M-Audio Introduces New USB MIDI Keyboard

M-Audio has announced Radium, the latest in the Midiman Keystation line of USB MIDI controllers. Radium has 8 MIDI-assignable knobs and 8 MIDI-assignable sliders augmenting its 61-note keyboard. Radium also offers users real-time control of any 16 MIDI parameters within their favorite software programs. Five user-definable preset banks extend this control to 80 MIDI parameters of the user's choice at the touch of a button.

Radium also has a built-in USB MIDI interface that communicates 16-channels of MIDI data directly with the computer without the need for a separate MIDI interface. Two separate MIDI Outs send data to external gear--one from the keyboard and one from the computer. Additional controls include pitch wheel, modulation wheel and octave up/down keys that extend the range of the 5-octave keyboard. The unit can be powered via the USB port or via a 9V DC power supply for standalone operation.

Radium's 16 real-time controllers allow the unit to serve in a variety of capacities, with or without a computer. Performers benefit from greater freedom of expression. Synthesists can easily access parameters buried deep within their hardware without having to navigate arcane nested menus. Songwriters and producers can enter drum patterns from the keyboard and use the controllers to adjust the dynamics, feel and effects. Radium also brings tactile control to today's virtual studios, with its sliders mapped to virtual faders and the knobs controlling pan, effects sends and more. Weighing in at a mere 8 pounds, Radium is also the perfect complement for the mobile creative lifestyle of today's musicians.

"Radium is the logical extension of our tremendously successful Oxygen8," says Adam Castillo, M-Audio's Marketing Director. "Software synths and virtual studios are very much a reality--and along with them come dozens of parameters just begging to be tweaked. Radium lets you leave the tedium of the mouse behind and literally reach inside your software. It's all about flexibility and control."

Radium also employs the same simple, elegant user interface popularized by the rest of the Midiman Keystation line. The keys have a second layer of functions, allowing users to program MIDI control information directly from the black and whites. It's as simple as pressing the MIDI/Select button, pressing the note on the keyboard bearing the label corresponding to the target parameter, then using the Data Entry slider to select the value (or entering numeric values by pressing the keys labeled with numbers).

Radium is shipping at the beginning of November at a price of $299 MSRP.