I have been using Rico orange pack reeds and found the quality to be ok, but the lack of consistency in the reeds caused several bad practice sessions. I decided to try the Legere studio reed and on inital playing along with a new Rovner ligature, I found the sound and response greatly improved. One thing to note, the #2 reed is actually about a 2.5 Rico and needs a bit of getting used to. I would recommend the reeds to students. I know the price is expensive compared to standard reeds but I believe the reed will last much longer than a standard reed and should help with student development.