# Studiologic SL88 Grand | Unboxing My New Adventure



## Simeon (Jul 7, 2020)

I have used a Studiolgic SL-880 for the past fifteen years and it had started to show some issues with the logic board. I am excited to embark on a new adventure with the Studiologic SL88 Grand and will be highlighting it along with my upcoming reviews. Join me for the initial unboxing and first impressions.


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## Gil (Jul 8, 2020)

Hello Simeon,
Thanks for your reviews!
Very helpful and as funny it is, after watching your review of the VSL Bösendorfer Imperial I've bought it, and coincidentally my SL 88 Grand is arriving in 2 days 
Take care and best regards!
Gil.


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## Simeon (Jul 8, 2020)

Gil said:


> Hello Simeon,
> Thanks for your reviews!
> Very helpful and as funny it is, after watching your review of the VSL Bösendorfer Imperial I've bought it, and coincidentally my SL 88 Grand is arriving in 2 days
> Take care and best regards!
> Gil.



Yes, it is funny how things sort of coincide with one another.
You are going to love the SL88 Grand; I have only been using it for a couple of days and it is as graceful as it is powerful, there is definitely more to come on that subject. I did my first live stream with it today featuring the Preparato library from @fcangia 's Xperimenta project, it was a lot of fun.


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## PaulieDC (Jul 24, 2020)

Simeon said:


> You are going to love the SL88 Grand; I have only been using it for a couple of days and it is as graceful as it is powerful, there is definitely more to come on that subject.


Thanks for the feedback today in the live chat on the SL88... I'm 1.27315" away from pulling the trigger. Actually I just need a store to have one in STOCK, lol!


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## Simeon (Jul 25, 2020)

PaulieDC said:


> Thanks for the feedback today in the live chat on the SL88... I'm 1.27315" away from pulling the trigger. Actually I just need a store to have one in STOCK, lol!



Yes,
There is a huge backlog of shipments due to the Covid-19 situation and the SL88s are manufactured in Fatar's factory in Italy which has made things a little delayed.
I am getting the 3 pedal controller Monday which I am very excited about trying out.

I am also learning the potential of having all of the different presets to customize key ranges and controller assignments, it makes things very exciting to unlock new potential.

Please let me know if you have any specific questions about the SL88 Grand.
I am planning on doing a possible Live YouTube stream to answer questions and to introduce some of my piano libraries to the new controller and pedals!

Best!


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## PaulieDC (Jul 26, 2020)

Simeon said:


> Please let me know if you have any specific questions about the SL88 Grand.
> I am planning on doing a possible Live YouTube stream to answer questions and to introduce some of my piano libraries to the new controller and pedals!
> 
> Best!


Thank you! That would be a great live cast. We all want to know how it feels for a pianist on piano vs playing in legato strings and brass, and the even bigger question is velocity... does it feel “right” and/or can it be easily tweaked. And if I may push it, answering those questions for VSL CFX, Steinway, plus Garritan and R275 would be off the chart. We simply can’t get that detailed comparison anywhere on the web and forget going to the store, nobody has these in stock as you know. You did an AWESOME VSL comparison a few weeks ago (which ”forced” me to buy the VSL CFX, lol!) but that was with your 880. The SL88 Grand will probably feel different and it’s all about velocity. I’m subscribed, ready when you are brother!


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## PaulieDC (Oct 5, 2020)

Well, it finally arrived last week as you know and I got my answer: not only is it easy to play smooth legato on brass and strings, but my samples all sound better especially now that I tweaked velocity octave by octave to fit my bangin... er... playing. 

The improved sound, before anyone balks, has everything to do with the velocity curve of the controller I've come to learn, and not just the adjustments you can make in the software utility, library or your DAW... the actual mechanics I now realize make all the difference. The SL88 absolutely excels in that area, probably due to the 3-contact design, and some thought into designing the TP/40 WOOD keybed which is arguably one of Fatar's premium. When they don't fail of course, lol. Nonetheless, the difference between the way this Grand triggers notes/samples vs the way my cheap plastic M-Audio CODE61 did is about 3 orders of magnitude better.

Anyway Simeon, can't wait for you to get your permanent one! 👍


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## MusicStudent (Oct 12, 2020)

What, Simeon, you never told us you use the NanoKontrol2! Or did I miss that? If I had known I would have invested long ago. As it is, I picked up one a week ago after much soul searching. Pretty happy with it so far.


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## Simeon (Oct 12, 2020)

MusicStudent said:


> What, Simeon, you never told us you use the NanoKontrol2! Or did I miss that? If I had known I would have invested long ago. As it is, I picked up one a week ago after much soul searching. Pretty happy with it so far.



It is actually the first-gen nanoKONTROL. I have found it to be very useful on so many levels. The other swiss army knife app as I like to call it is Bome MIDI Translator; it is an amazing tool to configure multiple MIDI devices. For instance, I have the nanoKONTROL, nanoPAD, nanoKEY, SL88 GRAND, SL880 all configured to act as one mega MIDI controller. I can also reassign controllers and remap CC events, and so much more.

After I am able to fund the purchase of the SL88 Grand (on loan until the end of November), I am hoping to possibly try out the Studiologic Mixface, as it looks like a very nice controller as well as being more integrated into the SL88. We shall see.....


