Cake’s String Reviews

[theendofcake (they / she)]

posting this early to help people get this string as cheap as possible, everyone deserves to try it.

Canopy Rope || A (94/100)

A bit of an explanation for this is needed. I’ve been REALLY wanting to try this ever since it was announced, as seen here.

I saw that it was using “a blend of string adapted from [Sochi’s] Phoenix line”, as said on the Canopy Collection Website. Phoenix String also “combines Alphaline Technology with SOCHI’s Pro Prostring Blend” as said on the YYE page for it. Now, i have a few questions:

• Whats Alphaline Technology ?
• What’s Prostring Blend?
• If the Canopy blend is from Phoenix String and the Phoenix blend is Pro Prostring Blend (weird name), is it really based off of Phoenix string? Wouldn’t it be based off of Prostring instead?

I have no answers for these (yet), but with all that being said, i was excited nonetheless since Phoenix String is one of my favorites. I was sad they wouldn’t have them at Worlds, but turns out my Canopy AL came with one string of Rope, and after almost losing it among a sea of Alphaline Whiteout, the review is now here.

This is SOFT, maybe a bit too soft for me when it starts out. After about 4-5 minutes though, the softness goes from too much to right in the Goldilocks Zone of softness, which is stunning. I didn’t think Alphaline Whiteout could be improved on, but here it is. The string has about an average wind with a feel that perfectly blends the feeling of the strands on your fingers. Early on, slacks and whips were very fast, maybe around OT levels, but with a bit of give in the solidity that’s also present in Phoenix String and SLACKiES. Fatter string pulls this off slightly better if i’m remembering correctly. I couldn’t really narrow down the weight of the slack because, to be honest, that’s one of the things im the worst at. The string lost the initial stretchiness and started to really show the worn fuzzies around the 30 minute mark. I heard that these fuzzies can activate the response earlier and it may be a placebo effect, but the age didn’t impact binds as much as I thought it would. I felt a bit of tighter binds, maybe by a .5 score, thicker than Phoenix String. Near the hour, the string plateaued exactly where it was at the 30 minute mark. The only difference is that tension holding became ever so slightly worse and whips felt a bit slower, but all of those aren’t observations that can be set in stone.

Compared to other strings I’ve used, the tension wasn’t bad at all, which was my main concern. Consistency was off the charts, as the only variables in how the string behaved felt like it came from me or the tension. Everything else felt the same, which is an amazing mark for the durability of this string. The slacks and whips throughout the hour were definitely on the assisting side because of the speed, but everything else like weight, shape, etc. didn’t carry me too much to be called an assist or a crutch. I heard it gets softer after some more hours, so look forward to that too!

Overall, this is outstanding and really promising from a brand as new as Canopy. I’ll put my money where my mouth is and buy a 200 pack after this, i feel like I’ll stick with this for a while. Definitely worth the $25 for how long they can last and still feel like new. I highly recommend this for fans of the “broken in” feel that want a faster paced string, fans of Alphaline, and fans of Phoenix String. Stats below!

Durability 30 min (4)
Durability 1 hr (4.5)
Personal Thickness Feel (5)
Whip Feel Break-In (5)
Whip Feel 1 hr (4.5)
Slack Feel Break-In (4.5)
Slack Feel 1 hr (4.5)
Tension Hold over 1 hour overall (4)
Softness during break-in (6)
Overall consistency over 1 hour (5)
Total: 47 x 2 = 94, 94 = A graded based on letter system (A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C: 79-70, D: 69-60, F: 60<)

go buy some, as the sale ends tomorrow at midnight. see yall in a week and a half

[theendofcake (they / she)]

long day today, late post

MarkMont Nylon Nylon Nylon (Fat) || D (66/100)

Honesty is always the #1 quality in reviews, and honestly, I can’t use this. The string is reallly soft and plush, but it’s so bouncy that it’s harder to do my lacerations and hooks. Whips are super inconsistent because of the stretch and speed when the string goes limp, but slacks are actually pretty good! I can’t feel much of the slack (maybe because of the plush), but the string is light and a bit lagging behind. This is paired by its speed in tension tricks, which brings a little bit of the floppiness back in due to the stretch. Durability is always amazing for nylon, and this is no exception. This’ll last you for a WHILE, if you even want to after the first 15 minutes.

