Great video Gaz.. absolutely love my Sledge.. Sold my Blofeld keys to buy it and never looked back.. One of the most inviting and tweakable polysynths available and a real steal for the money
would have been really nice if they had kept all the blofeld extra sonic power, but hidden it in menus (with a bigger display), for those willing to dig down to get a bit more out of it. But I would pick this over the Blofeld any day... or if I'm feeling cheap, buy neither.
The last time Germans and Italians collaborated on anything, they plunged the world into war. JUST KIDDING, I'm buying one of these this weekend. Little Father's Day present to myself.
The Sledge was always in the back of my mind. Something I thought looked like fun but probably wouldn't buy anytime soon. Now a distributor is offering me an excellent payment plan for something in this range. Plus the black keys on black case and black panel is dark and sexy. I think I'm gonna go for it. The sampling and split layering things are superb!
Can anyone tell me if when running arpeggios you have a visible display on the screen of that arps BMP/tempo which can be adjusted or do you have to rely on "tap tempo"?
Just bought a sledge second hand and there are two things I cant figure out. When I hit the panel button all sound stops regardless of what position the knobs are on and 2 I cant figure out for the life of me how to initialize a patch. Is that just not a feature?
You need a compressor/brickwall limiter on that synth! I once blew a PA system with the resonance of a Roland SH09 and knackered the ears of the front row...
Thank you Gaz for your fun and detailed review. Which Synth would you recommend among the Behringer Deepmind 12, Roland System 8 and the Studiologic Sledge 2.0 (Black) for sound creation and manipulation, making my own sounds, sound-art, and not necessarily for popular music nor performing, I make music as an art form and also use it for sound-art videos. I use Soft Synths, software and computer with Midi Controllers to achieve that. I want to use a Synthesizer now and those I mentioned called my attention. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thank you. Edgard.
Edgard F Abadia can't speak on the Roland. But I just returned my deepmind to buy a sledge because my deepmind was glitching and I didn't menu diving to do mod destinations and effects and everything. The sledge has more sound creation on board but has a lot less in the effect department
Thank you so much for your reply Gus. I actually decided to get a Moot Mother 32 and a MakeNoice 0-Coast modules and are working just fine, actually excellently, for what I do. I also added a PatchBlock little unit to the "arsenal" and this little module really does fun things for its tiny size. I think the Sledge is a great choice. keep up your fine work which we all value so much. Thanks.
The chorus is the only effect I like on the Sledge, Reverb is ok but delay not having feedback is a killer for me. I do have an H9 and it works wonders with the Sledge!
4 роки тому+1
Yeah!! - That's exactly the reason why people have to spend 5 years at a music academy: To learn how you can make a normally great sounding wave-table synthesizer as accuratly as possible sound like a crappy cheap 4,99€ toy organ! - I' m deeply impressed! - For a short moment (when you dialed in the "Mellotron"-sample) I was afraid that you may spoil your cacophonic squeaky sound excursion, but that was only for a moment: With the precision of a sleepwalker you reliably found out almost every godawful shitty plastic sound that can somehow been programmed using this machine....😜 PS: Joking aside - this shrill orange of the 'Sledge' (In the main band, that i' m playing in, I have a double position as 2nd guitar player and Keyboarder.. .) fits fantastic with my "Orange"-guitar amp & cab! This synth monster is so versatile, that, if you take enough time to explore carefully its extensive possibilities, even "classical" Moog- sounds are no problem! - Some weeks ago I found out how to adjust the nearly exact sound of Tony Carey's legendary Moog-intro in RAINBOW's "Tarot woman". A friend formerly denied for years, that this would be exactly possible without using an original Moog. and we placed a bet on it: Now he has to buy my guitar-strings for the full next year!✌😉
Its astonishing, how the development of styles flow appart and role change...in the 80ties the guitars had those strange forms, shrill colors, Graffiti look and looked sometimes a little bit like toys, and the most synths were more conservative in form and design. Today top guitars are mostly traditionally designed, with that eye on beautiful structured wood, distinguished and expensive looking and the synths often have the look of cheap toys and plastic instead of wood (like The Sledge or the Moog grandmother)....
