Studiologic Sledge 2.0 synthesizer

General

The original Sledge was a very interesting synthesizer. Even though it bore the Studiologic brand, it was technically made by Waldorf, a well-known name in the synth world. Its successor, the Studiologic Sledge 2.0 synthesizer, was designed to further expand on the original concept by adding some new features, the most impressive addition being sample playback. For live applications, this gives the Sledge a real head-start as compared to other synthesizers.

Features of the Studiologic Sledge 2.0 synthesizer

Let's get down to brass tacks. As you can see from the photograph, the 2.0 is loaded with controls, which means programming sounds is sure to be an inviting and intuitive process. There are three oscillators that support PWM, sync and FM. Besides the classic analogue oscillators, there are also 66 PPG Wave sounds (in osc 1). The PPG was a unique (and pricey) synthesizer from the 1980s that was made by Waldorf. The Sledge 2.0 is also equipped with a multi-filter, of course, with low/band/high-pass, in the flavours 12 and 24 dB. The Sledge's polyphony has been stepped up to 24, and a combination reverb + delay effect is now included. Another new feature is that you can play two sounds at once, as split or layer.

The Sledge 2.0 and samples

The fact that you can load your own samples into the 60MB flash memory of this synth is a dream come true. The Sledge 2.0 is therefore able to offer more modern sounds, while other synths on the market still tend to use dated sounds from the 90s. Also, it's not common for hardware synthesizers to allow you to load your own samples, which means you're pretty limited in your choice if you want that specific functionality. You can load samples in for oscillator 1, and the other two remain for the virtual analogue engine. Managing samples is simple with the free software Spectre (compatible with Mac and PC). Want to let your creative juices flow? You don't have to use pure instruments as samples. A complete piece of music or a bit of speech is also a great foundation for a soundscape.

Advantages of samples

This orange beast is interesting for live applications in particular. Do you play in a (small) combo or orchestra? With the Sledge 2.0, you can load in an entire choir, a grand piano, a series of sound effects, or anything else you could possibley think of. Essentially, you can provide the sound of any instrument you want with this device that weighs just under 9 kilos, with all its controls and a keyboard with aftertouch. With regular synthesizers, these kinds of sounds need to be kept small (a few MB at the most), to save room for all the other sounds in the library. With the Sledge 2.0, Studiologic has opted to allocate more memory to each individual sound for an audible difference in quality.

Tips or comments about this product

Please note: Spectre software can be downloaded here.