Filco · Enthusiast and custom · sound
Filco Majestouch
sound test.
The board people used as the reference point for a decade, precisely because nobody tried to make it sound like anything. Press play on all four below.
Press play
What a Filco Majestouch
sounds like.
Each button plays a short phrase typed on that switch family, so you are comparing rhythm rather than a single tap. Play two in a row — that is where the difference actually shows up.
These are recordings of the switch family, not of this exact keyboard. That is the honest way to do it — the family is what dominates the sound, and switch options move between model years and regions. Check the listing before buying on the strength of a match here.
What you are hearing
How it
actually sounds.
The Majestouch is Cherry MX with no interpretation applied. There is no foam, no gasket, no damping, and no attempt to shape what comes out — the switch sits on a plate in a plain case and you hear both. For years this was the board reviewers compared everything else against, and it is still the cleanest baseline available.
That neutrality cuts both ways. The Blue is loud and unmistakable, and the undamped case lets it ring. The Black in particular is superb here: a heavy linear in a plain case produces a deep, deliberate knock with no ring to fight it. The Red and Brown sit where you would expect between the two.
Modern boards nearly all sound better than a Filco in the sense of sounding lower and fuller. Almost none of them sound more like the switch.
Why it sounds that way
The build
behind the noise.
Genuine Cherry MX on a steel plate in a plain plastic case with no internal fill, ABS keycaps on most versions, and no software of any kind. Filco has changed the design remarkably little over the years, which is much of its appeal — it is a build-quality-first keyboard from an era before damping became a default, and it is still made to the same standard.
- Switches
- Genuine Cherry MX
- Plate
- Steel
- Case
- Plain plastic, no fill
- Software
- None
Which one to pick
Choosing
the switch.
With nothing in the case to shape the sound, this is the most honest four-way switch comparison you can make on real hardware. The Black is the standout — a heavy linear in an undamped case is a genuinely lovely sound, and it is the configuration Filco owners recommend most often.
Same category
Other keyboards
in this category.
Or read the full round-up of 51 popular keyboards matched to a sound, and open the keyboard sound lab to play all eight packs on a keyboard you can type on.
By switch
Or shop
by switch.
If you already know which switch you are choosing between, the switch pages go deeper than any single keyboard page can — the same recordings with Cherry's published specifications, what the mechanism is actually doing, and who each one suits.
Take it with you
Want this sound
on your Mac?
This page only makes sound while the tab is focused. TypeLouder plays the same recordings 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
Filco Majestouch
questions.
Is a Filco Majestouch still worth buying?
For build quality and longevity, yes — these boards routinely outlast the computers attached to them. For sound, it is a generation behind: no foam and no gasket mount means it rings in a way modern boards do not. If you want a keyboard that will still work in fifteen years and you do not mind an undamped case, it remains a very good buy.
Why do people call the Filco a reference keyboard?
Because it adds nothing. No foam, no gasket, no tuning — just the switch, a steel plate, and a plain case. That makes it the closest thing to hearing a Cherry MX switch on its own, which is exactly what you want when comparing switches rather than keyboards. It became the default comparison point for that reason.
Does the Filco have software or RGB?
Neither, deliberately. There is no configuration software, no remapping, and no lighting on the standard models — it is a keyboard that does keyboard things and nothing else. For a lot of long-term owners that is the entire point, and it is why the design has barely changed in over a decade.
The audio on this page comes from community-recorded sound packs, used under the MIT licence. They are recordings of the switch family, not of a Filco Majestouch 2 specifically. All product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners; this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.