The plastic body keeps it light. The controls feel of good quality, though, not cheap or junky. The action is also good; Fatar TP 9, I believe. And God help me, I LOVE the yellow!
It’s studio logic . Their early modular stuff did indeed sound like the noises in the tune prior to this awesome sounding tune with this virtual hybrid. Peace Christo 👽
I have seen plenty stinky faces being pulled off by guitarists playing a bluesy line. But never seen a stinky face pulled off out of sheer fear for the resonance of a synthesizer!
you probably dont give a shit but if you guys are bored like me atm then you can stream pretty much all of the new movies and series on instaflixxer. Have been streaming with my brother for the last few weeks :)
I love this synth, i know analogue is the buzzword these days but the sledge has this characteristic digital sound quality that makes it so distinctive
Yes analog is certainly a buzzword... The Sledge seems to sound "digital" a lot of the time.... But the Deepmind 12, sounds no more "analog" than a good softsynth, so in that case it is just a buzzword.
If you play all the notes at exactly the same time thelfo's willbe pretty well in sync . If your fingers are separated slightly they will be out of sync.
RE 14:50 Is the problem with the LFOs really that they're not sync'ed? Or that they're polyphonic? If the LFO had a "mono" mode then it'd be applied across all voices and thus sound as if there's multiple that are in sync, yes? This was a common issue with the Nord Modular G2 but the LFOs had mono/poly switch for solving that in a simple way. But this is all a different problem than clock sync'ed LFOs yes? Thanks for the video Gaz, I really enjoy your vids.
Strange, you'd think that could be done with a software update even if you have to go into the settings to change it... it'd make a big difference, I think? Great sounding synth tho.
I found this strange, too. According to the specs on Studiologic's website, the yellow edition does have the same phase synchronized LFO2 as the black one, but I can't find any mention of it in the manuals.
Nice, thorough demo. You started to play UK's "Alaska", then faked me out... You ought to use the PPG waveshape and play the Romantics "Talking in your Sleep" patch (which you did, but you Didn't Play the Part!). Also, I'd like to hear the s/n ratio and understand the noise (if you hear more than was recoded). And, what don't you like about it? Does it stay in your studio (I assume), or do you take it out on the road? Lots more to learn before I buy... but thanks for the features, program review.
You really made me laugh. I liked the mood of this video. You seem like a funny guy, but you will probably not be hired as the promoter for the Studiologic Sledgesynth. You are making good points in the video about certain things, but you should have played some nice stuff too, not only making strange sounds, but on the other side, this was a fun video. Maybe it was your intention anyway.
I have a deep mind 6 and love it but I am ordering one of these tonight. The deep mind is an increadable DCO synth. I'm purchasing one of these for a larger keybed, 18 more voices and the more organic controller surface. Have you gotten either yet? Which one did you choose?
Nice vid Gav. The sledge is great 2nd hand buy. Are you doing anything to boost the volume output of the Sledge Gav? I'm thinking of getting a radial engeering j4+ to boost the output of mine.
Ben Breslin this is straight into audio interface for this video but I normally put it through an Electro Harmonix LPB2 valve preamp because I love the way it breaks up the sound a bit. I purposefully didn't use it here as I wanted as direct a sound as possible for the video.
Some brilliant discoveries you've shared, especially the slow glide and how you can change patches while playing a note, etc. I've read a lot on the unit being buggy, especially when saving / recalling custom patches for instance... have you had any issues with it being glitchy?
Great in-depth video Gaz. It is indeed a great synth. While I don't have the pleasure of owning one, I have played one on several occations. It's sad such a great synth is being largely unappreciated because it's not analogue. Digital is capable of some great things, and this is certainly one of the better ones. It has the same voice structure, features, effects and overall specs on paper as the Waldorf Blofeld, which makes me think it's basicly the same synth with a much better interface, but I've never been able to A/B them directly to confirm or disprove it, any thoughts on that?
