Mechanical Keyboards

Short answer: yes, it can get close to your Dell, but only if you pick the right switch on purpose — a regular clicky board definitely won't.

For night use in a small house I'd skip anything clicky and look for a board with silent linear or silent tactile switches. Those have little dampeners built in, so you don't get that sharp clack on the way down or back up. A normal tactile like a Brown is quieter than a Blue, but in a quiet room at night it can still sound pretty present, especially on the bigger keys.

The other thing that surprised me when I first switched was how much of the noise is just bottoming out — smacking the key all the way down. A slightly heavier switch, a desk mat underneath, and just easing off a bit made more difference for me than chasing a specific brand.

If you can, try a couple of switch testers or a display board in a shop first. Your Dell is a good baseline: if the board you try sounds about the same or softer than that in a quiet room, you're probably fine for late-night use.

Some people like to strike keys like a f-ing woodpecker whose mother was personally insulted by this particular keyboard. I had a colleague who was louder with a membrane keyboard than me with a Model M.

There are regular switches, which are kinda noisy, there are clicky switches, which are loud as fuck.

But there are silent switches, and there are strategies to silent them even more (Bandaid mods, o-rings, stab lubrication etc). My work keyboard with Boba U4 switches and the aforementioned mods is well within the noise floor of an open-space. It's not "silent" as in "completely inaudible in a controlled environment", but it is no louder than a laptop keyboard (and with a deeper, softer, less jarring sound).

For me it's being able to pick and choose the resistance to button presses, I go with heavy (60-70g) springs because I have a habit of hammering on keys and that resistance reduces the time I spend bottoming out the keys.

I use tactile switches (no audible click but a noticeable feel of when the switch actuates) instead of the 'blue' or clicky keyswitches because I prefer my keyboard not announce itself.

Linear switches are also an option, with some of them you can have an entirely silent action, often with softer springs so that typing on it feels like brushing your fingers across a cloud (for me softer springs means pressing random keys all the time because I am a ham fisted gorilla in a human suit.)

If you're in an open office setting mechanical keyboards can annoy people even with silencers.

I drag my work mechanical out only when I know I'll have my own office

Some people do love membrane keyboards, and I won't shame them even if I should. It's fine if it suits you.

As for the noise, I'm pretty sure that mechanical are always a bit louder than regular keyboards. Some types of "springs" can be quiet, but never as quiet as your own current keyboard.

Some are quieter than others.

People who are in open concept offices without noise cancelling headphones are already at a massive disadvantage. I tend not to worry much about it. If I need to do work in the office for some manager’s amusement, I haul in the keyboard and mouse and complain about the low-res monitors. I’m a fucking delight.

There are silent mechanical keyboards available if noise is a problem! Silent switches have gotten very good in recent times :D

I have 2 mechanical keyboards with "Brown" switches that are the most regular "tactical" type of switch. I didn't find them particularly noisy compared to the "blue" Cicky switches that are loud AF.

Recently I was wondering if I could bring a MK to the office and I still think my current keyboards with brown switches are too loud for open-space. So, I ordered some samples of silent switches and Oh Boy! They are very quiet! The typing feel is maybe not as "crisp" as the regular switches, still a mile better then membrane.

If you want a MK for the office, make sure to configure it with silent switches, and you should be good to go.

I’ve got GATERON G Pro 3.0 switches with Glorious Gaming O-Ring switch [70A (HARD) / Thin], and it’s about the same noise as a membrane but has a much better feel to it when typing.

When you pick switches, there are lots of options. Here’s what GATERON has:

Sometimes there are mechanical keyboards on display in tech shops. You could try and see how they feel to type on them.

The Keychron K3 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard might be to your liking. It's small tho idk if you prefer a full size. But it's very low profile, has a backlight, good build quality, etc. And is quite quiet. If you like a membrane I think you'll like it.