HMX Su Colors: Rant by Vere

Volume	Quieter than almost every HMX switch I've tried besides Snow Crash, slightly below average for long pole but still louder than rail bottom-out switches.
Pitch	Medium to Medium-Low pitch, this switch has a very muddy sound profile that is not sharp at all. Definitely subdued and quieter than other HMX.
Sound Profile	Regarding the sound profile, I can only describe it as muddy due to the sound almost being distorted by a filter. It has no sharpness but still retains HMX's slight pop. With its medium tone and subdued nature, these are extremely soothing for a long pole. They aren't too deep by themselves, but can become much deeper with specific configurations.
Stock	Regarding smoothness, these switches definitely perform well among HMX switches, but there are some issues regarding leaf tick and spring crunch that I will go over later. It isn't overpowering like other poorly performing switches, but it is noticeable. Recent HMX switches have not been reassuring in this matter.
Design	Interesting pairing of PA12 housing with the newest T series material. On top of that, future runs may include different color variants.
Other	I believe it is the first switch with a full PA12 housing.

 

Stock Experience:

The HMX Su Color has HMX's standard mix of 205g0 and 105 oil over the leaf, stem legs, sliders, and bottom housing rails. There is dry film lube used over the spring.

 

(Usual coating of the 205 + 105 mix)

(Definitely covering the stem legs as well)

This isn't anything new right? Rather, this has been used continuously for a while ever since the syringe effect was a concern for consumers, and HMX has since updated their molds and reduced their pre-lube to prevent any similar issues.

After testing the Su Colors for a while, I continued to hear the constant leaf tick that HMX has been plagued with for a while and simply accepted it as a permanent resident. Adding more lube doesn't fix the issue, and the leaf is already lathered in a large amount of lubricant. However, I heard another sharp and dissonant sound coming from the switches which I haven't really heard from HMX that often.

(Yeah that's already a lot of lube on the leaf)

At first I thought it was just more leaf tick, but then I disassembled the switches and tested everything on the inside to figure out the issue, and I discovered it was coming from the ends of the spring where the coils are most condensed. The sound that was heard wasn't exactly crunch, but the coils were scraping against the stem pole and center post on the bottom housing.

To clarify, spring ping occurs when the spring compresses or decompresses, and the coils recoil and create a metallic resonation that sounds like someone flicked an out-of-tune string on a guitar or something.

Spring crunch occurs when the spring compresses and the coils directly hit the other coils on the way down and creates a terrible crunching sound of metal on metal contact.

The sound that the HMX switches were making weren't exactly either of these, but the ends of the coils were scraping against the stem and post, which caused an irritable scratching sound during travel. (Not the good kind of scratch either)

Why would the springs make this sound? I could only assume that their dry film lube is insufficient where the coils are the most condensed on the spring, as the spring body doesn't seem to ping or crunch. There are also concerns I have regarding consistency on the springs, as some HMX springs are oddly different despite the same length and relatively same weight. 

(Hyacinth v2 original, Snow Crash, Su Color, why is Su Color's spring randomly thicker on the coils while almost having the same weight? This would cause much more crunching or scraping at the ends.)

Other manufacturers may use thicker greases or oils on the spring to better cover each part of the spring, but the only downside or flaw is that some of the lube may enter the center post after a long time.

Sounds familiar right? In the past, HMX used to add a slight amount of lubrication to the stem pole of their switches, I can confirm since I still own a handful of the first batch of Macchiatos, Hyacinth v2s, and Xinhai. However, this seemed to worsen the syringe effect that some people suffered from in their batches.

I have no idea if HMX was using the same dry film method from back then, but the batches these days definitely have a reduced amount of lubricant compared to the past with more reports of noisy springs.

 

My main hypotheses on why this seems be more common now is as follows.

1. The extremely long spring at 22mm is always compressed whilst inside the housing, which means the coils are always pressed against the stem pole and center post tightly. This means that when you actuate the switch, especially at an angle, it'll cause the coils to move at an angle as well which will cause the scraping.

