There is something to this. I would always advocate playing out in public as much as possible, but... if you are not happy with the sound of your instrument when playing alone at home (and we all play alone for a significant amount of time), then you won't enjoy playing at all.
I prefer an oval hole, for a host of reasons. I would not want anyone to think that the oval hole is inadequate for playing in public. The only thing an oval hole can't do as well as the ff hole mandolin is the blugrass chop, and there the difference can be mitigated by the player (and the selection of pick) to a large extent.
Its a different sound, and may or may not be one's preference. Or perhaps justification to get one of each.
But I would not say the difference is so great between an oval hole and an ff hole that one is public playing and the other for private playing.
I play my oval hole at home with one pick, that gives a nice warm tone, and another pick when I play it out in a large group, to give me more punch. I have never had a problem being heard. (I have had problems being listened to, but thats different. )
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