Avoid CME gear (CME VX6 review)
I ordered a CME VX6 keyboard controller last Friday. On paper it looked like an excellent controller. I was able to get one for $750, which definitely isn’t cheap, but it had the right mix of features that I was looking for without much extra. To get that same blend you typically need to go into the much more expensive full keyboard workstations, so this seemed like a good compromise.
However, when I picked it up yesterday from the shipping depot and brought it home I had a bit of a nasty surprise. The thing was built like absolute shit. To start with, it just felt very cheap. The controls and inputs were all pretty “meh” in my opinion. Rough edges on some of the plastic parts, knobs feeling fairly gritty (not smooth) and cheap feeling button switches sealed. Definitely not what I would consider pro-audio level.
Worse yet however, many (I’m talking just about a dozen) of the keys had their weights on the underside coming unglued! Most were hanging down, partly glued to the key. Others had somehow found their way into the keyboard itself and were scraping around in there, banging into electronics as I moved the keyboard out of the box. On top of this the keys that did have their weights in place properly just felt bad. I mean, I wasn’t expecting a really top of the line key action, but this was pretty awful. The worst thing was that it was just inconsistent. A few keys felt pretty good while others were just really soft and had no bounce to them.
I can’t comment on how the software worked or how it performed as a controller because I had seen enough. Poor fit and finish and a defective keyboard… There’s no way that is acceptable for a controller that expensive. I’ll be sending it back for a full refund. I don’t know about the rest of CME’s stuff, but honestly I won’t be bothering to find out. You’ve been warned.
I guess I’ll just save up my money for a Korg M3 or something…
