tarheel - Posted - 04/14/2025:  14:04:10

Has anybody tried these strings? I saw a ad for them that had a full page of hype and never got around to really describing them or the price.

Flat_the_3rd_n7th - Posted - 04/14/2025:  14:52:34

Have not tried them, but price at Shar appears to be $150 for a set. Dominants at $60 is the most I want to spend on a synthetic.

Might pose the question over at violinist.com or maestronet.com, you'll probably get more input

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 04/14/2025:  19:38:06

I’ve put them on a few violins. They are interesting and they do work quite well on some violins. Personally, I still prefer Rondos. Dynamos are powerful and do have an intriguing color palette, but I’m not crazy about the new winding they’ve developed for the D string. It sounds very metallic to me.

I don’t see them as an upgrade from Dominants, just a different character.

wrench13 - Posted - 04/14/2025:  19:55:10

Its all I use on both my main and secondary fiddles. Yes, they are expensive $135+ a set. But like Rich says they are powerful and have a wide color palette available. But if you are not at the point in your fiddle journey where you can take advantage of those characteristics, go for cheaper ones.


Not crazy about the E, I'm working my way thru 2 dozen different E's of all sorts to find one I really like.

tarheel - Posted - 04/14/2025:  20:23:18

Thanks everybody. I'll give them a try. Seems like the quality of the dominants is slipping some recently. I recently opened up a fiddle for a neck reset that I have had laying around for probably 40 years. Inside was a penciled message from a fellow that had done some work on it in 1934. Got me wanting to do a special repair on the several problems it has. I want some quality strings for this second or third life I hope to give it.

ChickenMan - Posted - 04/15/2025:  09:05:01

quote:

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Originally posted by wrench13

Its all I use on both my main and secondary fiddles. Yes, they are expensive $135+ a set. But like Rich says they are powerful and have a wide color palette available. But if you are not at the point in your fiddle journey where you can take advantage of those characteristics, go for cheaper ones.





Not crazy about the E, I'm working my way thru 2 dozen different E's of all sorts to find one I really like.

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What are these advanced characteristics you speak of? Are they just tonal qualities. Or is there another advantage? 

I like the Prim Lisa E, very sweet and clear to my ear, and louder than most I've tried.

wrench13 - Posted - 04/15/2025:  19:19:22

I dont know if I would call the Dynamo's sweet, I mean they can be played that way. where they shine, for me, is they sound fatter, warmer, but still able to project a bold sound when asked for.

ChickenMan - Posted - 04/15/2025:  21:40:48

The E string had its own characteristics and doesn't seem to be what I would think of as warm or fat. I think of sweet as the opposite of harsh, which is how many Es sound to my ears.

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 04/16/2025:  07:06:02

I use the Goldbrokat medium E string on just about everything. Since I order strings in bulk tubes, I just skip the E strings for the sets I stock regularly.

buckhenry - Posted - 04/16/2025:  16:11:44

I'm on my 3rd set...........

Flat_the_3rd_n7th - Posted - 04/16/2025:  16:33:46

quote:

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Originally posted by buckhenry

I'm on my 3rd set...........

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I'm too low on the totem to figure in fatness and the like.  We're not a high-end bunch.  But I am concerned with  duration of string freshness--can you say how many hours play time on a set?

ie, I pretty much get the prescribed 6 months from Dominants.  With daily practice and maybe only a 2-hour performance a month I would say I put 50 hours/month on them.  So at, say, $70 for 6 months, that costs around a quarter $US/hour playing.  Dynamo costs twice that.

Or, am I being too much of an farmer/engineer tightwad and less of an artist?

buckhenry - Posted - 04/16/2025:  17:28:22

can you say how many hours play time on a set?

I can't be very sure about that. They came on the market and I tried them and liked them, so I'm going to order more.

I tend to change strings every 5-6 months no matter which brand and I practise about 70-90 hours a month. 

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 04/16/2025:  18:51:45

I haven’t gotten any feedback about the longevity of Dynamos so far, but that means I haven’t heard any complaints. I would expect them to last a good six months with regular usage, perhaps more. If they start to feel rubbery or sound anemic (assuming the post is adjusted well), they’re in need of replacement.

ChickenMan - Posted - 04/17/2025:  09:08:39

quote:

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

...I would expect them to last a good six months with regular usage, perhaps more. If they start to feel rubbery or sound anemic (assuming the post is adjusted well), they’re in need of replacement.

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Can the post randomly move? It would seem to me if the sound post needed adjustment there would be a problem with the sound even before the strings accumulated some wear.

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 04/17/2025:  10:48:30

quote:

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Originally posted by ChickenMan

quote:

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

...I would expect them to last a good six months with regular usage, perhaps more. If they start to feel rubbery or sound anemic (assuming the post is adjusted well), they’re in need of replacement.

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Can the post randomly move? It would seem to me if the sound post needed adjustment there would be a problem with the sound even before the strings accumulated some wear.

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The soundpost won't move at random, but its position becomes problematic under different atmospheric conditions and may need adjustment. I was not connecting strings feeling rubbery to the soundpost. I agree with you that a soundpost adjustment issue will likely show up independent of the strings. As the strings wear out they start to lose punch more and more; that's just the materials breaking down with use and wear, not the soundpost doing something different. I mentioned adjustment merely to point out that if there are noticeable changes in sound, one should check that the violin is adjusted well first. Sometimes an issue in sound can have a cause as simple as the bridge leaning forward a little or getting bumped out of position when the case gets knocked. 

 

Do soundposts move without a soundpost setter doing the moving? That's a question that isn't easy to answer. The inside of the plates and the post are both (usually) unfinished wood, and they do undergo fluctuations themselves as the seasons change. The changes in humidity affect arching shape and therefore neck height. For cellists the fluctuation can be enough to make it worthwhile to have a summer and winter bridge. Whether soundposts change position or not, they do change in length as the humidity changes. This is why a post can become tighter in the summer. As far as any change to position, I haven't seen any analysis of this and I am less inclined to think that the post moves unless it's jarred or poorly fitted. When I check the position of posts I've set in the past, I don't see evidence that they've changed position. It's just that the sweet spot is different in different conditions (e.g. seasonal changes, temperature swings, string changes, changes of fittings, etc.).