Duhuk Lumia Matcha V4 Pro: Review by Vere

Volume	Slightly quieter for a long pole, but still louder than your average full travel switch.
Pitch	Medium to Low Pitch, depending on your setup, this switch can sound moderate, or deep and quiet.
Sound Profile	Due to the softer materials used, the sound profile sounds very subdued and deep. The LY sound profile is noticeable but it isn't thin like some of BSUN's releases. It is strangely full but the tone itself is muted, it has a weird likeness to the MX Black without any scratch.
Stock	There is a consistent but light coating of an oil based lubricant over the stem and somewhat on the leaf, it is slightly thin and there is an extremely small amount of leaf tick which isn't too noticeable. The materials being soft also leads to a minor amount of wobble in all directions, but is still solid. No spring ping to be found.
Design	This switch also happens to use a proprietary lubricant alongside the proprietary stem from DuPont, Duhuk Lumia have also designed this switch together with Grain Gold to create a high performance switch that sets itself apart from the current market.
Other	A competitive budget option for a switch with a deeper clack and extremely smooth travel.

 

Stock Experience:

The Duhuk Matcha V4 has a light coating of their proprietary oil based lubricant over the stem rails and legs. The oil also happens to be on the bottom housing leaf in smaller amounts and over the spring.

(Good coverage in small amounts)

The lubricant used is called Duhuk DU-01 which seems likely to be a product of their collaboration with DuPont, which is a chemicals company responsible for producing all sorts of products and plastics, and even inventing a lot of plastics we use today.

It is certainly effective but some of the switches seem like they may need more lubricant as a small number of my batch had leaf tick or a slight plasticky noise due to under-lubing.

(Not bad, but some of them had less than this)

Would I re-lube them? Only the ones that have ticking noises or don't sound right, most of my batch was fine and performed excellently. (Around 3 out of 70)

 

Who is DuPont?:

DuPont de Nemours, Inc. which is usually shortened to just DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. 

Long story short, they developed many chemicals for the industry and grew into the one of the largest producers of chemicals and science-based products.

So what's their relevance in the keyboard hobby? Well they actually produce plenty of things important to the hobby such as lubricants and various plastics that can be used for switches. After all, the creators of plastics such as Kevlar(PA), and Teflon(PTFE) were working under DuPont at the time of their inception.

With their extensive history of over 200 years, they aren't exactly a company to underestimate when it comes to plastics.

 

Grain Gold's participation:

Due to rumors about Grain Gold being the manufacturer for these switches, Duhuk Lumia went out of their way to explain that they produced these switches themselves at their own facility with the help of Grain Gold.

There are certainly key points that leads to Grain Gold playing a part in the creation of these switches.

First, the molds are very similar to some of Grain Gold's recent releases in switches. Perhaps they collaborated on creating a new mold with their assistance.

 

(Extremely similar, noted by the identical deep imprints in four corners)

(Bottom housing shares same branding with only a different code number)

Second, the Duhuk Matcha V4 also happens to make use of an E-coated spring in a deep green coloration. This e-coating technique was also used by Grain Gold for their Dreamland and Dark Warrior switches, those colors being chroma and black respectively.

 

Lastly, it would be odd for them to suddenly cut ties with them as they were the ones who manufactured their previous switches. So it makes sense that they were working together with them, or if Grain Gold had an influence on the overall result of the switch.

 

Cracking the code of the stem:

The proprietary stem used in the Duhuk Matcha V4 is a material code named as DuPont TC308. This doesn't give us much info besides the information provided by Dashan. He also isn't privy to what the material actually is since it seems to be a DuPont original.

The main takeaway is that the material itself is smooth and is slightly softer, which doesn't really narrow it down, however, thanks to the excellent smoothness of this switch and the lack of stick slip, we can infer that it is different enough from LY.

I tried looking into the codes used by DuPont and can take an inferred guess that TC stands for Thermally Conductive, which is taken from other DuPont plastics that use a similar code name.

For example, POM has a thermal conductivity of 0.31 W/K.m. Polyethylene at even higher density(UHMWPE) happens to be at 0.41 W/K.m, both of which are considered extremely low in terms of thermal conductivity.

There is a good chance that this proprietary stem is completely unlike standard plastics that is used for switches, so we can take out most polyethylene and nylons out of the picture.

It's just a wild guess from me, but it is probably going to be a polymer with a very different composition than Nylon or POM (both are polymers so don't get confused). At the very least, it does make this switch perform decently.

 

Short note on the spring:

As mentioned above, the Duhuk Matcha V4 has an E-coating over the springs in a dark green coloration. 

I cannot exactly confirm if this has any effect on the durability or preventing spring ping, but my batch of switches had no spring ping whatsoever.

Another thing I'd like to mention regarding the springs is that they feel extremely good to type on. Normally dual stage springs feel much heavier to actuate due to the additional spring, but these actually create a pleasant cushioning feeling even at 63.5g weight and are snappy enough that I have no complaints when typing harshly.