I don’t know what thickness this is, but I’m assuming it’s fat. I heard that regular thickness Nylonx3 is almost unplayable because of the thinness, so be aware for that. If your collection is small and you’re a fan of the chill vibe of a 100% nylon string, this is an average one out of the many boutiques out there. Nothing too special about this, sorry to say. The notable features of the slower slacks and great thickness on binds is overshadowed by the Curse of Nylon and its inconsistencies, so im pretty ambivalent on this personally. If it sounds like you’re style, go for it! The quality of MarkMont is always nice to see. Stats below.

Durability 30 min (5)
Durability 1 hr (5)
Personal Thickness Feel (3.5)
Whip Feel Break-In (2) fast
Whip Feel 1 hr (3) i get it now
Slack Feel Break-In (3) fast!!
Slack Feel 1 hr (3)
Tension Hold over 1 hour overall (2)
Softness during break-in (4.5)
Overall consistency over 1 hour (2.5)
Total: 33.5 x 2 = 67, 67 = D graded based on letter system (A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C: 79-70, D: 69-60, F: 60<)

[AtomicChessGuy]

Will you ever do Sochi Phoenix string?

[slomega]

Not sure if this is the right place, but if anyone is looking for YYSL Nytro, YYE just restocked yesterday all colors of both Nytro and Nytro+. I tried based off of the recommendation here and am a big fan.

[HappyYoyoer (Baxalax (Baxter))]

Ooh I didn’t know that, sweet!

[theendofcake (they / she)]

no, i don’t think so.

Sochi Phoenix String || B (86/100)

Ok so this review is kind of weird because i’ve been using it for months now, so i had to use more traditional polyester string like OT and Kitty to get a better view of where this falls, so bear with me.

This string is normal thickness (a bit more than OT Thin, a slight bit less than alphaline), fairly soft and actually gets softer/slicker when it ages, which is interesting. The wind isn’t too exaggerated on the fingers, and i would place it around average tightness. Out of the pack, whips are pretty fast and somewhat controllable. Slacks are also nice and open with a light weight to them, but it gets a bit wiggly and speeds up on itself when you’re not careful, closing or misshaping that slack you need for certain tricks. I think (?) this is more common among normal-thickness strings because there’s not as much structural integrity but i might just be talking out of my butt. It’s certainly an acquired taste, but it’s one that fits my taste for slightly fast whips, slacks, and soft string. The durability is pretty good, it lasts about an hour 30 to 2 hours before i want to change it out for textural or tension holding reasons. The thing is, age doesn’t really affect its performance at all besides slight tension holding, and I’ve found most issues with the string to be either weirdly paced slack feel (the acquired taste mentioned earlier) or from texture. This means that if you don’t really care about roughISH string, you’ll find minimal issues. I’ve definitely heard and seen that Sochi quality control isn’t the best, leaving about a 40-60% defect rate. I’ve also heard these defects range from a strand sticking out a bit to weird kinks in the string to multiples of both on the same string. My pack has about 40-50% of a small strand sticking out, but that’s only aesthetic and not noticable when you’re actually throwing.

Overall, this is wonderful. The slacks and small floppiness are the most obvious thing I see stopping people from liking this, but I’m fine with it. Whether I buy more or not is up in the air, but I respect it. Stats below.

Durability 30 min (4)
Durability 1 hr (4.5)
Personal Thickness Feel (5)
Whip Feel Break-In (4.5)
Whip Feel 1 hr (4)
Slack Feel Break-In (4)
Slack Feel 1 hr (4)
Tension Hold over 1 hour overall (4)
Softness during break-in (5)
Overall consistency over 1 hour (4)
Total: 43 x 2 = 86, 86 = B graded based on letter system (A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C: 79-70, D: 69-60, F: 60<)

[AtomicChessGuy]

Thanks!

[Georgekouts (George Koutsostahis)]

Excellent review! The inly point I disagree is the thickness comparison to alphaline. It is definitely fatter than alphaline. Not saying it is a good nor a bad thing. Just stating the fact.

[Siggy-06]

Ordered a 100 pack of the Canopy strings after trying it with my Canopy AL and reading your insight, the sale and free shipping was a nice bonus. I alternate a lot of my throws weekly, so a 100 pack of strings last me a long time.

[theendofcake (they / she)]

really? weird, it always felt thinner to me. i use whiteout alphaline, mayyybe its thicker? i have no idea, thats interesting

@Siggy-06 nice, tell me how it plays! always nice to hear other peoples thoughts just to make sure im not speaking out of my ■■■

[theendofcake (they / she)]

happy 1 year anniversary of these reviews, special message at the end!

