Super old thread but since it popped up, I'll drop my piece anyway - as a player with mild EJ symptoms.
Butterfly is highest, in terms of quality and price, no questions. Deep-pocketers + ambitious enthusiasts should always aim to purchase this brand regardless of skill level; I knew an uncle in my neighborhood who owns and plays a Mizutani SZLC+2 Dignics when he first started 'playing seriously' - that blade literally gave fast and cheap points for me so why not.😎
My very first blade is a Donic (Epox Offensiv) - a very fine brand with assortment of selections for blades and rubbers alike. You get something close to 85%-90% of Butterfly quality for half price on average. I highly recommend this brand for starting and developing players of all ages who wants to be frugal.
I used DHS too, it was of proper quality, especially the H301 (and the Fang Bo series too I believe) are very good blades with excellent price-to-performance ratio. But I must agree that the QC of DHS isn't as high level as the other brands hence leading to the aforementioned durability issues. Also, narrow product ranges with tons of fakes means I won't go top-end with this brand, personally speaking.
Then I found Yasaka. Sophisticated blades, totally evident from their material selection and finish, for real. And what I love the most is they lacquer all their blades from the factory - saving much time on my side for longevity maintenance. Their rubber selections are also wide-ranged and able to cater different playstyles and budgets. I'll be sticking with them for now and hopefully a long time to come (unless I'm re-infected by the EJ and end up wanting to try other brands I never used before, lol)
So, what is the "BEST" brand?
If speaking of product only, Butterfly. Period.
If speaking about value (budget, skill level, playing frequency, long-term TT objective), Donic and Yasaka is certainly up there for me.