I have two inexpensive D whistles (Clarke Celtic & Walton D). Looking at the Dixon Trad, TJ Potter, or the Freeman Blackbird. Looking for a sweet second octave and perhaps a bit less breathy than the Clarke. And, I just want another whistle or two.
Generation, Feadog & Tony Dixon ABS are another three to add to your collection at the lower price range, then maybe a TD brass. 
You mention “solid” and “sweet”.
I usually hear “solid” as meaning “loud” which can be seen as the opposite of “sweet” so I don’t know if you’ll find these two coexisting in the 2nd octave of a whistle.
The most “solid” 2nd octave that comes to mind is the Burke, loud and bright and clear and pure, but rather stiff, requiring strong support, and not what I would call “sweet”.
I love the opposite of the Burke 2nd octave, the facile sweet easy-blowing upper range of whistles like the Sindt, Killarney, and good vintage Feadog and Generation.
About “chiff”, I don’t know what that word means. Despite playing whistles since the 1970s I’d never heard of “chiff” until I came upon this site.
Yes, what I’m looking for is “sweet” in the second octave. Granted, I’ve only played two whistles and have little to compare. I like the sweetness of the Clarke and the volume of the Walton, and I realize alot of this will be breath control, but I’ve listened to many other recordings of whistlers. I want to be able to play second octave without as much rasp and shrillness. That’s one reason I haven’t bought a Susato. In recordings they seem shrill.
I’ve heard various definitions of the term, chiff. I’m not quite sure what is it either, but I think in general it means the windy, grainy, hissy sound. My Anak whistles have a pure, non chiffy voice which I like. The Burkes are similar. On the other hand, I used to play a Dixon Trad (brass) low (mezzo) G that was the hissiest whistle I ever played. It’s a matter of taste, I suppose.
It’s clearly defined as a transient at the start of a sound. Despite frequent misunderstanding here, it’s not wind, grain, hiss or breathiness, which are more constant and better described as whichever of those words the describer likes.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chiff
Definition of chiff
: the initial sound made by air leaving the mouth of a wind instrument (such as an organ flue pipe or a flute) at the attack (see attack entry 2 sense 5) of a note
“The chiff is a sudden, short-lived burst of upper harmonics that occurs whenever an organ key is depressed and a note is sounded.”
—Joel Naumann and James D. Wagoner, Analog Electronic Music Techniques, 1985
How’s this, then?
Marylin Monroe: Breathy
Vito Corleone: Hissy
Darth Vader: Chiffy
Note that I’m fairly new at this, only having picked up my first whistle about 9 months ago. But I do own the whistles you’re asking about. I like all three, but the Dixon Trad is the breathiest among them by a good margin. Not in a bad way, but I don’t think it’s got the sound you say you’re after. I really like the TJ Potter a lot, except that I don’t get a good C Nat. using the standard crossfingering. And the mouthpiece feels a bit weird, being more rectangular than anything else I own. But apart from those two issues, the overall playability and tone are outstanding. I would define it is “sweet” and “pure” rather than “breathy” or “edgy”.
But the Freeman Blackbird is perhaps even sweeter and purer, and also has excellent playability across it’s range. So I’ll recommend that one.
If you’re willing to up you’re budget, you might also consider the Killarney.
Well then, a noise upon the attack of a note on the flute?
Thing is, so often in ITM there’s a flow of notes or notes attacked with gracenotes, rather than an independant attack of a note with a sudden rush of air, as happens with each note on a pipe organ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRVG42lGUkY&t=50s
This difference in attack became apparent years ago when I tried a Yamaha wind controller. I was playing up and down the scale, on the flute setting, and blowing on an even breath, yet each note had a burst of volume at the beginning.
I asked the rep about it and he said that it’s just the way keyboard patches tend to be, because on keyboard a finger is striking a key. This hammered home the notion of a piano being a percussion instrument!
Anyhow this “chiff” seems to be something that when I try a whistle that does it, I don’t buy it.
Is there a recording/YouTube/sound clip that demonstrates the chiff on a whistle? I probably heard it without recognizing what I was hearing.
I have spent most of my working life in and around the pipe organ business, mostly as a voicer. Chiff is the ‘noise’ produced by organ flue pipes as they settle into speech. Flue pipes are of the same construction as whistles, except the parts have different names.
It can be ‘cleaned’ out of the sound by various methods, though some ‘articulation’ as it is often called is left in the speech to define the musical line.
Here’s a nice example of articulation or ‘chiff’ in a mechanical action organ by American builder Lawrence Phelps in Hexham Abbey, Northumberland. This is a single Principle stop being played.
Reg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8llyCWsLV8&list=PLrE5b54dVJrADrd3uNelgmKaLdJKvLb52&index=5
Very cool, thanks for that!
It’s the thing that makes organs sound authentic and earthy to me, much nicer than synths.
There’s a thing sort of like that on the huge panpipes from Bolivia, the toyos.
They’re played in a pair, with each musician having every other note of the scale.
Here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fm1QzqCIYU
Here’s a studio recording of the same tune; best with headphones to get the split between the two instruments.
How long have you been playing? You may find that your current whistles meet those demands with more experience.
Any Jerry Freeman would be a good choice.
Of those whistles you mention, I’d say the Freeman Blackbird and the Potter tend to be sweeter in the second octave. For a little more money (roughly twice as much, but still under $100), you can get a Killarney in either brass or nickel.
I have a Blackbird by Freeman that I like quite a bit. It’s excellent sounding, very clear and birdlike, and not shrill in the upper octave notes, it doesn’t make me wince like some of my whistles do. It’s a bit tricky on the lowest notes, needing very little air, bit it’s worth the effort to learn the control needed, something which should be learned anyhow.
The other whistles I have which are more pure sounding, without that initial harmonic at the beginning of the note is some hybrid. One has a mouthpiece with Mack 1188 etched into it on a brass Feadog barrel, and another is a Freeman tweaked one that doesn’t have any sticker other than the Freeman one. It’s very similar to my Soodlum Mellow D and Walton Mellow D, so maybe it’s a mellow dog? Anyhow, it’s a very solid player, quite smooth sounding.
I think the best upper octave goes to the Blackbird. It’s very effortless and sweet.
Lisa
I too agree that the Freeman Blackbird would be the one with least breath requirement, less ‘chiffy’/more sweet pure, and a a great second octave without getting squeaky. The brass Dixon is lovely, but quite chiffy with a sort of ‘hollow metal’ tone (which I find real nice).
The Freeman Mellow Dog is another that has a little less chiff and a strong 2nd oct, and doesn’t require forceful air at all. The Blackbird sounds a little sweeter like birgsong, than the Mellowdog, which is a little ‘rounder’ in tone.
Personally, i define ‘chiffy’ as kind of like when you say “shh shh shh” instead of “sss sss sss”. 
Chiff is when you say, “Chiff,” instead of, “iff.”
Like.
To me that seems more like the tongue-ing effect though.