Das Keyboard Model S Professional | Ultimate

This keyboard is a fine keyboard indeed! very impressed with it. It arrived just this morning but I do have some really good first impressions. I have been hopping from keyboard to keyboard lately trying to find something that really fit my needs long term. I am a typist that spends work as well as down time typing out documents and spreadsheets. I have tried so many keyboards over the last month and was beginning to lose hope. The Das keyboard revived my hope. Typing: First of all this is the best typing experience I have had in a long time. The strokes are clean and light. Lighter than most blue switch key boards I have been trying which surprised me. I suspect this has something to do with the keycap quality. I feel fluid and just as fast typing on the Das as I would on any of my other preferred keyboards. Something I hold to a high regard is the acoustics of the board when I am typing. Many keyboards that I keep trying, often over 130 dollars and "built like a tank" sound dreadful. Notably the Razer black widow and the Code 104, both of which I wanted to love. But again their over the top hefty construction of plastic made it sound like you were hitting wood against Nerf Guns with each keystroke. Often times it would just completely drown out the sound of the clicky keys themselves which was infuriating. Again the keystrokes on the Das are crisp and the sound it makes is satisfying and not obnoxious at all, at least to a person who likes mechanical keyboard sounds. Appearance: The Das keyboard looks amazing. I went with the ultimate version with the blank keycaps and the black lettering in the top right corner. Man is it clean and professional. The aluminum front plate is super clean and sharp. Doesn't reflect a bunch of light and still has the nice cold and textured touch. Super lovely choice on their part. Again, I love the blacked out look of the keyboard. I dont mind the red accents on the volume knob and the ruler either. Subtle and slick. A part of me wishes those accents came in something more neutral like gray but again, its so subtle that it would never compete with a set up up that had a theme to it. Materials: The keycaps are very nice. While they are still ABS plastic they have to be some of the best ABS caps I have every used. Sturdy and slightly textured as well as being kinda light too. I love them honestly. The plastic and aluminum body is super nice. It's got heft but it's light by comparison to other boards that strive to be built well. The cord is a thick rubber cable. I hear a lot of reviews wishing it was a braided cable and I can vouch for that desire but I really dont think its worth docking any points for something like that. especially because a lot of braided cables I've had, especially with Logitech, which unravel, fray, and start looking gross after a while. This rubber cord is sturdy and will look the same throughout its shelf life so I am happy with it. Functionality: On top of all the great things I can say about the board from a minimalist and professional use standpoint, it actually has some of the best feature sets for me. The volume knob and media controls is fantastic and super well done. The knob is tactile and gives you some clicky feedback when you turn it which is a pleasure to use. The ruler on the back is something I might use? The addition of the ruler is not a con whatsoever in my opinion. It's implementation does not interfere with the experience of the board at all and its there if you need it. Some have said that they wish it lifted the board up a bit more. I understand where they are coming from but for me it's actually perfect. The Das also has 2 USB passthroughs which is a luxury I have been living without since my old Black Widow days back in 2012. I am very happy to have that again. Other biased pros: Fits perfectly with my favorite wrist rest which is a HUGE plus for me. It doesn't take up a ton of room on my desk which is nice Cons: I do have just one small complaint. The keyboard had some blemishes right on the box which kind of upset me a bit at first. Theres a scuff on the aluminum on the right side of the board as well as on the long + key on the same side. They are small enough to where I will live with it because you cant notice unless you really look but again that's a little upsetting. For 165 dollars I just think that is pretty sloppy and unacceptable. All in all I love this keyboard and I think finally my hunt for a keyboard can finally be put aside for awhile as I will most certainly be using this keyboard out of the rest of mine going forward. Update: 6/4/2018 So I've had this keyboard for a bit now and it's still a daily driver. I do swap it back and forth between my Filco and that will most likely continue to happen just because I like hopping from board to board. But this thing is such a beautiful beast. I HIGHLY recommend getting a new set of quality keycaps for it though. It was a huge game changer. I bought some ninja font thick PBT keycaps for it and wow does it sound and feel amazing compared to the stock caps which were cheap by comparison but still pretty good for stock caps. Anyway get some fancy caps for this thing as the mileage from the upgrade will be more worth it than other keyboard in my opinion.

