Dixon Tapered Bore OR Kerry Optima

[Hully]

Hello everyone, been playing High D for around 18 months or so (Dixon poly one piece), now looking to try a Low D.

Don't want to (can't afford to) spend a fortune so I am looking at the two choices above.

Which would you say was best choice for a beginner?

[BigDavy]

Checked Kerry Whistles website for Optima price, the the website appears to have been hacked, Amazon has them for £96, the Dixon can be had on eBay UK for as little as £55.

As a Dixon TB012D owner I would say get it and save yourself some money.

David

[Hully]

£96.00

I've just had a look at the Kerry site (seems to be okay now, I know it's being relaunched soon, wonder if you saw a test page or something?) and the fixed Optima is on at £49.00 (phew)

Do like Dixon's though my poly High D is very sweet.

Thanks for taking the time to respond Davy.

[pancelticpiper]

Which would you say was best choice for a beginner?

With the caveat that my sample size is small, 2 of those Dixons and 1 Optima (while it was on tour), I would say that they're both easy players.

The Dixon has got to be the most comfortable Low D to play, certainly in that price range. Its combination of light weight, narrow tube, and close-set fingerholes make it hard to beat. To get more ergonomic than that means keys such as Susato puts on their Low D's. Add to that low breath requirements and you've got a sweet player.

The Optima I tried is also a sweet easy player, comfortable to play, with a nice tone.

I can't use either one for performance because the Dixon's 2nd octave is about the flattest I've encountered, while the Optima's is the sharpest. The octaves on both can be brought into line, just barely, by underblowing and overblowing to the verge of breaking. I want my octaves in the middle so I have room to vary the breath for expression. (The "middle" being where most Low D's are, such as those by Goldie, Burke, Alba, Susato, and so forth, right where fluteplayers adjust their corks to be.)

[Hully]

Thanks Richard, came across an interesting thread where you compare a number of Low D (including the Dixon and Optima) very helpful.

[Mr.Nate]

Hully,

I haven't tried the Dixon tapered bore low D but I have an Optima with a translusent blue head. Over the years I have had a chance to play a small selection of low D's. I saw the Orla McCauliffe videos on the Kerry website and decided to order one. She of course is an amazing flute player but she admits on the video that the Optima is her first Low D. She does a great job playing one and that's the kind of tone and
agility that you can expect from one if you are a top notch musician with years under your belt and a good set of lungs. Ah, and those supple girl hands just gliding over the holes. Yes, I would buy one all over again.

A Dixon tunable polymer with the straight bore
A Bleazy blackwood low D
An older Goldie non-tunable with medium/ high back pressure
A Burke aluminum Low D
A Sweet Onyx polymer Low D
A Howard Low D
A Reyburn brass Low D with a delrin head that was on tour a few years ago.
A Bracker aluminum Low D that was on tour a few years ago.
A chieftan thunderbird low D that was on tour a few years ago.
I currently own a Lofgren aluminum Low D that I bought from Pancelticpiper

I won't make specific comments or comparisons about these low D's except that you can't go wrong with an Optima. It is really good low D for beginner to intermediate. It plays and sounds like many handmade low D's The plastic head is nice because it doesn't have as many of the clogging issues that you might find on an all aluminum whistle but retains the metalic buzz and complexity that you want from an aluminum whistle.

[Hully]

Thanks Nate.