Studiologic Sledge v2.0

Studiologic Sledge v2.0 | Reviews
93
control of a futuristic musical
spaceship! Above all, the Sledge is
intuitive with almost zero learning curve
so both beginners and seasoned
programmers will appreciate it.
Moving on to the sound engine, this
has been co-designed with Waldorf and
I really dig the overall sound and
character. It sounds less industrial
compared to its Blofeld cousin with
more general ballsiness and the overall
vibe can be best described as warm and
full with a defi ned edge and a nicely
analogue texture. The Sledge excels at
bright, brassy patches, low fi ltered pads,
warm mono leads and snappy bass
sounds (courtesy of the fast envelopes);
though, with 66 PPG wavetables
onboard (and now user samples too), it’s
capable of a wide range of new and
more otherworldly textures not
previously available on the original
Sledge OS.
New waves
Of the three VA oscillators, Oscillator 1
is the most interesting as, in addition to
the standard sine, triangle, square, saw
and variable pulse waves (these are
available on all three oscs), you’ll also
fi nd the aforementioned 66 wavetables
including types such as Karplus Strong
(for emulating plucked/percussive/
hammered sounds), plus organs,
formants, sweeps and more (note: user
samples are also selected via Osc 1).
However, the Sledge’s big ace card is
that you still have a further two
oscillators available to layer along with
samples or the wavetables and there’s
now 24-note polyphony which is
especially handy when building more
complex poly-patches/layers.
Modulation-wise there are three mod
busses (two LFOs and one for the mod
wheel) with speed and depth controls,
each with six waveshapes and six
destinations including wave/FM and
PWM, plus an arpeggiator. The sine/
triangle waves of Osc 2 can also be
FM’d by Osc 1, whilst the sine/triangle
waves of Osc 3 can be FM’d by Osc 2.
It’s surprisingly easy to create DX-esque
basses, pianos and strings, plus there’s
oscillator sync, mono/poly modes with
single/multiple triggering and
polyphonic glide, although monophonic
glide only triggers when playing legato.
The Sledge also offers up a versatile
multimode fi lter featuring LP, BP and
HP modes with 12dB/24dB slopes and
the fi lter types sound authentic to
classic analogue designs – the cutoff
has a wide range, opening brightly in
the tops for cutting leads and
Oberheim-style brass patches but things
can go nicely deep
and powerful in
the lows for
Moog-style basses
and huge subs.
The resonance
sounds powerful
and liquidy (watch
your speakers!)
and the fi lter self-oscillates too, so you
can use the resonance for creating
authentic analogue kicks and more.
The drive feature sounds a little
brittle but it dirties things nicely at
lower levels whilst there’s also pink and
white noise for making FX and drums.
Finally, there’s a great chorus/phaser/
fl anger and separate/simultaneous (and
very usable) reverb and delay units,
(though I hope Studiologic can address
the clicking through the audio path
when selecting different effects).
To conclude, I’ve always liked the
Sledge’s sound but things just got a
whole lot better with v2.0. The fact that
you can now use delay and reverb
together, coupled with PPG wavetables,
aftertouch, samples, FM, 24-note poly,
splits/layering, all at an RRP of £799,
makes Sledge v2.0 a real steal!
It excels at bright, brassy patches,
low fi ltered pads, warm mono
leads and snappy bass sounds
VERDICT
BUILD
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VALUE
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EASE OF USE
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VERSATILITY
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RESULTS
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A great-sounding Waldorf VA
engine, decent FX, user samples
and wavetables. Don’t overlook it!
SPECS
General:
999 Sounds
2 fast LFOs
24-note polyphony
3 oscillators
66 original PPG wavetables
and 60MB sample memory
FM of sine/triangle
Oscillator sync
White/pink noise
Mixer with on/off switch per
oscillator/noise
Self-oscillating fi lter
(24dB/12dB) with LP/HP/BP
modes
Adjustable Key Track and
Drive
2 ASDRs (fi lter/amplifi er)
Arpeggiator: Latch, MIDI
sync, Up, Down, Alternate
Effects: One: Chorus/
Phaser/Flanger, Two:
Reverb/Delay
Connections: Stereo output,
Headphones, Expression
pedal, Sustain, MIDI in/out,
USB
Dimensions:
970x405x110mm
Weight:
8.3kg
ALTERNATIVES
Nord Wave
£used
There are still some NOS
models about, or check out
the used market. The Wave
has a lot in common with
the Sledge – it’s a great
sounding VA synth with
wavetables and user
sample facility.
www.nordkeyboards.com
Waldorf Blofeld
Keyboard
£479
The Blofeld also has a lot
in common with the Sledge
– they’re both Waldorf-
designed VA synths with
arpeggiators and 60MB
of user sample memory,
though their sonic
characters are
nicely different.
www.waldorf-music.info
Korg KingKorg
£799
Korg’s KingKorg is a
versatile and great
sounding VA synth which
also houses digital waves,
PCM samples, several fi lter
types and effects including
a vocoder. Real valve
overdrive too!
www.korg.com
FMU289.rev_studiologic.indd 93 1/29/15 9:52 AM