My first mechanical keyboard with modern switches (instead of the older buckling-spring assemblies) was a Velocifire VM01. It served me well, but I decided recently to splurge and go for a more premium deck – in this case the Das Keyboard Prime 13 with Cherry MX Brown keyswitches. It does, I must admit, have a very different feel to my significantly cheaper VM01 Keyboard. It’s not unpleasant. The switches feel very similar to the way my old Unicomp Model M buckling spring keyboard felt. There’s a very satisfying buoyancy to the keys (for lack of a better word). It’s a genuine joy to type on. I look forward to using this keyboard for National Novel Writing Month. The backlighting is even and strong – much more so than the VM01. The steel faceplate is cool to the touch and very solid. There’s no noticeable flex, even when I press very hard down on the center of the keyboard or pick it up and twist the corners away from each other. The keycaps feel nice, have a clear and professional-looking font to them, and have very little wiggle which is a nice change from my VM01. That’s a difference that $75 will get you. I may still need to put O-ring dampeners on the keys. We’ll see how loud the keyboard actually sounds once I get it set up in my office. I don’t notice the audible “PING!” when releasing larger keys such as the space bar and backspace buttons that annoyed me with the VM01. That’s a level of quality I expected – but it’s nice to see that my trust in the Das company wasn’t unfounded. This is definitely one of the nicest premium keyboards I’ve ever used – if not the best period. One very minor criticism – on keys that have two legends on them (like the number/symbol keys along the top and the bracket/curly brace keys on the side) the backlight only illuminates the top symbol and not the bottom. This is probably due to the fact that Cherry switches have their LED on the top of the switch…but it would have been nice to have both light up still. I don’t know if it’s just my unfamiliarity with the Cherry MX Brown switches, but I notice myself adding a lot of extra spaces in my writing. I’ll have to see if that goes away with more regular use. It could be that the space bar on my old Velocifire VM01 was just less sensitive and I’m used to really banging it to get it to actuate. Haha. The large buttons on this keyboard do require what seems like a lot less pressure to register than I’m used to on the VM01. I’m not sure if that’s real or imagined. Although I was assured when I bought the VM01 that the OUTEMU off-brand brown switches were comparable to Cherry MX Browns – I’m going to have to disagree. There’s a decidedly different feel to these branded Cherries on the Das. Again, this may just be confirmation bias since I paid almost twice as much for this keyboard as the VM01 – but I feel like the Cherry switches are just smoother, and require less actuation force. This is the closest feel I’ve found in a post-Model-M keyboard to the buckling spring monster I used back in the day. The keys pop back up in a satisfying and strong way. The sound is nice and clacky without being *completely* over the top. The overall look and feel of the keyboard itself is very high-end and professional looking. I see some of my coworkers bringing in high-end VGA keyboards and realize that the “gamer” aesthetic isn’t really for me. I would feel juvenile using a board with multi-colored lights on it like some twenty-something’s sports car. The cord is braided, which you’ll either love or hate. I personally like the look and feel of it myself. It terminates in 2 USB 2.0 plugs – one for the keyboard and one for the USB pass-through port on the top right of the keyboard. I like to use this for my wireless mouse receiver. It’s discreet and keeps it out of my way. This was my first purchase from Das, and I don’t believe it will be the last. It took me a long time to be able to justify the price to myself but now that I’ve used it first hand I don’t know that I’ll be willing to go back to squishy ten dollar membrane keyboards again. Das may well have ruined me for them.

