I would like to buy a wooden descant recorder, but do not know what 'brand' and model is good. I don't play professional, but would like one with a nice sound at a reasonable price ($50-$100). There are so many different types: Adler, Hohner, Yamaha, Moeck, Mollenhauer, etc. How do I know what to choose? The problem is that here where I stay there are no suppliers nearby, so I can't really go to a shop and compare them myself. I will have to buy online.

This is a common question, and the answer is usually not what is "best", because that is different for everybody! The answer is what is comfortable for your to hold, play, is in tune, plays well, and that you like to look at. That said, my personal experience is tha you would have good experience with either the Moeck or Mollenhauer instruments in their respective price ranges. they have good sound, consistent production quality, and are mde to last with good care. I started with a Hohner pearwood descant years ago, and it was good enough to play a few tunes, sounds nice, but was not up to the quality of the other two I just mentioned. To me, everything Yamaha is good, but overpriced. Hope this helps!

I feel the Yamaha plastic soprano is probably better than most wooden recorders under a $100. There are shops that will let you audition instruments. You can get 3 at a time and test them out, the catch being you pay for all 3 on with a credit card. They will let you audition 1 at a time, but it's harder to compare that way.

I travel with an SATB set of Yamaha plastic recorders and keep my wooden ones at home.