Actually the Blofeld has more settings and a mod matrix. The OSC base code is likely the same or quite similar, but with less functions here. But the front panel is just so much better on the sledge. But it would have been super nice, if they had left the option of doing the more advanced stuff of the Blofeld, for those willing to do menu digging, but still kept the panel with that panel mode, excluding all that, for quick hands on sound making.
It now says on the Sledge 2 (orange) that they are pahse synced on the offical page. There is a 2.1 update... guessing that might be the same version as was actually delivered with the black.
so tempted by this as a first synth but it seems so over priced.. and the keybed seems lack luster perhaps? studiologic are known for having amazing keybeds and from reviews i see people dont really compliment it so much so its odd they didnt go all out on this, if it had semi weighted i would snap it up as it could double as a nice controller for pianoteq or other software.
The version 2 is probably the best priced most bang for your buck synth out there right now
Still. Also the most undervalued synth of late and in the top 10 of all time.
You're doing a good thing. So many synths out there but not many good videos like this.
I loved this review, just as I've always loved the yellow of the Sledge. The sample importation is a really nice addition.
You sir are one of my favourite synth reviewer and enthusiast. Gleeful and joyful you are and fascinated by everything - but you know your stuff.
Great video Gaz.. absolutely love my Sledge.. Sold my Blofeld keys to buy it and never looked back..
One of the most inviting and tweakable polysynths available and a real steal for the money
would have been really nice if they had kept all the blofeld extra sonic power, but hidden it in menus (with a bigger display), for those willing to dig down to get a bit more out of it.
But I would pick this over the Blofeld any day... or if I'm feeling cheap, buy neither.
6 minutes in and I’m sold 😅 nice one Gaz! Thanks a lot for this.
After so many years I finally went for it and bought a used black one, can't wait until it arrives.
Ooh enjoy! Loads of great sounds to discover.
The last time Germans and Italians collaborated on anything, they plunged the world into war.
JUST KIDDING, I'm buying one of these this weekend. Little Father's Day present to myself.
🤣😃
Only an idiot of the highest magnitude comes up with such stupid comments and calls it KIDDING.
Filter face! Thanks for the great piece Gaz
I love the glide mouth!
Daniel Tomlinson should see me play wah on bass!
Ha ha! I tend to get jazz shoulder. If I play a particularly crunchy jazz chord my right shoulder rises up.
Really fun, Gaz. When you were playing with the LFO before the half point, you had half a Tomita album going ;)
That Glide function is so cool, should be implemented on more synths at those extreme settings.
The Sledge was always in the back of my mind. Something I thought looked like fun but probably wouldn't buy anytime soon. Now a distributor is offering me an excellent payment plan for something in this range. Plus the black keys on black case and black panel is dark and sexy. I think I'm gonna go for it. The sampling and split layering things are superb!
That was the best review of that synth!!!! Thank you so much.....I have been admiring/following that product.
I have some learning to do with keys. When I get up to speed a bit, this is the next step up for me. Sounds great, and I love the layout.
Nice one gaz, I really liked the sledge when I played it at namm some years back. I believe they can be had for a steal these days as well.
Namm - you weren't there man, you weren't there.
That is nice. Please make more videos.
Can anyone tell me if when running arpeggios you have a visible display on the screen of that arps BMP/tempo which can be adjusted or do you have to rely on "tap tempo"?
Just bought a sledge second hand and there are two things I cant figure out. When I hit the panel button all sound stops regardless of what position the knobs are on and 2 I cant figure out for the life of me how to initialize a patch. Is that just not a feature?
really enjoyed this...very thorough.....thanks a million gaz!
just picked up a used black sledge and it's glorious :-)
can't wait to add some samples to it
You need a compressor/brickwall limiter on that synth! I once blew a PA system with the resonance of a Roland SH09 and knackered the ears of the front row...
Loving the intro freaky fair ground ride
How many preset sounds are on this please
I have the black version of the Sledge. Whole lotta synth for not too much money!! Love it!
i cannot decide between the black and the orange. Do you think the LFO2 feature which the orange doesn't have is a big advantage ?
how does this compare to the PPG wave and generated sounds of that synth? and sound control.
