Anyone can see that even though this Musafia case is in the lower price range of the production of our Cremona workshop, the interior is exceptionally plush and elegant, clearly reflecting great attention to detail and a great deal of careful workmanship. The interior of the advanced materials case is in stark contrast, almost minimalist, although this in itself is certainly not a defect. Some people indeed prefer a more "techno" appearance, and the advanced materials case has this appeal. 

But what about the violin? In the advanced materials case, there is no instrument blanket, hygrometer nor humidifier. The internal padding is practically non-existent, and the synthetic lining is thin and offers no insulation. The internal air volume is about triple that of the Musafia case, meaning that the instrument is more subject to changes of termperature and humidity; and that much harder to humidify in dry weather conditions. The instrument is held securely in place - in our opinion, indeed too much so: if the case were to fall to the ground, the instrument would be subjected to quite a severe jolt, compounded by the fact that the advanced materials case shell "bounces back" while the laminate shell of the Musafia case is designed to absorb the impact by distributing it within the impact absorbing filler surrounding the instrument.

But let's try some testing to find out the real qualities of these cases.

Surprise! One of the touts of the advanced materials cases are their extremely light weight, yet the Musafia case is actually lighter! The Musafia case (photo on the left) in fact weighs in at just 2,44 kg (5.37 lbs.) while the advanced materials case (optimistically declared by the manufacturer as 2.27 kg or 5.0 lbs.) actually weighs in at 2.65 kg., or 20% more than they claim. And the Musafia case comes out ahead in compactness too, measuring 1 cm less in height and almost 2 cm less in width (measurements excluding handles and feet). 

The manufacturer of this advanced materials case claims that the strength of the structure is superior to that of the competiton, thanks to it's outer layer of carbon fiber and internal core of composite sandwich. 

In the photo on the right (above - digitally retouched to maintain the manufacturer's anonimity), however, the lid began to collapse under the weight of a person weighing 75 kg. (165 lbs.). A careful observer (click on image to enlarge) will in fact note that the side walls of the case, normally straight, are bowing out under the pressure, meaning that the lid is buckling inwards. An instrument inside would be clearly destroyed. The Musafia case, on the other hand, will not only resist the same weight in the same position without buckling (photo on the left - above), but it will actually sustain the weight of two persons (photo below): in this photo, 130 kg. (286 lbs.)! Please note that this result is valid only for the case model tested. Other models may have different resistance values.  

What about thermal insulation? The space-age materials used in the competitor's case are supposed to guarantee great temperature stability to protect the instrument, but once again testing has proven the opposite to be true. 

We subjected the Musafia case and the advanced materials case to a typical winter real-life simulation, in which from the warmth of the home (approx 18°C or 64°F) the cases are taken into a cold evening (approx. -1 to 0°C, 29 to 32°F) and then brought into the theater (heated to over 19°C or 67°F).

As the graph above clearly shows, in the Musafia case (green line) the heat loss was more gradual and the lowest temperature recorded was warmer than that of the competitor's case (blue line). The more "gentle" curve of the Musafia case results in a more gentle treatment of the instrument; and of course if the Musafia case is chosen with optional Tropicalization feature, then this advantage becomes greater yet! 

Test results dated December 23, 2005. Test conditions: Ambient air temperature range as indicated. Wireless temp/humidity probes used, values averaged for accuracy.

But this is only half of the story. Due to the reduced internal temperature excursion but also thanks to the fact that the Musafia case is generously lined and padded with hygroscopic materials, as well as having a greatly reduced air volume, the relative humidity inside is kept much more stable. Why is this so important? Because the violin is also made of a hygroscopic material (wood) which absorbs moisture when it's damp and releases it when it's dry, and abrupt changes of relative humidity stress the instrument considerably and should be avoided. 

Once again, the change of humidity within the Musafia case could have been reduced further had the case been equipped with optional Tropicalization; also the use of our humidifier would have been beneficial. 

Test results dated December 23, 2005. Test conditions: Ambient air temperature range -1°C (29°F) to 19°C (67°F). Wireless temp/humidity probes used, values averaged for accuracy.

CONCLUSION

Having performed these tests reinforces our conviction (matured during two years of our own experimentation with these materials) that advanced materials don't really offer any particular advantages in terms of weight or strength. They do however have a number of distinct disadvantages, at least in cases configured like the one we tested, most especially regarding resistance to temperature changes and the fact that they cannot "breathe". Lastly, we suspect - although we would have to perform destructive crash tests to be 100% sure - that the "bounciness" of these cases means greater shock to the instrument if the cases were even to simply fall to the ground. For sure, by no means could the interior of these cases be termed well-padded or "plush".