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Pros
  • touch
  • a bit more speed
  • still great spin
Cons
  • a bit harder
  • than the
  • virtuoso
I've played with both blades with several versions of both blades (straight, concave, small, medium) for over a year and have gotten to know some of the pros and cons of owning them

Background: Blades played for more than 3 months: Galaxy N10, Stiga allround Allround NCT, Zhang Jike ALC, Galaxy Earth 1, Virtuoso+, Virtuoso-. Good technique, lacking experience (3 years of proper play).

Currently playing the Virtuoso- for more than 6 months.

The both blades differ in their outer plies. The limba outer-ply is slightly treated to be a bit harder on the Virtuoso-
View attachment 14617

1. First impressions/handle/Gluing

Both blades are very high quality. The workmanship is top-notch. Nothing to complain about here. You can get them in S/M/L head sizes. Weight is generally around 87-90 grams. From personal experience, straight handle + medium head size is head-heavy for most modern rubbers so keep that in mind. Straight + small head size is slightly head heavy. Concave + small is balanced at the center./handle I tried a friend's flaired+ medium and found it to be more or less balanced at the center too.

You can choose from a variety of handles. For some reason, I found the Virtuoso+'s flaired handle to be quite a bit larger than the Virtuoso-'s flaired handle. Don't go 100% on what I'm saying because I couldn't compare them side by side (bought the Virtuoso- after I sold the Virtuoso+) but it would be good to ask OSP yourself. I had to sell the Virtuoso+ in flaired simply because it didn't feel comfortable but I found the Virtuoso- in flaired to be much more comfortable.

I normally use Free Chack II but for the Virtuoso- I had to use the Free Chack I (stronger glue) because the rubber was simply not sticking that well to the top ply. Perhaps with time it will be easier to glue. I had a similar experience with my Stiga Allround NCT but it got better with time.

2. Playing characteristics.

2 a). Serving/Short game.

Both blades give you good dwell time though the Virtuoso- offers slightly more dwell. Serving was nearly identical with both of these blades. Spin production is similar to the Allround NCT and you can keep with serve short without any problems.

However, I did find that the Virtuoso- gave me slightly better feeling on my receives. It was easier to keep with ball short because of the softer outer ply.

I almost always do a soft spin-flick (either backhand or forehand). If you really want to go for a flipkill, you can get more acceleration with the Virtuoso+ as the top ply is better suited for harder flicks. It was definitely easier to do a spin-flick with the Virtuoso- though.

Wasn't too much difference in the long push but my long pushes aren't a very strong part of my game so I can't compare the performance very well in this department.

2 b) First topspin, spinny looping, drive-looping, mid-distance

Both blades had a relatively high throw angle but there are closer in terms of speed that I had expected. Both blades are noticeably faster than my Allround NCT, which makes the OSP Virtuoso- on the higher side of OFF-. With the Allround NCT, I was really having trouble playing tournaments or training for more than 2 hours, especially with the plastic ball, but both of the blades have enough zip for looping.

The throw angle is still lower than the Allround NCT blade as a direct result of the speed. Perhaps the V- has a slightly higher throw than the + but it's very, very marginal.

It was easy to open against backspin with both blades. The V- is a bit more tolerant of being in the wrong position because it takes less energy to activate the blade. Then again, my forehand rubber is also on the harder side so with a softer one both blades will forgive imperfect footwork. V+ is still much more forgiving compared to say, an ALC blade.

The spin quality is high but it's what I expected after getting used to the blade. My forehand opening shot is my strongest shot and I didn't really see a difference in terms of spin if I compared it with the Allround NCT. However, I did have better quality in my shot compared to the Earth 1 or the ZJK ALC but that's because my timing/contact is not good enough to create that much spin with a koto outer ply. What I'm trying to say is, that you shouldn't expect these blades to magically increase the spin of your loops but it can help you improve your contact (because of the feedback that I'll talk about later), which will improve the spin of your loops.

If you go for a harder loop or a drive-kill, you will feel the increased stiffness of the V+ giving you more zip but for regular looping and for half-distance spinny looping, both blades felt comfortable. However, as I said, the V- gives you a bit more safety.

2 c) Blocking, Countering, Smashing

It depends on your blocking style. If you like to punch or push the ball, or give it bit more speed, you will like the way the V+ blocks. If you like spin-blocking, you will like both of these blades. For an emergency block against a powerful shot, I think the V- gives me a touch more control, but the V+ also doesn't lack control.

For low-spin shots such as countering and smashing, you will feel an increase in speed with the V+.


