I used to work at Dean Markley. In fact... I wound some of the first Blue Steels that were ever manufactured. I wound the guitar strings, and my bass player at the time (who would eventually become my ex-brother-in-law) wound the first bass strings. He was actually involved in the R&D of the Blue Steels. He loved them and used them exclusively. His main bass was an Ibanez Soundgear 6 string (don't ask me which specific model), and he played through 2 full Hartke stacks... each one consisting of a 2x15, a 4x10, & a 4x5 cab, set up in stereo. He was really into a bright, modern sound, and that whole "ethereal textures" thang, mixed with a fair amount of slapping. The Blue Steels were perfect for him, because they stayed bright and "new" longer than any other string we'd found at the time. They brought great shimmer definition that cut through the layers upon layers of effects he always used. The only downside, was that they sawed through frets faster than anything else we'd seen.
When I got that Goth... I wanted a nice bright string to help counter the dark sound inherent to that model. I'd been curious about the DRs for years. After they were suggested a few times here in this forum, I finally tried them out. If you want a nice bright string that's easy on the fingers... the DR Hi Beams are the strings for you. I don't know what their "secret recipe" is, but my educated guess is that they use a larger core wire and smaller cover wires. The result is a less abrasive string (which is better for your bass
and your fingers) and less finger noise. I almost regret trying them so early in my bass journey, because I loved 'em and will probly go back to them. I was actually kinda looking forward to "playing the field" a bit & seein' what all was out there before settling in on a favorite. Unless the set of EB Cobalts I just got, really have some kinda magic in 'em... I'll go right back to the DR Hi Beams ASAP. To my hands... they felt "broken in" right out of the package, but sounded bright and new.
Hope this helps out!