Zipline Polyesque || B (86/100)

The string is very plush and smooth, complimented by its tightish wind that makes the string very level. This wind and thickness combine to give secure binds between OT Normal and OT Fat levels. Still too thick for me regardless, but it still feels good. Slack feel is amazing, stupidly open and well paced. It’s fairly fast in the air but doesn’t close on itself while giving a solid feel when landing in the yoyo or on your hand. Whips are amazing, fast, easy, and stable. I don’t want to dock a string on feeling too easy to use, so both qualities will begin at a perfect 5. Durability is pretty good for poly, was averagely above average if that makes sense. Had a bit of wear and then started to stabilize around the end of the hour, as far as I know it doesn’t change afterwards. Mine got a little sticky though and had trouble rubbing against itself, maybe due to the humidity in my area and my sweaty hands.

Past the hour, nothing else really changed performance-wise, but the string did feel a bit rougher like I mentioned. Still soft, but rougher. This is a fantastic casual-feeling string that’ll last a while, not much effort has to be put in for the string to feel great. Some people like the required exertion and precision of other strings. some like strings like this. I’m in both fields. Make it a bit less thick, it’s excellent for my tastes. Stats below.

Durability 30 min (4)
Durability 1 hr (4.5)
Personal Thickness Feel (3)
Whip Feel Break-In (5)
Whip Feel 1 hr (4.5) couldn’t explain why, vibes-based
Slack Feel Break-In (5)
Slack Feel 1 hr (4.5) stickyyy
Tension Hold over 1 hour overall (3.5)
Softness during break-in (5)
Overall consistency over 1 hour (4)

Total: 43 x 2 = 86, 86 = B graded based on letter system (A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C: 79-70, D: 69-60, F: 60<)

Ok I have a lot to say, so i’m splitting this into two topics.

Topic 1: About a year ago, i was still fairly new and wanted to have a “thing” that i did for people in the community. part of this was because I wanted to make a place for myself, part because i felt like there was a lack of collective knowledge on strings. as this thread grew, I felt the purpose of these change from me getting my thoughts out to a genuine archival catalogue of strings, often lost to time or not spoken about. I began making friends, and I was adopted by some amazing friends who’ve helped me more than I can say.

Shoutout to these losers

I have a certain responsibility to everyone who’s donated string, encouraged me, disagreed with me, and read the thread (this thread has THOUSANDS of views) to continue what i do, and i’m both deeply honored and very grateful you all trust me to do this. Thanks for one, singular year.

Topic 2: pumping out reviews consistently has made this change from a passion project to a sort of homework. This time limit helped me yoyo more consistently, but it also ripped the fun out of a hobby that’s supposed to be fun. Before this feeling gets too big, I’m going to stop promising Saturday reviews and just post whenever I have the time or feel like it. I still intend on getting through everything donated, but it’ll take another year or two.

TL;DR: Thanks for a year of service, say goodbye to Saturday reviews. Thanks for reading

[Siggy-06]

Love your reviews Cake. They helped me with 2 string purchases so far and both have been great. I prefer you to take your time to write, rather than rush.

[KirbyRobot (Gingie)]

It’s kinda just one of the facts of reviews that after a while being analytical can get fatiguing. Especially in a community that can sometimes go so far as to say reviews are completely useless.

Plus sometimes you just can’t be bothered and just want to play with your stuff.

Have fun.

[DaneMartin]

I looked forward to seeing your posts on Saturday, but we can’t have you burnt out! Thank you for your dedication for the year. It was really great to see the amount of work you put in to this.

[Yodaddyo (Seth McNeeley)]

Thank you for your service String Queen!

The forums are better with you in it!

We eagerly await your next review, on your time, of course!

[Captrogers (Brandon Rogers)]

Wow hey you can’t go taking time off. Your out string messiah!

One a serious note. Totally get the burnout issue. Do what you need to make it manageable vs getting fed up and just leaving the hobby or something

[theendofcake (they / she)]

nice to be out of the pressure of the week, i can feel the passion and interest returning.

Zipline ZS.AIR || B- (81/100)

Incredibly soft and slick as usual, you come to expect this from Zipline. The wind is spaced just enough where it’s almost non-textured, which feels surprisingly good. The thickness is very secure and the yoyo comes back solidly and quickly regardless of how much string it takes to bind, probably due to the string bunching up with its thickness and slickness near the response. I wasn’t a fan since I like a bit of slip in my binds. Durability is insane as can Also be expected from both nylon and Zipline.