2. HMX reduced the total amount of lubricant used, and also reduced the lubricant on the stem pole if any, to try and minimize flaws arising due to pre-lube. (A thicker grease or oil on the springs would quickly solve the issue though)

3. HMX's spring source may have a large inconsistency of quality among batches. (I don't know how much it costs, but there's probably a good reason why HMX can keep things so cheap)

After applying lubricant to the noisy springs, it was able to clean up the sound immensely, so much so that I can very clearly hear the leaf ticking instead.

I've been talking to Dashan a lot about why the leaf tick is also appearing more, and he did mention to me that HMX switched their leaf provider once in the past. This makes a lot of sense to me as the first few batches of HMX switches in the past barely suffered from crap sounds if any. Unfortunately it seems that HMX remains consistently inconsistent as they continue to pump out releases.

Spreading the lube doesn't change much, and after typing on these switches for about a week, I can say that there have been no improvements to the leaf tick.

 

Would I re-lube them? Yes, unfortunately I would recommend adding a stronger lubricant to the springs, either using Krytox 205g0 on the coils, or gathering the springs as a whole and bag lubing using GPL 105 oil to get a better spread.

 

Short breakdown on PA12 vs other Nylons:

If some of you may read my very first review on the BSUN Bunny, you may have read that the number after the PA code refers to the polymer's formula.

PA12 means that it is made up of monomers with 12 carbon atoms, PA66 is actually PA6-6 which means that it has two monomers of 6 carbon atoms instead. Does more mean stronger? Not really, what matters most is what exactly those monomers are made up of. I'm not an expert in the field so I'll go over the simple answer, PA12 is made up of monomers that make it denser than other nylons, it also has less impact strength compared to PA6 or PA66.

More density often means more mass, which means that it is more effective at absorbing sound frequencies rather than allowing sound frequencies to pass through the material. On top of having less impact strength, we can expect PA12 to produce less volume and have less high frequencies travel through.

 

The many T series material:

If you've been following HMX for some time, you probably know about the T materials used in their "thocky" switches. From T2, T3, T4, and now T5, HMX has been testing all kinds of stuff in order to create their ideal deeper switch.

The Su Color utilizes the most recent T5 stem, and I can definitely describe these switches as having a deeper and less sharp sound profile.

The T series first started with the Canglan v2, which I described as less sharp, but still bright compared to other long poles. Several other switches released since then like the Eva, Gachapon, Hibiscus, etc. Most of those switches are definitely subdued or duller, however they still retain some of HMX's sharpness.

Perhaps it is the combination of T5 and PA12 which causes these switches to be so soft, they still have the bottom out of an average long pole but it is distinct from HMX's bottom out. 

They mentioned T2 was originally a blend of POM, LY, and P3, but if we break those materials down, it actually means that the T series uses a lot of UHMWPE and PTFE material, both of which will produce a thinner and duller sound profile in large amounts. 

Are the Su Colors thin and dull? Not at all, I can't confidently call them full as there are quite a lot of low notes, but I can say its closer to being rounded as a long pole.

 

Small rant on HMX (Skip ahead if you don't care):

First off, I want to preface this by saying that I enjoy HMX switches and I am not writing this portion out of spite. In fact, its more of a criticism filled with my frustration since HMX is certainly capable of producing even better results if they were to concentrate on fixing the minor quirks rather than just pump out new releases.

Let's go over the major consistent crap sound that a lot of HMX releases have been plagued with: Actuation Leaf Tick

This sound exists in almost every new batch of HMX switches I try, I've even gone back to double check my older HMX switches like the Clouds and Canglans, and it turns out it was there too. Not only that, but applying more lubricant doesn't deal with the problem, it still makes a slight scraping noise when you actuate because of the leaf itself.

Someone might say that every switch makes that sound, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. You can hear leaf tick in a lot of switches when stock because there isn't enough lubricant applied. HMX has a strong pre-lube that properly covers most areas (besides springs it seems), and a lot of other manufacturers barring Gateron are unable to compete.

Let's take Cherry for example, their pre-lubing is often way too much, or way too little, but at least their leaf doesn't tick when lubed properly, same for many other manufacturers out there. 

