At the 2015 NAMM Show, Studiologic introduced Sledge 2.0 – an updated version of its vintage-inspired digital keyboard that offers a lot more synth for less money.

With Sledge 2.0, Studiologic and Waldorf Labs (working as a team) have made it more flexible as a pure synthesizer, added Dual mode for Split/Layer functions, introduced support for user samples, expanded the instrument’s polyphony from 8 notes to 24 and improved its effects engine.

Meanwhile, they’ve dropped the street price by about $600. Here are the details:

Sledge 2.0 Key Features:

Auto Dual mode: Sledge 2.0 can now play two sounds at the same time, in Split or Layer mode; the feature is controlled by a new page of the Global function and allows to simply keep one note (for Split) or more notes (for Layer) and then select a new sound, that will be added to the previous sound; as any other sound, also Dual Sound combinations can be permanently stored in any of the 1.000 available presets;

Sledge 2.0 can now play two sounds at the same time, in Split or Layer mode; the feature is controlled by a new page of the Global function and allows to simply keep one note (for Split) or more notes (for Layer) and then select a new sound, that will be added to the previous sound; as any other sound, also Dual Sound combinations can be permanently stored in any of the 1.000 available presets; Sample Player: sound samples and new waves can be loaded in the internal 60 megabyte of Flash memory, played by OSC 1 and modifiable by all parameters of the control panel, adding other oscillators, setting filters, envelopes and effects. This feature can constantly expands the instrument’s sounds and create a totally new combination of synthesis and sampling.

sound samples and new waves can be loaded in the internal 60 megabyte of Flash memory, played by OSC 1 and modifiable by all parameters of the control panel, adding other oscillators, setting filters, envelopes and effects. This feature can constantly expands the instrument’s sounds and create a totally new combination of synthesis and sampling. Pitch & Hold controls: a new Global page allows to enable the Pitch and the Hold separately for the Lower and Upper sounds in Dual Mode, allowing to use the Pitch bend on the Upper sound (i.e. for solo parts) and the Hold pedal to control only the Lower (to keep playing a Drums groove or as a Damper for a Piano sound) and vice versa, or to enable Pitch Bend and Hold on both Upper and Lower sounds;

a new Global page allows to enable the Pitch and the Hold separately for the Lower and Upper sounds in Dual Mode, allowing to use the Pitch bend on the Upper sound (i.e. for solo parts) and the Hold pedal to control only the Lower (to keep playing a Drums groove or as a Damper for a Piano sound) and vice versa, or to enable Pitch Bend and Hold on both Upper and Lower sounds; Reverb+Delay: a new function allows to mix both effects; the Reverb keeps the setting previously selected, while the real time controls (time and level) allows to set the parameters of Delay also when mixed.

a new function allows to mix both effects; the Reverb keeps the setting previously selected, while the real time controls (time and level) allows to set the parameters of Delay also when mixed. Enhanced Polyphony : the total maximum number or notes that can be played at the same time have been expanded to 24, allowing to get a better real time control over the new sound possibilities obtainable from synthesis and sampling together.

: the total maximum number or notes that can be played at the same time have been expanded to 24, allowing to get a better real time control over the new sound possibilities obtainable from synthesis and sampling together. Sledge Spectre: samples can be edited (keyboard range, tuning and other parameters) and transmitted to Sledge 2.0 by the USB port, with a sample editor that allows to first load and play the samples on your Computer and then download them into the instrument’s memory.

Specifications:

Keyboard 61 keys + Aftertouch

2 Pots – 3 “chicken head” rotary switches (7 positions) – 1 rotary encoder + push function

2 x 16 digits backlit LCD

High Quality Pitch and Mod Wheels

Up to 999 programmable Sounds

Fast and efficient sound selection via numeric keypad

Modulation

2 fast LFOs per voice with adjustable Speed and Depth

1 extra modulation routing for Mod Wheel, with adjustable Speed and Depth

– LFO Shape: Sawtooth, Rectangular, Triangle, Sine, Sample & Hold, Ramp

– Destination: Osc 1, Osc2, Ocs3, PWM / Wave / FM, Volume, Filter Cutoff

Sound Generation

24 Voices polyphony – Monophonic mode with single or multiple trigger

3 Oscillators per voice OSC1/OSC2/OSC3

– Range from 64′ to 1′ with Semitone ant Detune controls

– Shapes: Sawtooth, Square, Triangle, Sine, Pulse (with Pulse Width Modulation)

– OSC 1 with 66 Original PPG Wavetables + Sample Player (60MB internal memory)

FM – Frequency Modulation of Sine and Triangle – Oscillator Hard sync (OSC 2 to OSC 3)

Noise Generator – White and Pink noise

Mixer with Volume and On/Off switch for each Oscillator and Noise

AUTO DUAL MODE : Split or Layer mode – prog. split point for each Program

Filter & Amplifier

1 Multi Mode Filter per voice – 24 / 12dB – Lowpass – Highpass – Bandpass

– Resonance up to Self-Oscillation and beyond – Adjustable Key track and Drive

2 fast Envelopes per voice (Filter-Amplifier) with Amount and Velocity control (Filter+Ampli)

Arpeggiator

Powerful Arpeggiator – Latch mode – syncable to MIDI Clock

– Direction Up, Down, Alternate – Range up to 10 Octaves

Effects

2 simultaneous Effects

– Effect 1: Chorus / Phaser / Flanger

– Effect 2: Reverb / Delay / Reverb+Delay

Controls & Connections

Master Volume Control

Power Switch

Stereo line output

Headphone output

Expression pedal input

MIDI IN / OUT

USB connector for MIDI IN/ OUT, Firmware Update, Samples Loading (with Spectre)

– uses standard USB MIDI driver provided by host computer OS

– Windows ME minimum, Windows XP or newer recommended

– Mac OS X 10.2 minimum, Mac OS X 10.3 or newer recommended

Built in power supply

Size & Weight

97 cm x 40,5 cm x 11 cm

38,19″ x 15,94″ x 4,33″

8,3 Kg | 18,3 lbs

Additional Package Content

Power Cord

CD Manual

The Studiologic Sledge synthesizer has a street price of about $1,000.

If you’ve used the Studiologic Sledge, leave a comment and share your thoughts on it!

via Rainer