July 10

Official Announcement WIDI Master!

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When Delivery WIDI Master

Shipping date: WIDI Master Almost Available!

I would like to start this shipping date announcement with a great thank you for supporting our first crowd created project. It has been our honor to work together with you to improve our product. Thank you for your patience, feedback and support from such an early stage.

Today we finally can make the official announcement. We have successfully passed the pilot test runs. This means the golden sample of WIDI Master has been approved. And we scheduled the mass production of the first batch of WIDI Masters. We are ready for worldwide shipping of your WIDI Master!

The entire project has been a challenge for all of us. On the one hand you already invested in a pre order and are patiently awaiting delivery. On the other hand we (CME) have been implementing your feedback while developing the first member of the WIDI family simultaneously.

External factors that delayed shipping

As always many external factors played in important role during the process. Like the worldwide COVID-19 situation forcing us to move production of prototypes to Europe and back to China. Besides this, the entire mass production process was carried out remotely with our manufacturing partner and suppliers.

There have been a few unforeseen delays, but we are here and ready to deliver WIDI Master to your doorsteps! To provide you with the full insights, the entire timeline of this first crowd created project can be found here

Jordan Rudess – CME Chief Music Officer

I’ve been looking forward my whole life to experience the joy of going completely wireless. And today Bluetooth MIDI has reached a whole other level with WIDI Master.

As taken from CME #REAP S01E02 (May, 2020)

When do you get your WIDI Master?

We will ship your order starting from July 21, 2020. We will follow a first come, first serve delivery schedule. At this point we are able to process around 1,000-1,500 units per week. This means that we fulfill all pre orders around the first week of August. Of course we will do our utmost best to deliver as soon as possible.

Do you want to adjust your order?

Please note that if you are not satisfied or want to change something to your order, now is the time! If you have a special request for your invoice you can either hit reply on your order confirmation email or fill in this form.

We want to avoid confusion and disapointment at all cost. That is why we are willing to adjust any part of the order prior to shipping. Before you think all is okay, consider that you are in complete control here. I strongly recommend to read this blog about the risks and consequences of your pre order shipping worldwide.

Double check your use case!

Also, be aware of your use case. Make sure you have ordered the correct amount of WIDI Masters. Read this blog to fully understand how it works. If you decide to change the order quantity we can support you manually and make sure your order is either fully refunded or you get an additional WIDI Master for the same discount price and without charging you shipping cost twice.

For all order adjustments and invoice details, either hit reply on your order confirmation or fill in this form!

And remember, our main purpose is to satisfy you. We always treat any feedback or request with the fullest respect. No need to worry about a thing!

Cyril Lance – CTO Moog Music

I was lucky enough to be able to start working with a pair of prototype WIDI adapters from CME.  They worked flawlessly and transparently – which is the goal of any good technology solution.  I was very happy with them.  It made connecting instruments to each other quick and easy without cabling or any setup even for instruments from different eras.  For example, I immediately had our flagship synthesizer, the Moog ONE, controlling and being controlled by our older MIDI instruments and vintage MIDI controllers.

Additionally, WIDI makes it easy and transparent to connect any of our MIDI gear directly to a Bluetooth enabled device – most importantly for me, the iOS environment (iPads and iPhones) allowing me to quickly test features and connectivity without any setup and configuration hassles.  For product development, this was a huge asset!”

Beta tester WIDI Master (June, 2020) – There is NO commercial involvement or partnership between MOOG and CME

Did you not order yet?

We have close to 4,000 units to ship. Our first two batches consists of 5,000 pieces. This means that if you order now, you can still get your WIDI Master and it will be shipped in August, 2020.

Do you want to see WIDI Master in action?

Meanwhile we’ve been working together with our industry partners to provide you with the best possible experience as soon as you unpack WIDI Master. Here you can find the video our friends of Genki Instruments made with WIDI Master and their WAVE.

It shows the Genki WAVE connected to the Roland JUNO-60. The Wave has integrated Bluetooth MIDI and the Juno has a WIDI Master attached to its 5-PIN DIN MIDI ports. This way you can control your synth with any Bluetooth MIDI equipped device, like the Genki WAVE.

Watch this video for the full experience!

Olafur Bogason – CEO Genki Instruments

We are so excited with WIDI Master coming out, because it is a perfect fit for the Wave. WIDI Master is really simple. It works straight out of the box. It is kind of magic.