Slacks are stupid fast in the air, when I’m able to control them they give a fast solidity. Whips are a bit less fast than other nylons to my memory, which means it’s more controllable to me. The thing is, both qualities are just slightly above decent. It’s a curse of nylon, honestly. The stand-out quality of this string though is that NONE of the qualities change over time, this is an invincible king. That’s about all I can say about this without doing more of the song and dance that comes with reviewing nylon. Also, tension holding is pretty good and consistency in tricks is decent. Generally a good string, hope I somewhat did it justice with this writeup. Stats below!

Durability 30 min (6)
Durability 1 hr (6)
Personal Thickness Feel (2.5)
Whip Feel Break-In (3.5)
Whip Feel 1 hr (3.5)
Slack Feel Break-In (3.5)
Slack Feel 1 hr (3.5)
Tension Hold over 1 hour overall (4)
Softness during break-in (5)
Overall consistency over 1 hour (3)
Total: 40.5 x 2 = 81, 81 = B- graded based on letter system (A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C: 79-70, D: 69-60, F: 60<)

[theendofcake (they / she)]

owap

C3 23SP1N || C+ (79/100)

First off, it’s great feeling, around normal thickness and normal wind. The wind is made in a way that it’s slick on your fingers, while still having a roughness that gets more “worn in” with time.

Slacks are pretty fast, definitely more oriented to where the slack wants to go rather than where it began, changing the shape of the slack to more of a slope rather than an ideal frozen. Whips are also fast, but never going into the boutique-nylon level. This string definitely does not break any boundaries performance-wise and kind of fits a role as a fast-casual string, a bit similar to Canopy Rope. The durability is good, but that’s about the best I can say. It doesn’t age like $5 bulk, but it doesn’t age too well either.

Good for me, the performance doesn’t really change past the break-in period of 20-30 minutes, at least from what I saw. Very stable, and also boosted by the surprisingly good consistency, which I know might’ve been impacted by the speed. Again, I don’t use string for too long. Observations will vary.

I honestly don’t think there’s anything too unique about this string other than it’s C3’s entering into the nylon blend market. I’m pretty sure Sochi Phoenix (and maybe Canopy Rope?) has one strand of nylon, and it seems that one strand goes pretty far in how the string forms around it. If you like this archetype of string, definitely check this out. Stats below.

Durability 30 min (3)
Durability 1 hr (3.5)
Personal Thickness Feel (5)
Whip Feel Break-In (4.5)
Whip Feel 1 hr (4)
Slack Feel Break-In (4)
Slack Feel 1 hr (4)
Tension Hold over 1 hour overall (3)
Softness during break-in (4.5)
Overall consistency over 1 hour (4)

Total: 39.5 x 2 = 79, 79 = C+ graded based on letter system (A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C: 79-70, D: 69-60, F: 60<)

[theendofcake (they / she)]

a bit shorter one(?), hope yall don’t mind

C3 Nova String || B- (80/100)

The string is a bit rough, definitely rougher when you break it in, but not unusable by any means. Binds are tight, probably a mix between its normal-fat thickness and its slightly tighter wind. Slacks have a bit of a forward lean to them, and they feel sort of, full? Nicely and comfortably fast, which carries to its whips. Lacerations feel very easy to do, but aren’t overturned in speed by any means. Over time, I think the string sort of evened out for performance quality. The only sort of problem I find is with the tension holding: it’s great over time and sort of powers through some tricks that normally ask you to even out tension beforehand, but it gets tangled during tricks where the slack is a bit slower and looser. This is with every string to be fair, but I feel it’s more pronounced with this one. Plus it gets sticky and gross on my hands, which is a self-report on my end but I don’t CARE !!! Good string, l guarantee if you’re reading this, it has a chance of being your favorite if you give it a chance. Stats below.

Durability 30 min (4)
Durability 1 hr (4.5)
Personal Thickness Feel (3.5) thick in a good wayy
Whip Feel Break-In (4.5)
Whip Feel 1 hr (4.5)
Slack Feel Break-In (4)
Slack Feel 1 hr (4)
Tension Hold over 1 hour overall (3.5)
Softness during break-in (3.5)
Overall consistency over 1 hour (4)
Total: 40 x 2 = 80, 80 = B- graded based on letter system (A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C: 79-70, D: 69-60, F: 60<)

[laserpenguin]

Hi @theendofcake , now that you’ve gotten a bulk pack of Canopy Rope I’m wondering how you’re finding the consistency between strings. Do you still love it and see it as the best string now that you’ve presumably had a chance to use more of it?