Potential Buy: Miraphone 5050 or Miraphone 5000 euphonium

[jaronjsu90]

Hello all,

I am looking to invest in either the Miraphone 5050 euphonium or the Miraphone 5000 euphonium here pretty soon. I have played the 5050 extensively, most recently at the horn expo at ITEC in Bloomington this past May, and it is a fantastic horn. Probably one of my favorites. What I am wondering, however, is what exactly was tweaked by Demondrae Thurman on the 5000 to create the 5050. I know that the 5000 has a smaller bell (I'm actually a fan of smaller bells), but other than that, I have little knowledge on the differences between the horns. I also know that the 5050 can potentially come with a tuning trigger, but in the interest of saving a little money, I may opt to go without it if I choose to buy one.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. I want to make an educated and informed decision before I dish out the money for a brand new horn.

Thanks!

Jaron Smith

[davewerden]

It sounds like you have thought this out very well. I'm not an expert on the 5050/5000, but I suspect some of the Miraphone owners will jump in at some point.

I have tested the horn previously and had another opportunity at ITEC this last May. Here are my thoughts on the one I played:

http://www.dwerden.com/forum/entry.p...vations-part-1

As you can see, the trigger is probably not a necessity, depending on your preferences and abilities.

[jaronjsu90]

Thank you so much for the quick response, Dave!

Your insights are always worth considering!

[Msan1313]

I don't know if you saw but one of the forum members is selling his 5050. Something to look into it you choose the 5050

http://www.dwerden.com/forum/showthr...-5050-for-sale

[RickF]

I've never played the Miraphone 5000, but own the M5050. My M5050 does not have a trigger because when I bought it I figured I didn't need the extra weight nor the challenge to learn to use my thumb . Dave Werden's chart on intonation is pretty much what I experience with my horn. The sharpest note is the concert 'G' on the staff and I almost always use 3rd valve. It's dead on with 3 fingering. Concert 'F' (open) on the staff is a bit sharp but easily lippable. The 6th partials (concert Eb, & F) are sharp but lippable. On my horn the 6th partial 'E' is almost perfectly in tune. The low Bb though is about 10 cents flat and barely lippable up to pitch. To be perfectly honest, there were a couple of months where I thought I may have made a mistake in not getting a horn with a trigger. But after a few months and lots of practice, I got better at lipping and/or knowing what fingering I needed to use.

The horn responds very well and has good projection - but I have to use more air. I can play a soft or loud dynamic on the M5050 easily. My previous horn was a Yamaha 641 which slotted really well -- almost too well where I had trouble lipping some notes in tune. The M5050 slots pretty well, but I need to pay attention to getting my buzz on pitch or I might chip a note. But, it's easier to lip up or down.

I know that Demondrae Thurman was the one who asked Miraphone to vent the valves. This helps get rid of any little pops you might hear when playing soft-slurred passages. The bore of the main bugle is .610, but the valve action is somehow shorter than a lot of other euphs (3/4" to be exact). I think Miraphone was able to do this by allowing some bumps (or high spots) inside the valve ports. I'm just speculating on this part so not sure. Don't know whether or not Demondrae had anything to do with that. The leadpipe is pretty high so you hardly need to support the horn off your leg when sitting. I do use a pillow but it's only about 1" thick under the bottom bell and I'm 6' tall. My horn without trigger weighs 12 pounds.

Hope this helps.

[GigaOrion]

I know that Demondrae Thurman was the one who asked Miraphone to vent the valves. This helps get rid of any little pops you might hear when playing soft-slurred passages.

A little off topic, but is there any downside to venting valves? Because if venting the valves gets rid of those little pops than I might like to get mine vented.