Having just bought a Waldorf Alto recorder, I find that it is everything that the Adri's Dream Alto recorder (pearwood) is not.
I tried an Adri's Dream Alto a few weeks ago, and just did not like it, because:
1.. There was excessive resistance to blowing, I felt. Perhaps this is usual for renaissance recorders, but for a transitional?
2. While the lower register had a full rich sound, the upper register for me was pinched and very nasal, and not what I am used to from my baroque recorders.
When I played the Waldorf, from the very first breath, the response was totally different, and much more immediate. The breath pressure needed is much less, and I find that more comfortable.
The tone of the Waldorf over the two registers is full and free, and much more akin in its fullness over the range to that of the baroque recorders.While we are on the subject of tone, the Waldorf has a very mellow and rounded sound, and I can quite see what the makers and designers were aiming for. In my opinion they have succeeded admirably.
I came to the Waldorf after reading descriptions by an American dealer, who after lauding the Adri's Dream to the skies, almost as a footnote, said the Waldorf was OK as a entry level transitional instrument. I think he'd got it the wrong way round. The Waldorf is by far the better recorder, and it's price is not that different from the Adri's Dream.
