Solid silver or sterling silver?

[belen.conte]

Almost every professional flute are made of 925 sterling silver, but som brands like Nagahara offer a 950 silver body, or miyazawa a 958 silver body. I wanted to know whats the difference between this two. Does it really make a difference in the sound? Is the 950/958 silver better?

[pied_piper]

The difference is in the percentage of silver versus other metals in the alloy. 925 sterling silver is 92.5% sliver. The alloys with higher percentages of silver simply exceed the 92.5% silver benchmark to be designated "Sterling". The only notable difference is that higher silver percentages tend to reduce the amount of tarnish because the other metals increase the speed with which silver tarnishes. Tarnish can also be reduced by keeping anti-tarnish strips in the case with the flute. As far as a sound difference between the different alloys, I personally believe it makes little to no difference. Some disagree. The bulk of the sound is determined by the geometry of the flute. That includes things such as the embouchure cut, the height of the riser, the taper of the headjoint, etc. Metals make little difference in sound.