From Our Research Team:

A New Standard for Weighted, Hammer Action Keyboards

Lots of manufacturers have tried to build the "ultimate" master keyboard over the last few decades. Now a new company you may just be hearing a lot from, CME, has entered the market with a series of MIDI keyboard controllers that boast some impressive features, like a heavy duty Duraluminum body, velocity and aftertouch sensitive keys, Pitch Bend and Mod wheels, eight assignable knobs, nine assignable faders, built-in breath controller and volume pedal input and even onboard transport controls for your hardware or software recorder! The 88-note UF8 comes with a beautifully weighted, hammer action keyboard that really feels like you're playing an actual grand piano.

CME UF8 at a Glance:

• 88-note MIDI master keyboard with velocity and aftertouch sensitivity, Duraluminum construction
  
• World's first MIDI master keyboard with pro synth concept controls
  
• World's first optional FireWire expansion board

88 Fully Weighted, Hammer Action Keys and Duraluminum Body
Typically, most manufacturers look at alternate materials to keep the cost of their keyboards down, often at the expense of durability. CME found a way to produce the UF8 with a Duraluminum body and frame, so it can easily take the punishment of frequent road trips and long concert tours. But the UF8 also looks elegant enough for today's high end studios. For most players, however, it's the 88-note, fully weighted hammer action that will be the most appealing feature. As you'd expect, the keyboard has both velocity and aftertouch sensitivity, making it perfect on stage or in the studio.

Pro Synth Concept Controls for Extreme Versatility
The UF8 provides eight assignable knobs and nine sliders, pitchbend wheel and modulation whee, as well as inputs for both breath controller and volume pedal. All of which adds up to all the realtime MIDI controllers you need for the perfect performance. The UF8 also has a full complement of chunky transport controls for use with either hardware or software recording systems. There's also a Drawbar Organ Button, allowing instant fader control of tonewheel simulations using programs like Native Instruments' B4. Other controls include transpose, octave shift and key split.

Optional FireWire Connectivity
By adding the optional UF400e FireWire board, you get built-in analog inputs and outputs, a pro quality mic preamp, S/PDIF digital ins and outs, two headphone outputs with master volume plus MIDI in, out and thru ports. It's essentially an onboard 24-bit / 192kHz audio interface that works via standard IEEE1394 FireWire interface.

CME UF8 88-Key, Hammer Action Weighted Keyboard Features:

• Velocity Sensitive with four preset velocity curves
  
• Aftertouch Sensitive with dedicated on/off button
  
• Pitch Bend and Modulation Wheels
  
• 8 Assignable Knobs - preset functions for Filter Cutoff / Resonance / Attack / Release / Pan / Reverb / Chorus / Tempo
  
• 9 Assignable Faders - preset to control volume on MIDI channels 1-16 and master volume
  
• Drawbar Organ Button - instantly switches faders to correct MIDI controller numbers for controlling Native Instruments B4 and other "virtual tonewheel organs"
  
• Transpose Function - up/down one octave in semitones
  
• Octave Shift - up/down three octaves
  
• Keyboard Split
  
• Dual Function
  
• Chunky Transport Controls:
  
• Start, Stop, Record, Rewind, Fast Forward, Return to Zero
  
• Breath Controller Input - assignable
  
• Volume Pedal Input - assignable
  
• Sustain Pedal Input - auto-sensing polarity on power-up
  
• LED Data Display - 8 segment, 3 digit
  
• 1 MIDI Out Port
  
• 1 USB Port provides MIDI connection to and from a computer. Power can be supplied via USB
  
• Windows 2000/XP and Mac OS X compatible
  
• Optional UF400e FireWire Audio Expansion Board

Specification Detail Manufacturer Part Number UF8