Crouzet or Cherry switches?

[quarterback]

Okay, I've done my forum-searching and the general responses are:

A lot of people find the Crouzet to be loud and stiff.  In fact, some people want to replace the switches or the component with the Crouzet switches because of these factors

Cherry are commonly seen as the best-overall/workhorse/industry standard for a microswitch

RandyT (and I'm sure others) really like the Crouzet.  Especially in buttons with the spring removed (or something to that effect)

So what's the concensus?  Is RandyT really the only one who likes the Crouzet switches?  There seemed to be a fair amount of negativity towards them.

[Grasshopper]

Are you talking about switches fitted to buttons or joysticks?

I've got Crouzet microswitches fitted to my T-Stik and they are very loud and stiff. I don't like them and I'd like to replace them with lighter action switches but the only place that sells replacements is Ultimarc and their minimum shipping is too high.

I've got Cherry switches fitted to my buttons and they are very quiet and light.

This isn't necessarily a Cherry vs Crouzet issue. You need to bear in mind that microswitch manufacturers sell switches with a range of different activation forces. It's possible that if you bought a low activation switch from Crouzet (assuming they sell them) it would feel like a standard Cherry switch.

[RandyT]

Also, bear in mind that an item designed specifically for one type of switch, may not work as well (or at all) with another.

A couple of examples:

The actuator (the little button part) on the Crouzet switches are taller than the commonly used Cherry switches.  With some buttons, this equates to a gap between the actuator of the Cherry switch and the part that depresses it, creating a "dead zone".  If you take out the spring with one of these, the button sits below its normal height and has a shorter throw.  With the Crouzet in the same arrangement, the button sits where it should, with the same throw, but is much more responsive for a generally better feel.

This could have a similar effect when used with a joystick designed for the specs of the Crouzet, possibly making the stick less responsive or giving it a very small actuation area.

In fact, the Topfire sticks we sell *require* a Crouzet for the fire button.  Otherwise, the button will not actuate properly when the stick is pushed in certain directions.

Each will have plusses and minusses, but you will need to weigh them a bit to find the ones that do what you need them to.

RandyT