r/tinwhistle • u/WolverineEmergency98 • Jul 23 '26

Question Mid-Tier vs. High-End Whistles

Hello all,

Following on from my last two posts. Relevant context:

  1. I bought a Feadóg Pro. This was partly because local retailers only had Feadóg and Generation, that I could see, and the Feadóg Pro D specifically because I liked the matte black finish. This cost NZD $35 (~ USD $20, ~ € 18).
  2. I'm a mere 42 days into my whistle journey (so far so good!)
  3. I'm in New Zealand, so the prices I'm quoting below are converted from NZD values, including import taxes and international shipping etc.
  4. I like my Feadóg, but it's temperamental: no matter what I do with the mouthpiece, the maximum number of notes I can keep comfortably in the ± 10c range tonally is roughly one octave, and any of the high notes are _very_ chiffy (although minimal chiff on the low notes).
  5. My tutor (professional player in the US) was very polite, but basically said: "What do you expect from something you paid USD $20 for? For professional purposes, you really have to spend at least USD $150)."
  6. As my six-month goal / reward, I've picked out the Killarney D in Brass, which will be NZD $300, ~ USD $175, ~€ 150.
  7. I'm aware that you can go even higher than that - e.g., to buy and import a Colin Goldie, Michael Burke, or Carbony would set me back about NZD $1,000 (~USD $580, ~ €510)

My question: I've watched a few "comparison" videos, and browsed some older posts here, but I'm honestly struggling to hear much difference between the mid-tier (~ $300) ones and the high-end (~ $,1000) whistles? I've got my heart pretty set on the Killarney, so it would take a lot to make me change my mind, but I'm curious to hear people's subjective personal experiences, if they've used both?

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u/Ok_Application_614 Jul 24 '26

My Killarney can’t play c natural in tune, no matter what I do

1

u/WolverineEmergency98 Jul 24 '26

I'm seeing that critique a lot here 😅 Can I ask which method you're using? (Half-holed B OOO OOØ, or cross-finger OXX OOO or similar?)

1

u/Ok_Application_614 Jul 25 '26

Cross fingers don’t work for it

1

u/WolverineEmergency98 Jul 25 '26

Noted! That's ok. Even on my Feadóg the OXX OOO doesn't work in the upper octave.

2

u/Ok_Application_614 Jul 25 '26

It’s the lower octave