is there a brand of spokes that most wheelbuilders prefer? do crappier ones actually make a big difference?

any personal experiences with spokes?

DT Swiss Champion spokes are quite common among wheel builders, as well as Wheelsmith spokes.
Don't know much about spokes, but different style of spokes (singled butted, double butted, triple butted, blade) will make a different in strength and weight, as well as aerodynamics.

hows pricing for these?

At shops, they usually are 50 cents to a buck a spoke, depending on shops.
If you want to buy them online, they are about 40-70 bucks, and you get like 50 to 70 spokes but make sure you have ALL of your numbers correct. Length and gauge can not be wrong when it comes to spokes.

cool cool do you think i can use same hub/spokes from my front wheel and put it on my blue rim? or do i need shorter spokes

for spoke length, calculations, it's best if you read through these first:
https://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
https://spokeanwheel.110mb.com/index.html
https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/spokecalc/

then plug in all the numbers into spocalc from damon rinard
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/spocalc.htm

Nope. Most of the difference in spoke length is due to rim differences. A different rim almost always requires different spokes.

Late to the thread but what the hell...

I go pretty much DT and Phil for high-end builds...Wheelsmith's are fine.

However, even entry level and mid-range spokes can last several wheels - but on two crucial conditions:

1. The get tensioned properly at the outset!!!
2. They stay that way!!!

Case in point...

CN which I import gets used alot on Raleigh, Diamondback, and other major brands of bikes. A lot of those bikes wheels leave the door unfinished with most shops and within months...kerr snappity snap snap go the non-drive spokes....

Here in my little shed I have a wheel with the same CN spokes that went anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 miles before it finally failed....not due to spokes or the freehub - but sidewall runout.

Why did the wheel do so well?

1. I built it.
2. Drive side tension started at about 115 kgf.
3. Drive side tension still registers in the 110-115 kfg range.

I keep it so that if I ever make a trip to Taiwan personally, I can bring it with me and let the manus of the hub, rim and spokes (CN) know how their stuff holds up when put together right.

Tension is what makes or breaks the deal with any spoke.

=8-)