3 Ball-feeling

As others have pointed out, the vibration that you feel with both blades is very pleasing and you do know where you've contacted the ball and how good your contact was. This is not exclusive to the V+ or V- as other allwood blades give you good feedback as well. I do have to say that the feeling and feedback from these blades and especially the V- were better than anything I've tried and the feeling from the V- was on par with the more expensive Nittaku Acoustic. This can really help non-advanced players improve their game. In the short game, I also felt that I had better feeling with the V- compared to with the V+.

4. Other Feedback

Two higher lever players (TTR 1700 and TTR 1900) than me also tested these blades. The 1900TTR rated player (2200+USATT) went with the V- as he really enjoyed the feeling. The 1700 TTR rated player still plays with his Boll ALC but preferred the V- as well. His reasoning was that if he wanted a blade with great feeling, he would get the V-, if wanted to go the stiffer route, he would rather have something like his Boll ALC.

5 Final thoughts

I think that the V- is a standout blade. It's fast enough and gives you great feeling. Personally, my playing level/rating is at the highest it's been because of how well I've been able to train with this blade. If you want a touch more speed on straight shots, you can get the V+ but the speed difference is not that high and not always felt. If you really want a stiffer all-wood blade, you can check out the other OSP 7 ply allwood blades.
Speed
7.4
Control
9.3
Hardness
6.3
Durability
10
Pros
  • spin
  • touch
  • short game
Cons
  • not that fast
I've played with both blades with several versions of both blades (straight, concave, small, medium) for over a year and have gotten to know some of the pros and cons of owning them

Background: Blades played for more than 3 months: Galaxy N10, Stiga allround Allround NCT, Zhang Jike ALC, Galaxy Earth 1, Virtuoso+, Virtuoso-. Good technique, lacking experience (3 years of proper play).

Currently playing the Virtuoso- for more than 6 months.

The both blades differ in their outer plies. The limba outer-ply is slightly treated to be a bit harder on the Virtuoso-
View attachment 14617

1. First impressions/handle/Gluing

Both blades are very high quality. The workmanship is top-notch. Nothing to complain about here. You can get them in S/M/L head sizes. Weight is generally around 87-90 grams. From personal experience, straight handle + medium head size is head-heavy for most modern rubbers so keep that in mind. Straight + small head size is slightly head heavy. Concave + small is balanced at the center./handle I tried a friend's flaired+ medium and found it to be more or less balanced at the center too.

You can choose from a variety of handles. For some reason, I found the Virtuoso+'s flaired handle to be quite a bit larger than the Virtuoso-'s flaired handle. Don't go 100% on what I'm saying because I couldn't compare them side by side (bought the Virtuoso- after I sold the Virtuoso+) but it would be good to ask OSP yourself. I had to sell the Virtuoso+ in flaired simply because it didn't feel comfortable but I found the Virtuoso- in flaired to be much more comfortable.

I normally use Free Chack II but for the Virtuoso- I had to use the Free Chack I (stronger glue) because the rubber was simply not sticking that well to the top ply. Perhaps with time it will be easier to glue. I had a similar experience with my Stiga Allround NCT but it got better with time.

2. Playing characteristics.

2 a). Serving/Short game.

Both blades give you good dwell time though the Virtuoso- offers slightly more dwell. Serving was nearly identical with both of these blades. Spin production is similar to the Allround NCT and you can keep with serve short without any problems.

However, I did find that the Virtuoso- gave me slightly better feeling on my receives. It was easier to keep with ball short because of the softer outer ply.

I almost always do a soft spin-flick (either backhand or forehand). If you really want to go for a flipkill, you can get more acceleration with the Virtuoso+ as the top ply is better suited for harder flicks. It was definitely easier to do a spin-flick with the Virtuoso- though.

Wasn't too much difference in the long push but my long pushes aren't a very strong part of my game so I can't compare the performance very well in this department.

2 b) First topspin, spinny looping, drive-looping, mid-distance

Both blades had a relatively high throw angle but there are closer in terms of speed that I had expected. Both blades are noticeably faster than my Allround NCT, which makes the OSP Virtuoso- on the higher side of OFF-. With the Allround NCT, I was really having trouble playing tournaments or training for more than 2 hours, especially with the plastic ball, but both of the blades have enough zip for looping.

The throw angle is still lower than the Allround NCT blade as a direct result of the speed. Perhaps the V- has a slightly higher throw than the + but it's very, very marginal.

It was easy to open against backspin with both blades. The V- is a bit more tolerant of being in the wrong position because it takes less energy to activate the blade. Then again, my forehand rubber is also on the harder side so with a softer one both blades will forgive imperfect footwork. V+ is still much more forgiving compared to say, an ALC blade.

