I have been reading a lot of posts re: choosing between a pearl flute and a yamaha flute, because im planning to buy my new flute. And i have screened down my choices to either the Pearl 795RBE Coda and Yamaha 674HCT. I would like to ask for your further comments on these two flutes for me to choose well.

Unfortunately im not from the states, so i dont have the convenience of having a no. of flutes sent to my place for testing and comparison, i will be ordering direct to Fluteworld.

My dilema are as follows.
Pearl- Forza cut, some says it projects well but not good on the lower octave. has a 10k solid lip plate but im not sure if the RISER is also 10k gold.
- pinless mechanism and one core bar -tempting!
Yamaha - EC cut, most say that it provides good projection on the lower octave but restrictive on the higher octave.
- it may not have a 10k gold lip plate, pinless mech or one core bar or D# roller, but in general IT IS STILL YAMAHA!!!

HELP im in a dilemma on these two great flute brands!! thank you

When looking for a new flute a year ago I compared Pearl 795 Coda against a Yamaha 674 (without the b foot or c# trill).

As I recall the riser on the pearl is gold and it did seem to darken the tone a little. I didn't notice any problems with the lower register. Nice flute but there was quite a lot of side to side movement in the right hand keys, which made me uneasy. A flute technician told me that the 700 series Pearls need quite a bit more after sales servicing than Yamahas or even the 600 series Pearls. In my part of the world the Pearl is quite a bit cheaper than the Yamaha.

Your comments on the EC headjoint and low vs high register agree with my own experiences. However with a bit of work on tone the high register can be made to sing. The mechanism feels solid and more reliable than the Pearl, although a touch heavier in the feel.

In the final analysis I chose the Yamaha over the Pearl for the good low register, reputation for reliability (I live some distance from a specialist flute technician and can't just drop the flute into the shop for adjustment whenever I want to) and the more robust mechanism. Have been happy with my choice overall.

Hope this helps.

My personal taste lies with the Pearl. I just think they have a better sound and are overall a better quality. That's just opinion though.

My preference would be to get a Yamaha 574 and spend the difference on whatever headjoint sounds best with it. That way you'll have the EC that comes with it and a second one. You can of course sell the EC if you want.

There's really no reason to buy solid silver versus plated at this price level. The flutes are essentially identical for each manufacturer (574 vs 674, for instance)

When I was looking at flutes, my two final choices were between the Pearl Dolce CODA (the 695) and the Yamaha 574 (basically the same flutes you are looking at, just less silver)

For me, the Forza had a much less focused tone and the EC just sounds SO much better for me, but its impossible to tell which headjoint is better for you.

I also REALLY wanted the C# trill (and D# roller) and the Yamaha didn't have the trill (although now they do.. like 2 months after I bought my flute)

So i ended up getting the Pearl and bought a EC headjoint. That combo works GREAT for me.. it sounds even better than the whole Yamaha flute.

If at ALL possible get both to try. If you can't.. I really don't think you can go wrong with either one. The only problem I have with the EC headjoint is the high notes were a bit harder to get sounding good, (and they are still not very intune) and the Forza might be better for that, but overall they are both great flutes.

Thank you very much to all your comments and experiences. At this point im listing down d pros and cons of both flutes to finally choose which one. The suggestion of having a pearl 695 then an EC headjoint combo seems a better option. I will try to consider that. Though im still in for more info. Re these two flutes Thank you so much

Since i was immediately interested by the idea of having a combo costomized flute, has anyone used a wooden headjoint? Specifically the Full Circle brand Lot cut? Or any woodheadjoint brand used in combination to either a pearl or yamaha silver flute? Opinions? Experiences? Is a combination of a woodhead to a silver body a good idea?
Dynamics, colors, vibrancy of the 3 octaves, execution of clean articulation?

Only the lip plate on the Elegante's Forza head is 10K. The riser is silver.

Joe B

Well, it is going to depend on who you ask and how much experience they have with flutes and flute playing in general. By no means am I an expert in anyway, but as a flute connoisseur and a flutists of over 20 years which has tried almost every flute under the sun, I would go for the Yamaha. The Pearl is nice, don't get me wrong, but I would prefer the Yamaha myself. It helps to have a little background on the person who is giving their opinion I think Who knows, you could be getting an opinion of a beginner that has only ever played on one of the flutes mentioned.

