KiiwiIBM Model M keyboard sound
The buckling spring from the 1984 IBM Model M. Type below to hear it.
Type the words below. Headphones make the difference obvious.
What it sounds like
Inside a Model M each key presses on a spring that buckles and snaps against a hammer, giving one of the most recognisable sounds in computing: a loud, deep, mechanical clack with a ring of spring behind it.
Nothing modern quite sounds like it. Next to a Cherry MX Blue it is deeper and heavier.
At a glance
Compared with
Cherry MX Blue
Cherry's clicky switch, recorded on ABS and on PBT keycaps.
Blue Alps
Alps SKCM Blue, a click leaf design from the 1980s with a crisp snap.
Kailh BOX Navy
Kailh's heavy click bar switch: very loud and deliberate.
Get the IBM Model M sound on your Mac
Kiiwi has all 38 packs, this one included, and plays them under the keyboard you already own. In your headphones, from the menu bar. $4.99 once.
Download for macOS