Sapim Laser spokes
 

I just got these in the mail...decided to order them based on a RBR write-up saying that the black coloring process they use is better than DT or Wheelsmith, and they have an otherwise great reputation.

I was looking at them last night, and it looks like there's some sort of "scarring" if you will where they're swaged. Like the machine chewed on them a bit. Wheelsmith spokes have a similar swaging profile (i.e. with a "step", not smooth like DT) but the Wheelsmith spokes I've built with in the past have always been perfectly smooth.

I'm pondering returning these and just going with my old standby of Wheelsmith DB14. I'll try to post some photos when I get home.

For all the great things I've heard about Sapim spokes, I was surprised to see this.

just built a wheel with them. the butting is more abrupt on the Lasers compared to the Revos smooth, longer tapered butting.

The butting/swaging doesn't surprise me. I expected that profile...similar to Wheelsmith. What I didn't expect was the scarring around the swaged section.