Pirastro Tonica Violin 4/4 medium BTL

Bought these as a replacement for the steel strings that came with my student grade violin. The sound of the steel strings was a bit too metallic for my taste and I wanted to see if replacing them with synthetics would make a difference. The short answer is: Yes. They sound which these synthetic strings produced the first time I put then on the violin was much brighter than the sound of the steel strings! I had read that there is a run-in period when the strings would sound a bit "metallic", but still I was a shocked to hear just how bright (metallic) they sounded. About a month later of moderate playing and the sound has mellowed considerably and I think it will mellow even more.

I would recommend these synthetic strings, especially at this price, as a decent way to move away from steel strings. Even the E string (which is steel) sounds much, much better than the steel E string of the original set.

It's a new formula from pirastro, and the price was really tempting for me to try these strings

To begin with, I would say that they are somewhere in the middle of the whole sound spectrum, not overly bright or not overly dark.

They have a warm sound associated with most synthetics, and especially at the very first days they have an apparent shinny edge. The silver D could be one of the best in the set, though they sound full and even across the strings

The E string could be one of the most stable in the market

They can pretty much compare with the Thomastik Dominant in my opinion, so if you like Dominants you could give these a try.