KingKorg vs. Studiologic Sledge 2.0

[zaphod betamax]

The PPG filter, comb, and notch sound and act totally different on the Sledge than the Blofeld.
I called them up realtime on a Blofeld keyboard midi out to midi in on the Sledge. For example, when you
dial up the PPG filter on the Blofeld keyboard, so goes the Sledge.

In layer mode, you do have two filters in parallel, for example, set up a BP at 11 +36 sweep up on LAYER01, BP 117 -24 sweep down on layer 2.

The FM on the Sledge has huge advantages over the Blofeld. On the Blofeld , if you use Osc1 to FM Osc2, Osc1 must be on, else no FM. No such limitation on the Sledge.

You can make some wacked up sounds on a Sledge by layering (buggy for a Sledge) a Wavetable with a comb. You can create hell on earth. My Sledge has been in storage since Sept 2016, maybe time to pull it out of retirement!

[Eurosynth]

When the Studiologic Sledge was initially released its direct competitor was the KingKORG. I had the opportunity to try them both out and was tempted to buy the Sledge as its design and the build quality of the knobs and keys were much better (although I wasn’t a fan of its lurid yellow colour). But the KingKORG sounded so good that I went with that. I still miss the playability of the Sledge. But ultimately the sound is the factor above all others that is important to me. So I have to put up with the KingKORG’s sh*tty keys and non traditional arrangement of controls to get those sweet virtual analogue sounds.

[Eurosynth]

However, Sledge doesn't sound like Blofeld, it sounds different, despite largely similar feature set.

The Blofeld sounds better IMO.

[Eurosynth]

Comment deleted.

[chk071]

Just 2 more to go!

[Eurosynth]

It is damn confusing! Even much more than soft synths

Well, still for me I would choose the Blofeld. I have read the manual and it seems very easy to control with the very smart interface and the wonderful screen feedback. It is my choice because I wanted a monster wavetable synth with few controllers but with good build quality.

The Sledge (according to sonicstate reviewer, which is a difficult guy to be pleased!), the modulation of the velocity as a source is the same for the filter and Amp, so he criticized this and other limitations. I would be careful if I choose the Sledge! Because it doesn't seem to do classic VA sounds easily like Korg. So, if I want more classic filters and sound, or more classic VA, I would go with Korg over the others.

I agree.

[chk071]

1 more!

[Eurosynth]

I don't even know what I want anymore. Maybe I should break the bank and buy all three of them!

IMO give it some time till you be sure of what you want. The three synths are all great choices but which one to choose?!

I have been thinking for some time between 5 or 6 options and in the end decided it is Blofeld what I want (I have also Casio PX-5S which has also a VA synth) so I needed a better synth in sound design cover a lot.

IMO, if you need controls, choose Sledge, if you need sound design, choose Blofeld and if you need a standard VA, choose Korg

I have both the KingKORG and the Blofeld Keyboard. And they are both cheap and affordable now. So I have the best of both worlds: a brilliant sounding VA synth in the KingKORG and a hugely capable wavetable synth with an excellent Fatar keyboard with AT in the Blofeld.

[chk071]

[Eurosynth]

The KingKORG doesn't cover the same ground as a Sledge. The Sledge is a wavetable synth, the KingKORG has no wavetable capabilities. It has the DWGS waves and some PCM samples on board, as well as some cool osc features, but nothing similar to wavetables. I think of the KingKORG like a modern souped up DW-8000 (digital oscs and analog filters) and the Sledge is more like a modern Waldorf style synth. Both have their pros and cons.

I'm a big KingKORG evangelist. I love the sound of it. All my complaints are about it's interface, but I've solved it by adding my iPad to my set up. By running the Patch Morpher app, the crappy menu diving on the KingKORG is gone... and I also have amazing patch morphing capabilities!

Totally agree with your statements about the KingKORG. Despite its crappy keys (although the keys are somewhat better in the more recent black model which I have, but still nowhere near as good as those of my Blofeld Keyboard) and flimsy feeling knobs, I love my KingKORG and use it every day as my goto synth. It just sounds so good! I also use the amazing Patch Morpher.

[Eurosynth]

I remember i had a problem with the output of the Blofeld being much too quiet when i had it. Don't know if they fixed that with newer firmware versions.

I noticed it has a low volume but I used my integrated sound. Today I have received the PreSonus iTwo interface, I will test it with this one and see. I will also test my Casio PX and see if there is a difference in the volume, although to be honest I don't care that much, because I just can make some routing and buses inside Studio One and I'm done

Judging from that video, it has that Korg typical "dryness" to its sound (which i already noticed with the KLC, and also on some of theiur analog synths), not exactly what i'd call "creamy" or "warm". But then, just my opinion, maybe you like it more. Filters don't sound bad, but i heard better on soft synths.

Disclaimer: Just not a fan of Korg synths in general, so take this with a pinch of salt.

Well, for me it sounds really warm like a hot model from South America But maybe because I love the Korg sound since I was teenager!

