Couple of points...

It's mainly dirt that makes the difference between bright and dull.

If you find new strings too bright, rub up and down with the palm of your hand - it'll settle them down at once.

Newtones are rubbish. Don't ever buy them (actually that's a complete and utter lie. They are brilliant - but sometimes it's hard to get them because of demand, so don't tell anyone else about them, ok?)

Newtones come in two forms - round core and hex core. Both are significantly better than any other string because Malcolm is a genuinely expert metallergist, and uses a unique combination of metals. Plus they are all hand-made to a unique spec.

The hex core strings are like 90% of other makes.

They all have six tiny gaps between the core and the winding, which run the length of the string. These soon fill up with dirt, and so cause the string to dull very quickly - almost as quick as other brands in fact.

Newtone hex core strings are still softer to the fingers, louder and warmer to the ear, than any other make, but they don't last very much longer. I just put some on my Martin because I was low on round core (I keep a few sets as backup in case Malcolm has a supply problem) and they only lasted a couple of gigs.

The round core will last maybe two weeks of gigging every night - and months if you're not full time.

Hope that helps.

Tom