D'Addario Zyex Violin String Set with Aluminum D, 4/4 Scale, Medium Tension

My strings had long been dead on my violin, and weren't great before they died either. They were far too bright and tinny, with a cutting, flat, and piercing sound. I decided on synthetic core strings because I thought that would help add depth to the violin and mellow it out a bit. My price range wasn't quite in the ballpark of Dominants, so I decided to go with these strings, even though nobody I knew played with them before. In particular I chose the silver D set because as the cello is my primary instrument, I'm a sucker for a hearty low end sound.First impression was that the A scared the crap out of me when stringing it up. The combination of a silk core and an aluminum wrapping makes the string feel like it is ready to snap while tuning. I had made sure to well lubricate the nut and bridge with a pencil before stringing, but it still had a horrible feeling to it. I got the string up to about a G, at which point the change in pitch relative to the amount I turned the peg dropped off, the exact sign that your string is getting ready to fail. After quadruple checking that it was indeed an A string, I finally just decided to bring it up to pitch. It got there eventually, but not without a large amount of sweat and nervous swearing on my part.The other strings went on just fine, and I got to play it for the first time. Immediately I noticed a huge increase in the sound from even when my last strings were new. The silver low end did exactly what I wanted, it brought out the deeper tones of the violin and made it sing clear and rich. The aluminum A takes a bit of getting used to, it has a tackier texture than that of a silver or chrome wound string, but the sound from it is surprisingly good. Unlike my last A which was shrill and piercing, this A has a lot more restraint in the sound. Warm and rich it matches the silver D and G particularly well on my violin. The E I feel is nothing to write home about, but is not the worst E I've played on. Perhaps it is the cellist in me talking, but nearly every E I've played hasn't been to my liking. However, the E provided blends moderately well, and while lacking the mellowing qualities of the lower strings, let's face it, who wants an E to mellow?Bow response is good, with the aluminum A being a tiny bit slower than the others. The difference is hardly perceivable while playing though, and it does not at all keep the A from slowing down a fast passage. The biggest thing to overcome will be shifting on the A, those who are used to harder metal windings may find it a bit unsettling at first, but good finger tip calluses will help with that.Overall these are great strings for someone looking for a powerful yet a bit more soothing sound. I recommend the silver D and G in particular, as the low end of violins seems to be a bit overlooked. If you can get these strings with a bit better E I would advise it, but the supplied E will do just fine if not.

The sound coming from these strings is wonderful! It is bright without being cheap sounding, and full! I put these on about 2 weeks ago and have only had to tune them once or twice since, and I play everyday, sometimes for hours at a time. Love the response I get from these. And the price! Can't beat the price! I used to always purchase silver wound gut, for a small fortune, but can't afford them anymore. Was looking for an alternative, and remembered reading that Celtic fiddler, Kevin Burke, had used these strings, so I decided to try them. Happy, happy, happy!Nov. 11,2013...I still love the sound of these strings, but find that the A is coming unwound after about 110 hours of play time. My nails are not long (I'm a biter) so they are not stressing the strings, but I do find that I have black fingertips after playing, leading me to believe it is a chemical reaction. The strings are unwinding at the D note first position on the A string. Must be a popular note! :-) Also, these strings are loud, so be sure you have confidence and good intonation!

I like the sweet sound the strings have and the stay in tune really well. Since I did buy the light tension version of the strings, they don’t have an incredibly powerful projection, but for light tension strings, they still do really well. Love the purchase overall!

I play fiddle, so I need different things from my strings than a classical player might.The type of music I play mostly switches from bluegrass-type tunes to folk and blues, so I need a string that is responsive and "fiddley-sounding", but sweet enough to pull some good tone for the slow folk songs. These strings broke in fairly quickly, within a day or so, and sounded fantastic on my instrument. They are pretty responsive for synthetic strings, and the low end, the D and G, are booming and full of wonderful tones and color. The A is a little weak, but sounds very nice. I haven't tried the E, as I have fallen in love with the Jargar E and don't wish to try anything else. I've only had the Zyex on a week or so, so I can't address the longevity. Overall, I've been pretty impressed with the sound and playability of these strings. We'll see how I feel in another month or so.

The ZYEX Synthetic Core Strings, in this case for violin, have ended a long search for a dependable synthetic core string which sounds similar to strings priced three times as much, but are a medium tension. Being a medium tension string, each string will hold it's tuning for a much longer period of time without the constant adjustment of re-tuning. With a medium tension, the string to neck pressure required to double block or vibrato is much less than the high tension strings. The ZYEX strings are ball end, colored red/white at the ball end and each is different within the peg box. Their tone is warm, smooth, and although wrapped, they are tightly bound. The A-string comes in either aluminum or silver (for a difference in price). I have purchased ZYEX strings as standbys for each of my three violins for their next routine changes. I really have found nothing of fault with these strings and I have a box full of rejected, and expensive, trial sets which never made the grade.

Excellent quality strings, highly recommend!

Tienen muy buen sonido y son bastante fáciles de afinar con las clavijas, casi que no es necesario un Micro-afinador

I decided to give these a shot. There were no problems stringing my fiddle and after a few days they settled down and I did not have to tune them every time. I mainly play bluegrass style music, some jazz, and a ton of jigs, reels and hornpipes. The tonal quality is good and, as advertised, they are bright. They punch out when you need them to, but can be subtle when required .I did have one odd effect manifest itself at the very beginning and that was a funny, almost buzzing sound / vibration when transitioning rapidly between strings when playing fast tunes. This did not last long and is now gone, so I am attributing it to the the strings not having settled down and were still stretching. As I mentioned, this did not last long. Over all, I am impressed with the Zyex strings - I like D'Addario strings regardless, but these sound very good, work very nicely with my style of music and even though I have not had them for very long and if nothing drastically changes, I would purchase them again.

I bought this as I just needed to replace my A string and I couldn't find a single Dominant string for sale Amazon. I thought it would be similar but I didn't like the sound at all, although 1st position was ok, to be honest.It also needed tightening every time for at least a week - but then I found a spare A string in a cupboard so I swapped it. I'll keep it as a spare, but wouldn't recommend it other than for beginners.

De très bonnes cordes avec un très joli son !

Pues unas cuerdas muy suaves, con armónicos y gran potencia. Se ve por los comentarios que antes debía de haber otra versión mas dura. En mi caso (tensión media y Re en Aluminio), son comparables a las Obligato de Pirastro. Muy contento. Repito seguro cuando se gasten.