# Stream Deck - killer REAL button controller



## whinecellar

Hey Guys,

Forgive the following rave, but I’m betting a lot of you will find this useful.

I saw this little box a few weeks back and shrugged it off because I already have 2 iPads running TouchOSC and several heavily mapped hardware controllers (Behringer X-Touch & XT Compact, Contour Shuttle Pro, and so on). However, curiosity got the better of my so I ordered an El Gato Stream Deck. The more I use it, the more I love it; I just ordered a second one, and the two of them will replace one of my iPads.

The thing I like about it over TouchOSC, Lemur or even a hardware XKeys unit is that each key instantly becomes anything you want and graphically represents that function - in *any* app, not just your DAW. As nice as XKeys is, pulling all those key caps off to add custom printed labels is a big job - only to have to repeat it any time you want to change something. And those paper labels will only reflect that one function. Same idea with TouchOSC: creating custom layouts is tedious and doesn’t have graphic support, let alone the ability to do entire macros unless you set it up with OSCulator - also very tedious.

On Stream Deck, a button might be a key command (or entire macro) in your DAW. But switch to Mail, and it could apply a junk mail filter. Or type your ridiculously lengthy email address. Or add your signature. All in one press. Switch to Photoshop and that same button could become a smart tool, start a batch process, or apply a filter. Switch to Finder and that button could batch rename a bunch of files. Or open a project folder on a specific drive. In Safari it could open VI Forum in a new tab... 

And the best part: that button will have any graphic/text/picture you want for each assignment in any app - and the whole thing switches instantly depending on the current app. And it’s all wicked fast to set up - it’s a simple drag & drop interface.

Nothing else does this. I’ve wanted this kind of device forever - with real tactile buttons - so TouchOSC, XKeys, etc. were only stopgaps for me. I’ll still use my TouchOSC templates for articulation switching and custom CCs, but for everything else, I’m hooked on Stream Deck. Here are just a few shots of my initial setup in a few different apps.

Cheers!

Jim

P.S. FWIW, I have no ties to El Gato whatsoever - I just think this is a killer little game-changer. Best $139 I've spent in a LONG time!


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## SchnookyPants

$139!? That's killer. Thanks for posting.


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## sostenuto

Noted this on Reaper Forum recently with emphasis on Win 10 and macOS 10.11 or later. 
No problem here and looks very cool.


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## SchnookyPants

Beware maybe? Just read one guy saying it doesn't operate w/ W7. So one guy may be wrong, but I gotta look further into this - or I suppose I could always join the rest of the planet and up to W10.

Edit: Damn you fast-fingers Sostenuto. Beat me again.


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## tmhuud

That’s great Jim. I have to check and see if we ordered this or not. How did you get the graphics in there? And how to do you switch between ‘layers’. ?


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## MatFluor

Damn - I forgot about that

I have left some budget this month from my Keyboard purchase...I know I don't need it...







It'll arrive in the mail tomorrow.


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## whinecellar

tmhuud said:


> That’s great Jim. I have to check and see if we ordered this or not. How did you get the graphics in there? And how to do you switch between ‘layers’. ?



Hey Terry! Trust me, you will love it! I can't wait to add my second one when it shows up tomorrow 

Adding graphics is simply drag & drop onto the setup application; it mirrors the hardware so you just drag a jpg/png to one of the buttons and voila! Couldn't be easier.

And switching between layers is just as easy - assuming you mean multiple layers *per application* - you just tell one of the buttons to be a folder. When you press that button, it takes you into that folder; that same button takes you back out a level. In that case you effectively have 14 buttons available to use per layer.

And the whole thing automatically and instantly switches layouts for each app you set up. It's a brilliant little box. It's essentially Metagrid, but with "roll your own" icons/graphics, which Metagrid can't do.


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## tmhuud

That’s great Jim. Thanks. Ordered!


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## D Halgren

Not sure if you guys saw this one.


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## whinecellar

D Halgren said:


> Not sure if you guys saw this one.




Ha - yep, he gets it! Couldn’t agree more - it’s a blast to set up, especially when you really start to grasp what all it can do! Glad I’m in good company


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## JJP

I've had my eye on one of these for a while. I have an X-Keys pro that has served me for about a decade. I've always wanted something with LCD keys.

Your review and the price are making me want to take the plunge. 2 of these should replace my x-keys nicely. 

@whinecellar, please report back on the success of integrating 2 Steam Decks into your system.


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## MatFluor

JJP said:


> I've had my eye on one of these for a while. I have an X-Keys pro that has served me for about a decade. I've always wanted something with LCD keys.
> 
> Your review and the price are making me want to take the plunge. 2 of these should replace my x-keys nicely.
> 
> @whinecellar, please report back on the success of integrating 2 Steam Decks into your system.



They had quite nice Updates meanwhile, including the possiblity to use two stream decks simultaneously.

