I’m an intermediate alto player. Practice time is the best part of my day after work, so time is precious. Like you, I want practice to be meaningful and I was becoming more frustrated with warming up the wood reed. I started to become a “caneologist”. A friend I play with was in the Marine Corps and played in the President’s Own band. She said out of 12 reeds they’ll be 4 or so worth keeping. So I decided that for at least practice I’ll use the synthetic reed. It provides consistency. I don’t question if errors are me or the reed. Maybe when I get better I’ll swap out - if/when I hear the difference. The $40 per year is an easy decision for me. And less cost overall. Slap it on a play away. It might not be pure but it’s fast and reliable.

The French cut is brighter than I expected, also I think I shd have gone for a size 3.0 or higher. I think I prefer my signature cut better as I have been using that more than the French cut

Haven’t gone back to canes since

I tried the 3.25 strength, and It was just right for me, I love how the reed sounds and performs across the sax register, very worth it. I prefer this over the signature one.

The French Cut blew my expectations it’s everything I was looking for in a reed gives that dark tone I was looking for. Would highly recommend!!