Casio VZ-1 has a polyphonic portamento /glide
Now that a few years have moved on, what is your assessment of the synth?
I just got the black version and it's so much fun. Very rich sound. Hey gaz, how about a video on midi guitar someday?
Cool synth, thanks for the video!
Thank you Gaz for your fun and detailed review. Which Synth would you recommend among the Behringer Deepmind 12, Roland System 8 and the Studiologic Sledge 2.0 (Black) for sound creation and manipulation, making my own sounds, sound-art, and not necessarily for popular music nor performing, I make music as an art form and also use it for sound-art videos. I use Soft Synths, software and computer with Midi Controllers to achieve that. I want to use a Synthesizer now and those I mentioned called my attention. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thank you. Edgard.
Edgard F Abadia can't speak on the Roland. But I just returned my deepmind to buy a sledge because my deepmind was glitching and I didn't menu diving to do mod destinations and effects and everything.
The sledge has more sound creation on board but has a lot less in the effect department
Thank you so much for your reply Gus. I actually decided to get a Moot Mother 32 and a MakeNoice 0-Coast modules and are working just fine, actually excellently, for what I do. I also added a PatchBlock little unit to the "arsenal" and this little module really does fun things for its tiny size. I think the Sledge is a great choice. keep up your fine work which we all value so much. Thanks.
Sorry I misspelled your name Gaz.
Joseph Mings , thank you for taking the time to help me with your input. I wrongly replied to Gaz thinking it was his comment. Thanks.
I got a sledge. Thinking of getting a eventide H9 to go with it. It sounds great through fx. I like the chorus on the Sledge.
The chorus is the only effect I like on the Sledge, Reverb is ok but delay not having feedback is a killer for me. I do have an H9 and it works wonders with the Sledge!
Yeah!! - That's exactly the reason why people have to spend 5 years at a music academy: To learn how you can make a normally great sounding wave-table synthesizer as accuratly as possible sound like a crappy cheap 4,99€ toy organ! - I' m deeply impressed! - For a short moment (when you dialed in the "Mellotron"-sample) I was afraid that you may spoil your cacophonic squeaky sound excursion, but that was only for a moment: With the precision of a sleepwalker you reliably found out almost every godawful shitty plastic sound that can somehow been programmed using this machine....😜
PS: Joking aside - this shrill orange of the 'Sledge' (In the main band, that i' m playing in, I have a double position as 2nd guitar player and Keyboarder.. .) fits fantastic with my "Orange"-guitar amp & cab!
This synth monster is so versatile, that, if you take enough time to explore carefully its extensive possibilities, even "classical" Moog- sounds are no problem!
- Some weeks ago I found out how to adjust the nearly exact sound of Tony Carey's legendary Moog-intro in RAINBOW's "Tarot woman". A friend formerly denied for years, that this would be exactly possible without using an original Moog. and we placed a bet on it: Now he has to buy my guitar-strings for the full next year!✌😉
Hiya, I have a Sledge v1, do you know if applying the latest v2.5.1 OS literally turns it onto a Sledge v2.0 ?
Mike Moorfield yep it sure does!
Gaz Williams thanks buddy!
I like the non sync lfo. can you deselect lfo sync in the black version?
LFO1 is non-synced, LFO 2 is... So non-synced sounds are still possible :)
@@PaulvanEgmond thank you :)
Its astonishing, how the development of styles flow appart and role change...in the 80ties the guitars had those strange forms, shrill colors, Graffiti look and looked sometimes a little bit like toys, and the most synths were more conservative in form and design.
Today top guitars are mostly traditionally designed, with that eye on beautiful structured wood, distinguished and expensive looking and the synths often have the look of cheap toys and plastic instead of wood (like The Sledge or the Moog grandmother)....
The plastic body keeps it light. The controls feel of good quality, though, not cheap or junky. The action is also good; Fatar TP 9, I believe. And God help me, I LOVE the yellow!
