Combining high carbon steel cores with an advanced corrosion resistance treatment, D'Addario XT strings are designed to give you enhanced break resistance, pitch stability, and long-lasting performance––all while preserving the tone and feel of your favourite uncoated strings. So, just how good are they? Here's Tom Quayle with the verdict.

With classical strings, the material of the top three treble strings may differ from the material used on the bottom three bass strings. It’s great to see that guitarists can finally get many of the benefits of a coated string without the compromised tone and feel. It’s still recommended that you try any set of strings out to see how your hands react with the materials at hand, but I think it’s safe to say that many guitarists will love the benefits that D’Addarios XT range can bring to avoiding the dreaded string change! They cost a bit more than the average set, but are certainly worth the asking price. Highly recommended. Coated strings increase the lifespan of acoustic strings, so you don’t have to change them as often. Now, how good a set of strings sounds is very important to every guitar player. To test the tone of the strings, we make sure to play a wide variety of styles to see how the strings handle the different musical genres, paying close attention to how the overall tone of our guitar has changed with the addition of the new strings.Coated strings, like XT Classical, increase the lifespan of the strings, so you don’t have to change them as often. Strings with less tension feel easier to play, while heavier strings provide a bit more volume and resonance. Pro-Arte’ Nylon is our archetypal classical set, featuring clear nylon trebles, which deliver sweet, mellow highs, with silver-plated copper wound basses that deliver an exceptionally warm and consistent response. D’Addario’s strong suit has always been consistency, and that now goes without saying. However, what they’ve done with NYXL is to refine and perfect the materials used in building the strings. NY Steel core is the star of this show. They’ve manage to combine ultimate strength, stability, and longevity with just the right amount of flexibility which I find gives all the confidence needed to really express ourself and play. D’Addario is a household name when it comes to strings and, as one of the few companies manufacturing and controlling their own string production from start to finish, are trusted and used by millions of guitarists all over the globe. It’s big news when D’Addario innovates with a new type of string, and their latest development, the XT Strings range, the brand has caused quite a buzz in the guitar industry.

D'Addario plain steel strings are most often made with high carbon steel. This high carbon steel also forms the core wire of wound strings. The wrap wire, or winding, for D’Addario electric strings varies from set to set, and often gives the set its unique tonal characteristics, as well as its name. An additional caveat to the above explanation is that some windings have a different texture, not merely a different alloy. So, while standard electric strings are round wound, D’Addario has a few which are flat round or half round, meaning they’ve been ground down in some way to change the tone and feel. Ever listened to a record and wondered how they got their sound to be so bright and snappy? That would be a mixture of fresh high quality strings and a small EQ bump between 1khz and 3khz. With these strings however that bump is no longer required as they already have a peak built in at these frequencies. This means better and brighter tone night after night. Here's what D'Addario say about their NYXL guitars strings.Classical strings come in different tensions with “Normal” and “Hard” being the most common options and, sometimes, “Extra Hard.” Wound strings with enhanced mid-range frequency response in the 1 - 3.5 kHz range - more presence and crunch to cut through the mix D'Addario are one of the most popular string masters in the world. They have built up a reputation of making incredible stringsthat not only last a long time but sound and feel great as well. This new set of NYXL 9-42strings are set to be even stronger and even more stable than any other D'Addario string yet.

The wrap wire, or winding, used to make D’Addario bass guitar strings varies from set to set. The alloy used gives the set its unique tonal characteristics, as well as its name. An additional caveat to the above explanation is that some windings have a different texture, not merely a different alloy. So, while standard bass strings are round wound, we have a few sets which have been ground down or polished in some way to change the tone and feel. These include flat wound sets, like Tapewounds and Chromes, and half round sets, like Half Rounds. You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. The amount you'll need to change your strings will also vary. Regular performers will want to change strings for every show to ensure their guitar sounds the best it can. Ditto if you're spending time in the studio. On the other hand, if you're only playing at home you'll probably look to change them once a month or so. D'Addario’s exclusive New York manufactured, high carbon steel alloy for unprecedented strength - play fearlessly Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we test each product. Related buyer's guides

D'Addario are one of the most popular string masters in the world. They have built up a reputation of making incredible stringsthat not only last a long time but sound and feel great as well. This new set of NYXL 10-46strings are set to be even stronger and even more stable than any other D'Addario string yet.

Once electric guitar strings have been constructed, they may also undergo an additional process called “coating.” Coating adds a chemical substance to the outside of the strings to prevent corrosion. D’Addario has two main lines of coated strings: XS and XT. XT provides extended life with a natural feel, while XS—our premium coated string—provides maximum life, plus a smooth feel. Both will give you more time between string changes.

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Things that can affect this include temperature and humidity changes, sweat and other corrosive materials, and your own playing technique. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the best electric guitar strings on the market today. As guitarists and bass players, we need our strings to be reliable, they need to sound great and they need to stay in tune. Three very simple requests that mean so much to us as musicians and something that the team at D’Addario think about every day when they’re crafting their NYXL strings. The D'Addario NYXL stringshave been designed to work harder, bend farther and stay in tune longer than any other regular string you’ve played, and they deliver on that promise! I'm going to lay my cards on the table here and tell you that I have been a long time user of D'Addario strings for all my guitars. They are my manufacturer of choice. However, I have no endorsement deal with them and no prejudices either way. I'm happy with the XLs I've been using so I was very interested to see/hear how these new NYXL strings compare to the regular XL.