Performance

There is full N-key rollover USB here out of the box, as Aqua's test confirms. Similarly, no key chatter was detected on any of the keys using Switch Hitter.

As mentioned previously, Swarm has the Sova MK light up with a breathing effect out of the box whereas the accompanying mouse supports RGB lighting with multiple zones. Since this is not a review of the mouse, I did not bother to get it to sync exactly with the Sova MK's keyboard, but you can set the same primary color breathing effect speed for both.


To see how uniform the backlighting is, I set the lighting effect to 100% brightness and used the Fully Lit preset mode. In the first image, you can see a brightness difference in the two devices, wherein the lighting zones of the mouse are brighter in person to where you have to turn them down to match the keyboard's effective brightness for this specific combination. Focusing on the keyboard itself, even at 100% brightness, we see that the secondary legends are not as well lit as the primary ones, which goes back to what I said earlier about wanting to see Roccat re-work their stock keycaps to where they are not only better built and longer lasting, but with an improved positioning of the legends for the lighting itself.

Here is another video showing the Heartbeat preset mode in action. At high speed, it is not easy to discern the animation well, but slow it down slightly and it works quite well. Feel free to experiment with the options available, and I will note here that I found myself using the custom static lighting mode more often than not. Whether playing during the day or at night, I have enough lighting in the living room to not worry much about keyboard lighting, but having specific keys lit up does help when you are not yet used to the form factor and muscle memory takes your fingers elsewhere.


This is my second experience with the TTC Brown switches, following Roccat's Suora FX earlier this year. For those interested, here is the product page for the TTC Brown switch. The force-travel diagrams are similar to the Cherry MX Brown, although the TTC Brown arguably felt better to type on because of a more pronounced tactile feedback, which was nice. These are rated for 50 million keystrokes, although this review can not verify that. The switches on this Sova MK sample were also extremely consistent in actuation force and travel, with a tension gauge used measuring an average actuation force of 44.88 gf at 2.04 mm, averaged across twenty switches.


As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided above an example sound clip of me typing on the keyboard in the Roccat Sova MK sample at ~90WPM. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches. I did bottom out here, although the stronger tactile bump makes it easier to not do so with some practice. For those curious, there is a more pronounced ping added to the sound signature from the keycaps hitting the metal plate below, and the plastic surrounding it does not do much to dampen that sound.

Using the Sova MK was a real joy - so much so that I was using it a lot to just operate my HTPC outside of gaming as well. I tried this on both a couch and a single-seat recliner, with the latter having the arms too close for the Sova MK to work, so make sure to take measurements before buying if a factor for you. I was not a fan of having a long cable snake across my living room, but it is something this version can't go without. If there is one change I would want to see, it is not the replacement lap cushions or wrist rests or even the mousepad, but, rather, Roccat bringing the wireless version of this to fruition. With more wireless mechanical keyboards hitting the market now, and even more projected for 2018, Roccat is in a good place to introduce a wireless Sova (MK) for a two-year refresh next year, and hopefully, they have other customers giving them feedback as well.