If we look elsewhere, what about tactiles from other manufacturers? Stuff from KTT, Gateron, Tecsee, Aflion, etc, tactiles are more prone to crap sounds due to the tactile event causing much more contact and collision with the leaf, yet these manufacturers can produce switches with normal sounding leaf springs. (WHEN LUBED OBVIOUSLY)

HMX has continued to pump out countless linear switches when this leaf tick has been around since... the Canglan? Sure you could say that HMX is good at producing high-quality "budget" switches, but that was back in 2023, and the average market price for most switches these days is anywhere from $0.30 to $0.50 now. 

The main issue I have is, why are they ignoring this kind of issue in QC? 

Though I don't want to say it out loud, other manufacturers don't really have these types of issues regarding leaf tick or spring noises anymore. They either have better leafs or they are better at taking care of crap sounds by applying lubricant more effectively.

Take a look at Keygeek, they are releasing switches at the same price or cheaper than HMX whilst not suffering from the same leaf tick or spring issue. They previously used to sell their switches strictly above $0.50 while having tons of QC issues. Even though HMX has released at least twice the amount of switches Keygeek has, Keygeek has taken a step back to completely change up their game, cleaning up their major flaws and producing fantastic switches that absolutely hit.

HMX switches don't tick as loudly as JWK but they definitely tick as often now. Besides the leaf and spring issue, the only thing HMX has going for it is great smoothness, but most manufacturers are able to produce smooth switches. Following up on this, there's no way HMX will be able to produce great tactiles when their linears are like this. Tactile switches are even harder to make satisfactory when stock due to being more prone to crap sounds compared to linears. 

On a side note, my current switch goal is to use themed switches from strictly different manufacturers in all of my endgame builds, I've been testing dozens of switches from all around and I can definitely say that HMX is currently lacking when it comes to endgame performance. They sound "great" stock, but you can't make that "great" into "amazing" or "perfect".

A majority of the other manufacturers that I've chosen have a few hidden gem switches that (when hand-lubed or modified) perform much better than HMX when in their peak state. Nowadays people obviously want a good out-of-the-box experience, but other manufacturer's stock experience is only getting better, whilst HMX is getting nowhere. 

TL;DR: HMX isn't improving their stock standard, meanwhile their new releases don't exactly change up their game. There are fundamental flaws, but they seem to be passing through QC and are ignored it seems, or perhaps the sharpness of HMX is hiding the issues underneath. As other manufacturers learned from HMX's initial example and prowess, they have stepped up their quality and improved themselves, yet HMX is stagnating.

"But those HMX switches sound amazing on sound tests!" 

Allow me reiterate the magic words: DO NOT take sound tests seriously as they do not perfectly reflect reality and the sound you will hear in person, especially since everyone's configuration is different and sound tests are often configured to give off the best sound impression.

This is my genuine personal opinion, so feel free to disagree and pick a fight with me.

 

Overall Design:

I am still a big fan of these switches for being different from what I am used to for HMX, of course there are still a few HMX switches I have never touched but I've been testing HMX since the release of the Macchiato last year.

PA12 is most often used as a top housing material for HMX's brighter and clackier options because it helps consolidate the crisp bottom out. However, WJBY decided to use it for the entire housing to help produce more soothing notes overall.

With the T5 stem producing a muddy and subdued sound whilst also being incredibly smooth, these switches just make me feel comfortable typing on them.

These days my preferences for sounds have become rounded out, and I'm somewhat burnt out on overly crisp and extremely clacky switches. Especially when you have to take into consideration the volume levels that might disturb others around you, or perhaps even your family.

Unfortunately there is a major caveat to creating switches like these: transient noise becomes much harder to hide.

For a lot of other HMX switches, they make so much noise and are sharp enough to mask the leaf tick or spring scraping that occurs during typing, enough that it isn't really an issue. However, these switches and their quieter tone are what helped me learn about the hidden underlying issues with HMX's stock experience.

This isn't at all WJBY's fault though, he was able to create a truly pleasant HMX switch that is now my personal favorite HMX switch of all, the issue lies in the slightly lacking stock quality.

As someone who still appreciates HMX, I just wish for them to find the right method and sources to create their flawless switches that they were able to release in the past.

 

Smoothness: Phenomenal

With the T5 material these are definitely among the smoothest HMX.

