At last count I think I had 7 different black ink pads... some were meh, some were good, one was even great. Then I gave the Obsidian Pigment Ink pad from Altenew a try and it shot up and past AWESOME. *This* is the one I'd been looking for! It stamps cleanly, clearly and so CRISP even on the first go - I was hooked after ONE stamping session. I popped in the next day and ordered the reinker to have on hand because I never want to find myself in a situation where I'm running out of this fantastic ink. Thank you Altenew, I've found my forever black ink pad!!