Can you make progressive house sounds on this thing??
It’s studio logic . Their early modular stuff did indeed sound like the noises in the tune prior to this awesome sounding tune with this virtual hybrid. Peace Christo 👽
You bumbling fool AND troll
Really trying to decide between this and the Blofeld.
I have seen plenty stinky faces being pulled off by guitarists playing a bluesy line. But never seen a stinky face pulled off out of sheer fear for the resonance of a synthesizer!
you probably dont give a shit but if you guys are bored like me atm then you can stream pretty much all of the new movies and series on instaflixxer. Have been streaming with my brother for the last few weeks :)
@Callen Darian yup, I have been watching on instaflixxer for since november myself :)
I love this synth, i know analogue is the buzzword these days but the sledge has this characteristic digital sound quality that makes it so distinctive
Yes analog is certainly a buzzword... The Sledge seems to sound "digital" a lot of the time.... But the Deepmind 12, sounds no more "analog" than a good softsynth, so in that case it is just a buzzword.
If you play all the notes at exactly the same time thelfo's willbe pretty well in sync . If your fingers are separated slightly they will be out of sync.
So if I buy the 1.0 Sledge, I can upgrade to 2.0? nothing to do with hardware?
Yes. Both 1 and 2 are identical when it comes to the firmware. V.2 is a huge improvement.
RE 14:50 Is the problem with the LFOs really that they're not sync'ed? Or that they're polyphonic? If the LFO had a "mono" mode then it'd be applied across all voices and thus sound as if there's multiple that are in sync, yes? This was a common issue with the Nord Modular G2 but the LFOs had mono/poly switch for solving that in a simple way. But this is all a different problem than clock sync'ed LFOs yes?
Thanks for the video Gaz, I really enjoy your vids.
Rhombus Labs yes that is the issue i.e. Poly LFO but as I mentioned in the vid that the new black Sledge has what I guess is a monophonic LFO on LFO 2
Strange, you'd think that could be done with a software update even if you have to go into the settings to change it... it'd make a big difference, I think? Great sounding synth tho.
I found this strange, too. According to the specs on Studiologic's website, the yellow edition does have the same phase synchronized LFO2 as the black one, but I can't find any mention of it in the manuals.
the 2.0 i actually 2.1 today. So perhaps they just did not bother to update the manual, but still implemented the LFO phase sync, and classed it a .1
Nice, thorough demo. You started to play UK's "Alaska", then faked me out... You ought to use the PPG waveshape and play the Romantics "Talking in your Sleep" patch (which you did, but you Didn't Play the Part!).
Also, I'd like to hear the s/n ratio and understand the noise (if you hear more than was recoded).
And, what don't you like about it? Does it stay in your studio (I assume), or do you take it out on the road?
Lots more to learn before I buy... but thanks for the features, program review.
Love this style of presentation Gaz, do you think you'll make a video for the analog four? Cheers!
i wish someone could help me set it up
12:47 Boards of Canada - no problem with "clipping" - it's all part of the Sledge's sonic beauty
Great demo!
Does this have any form of note/chord hold or latch function?
Laurence Vanhelsuwe you can set the arp to latch and there is a sustain pedal input but no latch button or chord facility.
You really made me laugh. I liked the mood of this video. You seem like a funny guy, but you will probably not be hired as the promoter for the Studiologic Sledgesynth. You are making good points in the video about certain things, but you should have played some nice stuff too, not only making strange sounds, but on the other side, this was a fun video. Maybe it was your intention anyway.
Gaz... are you Cuckoo from the future??? You are awesome!!!
version 2.5.1 out now . Is it worth the upgrade? you cant go back and loose the drifting oscillator .
thefishdog OMG! The sound of The Sledge with the update just sounds so much better, juicier and fatter. Worth updating? YES DO IT NOW!!!
wow. i thought it sounded good already. My neighbour will love it as i drown out him shouting at people on call of duty game right now.