The spin quality is high but it's what I expected after getting used to the blade. My forehand opening shot is my strongest shot and I didn't really see a difference in terms of spin if I compared it with the Allround NCT. However, I did have better quality in my shot compared to the Earth 1 or the ZJK ALC but that's because my timing/contact is not good enough to create that much spin with a koto outer ply. What I'm trying to say is, that you shouldn't expect these blades to magically increase the spin of your loops but it can help you improve your contact (because of the feedback that I'll talk about later), which will improve the spin of your loops.

If you go for a harder loop or a drive-kill, you will feel the increased stiffness of the V+ giving you more zip but for regular looping and for half-distance spinny looping, both blades felt comfortable. However, as I said, the V- gives you a bit more safety.

2 c) Blocking, Countering, Smashing

It depends on your blocking style. If you like to punch or push the ball, or give it bit more speed, you will like the way the V+ blocks. If you like spin-blocking, you will like both of these blades. For an emergency block against a powerful shot, I think the V- gives me a touch more control, but the V+ also doesn't lack control.

For low-spin shots such as countering and smashing, you will feel an increase in speed with the V+.


3 Ball-feeling

As others have pointed out, the vibration that you feel with both blades is very pleasing and you do know where you've contacted the ball and how good your contact was. This is not exclusive to the V+ or V- as other allwood blades give you good feedback as well. I do have to say that the feeling and feedback from these blades and especially the V- were better than anything I've tried and the feeling from the V- was on par with the more expensive Nittaku Acoustic. This can really help non-advanced players improve their game. In the short game, I also felt that I had better feeling with the V- compared to with the V+.

4. Other Feedback

Two higher lever players (TTR 1700 and TTR 1900) than me also tested these blades. The 1900TTR rated player (2200+USATT) went with the V- as he really enjoyed the feeling. The 1700 TTR rated player still plays with his Boll ALC but preferred the V- as well. His reasoning was that if he wanted a blade with great feeling, he would get the V-, if wanted to go the stiffer route, he would rather have something like his Boll ALC.

5 Final thoughts

I think that the V- is a standout blade. It's fast enough and gives you great feeling. Personally, my playing level/rating is at the highest it's been because of how well I've been able to train with this blade. If you want a touch more speed on straight shots, you can get the V+ but the speed difference is not that high and not always felt. If you really want a stiffer all-wood blade, you can check out the other OSP 7 ply allwood blades.
Speed
6.6
Control
10
Hardness
5.5
Durability
9.9
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Pros
  • spinny
  • reliable,quality
  • cost
Cons
  • low catapult
  • requires effort
Best forehand rubber I've ever used. I really like using this with softer blades as it allows me to activate the sponge more easily for softer strokes and the hardness of the rubber gives me the power if I want to hit a winner.

Firstly, it's extremely reliable. I've never been surprised by anything that this rubber does. Sometimes with other rubbers, the ball leaves the rubber in a way that leaves me scratching my head.

Pros:

1. Throw angle is very high so you can open up against backspin pretty easily if you have the technique.
2. Serves with good spin and catapult is quite low in the short game.
3. Lots of gears. The sponge allows you to open slow and spinny (my bread and butter) or do a hard opening.
4. Very precise for counter topspins if you have the technique


Cons:

1. You need power to activate the sponge. So it could be tricky on the backhand side and tricky overall if you are not positioned properly and have to play a shot under pressure
2. High throw angle makes blocking tricky on the backhand side as you really need to close the angle. I have no problems with blocking on the forehand side though.
Speed
8
Spin
9.5
Durability
9.7
Control
8.3
Pros
  • block
  • half-distance
  • receive
Cons
  • not that good
  • close to the
  • table
So after using the FX-P for three months, I've decided to write a short review of the rubber.

Like Der_Echte said, this rubber seems to pair better with more flexier blades. This was not controllable for on my ZJK ALC and I had much better spin on the Earth 1. The ball was just rocketing out of the blade with poor spin. It pairs much better with a blade, where the contact time is longer. Keep in mind that I mainly used it for my backhand.

1. Serve and receive

Serves have very good spin and receiving is a piece of cake with this rubber. I really liked pushing long with this rubber on my backhand. The short push and the banana flip were also very good with this rubber.

2. Opening attack

You can't do a hard topspin with this rubber while opening against backhand. You have a wait patiently and spin the ball as it starts to drop. If you can do that, you will have a lot of spin. However, I still feel that I was able to generate more spin with harder rubbers but your technique has to be good for that. My weakness is actually the forehand and I've always had a knack for the backhand stroke. Therefore, I would recommend this as a backhand rubber for those who want something to support their relatively weaker backhand.

3. Blocking

Blocking is incredibly easy with this rubber. Coming from harder rubbers, I was surprised at how much margin for error this rubber gives me. You just need to get the timing and angle sort of ok, and the block works well.

