As a beginner just starting to play saxophone, reads can cause some problems, as with natrual reads sone may not work, or come damaged its hard to know if your bad sound is coming from you or maybe the reads.
I decided to try out a synthetic reed and now I don't think I will ever go back. The sound is perfect for me and I can't tell much difference except that it's a slightly brighter sound, which is what I wanted so it's perfect!
They play straight away and you will keep a consistent tone so you no longer need to worry about all your read problems. They also play dry meaning you can set your sax down, pick it up later with out worrying about re wetting.
If you are a beginner like me, give this a go, gives you a real change to work on your tone, and keeping it consistent early on, which is a huge help to progression. You will not regret it! They last long and are reasonable priced, i will be using this reed from now on.
The 3 strength fibracell is about a normal 2.5 strength.