Prophet 12 vs Sledge 2.0.

LoboLives

Prophet 12 vs Sledge 2.0.
« on: June 09, 2017, 11:13:41 AM »
I'm really on the fence about getting a synth for my FM/VS/DX/Wavetable type tones. I like the Prophet 12 but the Sledge seems more versatile and it's also less expensive. Any benefits of one over the other?

Mr Kay

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Re: Prophet 12 vs Sledge 2.0.
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2017, 07:56:22 AM »
Actually, the Sledge is a very simplified and user friendly version of the Waldorf Blofeld, so a synth for beginners or for live pianists not specially into deep sound design.

The Prophet 12 now occupates the place of the market once held by the Waldorf Q, modulation monster!
« Last Edit: June 10, 2017, 08:13:33 AM by Mr Kay »

Re: Prophet 12 vs Sledge 2.0.
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2017, 09:48:37 AM »
The Prophet 12 now occupates the place of the market once held by the Waldorf Q, modulation monster!

I owned a bright yellow Q keyboard for a couple years back in the early 2000's.  Very powerful, lots of mod options, lots of modules, tons of knobs and buttons, but the little-tiny LCD display drove me crazy and I felt like I was flying blind!  I remember thinking, I wish someone would put a truly informative display on a super powerful synth like this...I woke up 15 years later and there was the P12  8)
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Re: Prophet 12 vs Sledge 2.0.
« Reply #3 on: June 11, 2017, 05:39:51 AM »
I'm really on the fence about getting a synth for my FM/VS/DX/Wavetable type tones. I like the Prophet 12 but the Sledge seems more versatile and it's also less expensive. Any benefits of one over the other?

I own both.
They are not really comparable tbh, but I'll do my best.
Firstly price...£899 Sledge, £2400 Prophet 12.
That's the biggest advantage of the Sledge over the Prophet 12.
I have to say I love my Sledge, best UI ever IMO and by far the quickest synth to program that I've ever owned.
Being able to switch oscillators on & off with a button press is great and the knobs are nice and big too.
24 note polyphonic and you can layer patches too which is great.
effects don't sound great, but theres phaser, flanger and chorus plus delay and reverb too - very handy.
Being able to use your own samples as waveforms on the Sledge is really cool, but the implementation of this feature is unbelievably slow and convoluted and like something you'd find on a synth in the early 90s.
There's also 'quirks' with how it treats looping points in the samples, so it's only of limited use unfortunately - the end result being you rarely use it. :(.
Sonically I think the Sledge sounds pretty good. It's a bit limited in its palate but believe it or not I find that a strength not a weakness.
It certainly doesn't have the richness and depth of Prophet 12, but then it doesn't have analogue filters either and costs nearly two thirds less. :)
It's not in the same league as the Prophet 12 from a flexibility point of view though.
Only two LFO's on the Sledge for a start with very limited routing options for each one compared to 4 LFOs on the Prophet 12 with just about everything routable to them.
There's 3 oscillators on Sledge. There's 4 on the Prophet 12, plus a sub oscillator.
No sub oscillator or auxiliary envelopes on the Sledge like there is on the Prophet and the Prophet 12 has separate outputs for the second layer too - the Sledge does not.
Also from a playing point of view the ribbon sliders on the Prophet 12 are brilliant.
I think the Sledge represents great value for money and if you purchase it you won't be disappointed, but if you want a synth that has more sonic depth and greater flexibility and becomes more rewarding to use the longer you own it, The Prophet 12 is definitely the one to get.
There's a big price difference between the two though, so only you can really decide if the Prophet 12 is worth the difference.
IMO it's worth every penny! :)

« Last Edit: June 11, 2017, 06:07:35 AM by jazzygb1 »

Re: Prophet 12 vs Sledge 2.0.
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2017, 06:18:50 AM »
I don't think you'll find an instrument for which both FM and wavetable synthesis are best-in-class implementations.

That said–the Waldorf Blofeld is substantially less expensive than the Sledge (especially in module form); it represents the full-featured version of the (micro-)Q / Blofeld engine used within the Sledge. If you want or need physical hardware, it's certainly an option at about US $399 or less used.

And if you're not iPad-averse, the Waldorf Nave (on which the recently-announced Quantum keyboard is based / similar to / etc.) is a superset of the Blofeld engine, and is even cheaper. I've owned quite a few Waldorf units; for me, this remains the best sounding of the all-digital implementations (notwithstanding the conversion from iPad digital audio to analogue*, or the 20 Electronics boutique treatment of the Sledge / Blofeld output stage).

Or you could run the VST / AU / AAX version of Nave.

For FM, the Korg Volca FM is hard to beat for the price, but has limited polyphony; if you're a purist, I've seen mark II DX7 units for low money (and the keybeds, of course, are excellent).

That said–the Prophet-12 can match a partial footprint of this, with analogue filters and a decent degree of polyphony; against the Q keyboard (which is the progenitor of the Blofeld engine, and which cost about the same on introduction), it holds its own.

* - A decent iPad dock does the trick; I've been able to run the Nave on an iPad 2 with an Behringer iPad dock for low $$$.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2017, 06:32:32 AM by DavidDever »
Sequential / DSI stuff: Prophet-6 Keyboard with Yorick Tech LFE, Prophet 12 Keyboard, Mono Evolver Keyboard, Split-Eight, Six-Trak, Prophet 2000

LoboLives

Re: Prophet 12 vs Sledge 2.0.
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2017, 08:31:51 AM »
I don't think you'll find an instrument for which both FM and wavetable synthesis are best-in-class implementations.

That said–the Waldorf Blofeld is substantially less expensive than the Sledge (especially in module form); it represents the full-featured version of the (micro-)Q / Blofeld engine used within the Sledge. If you want or need physical hardware, it's certainly an option at about US $399 or less used.

And if you're not iPad-averse, the Waldorf Nave (on which the recently-announced Quantum keyboard is based / similar to / etc.) is a superset of the Blofeld engine, and is even cheaper. I've owned quite a few Waldorf units; for me, this remains the best sounding of the all-digital implementations (notwithstanding the conversion from iPad digital audio to analogue*, or the 20 Electronics boutique treatment of the Sledge / Blofeld output stage).

Or you could run the VST / AU / AAX version of Nave.

For FM, the Korg Volca FM is hard to beat for the price, but has limited polyphony; if you're a purist, I've seen mark II DX7 units for low money (and the keybeds, of course, are excellent).

That said–the Prophet-12 can match a partial footprint of this, with analogue filters and a decent degree of polyphony; against the Q keyboard (which is the progenitor of the Blofeld engine, and which cost about the same on introduction), it holds its own.

* - A decent iPad dock does the trick; I've been able to run the Nave on an iPad 2 with an Behringer iPad dock for low $$$.

Would the Yamaha Montage also fall into the FM category as an option?

Mr Kay

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  • 106
    • The Disease
Re: Prophet 12 vs Sledge 2.0.
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2017, 09:36:51 AM »
I've a Blofeld Desktop and a Volca FM, cool little machines, cheap and easy to slide in my bag when I wanna use synths out of my home studio.

The Blofled is by far more powerful than the Sledge, but more tricky to use and even if it's only 3 voices, the Volca FM has a full DX7 engine.  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EVUu9FyQyc
« Last Edit: June 11, 2017, 09:38:38 AM by Mr Kay »