D’Addario Zyex Violin String Set, Aluminum D, Medium

Excellent quality strings, highly recommend!

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.

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 these strings a lot. I play fiddle music, and often tune the G and D strings up one step. Some kinds of strings are weakened by this, and break soon. I’ve been using these for years with no problem.

I also like the sound. To my ear they are quite close to Dominants. I get a gorgeous sound from my violin, which is often noted by other players, including symphony musicians. The fact that the strings are inexpensive is a bonus.

On the minus side, the windings are not polished smooth, especially on the A string, so you can get a little string noise when shifting.

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.

Not the most accomplished violinist so I don’t know about all these descriptions for sound quality, where to me it is you make a sound, or you don’t, unless you include squeaking noises.
This is my excursion from steel core strings and I didn’t want something that you have to constantly re-tune because I am just not used to having to do that. These work well in that regard, meaning once you get them well stretched out they pretty much stay in tune under not too heavy of usage.
I agree with the other reviewer about the G string and I think if anyone wanted to try just buying a single string to mix in with other strings on their violin, that is what I would recommend, the G, it sounds great. I am actually using the E string that is a Dominant because I like it so much I don’t feel like changing it out with the new one from this set and will keep it as a back-up in case I break the one I am using.