Vega Asia DF

Dan

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Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀
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5 out of 5 rating for Vega Asia DF

Xiom Vega Asia DF Rubber
Weight: 58 grams uncut, 42 grams uncut
Sponge Hardness: 42.5°
Hardness: Soft/Medium
Speed: Medium/High
Spin: Medium
Blade used: Xiom Vega Tour blade (Dan), Xiom Stradivarius blade (Tom)


Written Review

Initial

The Xiom Vega Asia DF rubber was released in June 2016 alongside the Europe DF Rubber. The rubber uses Xiom’s signature black sponge and has a glossy topsheet. We've noticed this type of grippy surface in a lot of new rubbers post celluloid ball era.

The Xiom Vega Asia DF is the newest rubber in the VEGA series, with the DF standing for Dynamic Friction Technology designed for the plastic ball. This technology was also used on the Omayga 5 rubbers. The Vega Asia DF is slightly softer than their predecessor Vega Asia rubbers. The sponge hardness on the Vega Aaia DF is 42.5 degrees.

Topspins

At the beginning you can feel right away that the Asia DF is a fairly soft rubber and is softer than the original Vega ASia. Although a soft/medium rubber, the impact is very stable and has an impressive loud sound on impact.

Tom found during topspin strokes (as seen the in the video) that the Asia was more direct with its trajectory than the Europe DF. This gave Tom a bit more speed and strong attacks.

Me and Tom both came to the agreement that the Asia worked better for both of us on the backhand side, we felt that this was because of the rubbers more direct nature. The ball did not fly out as much on the backhand side with both rubbers but especially with the Asia.

Open ups and Spin

A big plus point of the DF rubbers are that they are both very spinny. The grippiness of both of these rubbers mean that they both produce considerably more spin than the the original Xiom Vega rubbers. The new tech that XIOM have used with these certainly act well with the plastic ball. The Asia was a bit harder to lift against backspin then the Europe, however we felt a more aggressive shot was produced when we timed the ball well with the Asia.

Speed

In the rally we could generate a fair amount of speed in my shots and enough to put the opponent under pressure. These rubbers are not designed for sheer power however, and would fall in the in the all round offensive category. The Asia DF felt slightly faster than the Europe DF.

Backhand Flicks

The softness of these rubbers allow for superb control especially in the short game. For example, backhand flicks were easy and I had a high room for error especially on 4th ball attacks.

Away from table

This control can be seen when myself and Tom took a few steps away from the table. The rubber gave great safety in our shots with a high arc and not requiring huge amounts of effort. It did feel the Europe had slightly more feel and control than the Asia DF.

Conclusion

Xiom have definitely designed rubbers that have a good ratio between spin, speed and control but are slightly more towards the controlled side. Both the new Xiom Vega Df rubbers are packed with control and posses a topsheet that grips the ball producing lots of spin. As mentioned previously the major advantage with this rubber is its ability to stay in the rally with ease.

The rubbers are not too responsive to spin and are very easy to play with due to sponges softness and stable topsheet resulting in high safety in your strokes. If you are looking for more spin and slightly more arc in your strokes we would recommend the Vega Europe DF. The ball really soaks into the sponge producing lots of spin and acceleration. The Vega Asia DF is slightly harder and a touch faster than the Europe DF, suited for players who want a slightly more direct trajectory.

The Vega DF rubbers are also both excellent when blocking and receiving spinny balls. We would recommend Vega Europe and Asia DF rubbers for developing players looking to improve their stroke efficiency and shot quality. Or for players who want a spinny well controlled rubber without the extreme speed of high end fast rubbers such as the Tenergy 05 or Tibhar Evolution mxp. Xiom have created a well balanced offensive rubber and is a good addition to their rubber selection.
 
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5 out of 5 rating for Vega Asia DF

Hello everyone! I've just purchased a couple of Xiom Vegas: Asia DF and Europe DF, both have "max" thickness. After a couple of Butterfly Flextras (2.0mm) these feel really fast! Especially Asia DF - it's like there are lots of little springs in there instead of sponge :)
Very grippy surface, very springy sponge - these rubbers are NOT for beginners. You MUST play with it making topspin after topspin after topspin, the rubber is not suted for simple pushing (the ball goes way too strong and far). Also it seemed to me like it's not easy to play short. But all of these feelings may be just because of my beginner's manner of playing.
Speed: 8 - maybe more, maybe less, Idk, but it seems to give a lot of speed (Asia especially). Many people say it's like OFF-.
Spin: 7.5 - the new rubber always gives more spin than when it gets older. I have little experience to judge but in comparison with Butterfly Flextra 2.0mm Asia DF gives more speed as well as Europe DF.
Control: 6.5 - maybe I consider "control" to be different thing but to my mind the ability to play some blocking defence with this rubber is poor. But to be fair I haven't got used to it yet so I may misjudge it.
Durability - Idk. Let's make it "7.5" for now.
When I get used to it I will write something more.
 
5 out of 5 rating for Vega Asia DF

This is an amazing rubber. It may be 1 or 2 generations older than the Xiom Omega VII rubbers but this one still can compete with newer rubbers. This rubber is almost good in everything because:

1. Vega Asia DF was released a few years ago but it still packs a punch when doing topspins and hard smashes. This rubber is very fast. It is as fast as Rasanter 45 rubbers although harder rubbers like Omega V or Vii pro can be faster on stronger shots due to having a property where you can compress the sponge more without hitting the wood or "bottoming out". Softer rubbers seem to bottom out but the Vega Asia DF seem to have no bottoming out effect observed. This is an excellent attacking rubber for both backhand and forehand since it is a good alternative for newer attacking rubbers that are much expensive. It has enough power near and far from the table.

2. Very spinny even for polyballs. The DF or Dynamic Friction formula for the Vega Asia DF produces very good amount of spin despite being overshadowed by its cousins. Most people find the Vega Pro version spinnier but I found out that the Pro version is inclined more for people who are very good in brushing the ball in order to spin. The Vega DF is very spinny and easier to spin despite having not so developed skills or techniques. The Vega DF has an improvement over the old Vega Asia version in which it is a few notches spinnier but nothing more. The old Vega Asia is as fast as the DF version but the difference in spin can be felt by a lot of players I have asked to use the rubber also. I had the non df and df versions at hand at the same time on the same blade for comparison.

3.I think you can buy Vega Asia DF as low as 33-34USD. If you cannot affod the Omega V or VII rubbers, then this is a good alternative rubber. It may not be as fast as the newer ones but it offers more than what it is priced. Like the Musa 3, the Vega Asia DF is a low cost but high performance rubber.

4. I find the Vega Asia DF as a very good backhand rubber. It blocks better and has more control than Tenergy 64 though a tad less spinny. It is easier to block very strong attacks with the Vega DF in both forehand and backhand. You cannot chop with it defensively since this is an attacking rubber but all other strokes are fine with Vega Asia DF.
 
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