I bought the mouthpiece package - mouthpiece, ligature, cap, pouch and tooth guard as although I initially thought I could get the mouthpiece cheaper elsewhere it turned out to be a false economy because the ligature and cap being sold separately were a lot more, and the Selmer Paris pouch is a nice thing to have in the saxophone case. The ligature is engraved with Selmer Paris and is both nice to look at and vastly better quality compared to the stock mouthpiece and ligature the Sopranino Saxophone came with. There IS a discernible difference between the Selmer S80 C* and the stock mouthpiece. No question about it. The Selmer has a nicer sound, better control over airflow and is easier to play in tune. I am glad that I bought it at the same time as the Thomann TSI-350 Sopranino Saxophone as the combination are really very good value for money and I am more than happy to keep it without feeling that I need to upgrade. I thought I would buy the S80 C* as I would still use it even if the Thomann Sopranino Saxophone turned out to be a bit too cheap and cheerful and I needed to upgrade again to the Yanagisawa, but in fact it (the TSI-350) is beautiful and really good quality for the money. I wanted it as a travel saxophone primarily - for serious use, and recording in outdoor interesting acoustic environments, but not too expensive in case it got stolen, and was very impressed with the quality of it full stop. I have numerous high-end saxophones, such as my Selmer Paris SA-80 II Tenor, so I am not a beginner and am used to playing decent quality instruments. The S80 C* works for me best with 3.5 reeds - a beautiful sound - with the lower strength reeds being just a bit too thin. The combination is surprisingly nice sounding though - the lower register is capable of being breathily haunting and mellow, and though the upper octave is definitely brighter it is still musical and the S80 C* with 3.5 strength reed allows enough lip movement to keep the tuning under control. Something that I noticed very soon is just how careful you need to be with the mouthpiece position on the neck of the Sopranino - it is possible to throw the balance of tuning of the instrument out by either having it too far in or out of the neck, i.e. it can make the lower octave flat or sharp in comparison to the upper octave. But once you find the balanced position, tuning on the Thomann TSI-350 Sopranino Saxophone with the Selmer S80 C* is really quite acceptable - it's not a battle, though you still need to adjust your embouchure as you play to keep everything under control - the Sopranino is not the easiest saxophone to play, but I am very pleased with how well it can play in tune and especially with just how mellow the lower octave is capable of being. Also, I have big hands and it isn't too small to play either - I once bought a Garklein recorder but it was just too small for my hands, and the Sopranino Saxophone is perfectly ok. Overall I am very happy with the combination and would thoroughly recommend it. For the record, after having played about 5 - 6 hours over the weekend on the new TSI-350 and S80 C* I then tried the stock mouthpiece and it was definitely inferior, both in physical quality (the ligature felt very poor quality compared to the Selmer in particular) and sound - it had a brighter, thinner tone, significantly less refined than the Selmer. It was probably a higher opening too compared to the C* (it doesn't state what opening it is) but that wasn't a good thing, and I definitely preferred my Selmer S80 C* in all respects, particularly tone. So, it's not cheap, but it is worth the money, and I would definitely recommend the combination of TSI-350 and S80 C*. You may well find that you don't need to get the Yanagisawa Sopranino as you are happy with this set up. I don't feel any niggling urge to upgrade, especially as I want to use the Thomann TSI-350 for travelling. Hope this review helps you with your decision. I read other's reviews before buying the Sopranino and was very pleased to have the same "This is way better than I was expecting!" feeling - you can never be sure how objective the reviews are, but in this case they were accurate. I am 54 years old and have been playing saxophone for 42 years now. I have quite a few - Sopranino, Soprano, Alto x 2, Tenor x 2, Baritone as well as a number of clarinets and other things, so I know a bit about equipment. Just remembered - something that wasn't good was the Selmer mouthpiece tooth guard supplied - it looks as though it was designed for the Soprano not the Sopranino and it then needed to be trimmed to fit the Sopranino S80 mouthpiece which was annoying as my scissor cut wasn't as perfect as a machine cut and visually spoils it, despite the cool 'S' marking. The pouch is really nice though - to see Selmer Paris displayed when I open the case is a nice thing - you might think you don't need the pouch but I can attest that it gives me a good feeling every time I open the case and over time I think would be value for money even though it is nothing to do with the sound obviously!
