Half-wounds feel like rounds?

[line6man]

I was at Guitar Center the other day, and i asked if they had an open package of D'Addario Half-Rounds, so that i could take a look at them.

The guy showed me a pack, and 3 of the strings were absolutely indistinguishable from roundwounds...
I checked against an open set of Rotosounds, and i couldn't feel a difference.
The fourth string looked like a flatwound.

Are the strings really like this? Or did they most likely mix up some strings?

[fretlessguy]

Mixed up. Halfrounds are ground flat to give it the feel of a flat but more of a roundwound sound. I have played their old version and the new nickel coated versions and trust me, they are all flats.

[line6man]

OK, thats what i figured.

So how does the sound weigh in?
more round or more flat?

[fretlessguy]

They are a little brighter than the traditional flats. Mine did not last as long as their Chromes did. They still have a "fat" sound flats are known for.
Being basically ground down rounds, you figured they would be a little less tensioned than a regular set of flats, but they were every bit as heavy tensioned (I had on the 5 string set which are medium gauge, I believe). The sound lies in the middle between the two.

[stflbn]

Honestly, I've always felt that halfrounds or groundwounds are as abrasive or more abrasive than rounds are. Or at least I've always noticed that they seem to collect and retain more gunk and skin on them.