They didn't use P3 or P4 in the housing, but the T material makes up for that when combined with the PA12 housing.

I often say how smoothness doesn't matter as much these days, and this is a good thing as switches become smoother and smoother as time goes on. Eventually, there won't be any "smoothest" switch when everything is smooth.

 

Sound Profile:

Like mentioned above, I can call these switches as muddy and subdued but in a good way. They sound like as if there's a filter placed on them which causes the sound to pass through in a very soothing sense.

They aren't muted or quiet, but for a long pole HMX, it is a bit of an outlier. They are definitely lower pitched than most other HMX, and at the same time they don't produce a sharp yet thin sound like the Eva or Jammy for example.

I'll try to break down what I mean by the filter by using PE foam or the tape mod as a comparison.

When you apply PE foam or tape mod to a board, the mod causes the sound to lean towards a specific pitch and sound profile, almost as if it was altered or edited afterwards.

The filter here that I am describing makes it... muddied or slightly watered down.

For example, if you were to try and record audio from under some mud or water, it sounds distorted, unclear, and usually much deeper. As the sound tries to pass through the dense medium, it'll get altered and will be heard as something completely different, but it won't completely disappear.

These switches remind me of that kind of sound phenomena, the dense medium being the PA12 housing and using the T5 stem to create this filtered sound profile is pretty unique. 

It is slightly different than the marble-y effect of PE foam and masking tape, those make sounds leaning towards the midrange and have a poppy effect.

The sound produced by the T5 stem and PA12 housing is more in the low notes, with a lot less pop.

So why is this different than the other "deeper" HMX?

The ones I described earlier like the Eva or Jammy are the worse version of the comparison, where you take something like a Xinhai and put it through the filter, resulting in a really sharp but terribly thin sound profile. Those switches have firmer materials put together with softer materials but in a not-so synergistic way.

POM stem on P4 bottom, the POM stem should produce a full and sharper sound but the P4 would generate a thinner and deeper sound with a softer feel, which results in a mostly conflicting combination. If you've tried the Jammy, you would know it still has HMX's sharpness despite the overall thin tone with more medium to low notes.

T2 stem on P4 bottom, is a little more balanced but ultimately still produces a thinner and dull sound from the large amounts of PTFE which causes the sharpness to sound plasticky and artificial. After trying the Eva, it sounds weaker in comparison to other HMX strictly because of the attempt to "deepen" the sound, but it actually just dampens it. 

Making a specific sound profile is a lot harder than "clacky" material + "thocky" material = balanced. WJBY went for a simpler route by utilizing materials that are already somewhat similar in traits.

The Su Color ultimately opts for denser firm material + slightly soft and dense material, which results in a relatively deeper sound with a moderate feel.

The sound might be muddied, but it is soothing, rounded and definitely not muted, if it was just a little louder or brighter then it would be more in line with other HMX. I can say that it's just right for those who wanted a balanced HMX that isn't overly deep.

Muddy refers to a sound profile that almost sounds filtered or distorted, not exactly muted or quiet, but it does add a lot of character to the sound.

Soothing refers to the pleasing sound profile and overall softness that follows while typing. 

Rounded refers to having a balanced sound profile that isn't too quiet or loud, nor deep or sharp.

I can't call it full or crisp, as the bottom out isn't particularly strong, nor is the sound itself fulfilling enough to be considered as such.

 

 

Direct Comparisons to other linears:

HMX Purple Dawn (PA12/P4/Mod. UPE Stem) 3.9mm Travel

• These switches only share the same top housing and manufacturer.
• The Purple Dawn is much louder.
• The Purple Dawn has a slightly better stock form. (No spring noise)
• The Su Color has a slightly lower pitch.
• The Su Color has an extremely small amount of wobble in comparison.
• They share similar smoothness stock.
• The Purple Dawn has a firmer bottom-out type-feel.

HMX Macchiato (PA12/Mod. Nylon/POK Stem) 3.8mm Travel

• These switches share the same top housing and manufacturer.
• The Macchiato is slightly louder.
• The Macchiato has a better stock form. (OG batch, less leaf tick, no spring noise)
• The Macchiato is higher pitched.
• The Su Color has an extremely small amount of wobble in comparison.
• They share similar smoothness stock.
• The Macchiato has a slightly firmer bottom-out type-feel.

