Vandoren 56 Rue Lepic Bb-Clarinet 2.5

I'm a casual player on the clarinet and haven't been playing in a decade. I got a low-budget clarinet recently and got a couple of various reeds to test out.

The only other reed I know are the Vandoren classic blue, which I've used for years when I used to play the clarinet.

After a day of A-B comparisons, I prefer this over the classic blue. It's slightly easier to play, more forgiving, and has a very warm and full-bodied tone. There is a singing quality to the reed, which made it very encouraging for me to come back to playing the clarinet.

Perhaps the blue has a more classical-leaning sound, and this has a more mellow sound more suited to jazz or more casual styles. Nonetheless, the sound is rich and pure, just like their description. Big recommendations!

These series of Vandoren reeds is perfect. The tone, the response and sound is very clear and good.

Pros
56 rue is a class of reed that you will forget to change. The duration of usage is the longest I have experienced. If you play 2-3 hour per day, you will start to lose the clarity of sound in about 4-5 months. No other reed lasts that much. You can keep it longer if the usage is less. The best for marching bands and orchestras. Hydrated or not its easy to play.
Cons
Ok, some clarinists may use other series for jazz music or more emotional types of music. You won't have the sweet tone of the Vandoren 21 series that easy.
Recomended!