nickle vs stainless

I have never tried stainless strings. Guess I am wary of the "rough" feel that they are described to have. Only have played nickel round wounds-Fender Superbass 45-110 taperwounds on a MIA Jazz. I like the tension of these but hate the way they interact with the frets when I play un-amped. I find them "harsh"-kinda like two hard metals clanking together. I was wondering if stainless strings were "softer" against the fret than nickel? Maybe coated strings like Elixir would be better? I like to slap, so flats are not an option. Any suggestions?

Not to sound ungrateful, but before someone responds with " its your technique" or "you action is too low" or "your neck is too flat"-I am not referring to fret buzz or string banging. I can control the string noise with proper muting and a light touch. The "harsh" sound that I am referring to is unmutable. I have even stuffed a towel under the strings at the nut or the bridge to fully mute them and I still can get this metallic sound. It must be related to the properties of the metals. If you took two lead pipes and banged them together you would expect a different sound than if you banged two brass or cast iron ones. Understand?

 

Thanks for the thoughts. I think I am either going to try elixirs or add a fretless to my gear. You know, get rid of the frets and and noise goes with them.