Members Brvheart5 Posted November 28, 2005 Members Share Posted November 28, 2005 I just got a CME UF5 a couple of days ago. I bought it sight unseen after reading good comments here. First off, a big thumbs down to Musician's Friend.com for sending me a customer-returned unit and calling it new. I did not ask for an open-box unit. Here's what's bugging me about this keyboard: key response, stuck keys, and dead keys.-Key response: I really have to pound the keys to get them to register. It's nearly impossible to play with any subtlety. And I've tried all 4 levels of velocity curve. -Stuck keys: After I play only a couple of notes, one of the keys will hold as if I'm still pressing it. Not physically on the board but in the soft synth. After playing a few moments there will be several keys holding. I've only used soft synths so far, but this happens no matter what im using, be it Reason, NI's Absynth, etc. -(nearly) Dead keys: There is one key in particular that you absolutely have to hammer to get it to play. It is nearly dead.All of these problems make recording or even just practicing nearly impossible. With all of that said, I have to note that the actual keybaord action is excellent. When the keyboard isn't turned on, the keys feel about as good as I've felt at this price point I'm building my studio piece by piece and am buying the audio interface (soundcard) last. I'm getting a LynxTwo. Right now I'm using the default built-in soundcard. I know that has a lot to do with things. My latency is okay. I'm running a Dual core 2.8gHz with 2 gigs of RAM. What CME driver are you guys using? I think I'm using v1.04. I will definitely be returning this board. I just don't know whether to try another CME board. There just seems like too many things wrong with this one for me to think I "just got a dud". I'm really disappointed with the build quality after everything I've read. Thanks for reading my long post. I realize there's another post thread like this one, but I didn't want to hijack that thread asking my questions. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brvheart5 Posted November 29, 2005 Author Members Share Posted November 29, 2005 bump. I'm curious to see what someone who knows much more than I do about keyboards thinks about the keys holding. It happens in all of the soft synths I've used. Is this a problem with the keyboard, the keyboard's driver, or the soundcard? I would like to get another CME UF5 if I knew that the new soundcard would fix my problems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted November 29, 2005 Members Share Posted November 29, 2005 Send the damn thing back and demand they send you a "new" one - in a minty-fresh, factory-sealed unopened box. They screwed you - by charging you full price for an open-box deal. And also for not testing the damn thing before selling it (re-selling it) to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mytee2.0 Posted November 29, 2005 Members Share Posted November 29, 2005 wow, musiciands friend sucks do what gigman said, they screwed you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members numrologst Posted November 30, 2005 Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 I have a uf8, uf6, and uf7. Make sure to download the new usb driver. I had a bunch of problems until I loaded the new driver. It pretty much fixed all of the problems i was having with stuck keys and crashes. Although once every now and then when i have alot of synths running at the same time I will get a stuck key. But this is .01% of the time. Needless to say I almost never have a problem. I use the uf5 and uf6 for live use with alot of stuff running and have had no problems most of the time. See if the new driver will make it better. Otherwise you may just have a faulty unit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members numrologst Posted November 30, 2005 Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 Oh and just mess with the velocity curves. The touch sensitivity is very nice. I can play really soft then really hard with no problems. I never have to bang on a key. And i rarely ever change the velocity settings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J3RK Posted November 30, 2005 Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 I have no problems with my UF7, but I don't use it through USB either. (just straight MIDI) If they sent you a used one, then I would definitely demand a new one. When I first got it, I set it up with the USB port. I had a few small timing glitches. I downloaded the new driver, and everything worked fine. I just prefer using the MIDI port. (I don't trust USB for ANYTHING timing critical.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prog Posted November 30, 2005 Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 Originally posted by Brvheart5 I bought it sight unseen after reading good comments here. I found the comments here to be way over-rated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mytee2.0 Posted November 30, 2005 Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 Originally posted by paostby I found the comments here to be way over-rated. in general, or for only this product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brvheart5 Posted November 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 Oh I'm definitely returning this one! No doubt about that, I was just considering whether or not I wanted to get another CME board. I didn't mention a few things that were somewhat irrelevant, but on the subject of Musician's "Friend", they're F'd up for sending me this thing. I thought it was a little strange that there was no plastic around the keyboard itself. It was just chillin in the box. 3 of the slider buttons were missing, but I found them in the box and put them back on. There is a small crack on the keyboard by the pitch bend/mod wheel. And best of all, when you pick it up, something moves around inside! They made no effort of making me think I was getting a new board. All the documents were just kind of crammed back in the box, and they even left the previous owner's receipt in there. Anyways, back to the issues..I played around a little bit, and I'm not getting stuck keys anymore. I switched to a different computer. I don't know if the key pressure issue is better, but it seems more playable for sure. I'm just not sure what kind of response to expect because I'm not really a keyboardist. I just expected a little smoother communication with the synth. I still wish it was more sensitive. I still have the one dead key which will go away when I return it. Now I need to address the latency. In regard to build quality, the red ends are plastic, and they feel quite fragile to me. Like they're gonna break if you bump them. But I don't expect to do that in my recording studio. The sliders and knobs don't feel all that great, but oh well. You definitely can't beat the key action though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prog Posted November 30, 2005 Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 Originally posted by myteeGTi in general, or for only this product? Certainly for this product. I find a bit too much blind allegiance to the big three, but there are a lot of different types of musicians here, too (which may or may not explain it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brvheart5 Posted November 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 Originally posted by paostby Certainly for this product. I find a bit too much blind allegiance to the big three, but there are a lot of different types of musicians here, too (which may or may not explain it). You're not saying this is one of the "big three" are you? CME has got to play a very minor role in the keyboard world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted November 30, 2005 Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 Originally posted by Brvheart5 You're not saying this is one of the "big three" are you? CME has got to play a very minor role in the keyboard world! Aye - I assume he means Korg, Yamaha & Roland = Big 3. I've never even seen a CME product in person in my life & I'm 41. I guess they're more popular on an international level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members protues9 Posted November 30, 2005 Members Share Posted November 30, 2005 I think they're a new company or at least a smaller one of a lrger one, ptobabaly some chiense company that makes toasters. I think they are chinese.. I dunno man.. I wanted one too, but the fact it was a new company, and most people I know on every board was getting uber carried away with how great they looked, I backed off from wanting one. No I think it's just too much desktop space.. So im not getting one. But i wouldnt be surprised if there were lots of driver issues to sort out and other issues that start popping up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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