I have a Dublin 9mm Rhodesian Plip and a Harp series fishtail - essentially the same exc for the mouthpiece and filter. I like them both and am still trying to decide which I like best. You do have to draw very slightly harder on the filter pipe I think and it does smoke slightly dryer I would say. I also think it takes longer to build cake on the filter pipe too. Other than that, unless you prefer a filter for other reasons I don't really think it matters (although of course you have to buy filters which are relatively cheap).