Played with the silencers and the skinny is awesome. The skinny felt closer to original sanwa buttons than sanwa’s own silent version while sounding pretty much the same. I also had a hard time with the fat version activating the button but sound wise they were the best. I can’t wait for seimitsu versions as well since at this point no one has made silencers for them.
Chaotic, PM me your email, I’ll get you the survey.
I just shot out an email…
This is what I gather from the polls.
Skinny is roughly the same as the Sanwa in regards to sound, better with regards to feel.
Our washers fit the buttons better than the Sanwas.
Fat is much better with Sound than the Sanwa
People prefer the skinny because the fat prevents them from activating the button accurately
The Skinny will do, but if a fat could be done that allowed for better button push that would be preferrable…
We are getting another round of foam in and will do one more round of testing with the original testers to settle the Sanwa foam this week.
In two weeks we will start recruiting for Seimitsu Silent testing
Finally, what do people think about a Silent stick conversion kit… We are thinking 38 to convert a stick, Silent omrons, actuators, harness, springs, washers.
So from us, you would silent your stick for 44 including shipping, compared to 115 including shipping.
Also interesting to note, the average number of sticks you guys have is 8…
Average is eight??? I only have two… 
Quality not quantity 
The silent stick conversion kit is good value and also a great, convenient idea for anyone looking for quieter play. I got the same silent Omron microswitches, elsewhere, prior to the release of your kit and it cost around $33 with shipping.
To compensate for how easy the Omron microswitches depress, I swapped the stock JLF spring for a Seimitsu LS-55. I tried your red actuator, but found that the gold is better as I had some missed diagonal inputs from the red.
For anyone looking at the Zippy and/or Cherry mods, note that the Cherry switches are louder than Zippy, but not as loud as stock JLF switches. Also I use the red actuator for both and haven’t had issues. My stick breakdown is as follows…
Hori VLX: Omron D2RV (Silent) Microswitches, Seimitsu LS-55 Spring, Gold Actuator
Qanba Q4: Cherry (Silent) Microswitches, Seimitsu LS-55 Spring, Red Actuator
Hori Fighting Edge: Zippy (Silent) Microswitches, Seimitsu LS-55 Spring, Red Actuator
Just got the washers in the mail today and I have the same results as hibachifinal. One thing to note that I didn’t get to put on the survey is that the skinny washer I received might be 1mm too wide as it doesn’t sit completely flat on the bottom of the button and curves slightly.
I ordered some new material for another round. I think we are going to proceed with the skinnies and just try to see if we can do something with a different feel so there are two options.
Homeless, interesting info, I will double check sizing tonight. they should fit flat…
Just finished testing the washers, and I concur with everyone else’s opinions - the ‘skinny’ feels close to an unsilenced button and has a noticeable noise reduction. The ‘fat’ is much quieter than a stock Sanwa, but reduces the tactile feedback of the button too much.
The ‘skinnies’ are great. Will be interesting to compare the two new varieties…
One of our friends over on KLOV is in the last two weeks of his March of Dimes fund raising effort. If you can please contribute!
We have also agreed to contribute $10 for every order over 100 that comes in for the next two weeks, so let’s raise some money!
You know I didn’t ask for much, just a joystick and some buttons. And I sure as hell didn’t ask for candy or ultra-fast shipping… THANKS!!!
Haha, we have found that especially in the classic community, the chocolate can give the significant other something to look forward to when your parts arrive
We are waiting for the new silent material and will be sending out the new samples asap after it arrives. We were expecting today or tomorrow, but it may be as late as Monday.
Filled in the survey : )
Current results:
Do you use Silent washers:
Yes NO
31.60% 68.40%
How many Sticks do you own
Average: 6.2
Preference:
94.70% Skinny
5.30% Fat
In the comments:
Everyone said the fat obstructed play, had to be pushed harder to actuate the button.
1 of the 19th said they thought the Skinnies affected button feel negatively, most said it was much closer to the real button than even the Sanwa silent washers.
Very mixed on the comparison with stock Sanwas, some people said it silenced as much, some said more, some said less.
From the feedback, I am drawing the following conclusions.
- The Skinnies are preferred because they do not interfere with play.
- Skinnies intrude on play less than the original Sanwas
- Skinnies silence the buttons about the same (some said slightly better, some same, some said slightly worse)
- If people could dream up a silencing pad, it would silence as much as the fats or more, but not obstruct play at all.
Based on this feedback we are definitely going to do a second round of testing. However, I think there is enough feedback to justify launching the Skinny pads as a substitute for the Sanwa Silent pads. What we will be working on with the second round of testing is establishing a premium line where the goal is not to match but to be clearly superior to the Sanwa pads.
Building a new stick, stumbled upon this thread, removing OBSF from cart and waiting for some Skinnies.
I’m glad I’m not alone in wanting a very quiet stick. Less noise my wife hears, less ‘noise’ I’ll hear. 
If you are buying from us… just wait a week or two and we’ll have them up.
Check out the silent JLF also, the one in our shop has a lot more options than the stock Sanwa (and it’s $20 less)
I’m interested in converting all my sticks to silent, and it seems like Paradise arcade might be the way to go. . but I do have a question ?
What is the difference between the zippy and omron switches exactly? I’m going to get both upgrade kits, and some extra switches of each type anyway. . but I’m still curious?
Good Question!
From a technical standpoint the omron switches are reed switches, not snap action which means the activation/deactivation is by a magnetic force and not a snapping pivot with a spring. This will tend to act more like leaf switch where the point of contact is very precise. With a snap action switch(which is what the regular JLF’s have) the switch has a pivot that stays activated until the plunger is released a bit further than the actuation point. Zippys are snap action.
From a functional standpoint the Omrons are a higher quality switch, in part because of the mechanism, but also because they are more of an industrial build. I would not put them at 10x the quality (as they are almost 10x the price) but they are a higher quality switch.
The bottom line is that it’s hard to know what you will like. Some people really like the Zippy’s especially with the new actuators, and others the Omrons… Personally I prefer the Omron’s.
Now I want to try out those omrons. I’ve been using the cherry silent ones and like them well enough. I heard the zippys are even quieter and the omrons being the quietest. I think I’ll skip the zippys and go straight for the omrons. Just have to wait until all these new products are up on the web site…anodized ball tops, bat tops, shafts, dust covers, button caps, foam silencers. You guys have been very busy.
The rest of the anodized parts are on the way
Eh… Considering the number of joystick cases I still have to bring back to operational status, I’m not going to be too picky about microswitches so long as they’re gated and compatible with the control levers I use (and don’t wear out in 3 weeks).
The Zippy/LS-32 clone and its silent mod kit sounds good as-is. This is the “Big Lots” version of the LS-32, right?
(Big Lots = second-run, closeout retail chain store; I see you guys don’t have them in Hawaii; famous for selling cheaper, second brand goods that are often as good quality as the more popular “first” brand names; they had good closeout DVD selection until about two years ago. [All the good movies on DVD seem to have been gone for at least that long.] I rarely go to the stores anymore unless I want to get cheaper laundry cleaning supplies.
(I’m not too proud to save money… It’s a game with me! Too many people spend more money than they absolutely have to. I know about the quality argument, too, but have learned that if you research things – and train yourself to do everyday jobs like basic soldering and wiring; just don’t hire me to rewire “HAL” – you can still have quality but save a TON of money. And that applies to videogame equipment, too.)