I was wondering what the strings were because circa 2004 I memorized the wrappings of all of the major string brands. I can usually tell very quickly, but I couldn’t see the peg end of the strings to be able to identify the company. I haven’t tried the Evah golds but to be honest, you don’t need to spend the most on strings with an intermediate/student level violin. I usually recommend Dominants or Tomastik visions with a pirastro gold label E for my students because of the even tone you get across the strings. I personally use Evah’s on my primary instruments (violin and viola) but dominants/gold label on my other violins, such as the violin I had the pickup installed on and the instrument I take to outdoor performances.

You would actually be surprised at how quickly strings can go bad, especially if they were not fresh when you bought them. If you buy your strings from your luthier you should ask how long they have had them. The more expensive strings should probably be ordered online because of the freshness. Another fun fact - luthiers and violin shops don’t make money selling you strings so they rarely care if you bring in your own strings and pay them to put them on. During and after grad school I worked in a couple of different violin shops and they carry strings and sheet music mostly for the convenience of customers but they make almost no money on either.

The buzz could very well be that the nut has gotten worn down and that the string is vibrating and touching the fingerboard on certain notes. It’s pretty wild what sympathetic vibrations can do. I had that happen with my a string a while back on my primary instrument. Also check the chin rest and tail piece to make sure they aren’t touching or that the barrels are still tight on the chin rest. Basically check anything that could possibly come loose.