NAMM 2005: CME showcased their debut product, the UF master keyboard series, at this year’s Winter NAMM show. Ranging from 49 to 88 keys in size, the UF series is expected to carry a street price starting at $199.

The keyboards include a USB port and one MIDI OUT, but with the optional FireWire card, you of course get a FireWire port, but you also get balanced analog I/O, digital I/O, MIDI IN/OUT/THRU, dual headphone outputs, and a microphone input. The Firewire expansion board also turns the keyboard into an audio interface. The keyboards all provide semi-weighted action, except for the UF8 which uses fully weighted keys.

The UF keyboard provides 8 knobs, 9 sliders, pitch-bend and modulation wheels for real-time control. There are also control buttons such as REC, PLAY, and REW, to remotely control the sequencer software.

Other standard features for the UF series include after-touch and a breath control interface.

SSP (Suggested Street Price):

• UF5: US$199.00
• UF6: US$299.00
• UF7: US$399.00
• UF8: US$499.00

UF Specifications

• 49/61/76 keys semi-weighted action keyboard with after-touch (UF5/6/7)
• 88 keys hammer action weighted keyboard with after-touch (UF8)
• Pitch bend and modulation wheels
• 8 assignable control knobs, preset functions including Cutoff/Resonance/Attack/Release/PAN/Reverb/Chorus/Tempo
• 9 assignable control faders, preset functions including volume for 1-16 channels and master volume, and drawbar for organ sounds.
• LED data display, control button including program, transpose, octave, channel, keyboard split and 6 sequencer remote buttons, including REC, PLAY, STOP, FAST FORWARD, REWIND AND RETURN TO START, etc.
• Breath control jack, 1 MIDI out port, Sustain pedal and volume pedal jack
• USB MIDI port, Power can be supplied via USB
• Win2000/XP and Mac OS X compatible
• Supports optional FireWire expansion board

FireWire Audio Expansion Board Specifications

• 2 24bit/192kHz balanced line inputs
• 2 24bit/192kHz balanced line outputs
• 1 Mic in with professional preamp
• 1 IEEE1394 FireWire interface
• 1 S/PDIF digital I/O
• 2 headphone output
• 1 MIDI IN, OUT, THRU port
• 1 headphone volume control

For more information, visit the CME site.