I haven't used the Sigma Select II 1200, but based upon your description, I know of a couple of alternatives that might be worth a try...
If you want to try a softer stone that has a 'cushier' feel, but still cuts PM steels well, I would recommend checking out the Gesshin 1200 Splash & Go or the Ohishi 1000 if you can get your hands on one. These are my favorite feeling mid-grit stones on 62hrc+ steels; they have a very smooth, creamy, cushioned feeling, and can build up some mud. They are a real pleasure to sharpen on kind of in the same way that a softer Coticule with a thick slurry is a pleasure to sharpen on. They are both pretty soft (Gouging is easy if your angle control is off; they're a bit softer than any of my Coti's, almost like a JNS synthetic Red Aoto. You also need to use a very light touch when sharpening.), and wear pretty quickly (I wish either would come in a big brick size.), so you will be flattening more often. At the same time, though, they are very fast/painless to lap. Neither I care for as much on softer <60hrc steels, as you can get a little bit of slurry dulling/excessive convexity, but on the harder steels you can still get a clean edge that can shave arm-hair.
Both are Splash & Go stones, but it's best if you permasoak them, as they hold their water better and load less this way. The mud on the Gesshin has kind of a kaolin clay-slip feeling.
Another stone you might like is the Naniwa Chosera/Pro 800... It's much faster, and harder than the Gesshin or Ohishi, but can still build up a light slurry mud (Especially if soaked for 5-min.). Naniwa's magnesia stones have a kind of velvety feel to them that is very enjoyable, and belies their hardness/dish resistance, but still aren't as 'cushy' as the Gesshin or Ohishi. I think they're also much more readily available to you. All vary a little bit in hardness; some are softer, others harder. The 800 is a little softer and muddier than the 1K, and the 600 softer still, which can almost be treated as a really fast 1K in most situations. Typically I can jump straight from the 600 to a 6K synth, although it's a bit of a struggle for my Coti's. The 800 is typically my precursor to a dilucot on my Belgian stones, and the type of edge it leaves is very uniform without excessive convexity, which transitions excellently to my harder Coti's. It also plays well with most steels irregardless of hardness or makeup. If I could only have one medium synth, this would probably be it out of all the ones I've tried, although I would miss some of my others from time to time (The feel of the Gesshin 1200, the speed of the JNS 800, the precise bevels I get on the G2K and Shapton GS 1K, the way my Shapton Pro 1K erases diamond scratches and perfects knives I'm thinning, the glassy smoothness and consistency of the Shapton 2K's on razors, etc.).
The Naniwa's magnesia stones work best either splash & go, or with just a few minutes soak, and you need to be a bit careful with drying them evenly as they can crack. I just set mine on their side so that air can circulate around them, and flip them over so that the other edge can dry. Haven't had a problem so far.
One final stone you might want to look at which I was recommended as being inline with the Naniwa, is the Suehiro Cerax 1K. I don't own this one yet, but based upon everything I've heard/seen it's another one worth a look if you're searching for a more tactile stone than your Sigma...
Hopefully this helps...
- Steampunk
I missed that one. The price is also very good. Are the Ohishi stones soft like the King 1200?