I found chop-blocking better with harder rubbers but that's such a minor part of my game that it doesn't even matter.

4. Half distance

The rubber really shines from a step or two behind the table. You can spin the ball like crazy from off the table. I was sometimes surprised when I hit a ball perhaps a meter over the net and it still dropped down and hit the opponent's side. You won't be able to overpower your opponent with speed like with the T64 but you can overpower him with spin!

5. Counter-attacking

I found harder rubbers better at this. I counter with topspin and I have more precision with harder rubbers.

Overall

I think a great rubber for those who block and flat hit from the backhand or for those who play a little further back with lots of topspin. Doesn't suit shorter, explosive strokes that much. More suited for longer strokes with good acceleration.
Speed
8
Spin
7.5
Durability
9.3
Control
9.3
Pros
  • Build Quality
  • Controllable but
  • fast
Cons
  • jack of all
  • trades
I ordered this blade because I felt that the ZJK ALC was a bit too fast for me and because I felt that the koto outer plies would still give it a similar feel. I have been using this blade for the past 2 weeks and have been positively surprised by this blade. My last two blades were the ZJK ALC and before that the Stiga Allround NCT and I will compare the E-1 to both of those blades.

Rubbers: FH:Tenergy 80 (max), BH: Evolution FX-P (max). Playing style: Close to the table, controlled offense

yinheearth1review1.jpg


1. Short game: The blade behaves quite well while serving and receiving. I can put a bit more spin on shorter serves compared to the ZJK ALC as there is less catapult. It is not as slow as the Allround NCT in this aspect but it should be controllable for most players. The harder outer layers also helped while flicking the ball. Fast long serves are no problem at all as the blade has sufficient speed.

2. Opening up: The E-1 is not as unforgiving as the ZJK ALC in opening up as the balls are not propelled forwards as much. Slow spinny opening topspins were possible as well as a faster topspin against backspin over the table.

3. Counters/Blocking: Here is where the blade really shines compared to a traditional 5 ply blade. The koto outer layers give the blade a more crisp feeling compared to a standard 5 ply blade with limba outer layers. he solidity of the blade gives it a better feeling while blocking or playing fast counters close to the table. It feels similar to the ALC in this aspect, though you feel more vibrations because of the absence of the ALC layers. However, this blade does not vibrate nearly as much as the Stiga Allround NCT.

4. Mid-distance: Though I normally don't play this far from the table, you could generate sufficient speed 2-3 meters behind the table. My loops did not exactly have the zip that I had with the ALC, they were still fast enough for my level.

5. Counter-topspin: Though the ALC was more solid in playing counter-topspins, this blade still performed very well. I had more control with counter-topspinning close to the table, compared to the Allround NCT.

6. Build Quality: The blade felt very nice in the hand. The handle was a bit anatomic, but I sanded it down. The neck is not as wide as with most Stiga blades and I prefer it this way as well as it allows more types of grips. I change my grip between backhand and forehand strokes and I was able to do so without a problem. The wider neck of the Allround NCT would feel uncomfortable in this aspect.

7: Sweet-spot: What you would expect from a 5 ply blade.

8. Final thoughts: Though it feels like an all-wood blade (and it is!), it was more similar to the ALC in terms of feel, compared to the Allround NCT. It lacks the extra speed that the ALC provides but makes up for it in control. I would recommend this blade for a wide range of players who like playing a controlled-offensive game. I think that only high level players with a solid technique/game will miss the extra speed of a carbon blade. I also think that this is a better blade for developing players (especially with the introduction of the plastic ball) compared to typical ALL+ blades as you don't need as much effort in generating power but you maintain a good amount of control.

yinheearth1review.jpg
Speed
8
Control
9
Hardness
6.7
Pros
  • good bounce
  • speed
Cons
  • could look bette
I really like the fact that the ball seems to skid on this table a lot less than on other tables. The speed is normal and the bounce is not that high but still good.
Bounce
6.6
Consistency
7.6
Pros
  • Spin
  • Durability
  • Control
Cons
  • Throw angle
It's a pretty good rubber that goes much better with faster and more flexible blades. My Donic Persson Powerallround paired much better with Mark V then the Stiga Allround NCT (harder and slightly slower)

Incredibly durable as well. The sheet is still very much playable after 6 months of practicing 2-3 times a week. It still has a very good grip.

It's a bit hard though and the throw angle is lower. The rubber seems to be more suited for the older Backhand loop (more vertical) than the newer one. Perhaps the regular version of Mark V might be better on Forehand but anyone using an ALL or (ALL+ and hard) rated blade would probably find this a bit too slow after they can loop in match situations.

You can also generate a very respectable amount of spin, but you need a good touch for it.
Speed
5.3
Spin
7.7
Durability
10
Control
10
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