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Well I definitely got some interesting feedback as far as quiet type writers go, it is much appreciated. Of course feel free to continue to chime in, but it looks like the "quiet" and "Noiseless" typewriters retain their title— and rightfully so, I might add —as the quietest machines. With Olympias coming in as a close second
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I have been watching some videos online of Mercedes standard machines, such as the favorit, the Superba, etc
These seem to have very quiet overall operation relative to machines of similar size
Any Mercedes owners care to weigh in?
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I recently scored a 1948 Remington Noiseless portable and it is indeed very quiet -- and the type action is not as annoying as I had feared. I only own one other special action typewriter -- a standard Remington noiseless with escapement problems that I have not got to know very well -- but among arc actions some have been surprisingly quiet, and as soon as I run into them again I may report their identify. As for platens I believe that resilience is a factor but not the only or necessarily the deciding factor. I have a few with slate hard platens that make an annoying high-pitched impact sound that almost makes them unusable, while a 1911 L.C. Smith on the other hand, with a platen not only slate-hard but actually blue-gray, is very quiet and a pleasure to listen to.
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Repartee--
So what were you using on a regular basis before this Remington came into your possession? I'm just curious for comparisons sake...
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schyllerwade, the list is long. There are an embarrassment of wonderful typewriters out there to be had reasonably or better. beak said somewhere that good typewriters are not often better than the next but just different.
I did use an IBM B long carriage standard (about as long as that name) consistently and coincidentally noise was a factor in not using it anymore -- not impact noise but machinery noise, whether the noise was increasing or my sensitivity to it I am not sure. I'd like to have it overhauled; if it purred again I would use it -- the intangible factors of constantly looking at the IBM logo (shown to increase intelligence in rhesus monkeys) and a carriage return action which walked it across the table were strong.
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Haha Oh ya I definitely agree, lots out there
What I meant was, what were you using that made you think the noiseless was so much quieter.. was it that ibm?
For instance, anything would seem silent compared to my underwood 3 bank, but if I was using my royal quiet Deluxe, whatever machine followed would have to be very, very quiet in order for me to be impressed
Because my Deluxe is already very quiet, relatively speaking.
See what I mean
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OK, I see what you were getting at.
There is no one machine I am comparing the Noiseless portable to and it does not even leave the quietest arc-strikers a distant second. It just wins. Some more conventional machines are very quiet and on this thing's heels, and in some sense I would say these conventional designs win as they achieve similar results without exotic mechanism.
I should take another look at the Noiseless standard -- it may only need an easy adjustment, and when you take off the hood it's like taking off the valve covers on an exotic car. Such awesome mechanism to pull punches!
Correct me if I am wrong but it seems after circa 1950 interest in quiet typewriters had faded. Maybe it was just accepted that typists and typewriters at the office would be relegated to typing hell, so why spend money on giving them quieter machines? Quiet machines were not for the underlings but for the boss that sat next to them.
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I'm not sure to tell you the truth I'm no expert in any category of typewriter, quiet, noiseless or otherwise.
But yeah the noiseless have some really cool mechanisms
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A related question, if I may:
I'm on the lookout for, not necessarily the quietest machine, but a 'low' sounding typer.
I have a sixties Consul which I love and use a lot, but typing longer than maybe 15 minutes at a good pace starts to hurt my ears. It has a high-pitched typing noise (the type slugs hitting the platen), and my ears have always been sensitive so the clack clack clack causes actual pain eventually, like they're hitting my eardrums. The platen is not terrible, and I always use a backing paper or watercolour paper (light card stock, basically), but it doesn't make the noise any less tolerable. I have to use earphones and put on music as I type, and that interferes with my concentration.
So, a typewriter, no matter if portable or standard, that has a pleasantly 'low register' typing sound, is what I'm after. The quietness itself is not the main issue, but would be, of course, welcome.
Oh, and in case it makes a difference, I require scandi letters on the layout, Ö and Ä specifically.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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When you say the "platen is not terrible", what are you basing that assessment on? Hard platens definitely contribute to the issue you seem to be having.
To answer your question, models such as those from Noiseless (or Remington Noiseless) that use a thrust-type action create a deeper sound, more of a thud than a clack.