Vision Titanium Solo or Evah Pirazzi?
I am a middle school student who has been playing violin for 2 years, and I have my All Region orchestra audition next week. I'm replacing my strings, and I want to know what strings I should use. I have been using Dominant, but I dislike the tone A and E strings. (Especially E.) The D and G are decent, but I think the G is a little too unresponsive. I want to change my string, and my teacher has a nice violin with Vision Titanium Solo, and I was amazed when I heard him play. However, there is not an abundance of user testimonials for these strings, and there is for Evah Pirazzi. I heard these strings are great for projection, but I don't know what gauge to get. Also, I like the feel of Dominant. It's hard to explain, but when I try to play most other violins, the strings feel very rough. On mine, they feel smooth and very playable. Is this because of the string, or the violin?
Also, when I got my violin, I had strings on it that looked the same as Vision Titanium Solo. I liked them, but I don't remember them very much and it was a while ago.
Sorry for the neverending questions, and thank you.
Replies (24)
Does your town have a good luthier? These are the sorts of questions whose answers might be very specific to your instrument. I could tell you my favorite strings but they might sound like junk on your fiddle.
What Stephen said. Different strings sound different on different violins. We cannot really advise you. Only your luthier, who can hear your violin with whatever strings you have on currently, can advise you on which strings on your violin will best acheive the sound you seek. It may be some brand other than the two you mentioned. Good luck!
I'd advise trying Evah Pirazzi first, but who knows - it may be a total bust. If you choose that set, you may want to replace the E string with a Gold Label or something; many people dislike the Evah E.
I found that the Titanium Solo strings weren't as projecting on my violin, and had fewer overtones, thus less richness to the sound. They lasted longer than the Pirazzis though, and were much easier to play in terms of string tension and bow response.
In terms of rosin, Pirastro's Oliv/Evah rosin works well with pretty much all strings, and isn't too expensive. It only costs $6 at my local shop. If you want something with a little less grip, try Salchow - it produces a very smooth feel and a nice tone, also at a lower price.
It's trial and error.
I tried Dominants,
Tah-Daaaah, Tah-da,
Tired Eudoxa's too,
Tah-daaah, Tah-Da
Tried Infeld Reds,
Tah-Daaah, Tah Da
And Infeld Bluuuuues,
I got the String Search blues baaaaaby....
I got the Striiiing Search Blues!
Cause searchin' for the best strings now,
on this site...Aint nothin' Neeeeew!
Tah-Daaa, Tah Da
I tried Passiones,
Tah-Daaa, Tah-da
Tried Larsens so bold and true,
Tah-Daaah, Tah-da
Tried Gold Labels Baaaaby,
Tah-daaa, Tah-dah
Tried Red Labels old & new,
I got the String Search Baaaaby,
I got the String Search Bluuuuues,
'Cause searchin' for the best strings now,
On this site, 'aint nothin' Newwwww!!!
Well if u like the feel of dominants then prepare to adapt to high tension of evah's. Well tat's what I feel under my fingers. Titanium Solo's have higher tension then dominants but less then evah but they feel pretty good still. But they are too focused to me, feels like I'm playing steel strings compared to guts.
I agree with Royce that this is all trial and error. If only it doesn't cost anything to try all the strings. Evah's I like overall compare to vision but nothing compares to Passione / Oliv. : )
What does your instrument sound like with the Dominants when your teacher plays it? If you don't know, that is the next step.
Passiones seem to0 gt amny thumbs up. Expensive! there are some who say that they don't work for them, but I do believe that more people have liked & recomend them here than most other strings! Them and Dominants!
Yes. Trial and error... :) And then you have possible permutations also, like mixing different strings.... sounds like a "good" project just before your audition :)
Just a tip... how about just changing the two higher strings? You said you feel ok with the g and the d..
How about Vision Solos, not Titanium? The tension in Vision Solo strings is about the same as Dominants. On our violin, Vision Solos produce better focused sound than Dominants. They are almost as focused as Pirazzis without Pirazzi's tension.
Along with what everyone has said so far, it might pique your curiosity in that one string can change the sound of the others (to some extent).
However, you are currently accustomed to Dominants and have an audition coming up very soon. Changing an entire set might or might not affect you, but to be safe, I would recommend experimenting first with E strings. Not a lot of people like the Dominant E, actually. That's why it's common to find a setup involving Dominants with another type of E, like Gold Label, Jargar, or Goldbrokat.
To repeat: personal preference through trial and error!
More information about E strings (and most strings in general) can be searched via the immense archives v.com has to offer. Christian Vachon's post on "Personal review..." is a good read.
Good luck in your search!
Something else: String searches never end. As violins are played they seem to change, i.e., opening up, and the strings currently being used no longer sufice! I've seen many times here that someone has to start searching for another set.
Yeah... just how much time you got in your lifetime to experiment with strings ?? ;)
^^
Trying all those strings also cost money which some of us just can't afford unless our luthier's are nice ppl and have some strings they use to test with.
I like both brands. In your situation (you need them for next week), I would probably go with the Visions, because they settle in very quickly, unlike the Evahs, which can sound kind of screamy for a while until they settle in. I've also found that the Visions last a very long time---I've had mine on for almost 8 months now, and I usually change strings every 4 months. They still sound good! They are a little more mellow-sounding than Evahs, though, and I kind of miss the Evah tone, so I might go back to those next. You won't go wrong either way, though. Both are good.
My teacher used Evah's, then tried Larsens and fell in love with them!
Passiones. Amazing. Even for me, a relative newbie. Gorgeous overtones.
I still like my vision titanium orchestral better than anything else. To repeat what others have said... your best bet is finding someone, a shop, a luthier, a friend, teacher, etc who may have extra sets of strings lying around they're willign to let you try on your fiddle. Only then can you truly tell what is best for you. Good luck!
Perosnally Evah Pirazzi does it for me - Much more rich overtone and power than the Vision, which I find quite "mono"-sounding : P
I looked at the documentation from Thomastik and the difference between Vision Titanium and Vision solos is pretty small. Two of the strings are identical and the E and G are only different by 0.1kp.
I tried Eva Pirazzi on my fiddle for a couple of years and they were nice because you can press like hell and not get a scratchy sound. But then I put on a set of Vision Titanium. Wow! The G string like exploded.....so much better.
Tom
Hey,
I've never used Visions on my violin, but I didn't really like the way they sounded on my friends violin... it sounded harsh and, just not good in my opinion.
I was happy with the evahs I tried, primarily because of the ability to play loud, without it sounding harsh or screetchy. They lacked color, though.
I personally prefer Passione's because of the warmth, but between the two I like evahs much better.
Tom,
Did you compare medium Vision solos to medium Titaniums? I could be mistaken but I clearly remember Vision tatanium had much higher tension. I had to call Thomastik rep to get the tension for Solos. It turned out to be about the same as Dominants. I was trying to change strings on my daughter's violin. She was using Evahs at the time. She does not dig on the strings and her bow was easily crooked on Evahs.
In the 10 page pdf catalog I have from Thomastik I believe they are only listing the stats for the vision medium strings. In fact there is no mention of stark or anything. Here is what they have:
Vision solo:
e 8.1 kp
a 5.5
d alum 4.6
d silver 4.7
g 4.6
vision titanium solo:
e 8.0
a 5.5
d silver 4.7
g 4.7
dominant medium
e 7.8
a 5.5
d alum 4.1
d silver 4.5
g 4.4
dominant heavy
e 9.1
a 5.9
d alum 5.4
d silver 5.5
g 4.9
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October 8, 2009 at 09:49 PM ·
Also what are good rosins to be used with these strings?