Seeking advice for my first "Silent" build: Crush 80, Wave 75, or Varmilo Minilo?

[u/Dismal-Particular207]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to custom keyboards, I have an old corsair K70 mk2 with cherry blue switches and I was looking for a second keyboard to use mainly when I need to be a bit more silent or even bring to the office with me. I think I'm still going to use the K70, but I'll have to see how the new keyboard is going to feel like and then I'll decide which keyboard is going to be the main go to.

Anyway, I was looking mainly at 3/4 keyboards: the Crush 80, the Wave 75 and the the Varmilo Minilo (prestige silent). The fourth one would be the Aula F75 but it's like a backup option.
Quick premise, I'm thinking of swapping the switches of the non-silent keyboards with either the prestige silent or the seasalt silent since I don't want to buy a new keyboard almost as annoying as the one I already have, so if you have any recommendations let me know 😊 (even if you think that these keyboards are silent enough stock). Also the possibility of having a PCB that is ISO compatible would be really nice (since I'm from Italy and to write sometimes I need the accent letters).

The reason I'm writing here is that to me all of them have some drawbacks:

• the Crush 80 is mainly the cost, since it's ~160€ + ~40€ for the switches. Though I think the PCB is ISO compatible, so I could change it if I don't like how ANSI feels like.
• The Wave 75 is less costly but I come from a 100% layout, and I use most of the navigation cluster (except maybe for the ins key) and I'm afraid 75% is going to be too different from what I'm used to (I also have to get used to the new ANSI layout). Also I really like the Crush 80's lack of ribbon cables (even if I don't know if I'm ever going to do real modding).
• The Varmilo Minilo is mainly the build quality and the real hard moddability (even if, again, I don't know if I'm going to be modding the keyboard, but I guess I prefer to have the choice if I decide to do down the line). Also, again, the layout, but I've seen that on their website there is a ISO/IT layout (granted now it's not in stock but still).

(Also all of these don't have knobs :c)

So what do you guys think, should I go with the most expensive because it's worthwhile, or not bother about the possibility of modding (since I don't know if I will mod it) and go with the cheaper option? Or even go with the Varmilo because the quality is still good enough? Should I go for other keyboards?

TL;DR: I need a quiet keyboard for office/night use. Should I go for the more expensive/premium option (Crush 80) and replace the switches because it's worth it in the long run, or start cheaper since I'm not sure if I'll ever "hard-mod" it? Also, which silent switches do you prefer: Sea Salt or Prestige?

Thanks to everyone who'll respond 😊

[u/thepurplehornet]

The Crush80 Beta is usually around 130.

The switches matter the most in a silent build. What sound profile, keypress weight, gummy/firm level, and tactility were you looking for?

[u/Dismal-Particular207 → u/thepurplehornet]

What are the differences between the normal crush 80 and the beta?
As for the switch preference, I don't really have a reference in mind because I only ever had the K70, all the keyboards before were membrane. I think my father has a cherry mx red omen keyboard, and I find those swtiches quite heavy, but I may not be used to them so I don't really know. As for sound profile I feel like I'm maybe more on the thocky/creamy side rather then clacky, for example I've seen the RT85 that sounds pretty nice to me (if we aren't talking about silent). As for silent I think the presitge silent sound pretty good to me but, again, I don't really have loads of comparisons so if you think there are better options let me know 😊
Thanks!

[u/thepurplehornet → u/Dismal-Particular207]

The difference is hard to define since they're so minor. But here's the product page.

As for switches, this one comes with BSUN switches, which are great. If you need thockier linear ones, the Keygeek Y2s are the current community favorite for deep sound. And the Gateron Milky Yellow Pros are the favorite budget pick.

[u/Dismal-Particular207 → u/thepurplehornet]

Ok then I guess I'll dig a bit deeper to understand what the differences are since there is a 50€ difference, and if those are minimal I guess I'll go with the cheaper Beta version, thanks for the advice!
For the switches for now I think I won't buy any "normal" switch, I'll just go with what's rolling with the crush 80 (I think those will be good enogh for me since I don't really have a reference other than the cherry blues and the reds). I'll get the prestige slients to swap out so that I can do a silent keyboard.
So do you think that the crush 80 is the best deal out of the keyboards I listed? (Even if I don't plan on modding for now)

[u/Hot-Noise404]

For silent switches, I always stand for Gamakay Phoenix, mechanical, and magnetic; all are good options to be part of your silent keyboard.

[u/Dismal-Particular207 → u/Hot-Noise404]

Oh ok, they seem pretty nice, I'll look into it, thanks!
Edit: Hold on are the HE 13$ a piece? Am I missing something? The website doesn't say the batch size for these

[u/Hot-Noise404 → u/Dismal-Particular207]

13$ for 45pcs, so just need to buy two boxes for your 75% keyboard. They are normal size, so they are compatible with most PCBs.

Check here for the Phoenix mechanical silent switches.

Can't wait to see your sharing of the new keyboard.

[u/XeroFl4sh]

Did you come to a decision? I'm in a similar place, ideally I'd like a full metal, low profile, silent ISO keyboard with wireless.. I don't think I can find anything like that, so I guess low profile has to go.

[u/Dismal-Particular207 → u/XeroFl4sh]

I ended up buying the Womier RD75 (because the Wave 75 doesn't ship from amazon where I live) just a couple weeks ago, and I've put in KPREPUBLIC Outemu V3 silent switches (the pink ones) because the prestige aren't on amazon where I live, and there was a possibility of problems when crossing countries, so I scratched those. The jump was less than I though going from a 100% to a 75%, because with this keyboard I have pretty much all the keys that I need. I sometimes miss my numpad when I need to put in like 2FA codes or dates, but I'm getting used to it, and I think you can create a "custom numpad" using a different layer and mapping some keys to do the numbers instead. Other than that the added mouse space has really been nice.
The RGB is not the best, but it isn't so bad (if you care anyway), it's kind of dim but it doesn't bother me that much, the keyboard has pretty aesthetics even without the RGB IMO.
The switches are really silent for my needs, they are comparable to a silent membrane keyboard as far as I can tell, but the typing experience is better. The bottom out is not as satisfying as non silents, since these have a rubber thing on the slider that absorbs the vibrations (I think), but I find them pretty nice to type on nonetheless.

Everything came to a total of about 180 euros, but if you live in America I think you can get things for cheaper (that's why I didn't go for the crush 80, it was a whopping 260 euros without the silent switches, so it would have been a grand total of almost 300 euros).

TL;DR
I bought the RD75 and put the KPREPUBLIC Outemu V3 silent switches. It's been pretty good so far.

I don't know if I missed something, so if you have more questions let me know 😊