As taken from CME #REAP S01E05 (June, 2020)

There is more already...

Of course WIDI Master can do much more. Therefore we’d like to provide you with a short sum up of the most valuable features of the current firmware. These bullet points distinguish WIDI Master from any other Bluetooth MIDI adapter currently on the market.

Smart Connectivity Algorithms

  1. Dual Role Automation - WIDI Master fulfils a universal role in MIDI communication. This means it automatically switches between the central and peripheral role. This is what we used to call master and slave. In addition it is bi-directional. You can sent from and towards the connected MIDI instrument simultaneously with WIDI Master.
  2. Automatic Pairing Mode - WIDI Master automatically pairs with any other WIDI Master or future member of the WIDI family. And with any Bluetooth MIDI equipped device.
  3. Smart Hub Functionality - WIDI Master is in essence a point-to-point solution. With today's Bluetooth technology it is possible to connect multiple WIDI products to one WIDI Master. This way you can connect one-to-multiple. 
  4. Latency Reduction Optimization - WIDI Master implements a unique protocol to reduce latency in any given situation. Therewith we can reduce latency to 3ms between two WIDI Masters.
  5. Range Performance Optimization - WIDI Master offers a unique algorithm that negotiates the best performance with any given distance. Therewith you are assured of the best performance covering a reach of 20m (65ft) inside without obstacles and even more outside without obstacles.

To get more insights in the capabilities and technical details of WIDI Master, we recommend to read this blog carefully as a starting point!

Tom White – Former President of MMA

Bluetooth MIDI is the industry standard from the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) for wireless MIDI connections, and the CME WIDI Master is the first Bluetooth MIDI adapter that can perform as both a “peripheral” or “central” device, allowing fast, low-latency, and stable point-to-point wireless connections between any two devices. This opens new possibilities for all musicians and gives them more freedom in the studio and on the stage.”

MIDI Manufacturers Association (June, 2020)

The best is yet to come...

Besides all above we are working on expanding the WIDI capabilities. This means you will have access to future features. WIDI Master already allows you to transmit any kind of MIDI message over Bluetooth. That is why we call a virtual MIDI cable. Just like a cable, MIDI Clock, Sysex, MPE are no problem for Bluetooth MIDI 

Also with our first version of the user-friendly app you can update your firmware over air without any hassle. It allows us to provide you future updates and new features while we grow and technology evolves. hereby provide you with a glimpse of things we will be working on in the upcoming months.

We are currently working on expanding your opportunities and capabilities of WIDI Master and future WIDI family members:

  • One-to-multiple - in essence WIDI Master is a point-to-point solution. Besides this, BLE5 offer opportunities to pair multiple devices. This way WIDI Master can become a Bluetooth MIDI hub allowing multiple devices connected. Is this the end of wired daisy chaining? 
  • User-friendly app - currently the app is designed to do its most important task: updating your firmware. Next we will be working on virtual MIDI connection management. This will make it super easy to pair, name and connect more complex systems and setups. Is this the future of (virtual) cable management?
  • WIDI family - WIDI Master is our first member of the WIDI family. Next up are the TRS (WIDI JACK) and USB (WIDI UHOST) solution. Furthermore we have concepts ready for a fully focussed hub and pedal solutions with Bluetooth MIDI. WIDI Master automatically pairs with any other (future) member of the WIDI family.  
  • Connectivity - WIDI Master works with any Bluetooth MIDI device like the Xkey Air, Quicco M1 and Yamaha MD series. Also it will work with any iOS device, MacOS and Windows and Android devices. Read this blog to learn what WIDI Master can do for you!

We have a video available of the firmware showing the one-to-multiple feature. As it is at such an early stage, we'd like to keep that video as private as possible. Just join this Facebook Group and you have access to it. It also allows you to be part of upcoming crowd creation projects like WIDI JACK and WIDI UHOST. 

Niels Larsen – CEO of Nektar Technology Inc.

WIDI is an amazing system that allows wireless MIDI transfer between two MIDI devices. Transmitting data via Bluetooth LE it connects seamlessly to iOS and other mobile MIDI capable devices. Testing Nektar products including sending real-time sequence data from Aura didn’t phase the system and timing was solid. MIDI with no wires? It’s finally here

Nektar Technology Inc. (July, 2020)


Tags

crowd creation, WIDI


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