Ho usato questa tastiera per un mese circa e posso confermare che la qualità dei materiali e della costruzione è ottima. Il feedback è quello che ci si aspetta dagli switch cherry mx brown, morbidi con un leggero feedback all'attivazione. La tastiera è silenziosa ma come ogni altra tastiera si sente quando i tasti vengono premuti fino in fondo (praticamente sempre) ma anche in questo caso il rumore è paragonabile a quello di una tastiera a membrana (decisamente più sommesso rispetto agli switch blu). Come è stato fatto notare da altri utenti anche la mia è arrivata leggermente storta (giusto un paio di millimetri) e dopo avere contattato il supporto mi è stato detto semplicemente di piegarla. Inizialmente avevo paura di romperla poi ho provato a piegarla e sono riuscito a fatica. La placca in alluminio che fa da superficie non è solo per stile, rende la tastiera incredibilmente robusta. All'acquisto la tastiera ha il layout standard di windows ma i tasti ai lati della barra spaziatrice sono tutti delle stesse dimensioni quindi io li ho scambiati per rendere più semplice l'utilizzo con mac (è consigliato l'utilizzo dello strumento apposito per rimuovere i cap ma volendo con un po' di attenzione si può fare anche senza). Conclusioni: La tastiera è probabilmente una delle migliori tastiere meccaniche disponibili (non retroilluminata), è comunque un prodotto premium. Come rapporto qualità prezzo non la consiglio, 180 euro circa per una tastiera sono troppi e normalmente non giustificabili. Ma se quello che cercate è un prodotto premium nella cotruzione, feeling e prezzo, allora questa è la tasiera giusta! P.S. Non ho preso la versione Ultimate perché la uso in ufficio e potrebbe essere un ostacolo in caso dovesse usarla qualcun'altro ma anche per quella valgono tutti i punti sopra.

È un piacere da usare. Ci vogliono alcuni giorni per adattarsi ed avvantaggiarsi della superiore velocità di scrittura e precisione (finché non si capisce l'esatto punto di key pressed). Non è silenziosissima (ma neanche fastidiosamente rumorosa come la versione Blue).

I had it for a couple of years typing all days long 8h a day. It does what it says - gives you premium feel, pleasant and accurate typing experience. SOLID. The quality is excellent. I love laptop keyboards with a short travel distance and it toom me some time to get used to it - not a deal-breaker. The things a love ❤ about it: 1. Heavy. It sits tight on you desk. 2. Super-premium look 😎 and feel 3. Build-in USB 3.0 ports 4. Mute button is super-handy when it comes to listen to some one. Easy to reach - one light click and you are listening to a person who is talking to you. 5. Toggle when - extremely pleasant to use. It have a nice feedback when you scroll it. Excellent location. Easy to reach whatever your hand is on mouse or a keyboard. 6. Ruler - there is red magnetic ruler on the back or the keyboard which is used as a stend. Nice little feature. It's plastic but feels as a solid piece. 7. Anti-ghost. No interference with any keys. Things I don't really like 😤: 1. After a couple of years surface of the most used keys weared our and become smooth instead of having the same "gripping" texture. 2. Ruler don't have slipping pad and keyboard moves some times (not a deal-breaker). 3. I had to buy wrist pad to make my wrist comfortable and level it up with they keyboard. 4. No O-rings in complect. Without it keyboard sounds to me too plasticky. With O-ring the sound is deeper, more quiet and more suitable for the office. No complains sound level is ok. 5. No RGB or any other backlight. Overall it's a great keyboard which is a bit overpriced. However this is a solid piece of professional equipment suitable for day-to-day work and decent gaming. Worth its money.

WELL. It is a DAS. That much I 'll give it to them. Unfortunately, a comparison between this product and the Ultimate Clicky which I also own can show that this iteration is totally inferior. The Ultimate not only has switches that respond much better to typing but also these switches are used in all the keys, including e.g. space bar and the other keys that have stabilisers. If you can, order the Ultimate model and buy additional keycaps to switch the keys if you so desire. The quality is there but I believe that for its' price you can get far better mechanical keyboards. A quick research shows that the professional keyboards use different switches (not Cherry MX) than the ultimate ones. If you are really picky, you should avoid it all the way and get a true Cherry MX experience. Because the Model S Professional, simply doesn't cut it. On the pros side, if there is one, it's a bit more quiet (I compared blue switches in both cases) than the Ultimate one - but if you are going for the blue switches, noise I think is not your main concern now, is it?

I love the Das Keyboard, but only ever buy the ones with the Blue switches as I prefer the clickiness. However, putting one at my desk would probably be an effective means of putting in notice. Enter this one with the brown switches. It's much quieter, but still provides a very good feel for typing. Easily the 2nd best keyboard I've used after one with Blue switches. If noise is a concern for you, this is a great product!