via this auctionBe sure to see the comments of this post for some notes on quality.
I don't think I ever realized/ registered that these had an internal speakers and joystick. It was announced at Winter NAMM back in 2006.
Details from the auction (note the two speakers were removed on this one):
"CMU u-key midi keyboard and controller. It comes with a MIDI cable. It's been slightly modified, and there's a couple of things I want to point out about it before selling it:
1. The internal speakers have been removed. The sound output still works fine.
2. The keyboard has been updated to the latest firmware.
3. The "CME" and "u-key" logos that were on the top left and right side of the keyboard have been removed. Not abrasively, they actually rubbed off when I was cleaning it.
4. Three black keys make a little more noise than the others when you play them. There is nothing wrong with them - they transmit velocity just as evenly as the other keys. There's a rubber strip that runs underneath the keybed to stop the keys in the event that they "travel" further down for some reason, thus, the noise.
All that aside, everything else is like new and functions as such. Full information can be found here"
From CME:U-Key uses ultra-thin full-action semi-weighted keys to give a total thickness of only 3.7cm. Yet the key touch of U-Key is the same as keyboards of standard thickness. U-Key has a built-in 64-polyphony high quality mobile phone sound module, and internal high fidelity speaker driven by a digital amplifier. U-Key also has many MIDI songs built in with accompaniment in different styles, including loop variation and chord change. These have been carefully made by professional musicians and can be sprung by U-Key's unique 'PadStyle'. All MIDI songs and styles can be downloaded from Internet and transferred into U-Key via USB. U-Key contains a brand new Game mode, users can use this function and music books with U-Key to test their skill of performance, and students can learn many tips from using this mode. U-Key is the first mobiltone keyboard that has build in muiti ethical scales from around the world, and you may be surprised to learn that you can even play Arabian music or Asian music. U-CTRL is a brand new concept by CME, it provides the easiest way to communicate between controller and music software. You do not need to load template or presets, just press U-CTRL button and all the controllers you use for software control will be ready.
U-Key offers more than 20 user-defined controllers in different styles, including joystick, trigger pads, encoder for data entry, pedals. All controllers are programmable and all functions of U-Key can be quickly and easily set up by pressing certain keys. User can save their controller settings into U-Key and load them any time they want. U-Key has plug and play USB MIDI drivers for Windows XP / MAC OSX, and it can be USB powered. 
With U-Key's line out, phone out and compact size U-Keys is ideal for composers who are ‘on the move’."
I got the no-sound version called the M-Key last December, and it has the best key action and feeling you can get for under uh, whatever it goes for. The joystick sounded pretty icky when I first heard of it, but after a month I'm starting to like it better than a separate pair of wheels. Both have their pros and cons, the tricks I can pull off with a circular-rotating joystick make me favour it for my music at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe keys are indeed a bit noisier than they should be, I really gotta crank up the volume when hammering out percussion. Maybe those fuzzy adhesive furniture pads might help more than the rubber strip from the factory?
I had considered putting a strip of felt in before selling it, but testing it with a small piece I had laying around didn't really fix the issue.
ReplyDeleteWhen I removed the keybed and placed it on a flat tabletop, any sort of uneven-ness that I'd seen while attached to the keyboard went away, which leads me to believe that there's some subtle warping of the plastic case that's going on.
I'll agree though, the action here is probably as good as it'll get for under (or at) $100.
Some notes from the seller. Anyone else see these issues?
ReplyDelete"- There were two speakers. Even when going into "controller" mode, or turning the "local off" for the internal sounds, there would be some popping of the speakers at odd times. They sounded horrible when trying to play through them.
- The joystick is a sad, sad part of this keyboard. Move it a small amount, and you hit the max or min value pretty quickly. There's also a button as part of the joystick, to kick it into controller mode. Every time you turn it on, you have to hit that to go into controller mode.
My take on joysticks is thus - they're great control devices, but no replacement for proper pitch and mod wheels. It's also nice if they can move freely about. One of my first keyboards was a Yamaha SY-35, and you could use the joystick on that as a way of blending the sounds differently. Lot of fun.
- The resolution on the rotary knobs is a bit touchy. Go slow, and you're fine. Go fast, and you're going to skip a lot of values - the biggest jumps are around 5. Most of the time, this isn't a problem. But, assign it to filter cutoff, and you're going to hear some "stepping." Apparently, this is an issue with a number of CME controllers, including that nice looking one for the Arturia software."