 

Overall Design:

I think that these switches perform well for the type of switch they are. Deeper toned with a muted clack, these fit into BSUN's group of sound profile and have an extremely good stock experience that beats some of BSUN's releases.

(Reminds me of quieter BSUNs)

Normally, full LY housing switches sound slightly thin, but these switches are capable of producing a more solid sound despite all the soft material.

The LY housing leads to a lower volume, but the TC308 stem keeps the tonality of the switch closer to a more resonant tone. I am really surprised by this material.

With the decently effective lubricant, and high quality spring, I have few qualms regarding the performance of these switches. 

 

Smoothness: Phenomenal

With the LY housing, these switches are incredibly smooth and the TC308 stem also seems to be smooth on its own as well.

The very light amounts of lubricant seem to be enough for these switches to rival BSUN and HMX, though maybe the switch doesn't even need lubricant in the first place.

Again, we're reaching the point where smoothness can't get much better.

 

Sound Profile:

It is somewhat difficult to describe these switches in terms of sound, the best way I can describe them is slightly marble-like and subdued from the LY, and a bit of firmness from the stem. For some reason, their overall sound also sounds similar to the poppy sound of MX Blacks without the scratch.

Marble-like or marble-y sounds refer to when switches have mostly mid tones that are similar to the sound effect of PE foam.

Subdued is the word I would use rather than muted, as these still sound livelier than pure UPE or Ink based material.

If these switches had a super soft stem as well, I would be expecting a muddier sound, but there is a hint of solidity in the tone which makes it stand out to the ear.

It is a quieter long pole for sure, but it'll be a better option than the likes of the WS Morandi or Gateron Ink in terms of sound personality.

 

 

Direct Comparison to other linears:

Aflion Invokeys Matcha Latte v1 (PC/PA66/POM Stem) 3.5mm Travel

• These switches only share the same travel and no other similarities. (Deeper clack sound profile)
• They share a similar volume.
• The Matcha V4 has a slightly better stock form. (Less tick/ping)
• The Matcha V4 is slightly higher pitched.
• The Matcha V4 has slightly more wobble in all directions (Great Control)
• The Matcha V4 is slightly smoother stock.

Grain Gold Bubble Gum (POM+PTFE/PA66/POM+SL Stem) 3.5mm Travel

• These switches have slightly similar top housing composition but share no other similarities besides travel. (Deeper clack sound profile)
• The Bubble Gum is louder than the Matcha V4
• The Matcha V4 has a slightly better stock form (Less tick)
• The Bubble Gum is slightly higher pitched.
• The Bubble Gum has slightly more N/S wobble. (Great Control)
• They have similar smoothness stock.

MMD Vivian (BSUN) (PA12/Mod. PUM/Mod. UPE Stem) 3.6mm Travel

• These switches share no similar materials and are slightly different travel. (Deep and muted sound profile)
• The MMD Vivian is much louder than the Matcha V4
• The Matcha V4 has a slightly better stock form (Less tick)
• They share a similar pitch.
• The MMD Vivian has slightly more N/S wobble (Great Control)
• They have similar smoothness stock.

 

Flaws:

Going over the flaws of this switch, there's not too much to worry about.

First off, the stock form is near perfect with the exception of a few switches in my batch, and that is the result is slightly less lubricant in those switches, which can easily be fixed. It isn't a noticeable amount of ticking, and the leaf itself isn't flawed.

Besides that, the minor amount of stem wobble can be attributed to the overall soft material composition.

Overall, more solid than some competitors in this range.

 

Personal Build Recommendations: (Preference/Opinion Based)

My first options to test these switches were plastic plates like Nylon, PP, and PC.

Overall I felt like they do well with some of the poppier plastic plates like PP, and probably POM. It is definitely a bit quiet on Polycarbonate.

I think Carbon Fiber/Aluminum would also sound quite nice if you didn't want it to be too quiet, but then you would be better off using louder switches in the first place.

There isn't much scratch or anything like a plasticky sound, but since they are a bit marble-y, foam builds would also synergize well.

I think if you were to use these switches, you either go no foam on something like PP or POM, or use some foam with other plates.

 

Closing Summary:

Regarding these switches, they were definitely unexpected for me. Whether it's the sound profile or overall feeling.

For $0.36 per switch, Duhuk Lumia makes its first self-manufactured switch on the market and it's no slouch in performance.

It has a quiet and deeper tone that isn't completely dead, it has its own personality and is able to fill out a niche with a subdued and solid sound profile with a unique material.

A very competitive stock form that can keep up with other manufacturers without breaking the bank.

If you were looking for an interesting switch on the quieter side that requires very little effort for high quality performance, then the Duhuk Matcha V4 will be a refreshing experience. Newcomers and enthusiasts alike will be able to enjoy this switch.

 

Final Scoring: 8.4/10