find Blacks tiring by the afternoon. Heavy typists often love them for the same reason — the spring absorbs the force they were already applying. The Blue has the same weight plus the click to listen to on every one of those presses.
Can I hear these on my own keyboard before choosing?
Yes — type on either recording above, then flip to the other. TypeLouder plays the same audio system-wide on a Mac, so the keyboard you already own can sound like a bright clicky board or a deep heavy linear, and you can change your mind daily.
The audio on this page comes from community-recorded sound packs of Cherry MX Blue and Cherry MX Black boards, 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.