I had to look up Dr. Duck's. I love the website! I always use balanced tension D'Addario XLs these days. I've had two guitars with twisted necks, and that kind of scarred me! I love the feel of balanced tension sets anyway. Plus they're easy enough to find and affordable.
I've tried so many different strings, and for a while I did play LaBella actually. I have this love of guitar technology, so I've experienced these situations in which I buy something very cool for which you can't get parts when the product inevitably is dropped by the manufacturer. Case in point: Floyd Rose Speed loader strings. So I'm wary of going to small brands for something I use all the time, upon which I base my decisions about pickup choice, wiring, signal chain, all that. I know with D'Addario they never come with little rusty sections because of their great packaging, they sound good, and even the not fancy XLs last a really long time because I wash my hands before I play.
Have you tried the NYXL balanced tension set? If so, how do they compare to the regular XL balanced tension set?