Drop wins the most satisfying sound of Computex 2024 award with its 24 carat brass keeb frame

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Drop CSTM80 keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

I love a good mechanical keyboard, and part of the reason for that is the sound generated between the switches and the base. The 'thock'. That's the technical term.

But that's not what grabbed my ears at Corsair's Computex space. Even in the general hubbub of a busy demo suite, the sound Drop's modular CSTM80 keyboard makes when you magnetically attach the unbelievably heavy 24 carat brass metal frame to its base is a little intoxicating.

The standard frames make a pleasing guh-chack noise when the magnetism takes hold and clutches them to the polycarbonate base, as does that so-rigid-you-know-its-carbon-fibre frame. But the 24 carat brass frame is something else. It's like a hammer cracking down on an anvil, full of weight, authority, and solemnity. A precision blow as the top frame pounds home.

But for all the myriad frame options Drop is showing off for its ultra modular custom keyboard—one that offers fully hotswappable switches, gasket mounting, optional extra dampening foam inserts, and extra magnetic weights—you're not going to be able to but the big brassy boi. Well, I'm sure if you threw enough money at Drop and/or Corsair they might toss one your way, but it would probably be a lot of money.

Thankfully there are a host of other frames to take your pick from. Originally the CSTM80 launched with five options last year, but I'm too jet-lagged to count the number on offer at the Corsair suite. It's a lot.

That carbon fibre one is impressive if you're after a light frame but one with supreme rigidity, but if you're looking for a keeb for that elf/orc in your life then the Lord of the Rings set will probably take your fancy.

The new frames should be available soon from Drop, though again sadly not the brassy boi.

Dave has been gaming since the days of Zaxxon and Lady Bug on the Colecovision, and code books for the Commodore Vic 20 (Death Race 2000!). He built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 16, and finally finished bug-fixing the Cyrix-based system around a year later. When he dropped it out of the window. He first started writing for Official PlayStation Magazine and Xbox World many decades ago, then moved onto PC Format full-time, then PC Gamer, TechRadar, and T3 among others. Now he's back, writing about the nightmarish graphics card market, CPUs with more cores than sense, gaming laptops hotter than the sun, and SSDs more capacious than a Cybertruck.