HMX Canglan v2 (P3/PA66/T2 Stem) 3.5mm Travel

• These switches share slightly similar material usage but not much else besides manufacturer.
• The Canglan v2 is louder.
• The Canglan v2 has a similar stock form. (Leaf tick and spring noise)
• The Canglan v2 is slightly higher pitched.
• They have similar wobble control.
• They share similar smoothness stock.
• The Canglan v2 has a slightly firmer bottom-out type-feel.

 

Flaws:

As it stands, the flaws I wish to go over are more about the flaws of HMX as a manufacturer rather than this switch itself.

Again, the actuation leaf tick that has been around for a while is present in these switches, and no matter how much more lube is applied I cannot remove the sound without drowning the leaf in lubricant.

Second, I believe that the spring issue started popping up around the time the Canglans, Clouds, and Swifts, were released, as that was the time when HMX had altered their methods slightly to combat the syringe effect that was felt since the Xinhai, Hyacinth, and Macchiato.

Although I did not review all the HMX switches, a vast majority of the ones I've tested exhibited the leaf tick and similar spring noise, but I had not recognized it at the time.

The worst part is the inconsistency, as some HMX switches do come with more lubricant on the springs which causes no spring noise to be found. Or they are lubed with more specific accuracy in comparison, for example, the HMX Purple Dawns have a modified lubing process to account for their spring weight. I did not hear any of this spring sound in the Snow Crashes likely due to the fact that those had slightly more lube than previous releases.

To be honest, I don't find myself excited for 90% of HMX's releases simply because they don't offer much to the market, I test some new HMX switches and lo' and behold, it's a smooth, clacky switch with leaf tick (old JWK but in 2024).

Sure, its a "budget" switch, but I would rather have them pause and try to improve their methods so that they can produce a better result for the consumer. What's the point of releasing T7 or P4-5-6 when I can only hear leaf ticking and spring crunch over the actual switch.

Like I said, this is probably my favorite HMX switch so far, but I can't appreciate it at all because of the irritable transient noise.

 

PERSONAL BUILD RECOMMENDATIONS: (PREFERENCE/OPINION BASED)

I tested these switches with a POM plate on an O-ring mounted keyboard. I wanted to hear those deeper notes but also boost the overall volume.

The end result was quite nice, but the switch would probably perform well on stuff like FR4 or PC due their unique filtered sound profile.

I think foam would also help boost this more as opposed to other HMX switches since this switch is already quite rounded, and it would help mask the transient noise.

If you like a soothing sound profile, stick to gasket mount boards with less offensive plates like PC, FR4. 

If you like deeper sounds that hit hard, try POM or PP with O-Ring, or add some case foam.

 

CLOSING SUMMARY:

The second switch from WJBY earns its place among the standout HMX switches. The Su Color is a definitely a switch you should try if you're a bit tired of brighter HMX.

For $0.35 per switch, they have produced a truly deep HMX switch that rivals the others in pitch, but even goes further to generate a softer sound and feel.

It has a soothing sound profile that is rich in mids/lows, but isn't as shallow as some other switches with too much PTFE or similar UPE material. It is a genuinely "thocky" HMX switch with a fantastic feel.

WJBY Studio has created a switch that adds yet another color to HMX's vast palette of releases, creating a wonderfully pleasant switch that has a rounded sound profile that doesn't sound out of place. With a soft feel and soft sound, those who were looking for an actually deeper HMX can find it here. 

 

[I apologize that a large percentage of this review was a rant about the disappointing stock form, these switches especially have the issue where the volume cannot mask the transient noises leaking from the switch.

Not to say that the fault lies with the designer, it is just a shame and I find it regretful that the most comfortable HMX switch for me ends up suffering due to quality issues. It is just frustrating when in comparison, my Snow Crashes didn't exhibit much leaf tick if any, or how my Purple Dawns had a better lubrication on the springs, the inconsistency is wild.

If HMX did more QC then they could easily find these issues themselves, the difference in batch experience from each individual varies greatly, so much so that it is weird that it isn't widely noticed.]

 

FINAL SCORING: 8.2/10