I am a beginner player and I found that I get more motivation for practicing if I can switch between multiple instruments. The Soprano model is the most popular, probably because of its reasonable size - smaller models will be more annoying to parents and larger ones will be more inconvenient to play and carry around by young students. Among the top plastic recorder brands, Yamaha and Aulos have a great reputation, so I focused on their products. Both companies offer multiple options in the Soprano line and I have started with the well-recommended Aulos Haka 703B (my first recorder!) and then I decided to also explore most of the Yamaha line, starting with their basic model and ending with their most recent recorder line, the 400 series Ecodear.
By now, I have purchased enough Yamaha recorders that I can make some general observations about the differences between Yamaha's 20 line and their 300 line:
- the designs are noticeably different, both cosmetically and in terms of construction. Most differences concern the mouthpiece: its shape and its internal assembly. By contrast, all the 300 and 400 series recorders share the same design and they only differ in materials.
- the instruments in the 20 line tend to have a less polished sound, which can sometimes make them an interesting variation to the 300 series. The 300 series has a clearer, more refined sound.
- the instruments in the 20 line tend to be more demanding on the embouchure and air flow control. With the 300 line you can vary air flow with less impact on sound quality.
The YRS-302BIII comes with a fingering chart, warranty information, a plastic cleaning rod, and a small joint grease plastic container inside a zippered cloth bag. My copy is made in Japan. The joint grease container is small, but it should last a long time. The design of this recorder is shared with all the 300 series and 400 series models; it's only their material that differs. The 312 and 314 models are reputed to have a slightly more refined sound because of their different material, but I have not found any demonstration of the difference, so I assumed it's too small to matter to someone of my playing level.
The 302BIII is a great Soprano recorder choice. It produces a clear and bright sound, as expected of a 300 series model. This sound is the main reason to prefer it to the 24B model (unless you also want to count the cleaning rod and the joint grease).
The big question that puzzled me was how the 302 compares against the 402. One reason I decided to ignore the 312/314 models was also because I thought that if different material impacts sound significantly, then I'd expect it to matter more in the 402, which uses a denser material. It turns out that the sound of the 402 is very similar to that of the 302 - it does seem that it is a bit less bright, but the difference is so small that I don't think most people would be able to recognize the model in a double blind test (in which the interpreter does not know what they're playing either). This is to be expected given that the material is the only difference and even the materials are not that significantly different.
The 302BIII is a great Soprano recorder in a crowded market. The good thing is that I can't recommend another model over it. The bad thing is that I can't recommend any one model - everyone may develop a preference for one of these recorders (Yamaha 302B and 402B, and Aulos 703B), but that doesn't make that recorder "the best". They're all excellent instruments, at least as far as fulfilling the needs of beginners like me.
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