Regarding the strip's "soft touch", I've heard of some attempts at stiffening by placing small bits of soft foam under the key cap mounting mechanism but never heard back on the success or not.
Another (more expensive) idea was to use every other button and "black out" and not program the those unused (blacked out) buttons. Would need double the amount of strips that way. No doubt, the maker's of the product wouldn't mind that approach.
Likewise, I've heard of using white door bell buttons, the kind that have the brass or silver colored ring around a white center. These don't stick out as far as regular pistons, but should work more or less ok. If I remember correctly, they are mounted (pushed into) a hole nearly if not exactly the same size as the real pistons. With these, you could then use the X-Keys matrix board the same as I do. That board has been super reliable and relatively cheap. Believe I paid $50 for it.
Rgds,
Ed