Daddario ECB80 Chromes

At first, these strings feel a bit sticky but that goes away after a few days of playing. After that, they feel almost as smooth as glass. Fresh, they do sound bright, not "roundwounds bright" but definitely brighter than other flatwounds. Broken in, they still retain a good amount of overtones but, like all flats, the sound is mostly about the fundamental and a deep, yet punchy sound.

I bought this set because I was curious about the gauge and tension. Other flatwounds I've tried were too stiff for me, especially the E and A strings. To my fingers, the E and A strings feel similar to 100 and 80 in standard (nickel, XP) roundwounds, while the D an G strings feel a little bit looser.

I love the sound of broken-in (and almost dead) rounds and was hoping that Chromes would achieve this, while also not feeling and looking absolutely disgusting after a few months of frequent use. I don't have a habit of cleaning my strings and I have sweaty fingers, so go figure...

My main issue with them, and with flats in general, is that I struggle to play fast on them. I'm not a shredder by any means, but flatwounds always seems to grip my fingers too much, which makes it difficult to play fast-ish lines and fills.
The sound is also a bit too 'niche' for me. I love them for old school funk/soul and just warm and vintage tones in general, but they don't work for me for more modern, gritty tones. They do have bite but they sound too dry for that kind of sound, which shouldn't really be a surprise considering they are flatwounds.

All in all, these are great quality strings. I do recommend them if you have never tried flatwounds before or if you want flatwounds that are a bit brighter (for a while). I still have a set that I like to put on when I want a change, but I find myself always going back to roundwounds.