Vandoren Clarinet Mouthpiece Sound Comparison: BD4, BD5, BD7, and B40L

I tested each model with excerpts that include scales, Brahms 2nd Sonata, and Beethoven 6 Mvt. 1. Tested on a Vandoren V12 3.5 reed (the same reed was used throughout the tests).

Scales (slurred and tongued):
BD4: 0:04
BD5: 0:21
BD7: 0:37
B40L: 0:55

Brahms 2nd Sonata Mvt. 1:
BD4: 1:12
BD5: 1:35
BD7: 1:57
B40L: 2:19

Beethoven 6 Mvt. 1 Solo:
BD4: 2:43
BD5: 3:04
BD7: 3:27
B40L: 3:49


My general thoughts:

The BD4 and BD7 had a nice sound, but I felt the BD7 was somewhat hard to control for my liking and was challenging to find the right "core." The BD5 suffered from articulation issues and sounded brittle, which was a common complaint when it first came out. The B40L was used as a benchmark; it felt the most "normal" out of all 4 but suffered from some response issues. Note that tuning on all the BD models is very different than the standard Vandoren blanks and will take some getting used to.

I will say my personal preference was the BD4 and B40L, but I would need to try in a hall to compare.

Recorded with two Kel HM-3C's into an Audiofuse Studio.