Hi
The two models are completely different.
Different body, taper, valve bore, shape, bell, size. You name it.
Both where designed from scratch and there has been a parallell developement involving hancrafting 5-6 completely new prototype bodies.
Some details. SO=Solo model, SY=Symphonic.
SO model has cylindrical valve section, SY has conical
SO is smaller and will probably fit into a standard small F-tuba case. SY is taller, bigger bore and also goes into a larger case.
SO is designed for solo playing and chamber music. More direct in the sound and less of the ambient bass sound that the SY has.
SY is designed as an allround tuba, suited for eveything from a full symphony orchestra, band, chamber music and some solo playing. I would use it for Hindemith, but it has agility and clearness enough to play
whatever you want, ex Carnival of Venice, Vivaldi-Winter etc. My 2003 US Octubatour (recitals) was made on one of the prototypes for SY.
SO will probably have a shorter valve stroke than SY and some new production techniques are right now beeing tested to make sure the valves are as fast as possible. Can't go into details right now as we are in a developement phase.
SO and SY of course has different leadpipes.
One of the most important features of both tubas is that the sound blends well. My definition of blend: the sound gets affected by the surrounding sound, orchestra, trombone section, strings, piano or whatever you play with. It actually feels like your lips are beeing guided into the right pitch and sound quality by the existing sound in the room.
Hopefully tuba players will also appreciate the native sound of both models and that they are easy to play.
It has been more than 2 1/2 years since we started.
I'll be using the SO on the upcoming US Octubatour.
And, it's there for you to try.
All the best,
Øystein
Peach wrote:I wonder what's actually different between the two models?
I can't see it being the leadpipes alone or Miraphone would (should?) offer interchangeable pipes.
Presumably the bore through the valve section is different also?
Maybe even different Bell size or tapers?
Be interested to know when the details are revealed...