Can't decide on a Yo-Yo

Yo-Yo Reviews Looking for Help/Recommendation
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I am looking to get into a higher level of play with a yo-yo, and found out I needed a new yo-yo if I was going to accomplish that. After doing extensive research, I came down to 2 yo-yo’s that are I can’t decide upon. The two yo-yo’s are:

The Duncan Echo:
and
The Dark Magic II:

I prefer a heavier yo-yo with a nice sleep time, and will only be using it for 1A purposes. I would like a yo-yo that can do nice grinds, but thumb grinds don’t matter. I would rather stay away from having to mod my yo-yo to work better, and I don’t want any lube.

I would also like to hear some complaints that you have with the two different yo-yo’s, or even suggest an entirely new one from what I listed. I also want to know if there are any troubles, like easily knotting, or wearing down string fast.

Then finally I want to know what kind of string I should get for each yo-yo.

Thank a ton in advance, ~Alethium

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hmm, those 2 yoyos are pretty good choices, i havent played with the echo yet, but the DM2 is a really good yoyo, its nice and smooth and its fits well in my hand, just like you i prefer some of the heavier yoyos as well, and something else i would recommend is the YYF northstar, its heavier than the echo, and it plays really well, and can defianetly do more than advanced tricks, if jensen kimmitt can win worlds with it, you can learn the hardest tricks out there with this yoyo,plus its a little cheaper as well. but the grinds are a little…yea for lack of a better word. no mods needed

but if you do want amazing grinds, then i would recommend the dv888, its really smooth, amazing spin time, and the grinds feel like heaven on your fingers, trust me, if you havent done a finer grind on a dv888, then youll be very surprised when you do, its like the yoyo isnt even spinning anymore. lo lmaybe a little over exageration, its pretty heavy,and the size is maybe a little smaller than your choices, but alot of people say that their dv888s come out of the box pretty responsive, mines sure did and still is, so you may need to replace the response pads on those, but it doesnt stop it from being an awesome throw for the price too.

as for the string, in my opinion its all about preference, so you may have to try some different ones out and see, but for me i love kitty string, its really nice, the string can last me once a day, the tension is perfect, and the length is awesome too cause i like longer strings, but again its all about preference so just do some research on string and try some that catches your best interest, also remember to get 100% polyester for 1a play.

hope this advice has helped ^^

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Well, I have used both yo-yos, and they are really good. Can you describe what level of play you are currently in? If you are starting out as well as advanced, the DMII is a good choice since it comes with 2 different bearings. The Echo comes unresponsive out if the box, so beware of that. The Echo also grinds better than the DMII in my opinion. The sleep times and weight are pretty similar too.

These yo-yos are excellent, and I don’t see any problems with them. Also, I would recommend getting some lube, because without it, your bearings won’t last as long. Other than lube, there is no need to mod any of the yo-yos in order to perform well.

Also, I am a total noob at strings, but I would recommend getting 100% polyester. That’s about all the information I can give you about strings, sorry.

Well, I hope this helped. There are also some other yo-yos in the same price range, such as the DV888 (as mentioned before), if you were interested in those. They work excellent as well.

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For what your looking for, I think most would recommend a YYF DV888… smooth enough for grinding, good enough sleep time, assuming you yourself have the ability to do so, which comes with practice…

Personally I would immediatly have two complaints with that yoyo…
1- its diameter is in the midsize category… slightly less than two inches which will hinder the stability and sleep time to some degree as opposed to a full size yoyo
2- very personal, I dont like the shape, but it is somewhat similar to both the dark magic and the echo…

even though you didnt specify a price, the DV888 is relatively close to both of those you listed

Because the Dark magic has a plastic body with metal rims, you wont be able to do grinds in the gap very well, but palm and thumb grinds should be OK…

Ive heard the raptor is very smooth and I honestly think with those specifications, it would be a good choice for you… But consider the DV888 as well

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If I might add another idea.

A Foxland Precision “Katz Meow” (B-grade, matte finish, where the final shiny slick part hasn’t been added,) is amazing at grinding.

It’s also important to note that the Katz Meow has a small bearing (which makes it slightly easier to bind.)

To answer your question, I’d go with the Echo, because the groove rings dramatically reduce friction when grinding (as compared to the heavily friction creating plastic found in the DMII.)

However, no player focuses on just “grinding”. Due to this, I’d recommend the DMII because its solid spin and smooth play really help rising intermediate players.

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And easier to snag. Just saying.