Actually my Yamaha has that "Lot" wood headjoint on it. It's definitely a conical bore "woodwind" type sound. Of course, it's not one bit easier to play(technically without a lip plate, it's a bit trickier at first) than a metal headjoint - just a slightly different tone. It's very much a "have to try and see if you like it" sort of thing as far as the sound goes. I'd definitely try it out in person before committing.

From what I've heard, Powell's wood headjoint is very similar. Yamaha's wood headjoint sounds almost identical to their metal ones. Odd, really - somehow they've managed to take almost all of that "organic" tone out of the wood. It sounds much less distinct than the Powell or Full Circle.

http://www.headjoints.com/
I chose the Lot because I generally play jazz and solo music, so projection wasn't as important of a factor. I'd definitely get the Boehm model if I was playing in an orchestra, though.

Guys i really appreciated your comments. I've been checking this thread i made almost every 12hrs to see your opinions. Still Yamahas are a top pick.
Though im still considering some info on the use of a Wood headjoint to a silver body flute. Comments? Suggestions? Is this a good combination?

I personally would go with the yamaha headjoint on the pearl flute, because you're going to get so much more with the pearl than with the yamaha thinking about the mechenism. It's a personal choice, as you may know, but the yamaha head is nice, and the pearl head is also nice, just try all of your options before jumping into anything.

Good Luck :D

I've been looking at the same 2 flutes myself.

Yamaha -I play tested the Yamaha 684H/LPGP (inline w/gold lip plate) for several weeks in December and January. I found the tone and intonation to be excellent - it is A442, and I was able to easily tune it to 440..however for me, the inline seemed to strain my left hand-I've always played on in-lines, so I didn't think I should have a problem. However, the EC headjoint I found to be great in the lower registers, but seemed trying in the high register...I'm not sure of the resistance of the headjoint, but it almost seemed to want to pull my lips into it--perhaps it's my embechoure, perhaps I needed more work with it--but that's how it seemed to me.

Pearl-I'm play testing the Pearl 795 RBE Coda right now. The off-set seems to be a better fit, as well as the headjoint.
However, out of the box, it seems to have intonation problems. I believe it is at 442. Even calibrating my tuner to 442, I could not get A to read A when it was completly pushed in. (I think finally at 447 I was able to get A in-tune when it was pushed in.) When I did tune to 440, pulling out a bit, I got A in, but the upper register was quite sharp, even trying to adjust with my lips and rolling. Perhaps this particular flute is in need of adjustment. I'd like to try the in-line and see if I get similar results.

Overall--the playability seemed easier on the Pearl. If your looking at the gold lip plate--the Pearl is solid 10K and is therefore a lighter colored gold than the 14or 18K of the Ymaha plating. However, the Yamaha's headjoint tube is gold plated inside, where the Pearl is not.

I personally think I am leaning towards giving the Yamaha another shot....they have a new headjoint--the K Headjoint that came out last year that I think I'd like to try. It is an optional headjoint for the 674/684--Does anyone have experience with this headjoint?

Me--I've been playing 30 some-odd years---mostly in Music Ministry--which can range from classical, jazz, soul, contemporary, gospel, and even reagee, a Christian jazz/fusion group, renaissance groups--pretty much the gamut of style types.



You might want to try wwbw.com---they have a trial period where you can try several flutes at once for 10 days, and are charged for the most expensive, then return them at the end. The tricky part to that is whether the ones you are interested in are in stock at the same time. I chose to try them one by one, you have a 45 day return period. They also have their on credit card, that was how I was able to finance this.

Well--these are just my opinions and how the flutes seemed with me. I hope this helps.

However, the Yamaha's headjoint tube is gold plated inside, where the Pearl is not.

Gold plating inside the hedadjoint isn't going to make any difference. Gold plating does not change the sound of a flute, so I am unsure of what the advantage would actually be. Also, today most flutes are in A442 unless custom made to be otherwise. A lot of Japanese made flute do run sharp though, especially Yamaha.

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WWBW may have a good return policy, but many times their flutes are not set up properly when shipping out. I would recommend that you try from somewhere like Flute World or Carolyn Nussbaum (an actual flute shop) where you know they are going to be set up properly before shipping out to you.

I thought the scale was much better on Pearl flutes personally and I had no problems with it. Then again, we all know how much I really DON'T like the scale on Yamahas!