Still worth getting? I'm umming and ahing between this and a deepmind 6
I'd have to sell my Blofeld and BS2 to fund it, love the sound of the blo and the knobbiness of the BS2 so this and the DM seem like a good fit
I have a deep mind 6 and love it but I am ordering one of these tonight. The deep mind is an increadable DCO synth. I'm purchasing one of these for a larger keybed, 18 more voices and the more organic controller surface.
Have you gotten either yet? Which one did you choose?
that and I like the idea of sampling my modular synthesizer patches into it and playing them polyphonic
Nice vid Gav. The sledge is great 2nd hand buy.
Are you doing anything to boost the volume output of the Sledge Gav? I'm thinking of getting a radial engeering j4+ to boost the output of mine.
Ben Breslin this is straight into audio interface for this video but I normally put it through an Electro Harmonix LPB2 valve preamp because I love the way it breaks up the sound a bit. I purposefully didn't use it here as I wanted as direct a sound as possible for the video.
Gaz Williams good shout on the LPB2. Are they discontinued? Struggling to find one.
08:05 Solina?
Hi Gaz! In sample mode is it possible to frequency modulate by other oscillator?
ah no only the other way around.You can only frequency modulate oscillator 2 with the oscillator 1 (the sample mode)
It kinda sucks that they are charging extra for a software update. But seems like a neat synth.
The software update is free but the sample loading is an extra purchase.
Some brilliant discoveries you've shared, especially the slow glide and how you can change patches while playing a note, etc. I've read a lot on the unit being buggy, especially when saving / recalling custom patches for instance... have you had any issues with it being glitchy?
Great in-depth video Gaz. It is indeed a great synth. While I don't have the pleasure of owning one, I have played one on several occations. It's sad such a great synth is being largely unappreciated because it's not analogue. Digital is capable of some great things, and this is certainly one of the better ones.
It has the same voice structure, features, effects and overall specs on paper as the Waldorf Blofeld, which makes me think it's basicly the same synth with a much better interface, but I've never been able to A/B them directly to confirm or disprove it, any thoughts on that?
Actually the Blofeld has more settings and a mod matrix. The OSC base code is likely the same or quite similar, but with less functions here.
But the front panel is just so much better on the sledge. But it would have been super nice, if they had left the option of doing the more advanced stuff of the Blofeld, for those willing to do menu digging, but still kept the panel with that panel mode, excluding all that, for quick hands on sound making.
Love patch 12
Anybody else watch this expecting him to play separate ways?
That slow glide part reminded me of YMO’s distressing and bewitching “song” Loom:
m.ua-cam.com/video/FP5jW0XjxnI/v-deo.html
Nice keys Gaz
Interesting to know about the LFO weirdness. I bet this is really nice for controlling vsts like synapse legend via midi too.
It now says on the Sledge 2 (orange) that they are pahse synced on the offical page.
There is a 2.1 update... guessing that might be the same version as was actually delivered with the black.
so tempted by this as a first synth but it seems so over priced.. and the keybed seems lack luster perhaps? studiologic are known for having amazing keybeds and from reviews i see people dont really compliment it so much so its odd they didnt go all out on this, if it had semi weighted i would snap it up as it could double as a nice controller for pianoteq or other software.
Maybe check out the black edition of the Sledge as that has a semi weighted keybed
Lmao how is this overpriced? It’s a feature packed synth with a knob per function layout for $999. That’s perfectly priced.
09:46 - filtermouth!!
The music is way too loud compared to the voice.
Sorry! I was new to making content then. I think things have improved since then!
Hi Gaz - you are a well respected contributor to artist world-wide within the field of music. Thank you for your response - and completely understand.
Oh cool, I wanted some more mad Sledge info. It's almost like you read my mind....
not my cup of tea, but you do make it slightly more appealing to me gaz, well done!
Correct the first time Moog. Long O’s
Для создания звуков и звуковых эффектов, в мультфильмах и фильмах ужасов. Ни на что более этот инструмент не годится.
I can never understand why people who can't play keyboards do keyboard reviews.
probably cos they are producers
sin fur size er