The video exactly showed how capable this synth is (just bear in mind that there is no after touch). I believe that the Blofeld + King Korg = Super Komplete Synth! If I were K-Bee and have the Kurzweil + DX7, I would buy King Korg and then later buy Blofeld desktop (not the keyboard edition) and plug the DX7 into it by Midi (it has Midi, right?). What can I need more? I really can't think of anything else, oh and maybe I would sell the Kurzweil to cover all that

I mean it needs some planning really for future expansions. The good (or maybe bad) thing with the hardware, it takes time to setup and money of course not only to buy the synth, but things like cables ...etc. It also needs a space and in the end they might be less capable than the software! However, one very important point is that with the hardware (at least for me) I feel much more productive. All these limitations and immediate control without looking at the cpu usage ..etc, makes me concentrating on making music by thinking only of that! Anyway, I will use the different soft synths I have to fill what I miss

I have both the Blofeld Keyboard and the KingKORG, and they are indeed “Super Komplete Synth”! An excellent and incredibly capable wavetable synth with a superb keyboard with aftertouch, and a brilliant sounding VA synth with fantastic filters. A perfect combination!

[EnGee]

Oh man! This was years ago! Things have changed for me (sorry!).

I use several wavetable synths now (Pigments, Halion and modwave mostly), but no Waldorf synths. I mostly use Arturia synths for a VA sounds, but also from several other developers.

I sold blofeld years ago and to be honest I don't miss it now. I'm about 99% software now. My MODX and DeepMind synths are gathering dust and I'm thinking of selling them, but not in hurry. (I use Halion7 instead of MODX and Arturia Jup 8 instead of DeepMind).
Nothing is wrong with hardware synths, but I just feel the software is more convenient with no difference in sound or even if there is a difference, it is not noticeable by me!

[NatLife]

Oh man! This was years ago! Things have changed for me (sorry!).

I use several wavetable synths now (Pigments, Halion and modwave mostly), but no Waldorf synths. I mostly use Arturia synths for a VA sounds, but also from several other developers.

I sold blofeld years ago and to be honest I don't miss it now. I'm about 99% software now. My MODX and DeepMind synths are gathering dust and I'm thinking of selling them, but not in hurry. (I use Halion7 instead of MODX and Arturia Jup 8 instead of DeepMind).
Nothing is wrong with hardware synths, but I just feel the software is more convenient with no difference in sound or even if there is a difference, it is not noticeable by me!

As a long user of software synths - difference is pretty enough for me. Plus hardware synth have a converters that can do a sound much better, plus tactile, plus Analog synths it's just another legue, try it if you never used. I produced music and sound design from 2000 year, Soft synths is great of course, but it have a different sound from hardware synths. Of course depends what hardware and software.

[zerocrossing]

Oh man! This was years ago! Things have changed for me (sorry!).

I use several wavetable synths now (Pigments, Halion and modwave mostly), but no Waldorf synths. I mostly use Arturia synths for a VA sounds, but also from several other developers.

I sold blofeld years ago and to be honest I don't miss it now. I'm about 99% software now. My MODX and DeepMind synths are gathering dust and I'm thinking of selling them, but not in hurry. (I use Halion7 instead of MODX and Arturia Jup 8 instead of DeepMind).
Nothing is wrong with hardware synths, but I just feel the software is more convenient with no difference in sound or even if there is a difference, it is not noticeable by me!

I’ve been having excellent results using old PPG/Waldorf wavetables in various software synths. I fell in love the the sound of the Nina, and I needed the space and funds for it, so I took my M and started copying my custom patches and favorite factory patches using Dune 3, and I got amazing results, often better than the M. I had to use the random function to modulate a lot of the filter parameters to mimic the loose nature of each voice card’s calibration, but it worked like a charm. You’d be shocked at how much of analog character comes from each voice card being off, though obviously the digital oscillators are rock steady, unless you modulate them. Dune’s filters do pretty good impressions of various analog filters, plus there are cool digital models with things like ultra steep curves. The M is gone and now the Nina is in my clutches.

Almost all my VA and digital wavetable is done in plugins, and in general I think my results are easily as good, or better. I do have a Hydrasynth Deluxe that I bought mainly as a controller, but I actually am getting some pretty cool retro VA sounds out of it. My work has changed a lot and sort of forced me away from hardware instruments and more towards software, and the experience has sort of cemented my feelings about plugins. They’re awesome. I keep a few hardware analogs and hybrids around that have special characters or features, but really a lot of what I do is easier and better done with software.

[EnGee]

Nina looks and sounds nice, but it is expensive (but worth it if you take the features and quality). It is great for live performances though, as I saw in the Video by Matt Johnson.

I don't know! When I was young, I've always dreamt of synths surrounding me (like Vangelis) and was sure to make my dream true one day. Things have changed and my dreams also have changed!
I don't think I'm the only one, but for me now the only hardware that I might purchase in the future is an electric guitar (even that is not sure). The last month, I've only used Software synths. I've tried to convince myself to buy an analog synth, but although I have the money, I have zero desire to have any hardware now! So, I think I won't bore the hardware users here anymore!