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## Windbag (Oct 23, 2020)

Couple years in on an SL88 Grand here and I continue to be very happy with it; I was a little skeptical about the "wood" action because of it really just being intermediary blocks between an otherwise normal (plastic) TP40 action and the textured keytops, but the action does seem to benefit from the extra mass, and it's admittedly nice to see wood peaking out beside depressed keys.

That texture is unexpectedly one of my favorite parts - rather than a molded-in pattern, the surface seems inherent to whatever blend of materials make up the keycaps, and show patterns that look to be the result of it flowing into the mold (making each key unique). It feels _much_ better than glossy plastic, hasn't worn smooth or yellowed, and isn't too difficult to clean.

The control sticks were a great idea with unfortunately flawed execution; I liked the idea much better than the usual pitch/mod wheels, and the 6 available axes do offer a lot of realtime control. However, the 3 that are spring-loaded have both very authoritative center bias (it's impossible to get across the center in a smooth motion) AND surprisingly pronounced deadband, so that even if you do manage a smooth physical sweep, the encoded values would level off in the middle. They are, therefore, utterly useless for manual vibrato and anything else you'd need a smoothly centering control for

The triple pedal is well worth the price; it's solid, has an easy to modulate and surprisingly useful continuous damper while still leaving you 3 more foot control jacks.

My one functional issue wound up being the result of inadequate bus power from a USB hub, so if you forgo the wall wart power brick, make sure your USB power is robust.

In the end, it is one of the most expressive and predicable boards I've ever had my fingers on; while it may not be as much a dead-ringer for an acoustic grand as something like an all-wood VPC1, the aftertouch and granular response curve control and key balance facility make it ideally suited for composers looking to control a variety of virtual instruments. If mine broke, I'd almost certainly buy the same thing to replace it.


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## Simeon (Oct 23, 2020)

Windbag said:


> Couple years in on an SL88 Grand here and I continue to be very happy with it; I was a little skeptical about the "wood" action because of it really just being intermediary blocks between an otherwise normal (plastic) TP40 action and the textured keytops, but the action does seem to benefit from the extra mass, and it's admittedly nice to see wood peaking out beside depressed keys.
> 
> That texture is unexpectedly one of my favorite parts - rather than a molded-in pattern, the surface seems inherent to whatever blend of materials make up the keycaps, and show patterns that look to be the result of it flowing into the mold (making each key unique). It feels _much_ better than glossy plastic, hasn't worn smooth or yellowed, and isn't too difficult to clean.
> 
> ...



Great feedback! I could not have said it better myself, but rest assured I will try very soon on an upcoming livestream 🤓


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## MusicStudent (Oct 23, 2020)

Doing some research on the SL88 Grand and see there is a bit of a negative history with what is called "Quality Issues" in the build of these. PaulieDC also mentioned above " When they don't fail of course, lo " . Also, when there is a problem the factory support has been criticized. Care to comment anyone?


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## Simeon (Oct 23, 2020)

MusicStudent said:


> Doing some research on the SL88 Grand and see there is a bit of a negative history with what is called "Quality Issues" in the build of these. PaulieDC also mentioned above " When they don't fail of course, lo " . Also, when there is a problem the factory support has been criticized. Care to comment anyone?



I had a friend have one of the contacts go out and they were replaced.I have not run into anything serious yet (types as he holds breath and bows in prayer 🙏🏻). With the COVID situation it did take some time to get the replacement contacts but things went fairly smoothly.
My SL-880 being over 15 years old however just now is showing some issues with mainboard components but the keyboard somehow is still holding up. Could be the SL88 uses a three sensor system and more parts, more chances of failure.


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## Windbag (Oct 24, 2020)

I too had seen a fair bit of griping about studiologic boards while researching, but there wasn't a lot of information specific to the SL88 Grand; it didn't seem many people actually had them. Much of the QC complaints seemed to have revolved around the previous Numa series. 

What I can tell you for certain is that this is my 3rd Studiologic board (the SL88 replaced an Acuna 88, and I have another SL990 sitting neglected at a friend's studio) and none of them has been the source of any major problem. A 4th (Nord) Fatar keybed I owned did have one slightly "hot" B flat key that was subtle enough it took me a while to even notice it...the SL editor desktop software has a per-key balance adjustment to handle precisely that issue. 

I did have, as mentioned above, a temporary issue that turned out to be insufficient USB bus power from a hub, which persisted long enough for me to email Studiologic support. They responded within the day, and it's worth noting that it actually still functioned (sans screen) even underpowered.

My SL88 has no QC issues that I can find; I haven't had to touch the key balance, there are no fit issues, lateral movement, or counterweight clunking. In fact the keys thump (when bottoming out against the felt) quite a bit less than those on the Acuna had without feeling spongy like the Roland A-88 I played...a welcome change when using monitors.


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## quietmind (Jun 26, 2021)

Here's a fun mod for the joysticks of the SL88 Grand. It gives me a much better control ability. This is very cheap and easy to do as long as you have a drill. You can get the knobs on eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/274744401939) and they almost fit. You just have to drill them out ever so slightly.


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