Hi Jake, yesterday I watched a YouTube video where a chap plays the same tune on 9 MP’s one after the other, and there wasn’t a great difference in sound.
If you have the time it would be great to compare your two MP’s. Especially if you could edit it so that you play say six bars with the one and then with the other, that would make it easier to hear the difference. I’ve heard that to compare sounds the comparison has to be done within 10 seconds.
I have a Vandoren VL5 MP too, which has a very similar tip opening to the Yamaha 4C, but the 4C just seems more comfortable to play to me.
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