KVR Audio

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 1:38 pm

Both look nice but seem to cover pretty much the same ground. They're in the same price range too. Sledge does have sample support though. (AND THE KNOBS....OOOOh, THE KNOBS!!)

Which one to choose then. And As a M-Audio Venom owner, will I gain anything by either of the above? I'm confused here

Some around here must own either the King or the Sledge.

fx1mark · Post by **fx1mark** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:25 pm

I have a sledge 2.0 and I used to have a venom. The venom was a good synth for what I paid for it. I like sledge because of the knobs. I find it a blast to program and the sound fits my needs perfectly. the king korg sounds like it is more powerfull but of course not as much fun to program and costs more. I bought a B stock sledge and upgraded it to 2.0 and still paid almost $400 less than the king korg.
All that being said, only you can decide what you want. everyone has different synth tastes and needs and you will have to make the decision on your own. if you can't lay your hands on both synths to try them yourself, do as much research as you can. read reviews and watch videos. Either way you will have a great synth, good luck.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:27 pm

Isn't the Sledge more of a rebadged Waldorf wavetable synth?

fx1mark · Post by **fx1mark** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:31 pm

the sledge is a blofeld but with less functions because it is a knob per function synth. It has the ppg wavetables and version 2.0 lets you also load samples as a wavesource on oscillator one.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:40 pm

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

fx1mark · Post by **fx1mark** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:37 pm

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

I didn't know that.

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 10:08 pm

So, it means they are different synthesis used because Waldorf blofeld (and others) is a wavetable synth while King Korg is a standard VA right? So is the Sledge wavetable based? what the differences from Blofeld (as I read the Sledge has the synthesis engine from Waldorf).

Here at the same dealer, the two (King Korg and Blofeld) has a discaounted price (the same price for now), but original prices are little bit higher for King Korg. I have no idea about the Sledge as I haven't read or seen any here in NZ!

fx1mark · Post by **fx1mark** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 11:09 pm

EnGee wrote:So, it means they are different synthesis used because Waldorf blofeld (and others) is a wavetable synth while King Korg is a standard VA right? So is the Sledge wavetable based? what the differences from Blofeld (as I read the Sledge has the synthesis engine from Waldorf).

Here at the same dealer, the two (King Korg and Blofeld) has a discaounted price (the same price for now), but original prices are little bit higher for King Korg. I have no idea about the Sledge as I haven't read or seen any here in NZ!

the sledge is virtual analog and has waves (and samples) available on oscillator one. Makes the synth more flexible. oscillator one has much more flexibility than a normal virtual oscillator.

http://www.keyboardmag.com/gear/1183/st ... ewed/29493

http://www.keyboardmag.com/gear/1183/ko ... ynth/29293

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:00 am

fx1mark wrote:
EnGee wrote:So, it means they are different synthesis used because Waldorf blofeld (and others) is a wavetable synth while King Korg is a standard VA right? So is the Sledge wavetable based? what the differences from Blofeld (as I read the Sledge has the synthesis engine from Waldorf).

Here at the same dealer, the two (King Korg and Blofeld) has a discaounted price (the same price for now), but original prices are little bit higher for King Korg. I have no idea about the Sledge as I haven't read or seen any here in NZ!
the sledge is virtual analog and has waves (and samples) available on oscillator one. Makes the synth more flexible. oscillator one has much more flexibility than a normal virtual oscillator.

http://www.keyboardmag.com/gear/1183/st ... ewed/29493

http://www.keyboardmag.com/gear/1183/ko ... ynth/29293

Thanks for the links. It was a good read

Personally, after reading the two articles, between the two I would choose The Sledge (although usually I choose Korg blindly!).
The Sledge has a better keys and easier/more fun workflow (excellent layout with plenty knobs). Korg maybe has better selections of filters and more modulations.
I like The sledge appearance more (Very nice Yellow and over all seems warmer, more unique). I like both sounds of Waldorf and Korg (VA), so It is difficult for me to choose just for the sound.

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 7:36 am

8 replies overnight! Thank you!

I've never had any Waldoft synths so the potential overlapping with those won't be a problem for me if I get a Sledge. I've heard/read some very bad things about the Korg keybed. A quality keybed is very important for me since I'm used to a 1st generation DX7 which arguable has the best synth keys ever created. SOme are concerned about the quality of the Sledge effects. Judging from the YouTube clips, they sound OK to me.
Unfortunately, trying either of the instruments out isn't an option as my local retailer (in fact, the only one in Copenhagen) isn't carrying any of the product. Have to rely on word of mouth and reviews

fx1mark wrote:the king korg sounds like it is more powerfull but of course not as much fun to program and costs more.

The Korg is currently around £140 cheaper than the Sledge on Thomann.
I'm still wondering if I should get rid of my Venom if I buy either of the these though. I like it but I don't use it that often. And I suppose the 2nd hand value is almost non existant

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:32 am

K-Bee wrote: The Korg is currently around £140 cheaper than the Sledge on Thomann.

What about Blofeld?! It seems cheaper than both!
http://www.thomann.de/de/search_dir.html?bf=&sw=blofeld

To be honest, I haven't played with one yet. I've just went and paid for one today and tomorrow or after that I will have a good play with it.

I asked the dealer of some problems with the Blofeld (encoder? ...etc) and he told me everything was fixed in the latest updates (also he said the knobs control is very smooth now, no stepping) I really don't know but he has 5 synths from Waldorf (so he is a fan I can say!

).

So what about Blofeld vs Sledge?
Do they both have the same Fatar keys?
I think Blofeld synthesis > than Sledge's, right? (more features and also more polyphony sorry not more polyphony!)

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:52 am

EnGee wrote:What about Blofeld?! It seems cheaper than both!

Mainly because the hands on control on the Sledge really appeals to me.The Korg has a fair bit of those too. Blofeld doesn't seem to have that, and then I really do not like the modwheel and pitchbender being located above the keyboard. A lot of manufactures are doing it these days these days and it's very annoying when playing an instrument.
That said, I'm having a hard time figuring out how many factory patches are in the Sledge. It says 999 sounds but I believe a lot of them are inits for personal use. It doesn't matter much since I wanna make my own, but it would just be nice to know

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:59 am

Try and find the review of the Sledge on Youtube by Nick Batt (Sonic State). I recall there being one or two major ommissions such as the inability to assign cutoff to velocity.

To my ears the King Korg sounds fantastic, which would be my primary focus when choosing.

Unless you have to buy new, I'd also look at a used Nord Lead, which is about as hands on as you can get and isn't massive and yellow

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:08 am

I saw the Sonic State review already (great review they do btw) and noticed the cutoff assign issue. It's not really something I've used much in the past though.
The Korg sounds fantastic, I'll give you that. Still it does lack the sample support that gives Sledge the edge. I haven't found much on the net about it though.
Oh dear, this ain't easy!

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:14 am

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.

KingKorg vs. Studiologic Sledge 2.0