Here some features that are nice (through random versions):

*Introducing Multi Actions*
If you think tapping a key to execute an action is impressive, you’ll love Multi Actions. That’s right – assign as many actions as you want to a single key, and launch them all with a tap. Either one after another separated by intervals, or simultaneously. It's your choice. Example: Start your stream, and switch to your intro countdown scene, wait 1 minute, tweet you are live, wait 3 minutes, change your scene to full screen webcam, unmute your mic, and post a welcome message to your chat - all with 1 key press.

*Multi Device Support*
15 keys just don't cut it? Rejoice! You can now use multiple Stream Decks on the same PC. Unlimited actions just became, well, super-unlimited!​
*Smart Profiles*
Stream Deck can now automatically switch to the profile assigned to an app when that app is brought to the foreground. Think Apple's Touch Bar, but cooler!​


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## whinecellar

JJP said:


> @whinecellar, please report back on the success of integrating 2 Steam Decks into your system.



Your wish is my command. Second one just came today - already working great - and 2 of them side by side just happened to perfectly fit the stand I built for one of my iPads. Loving it!


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## tmhuud

Very nice. Something tells me 2 of these are in my future. 1 is on its way. Now to work out the ergonomics...


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## whinecellar

tmhuud said:


> Very nice. Something tells me 2 of these are in my future. 1 is on its way. Now to work out the ergonomics...



Be warned, it can be a black hole once you start dreaming of all you can do with it, especially if you go nuts with graphics & making it pretty - but man it's fun once you get it the way you want!


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## Mike Marino

whinecellar said:


> Be warned, it can be a black hole once you start dreaming of all you can do with it, especially if you go nuts with graphics & making it pretty - but man it's fun once you get it the way you want!


How long did it take to get yours set up and customized?


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## whinecellar

Mike Marino said:


> How long did it take to get yours set up and customized?



I did it all in a few hours Saturday afternoon, end it only took that long because I was being OCD about graphics


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## MatFluor

Nice - got mine in the mail. I did some pre-setup yesterday (design some things already, put it in the companion software). Then plug it in and bam - done

Very quick to set up (if you don't go full OCD on graphics). The current version allows you to simply drag shortcuts onto it to start Applications - which is very nice for quick set up.

The rabbit hole is the same as with TouchOSC...What Action do I want on there? Where to position them? Maybe leave that one on the Keyboard, and put that on on the StreamDeck....


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## SBK

WOW!!!


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## Blakus

You convinced me, Jim. I joined the stream deck party yesterday too. Really loving it! Having it automatically switch profiles for different apps is so satisfying  Very impressed with how easy it is to set up too! With the custom icon creator and drag 'n' drop capability, it's painless.


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## LLGen

Quick question: how many folders/levels down can one go?


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## Robo Rivard

Ooooh, that thing seems interesting for me. Could it be that I could say byebye to the drop-down menus forever?... I'm a graphic artist, working on a Wacom Cintiq 24HD, and all the buttons on the tablet have a function already attributed to them. It would be quite convenient to have all of my main shortcuts covered by the Stream Deck.

Of course, I would use it for music also.


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## whinecellar

Blakus said:


> You convinced me, Jim. I joined the stream deck party yesterday too. Really loving it! Having it automatically switch profiles for different apps is so satisfying  Very impressed with how easy it is to set up too! With the custom icon creator and drag 'n' drop capability, it's painless.



Welcome to the party Blake! Glad you’re digging it. This is kinda what I wanted the iPad to do 10 years ago. Funny, I thought a buttonless glass panel was so cool, and it still is for some things - but ironically I really like physical buttons for this stuff!


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## whinecellar

LLGen said:


> Quick question: how many folders/levels down can one go?



Not sure - I’ve only done 1 layer but at some point going deeper would get to be a pain since you would be doing a lot of button pushing going back-and-forth. I ended up getting a second one so that I can have more buttons


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## MatFluor

LLGen said:


> Quick question: how many folders/levels down can one go?



Unlimited essentially - every folder can have 14 subfolders.

I've only done two layers down - as whinecellar said, there will be a point where it gets painful, since you can only go back one layer at a time. But you could combine with different profiles and switch that way, e.g. a profile for Midi editing, a profile for audio editing a profile for transport etc etc - I have to try out if the profile switch action can jump to the topmost layer that way.

As said, 2 layers in is ok for me, but you can go I to a deep rabbit hole


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## LLGen

Thank you, both.

I usually work in large chunks at at time... sequencing, clean up, audio commit, recording live, mix, output/bounce/stem, etc. I could see why some might be put off by, essentially, paging up/down, but having dedicated actions for each “phase” only a folder up or down would work for me. But two units... well, yeah, you gotta collect ‘em all.

I love the feel of one of my friend’s euphonix controllers. Any experience on the feel of these keys as compared to that? Oh, what the... ordered.


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## whinecellar

LLGen said:


> Thank you, both.
> 
> I usually work in large chunks at at time... sequencing, clean up, audio commit, recording live, mix, output/bounce/stem, etc. I could see why some might be put off by, essentially, paging up/down, but having dedicated actions for each “phase” only a folder up or down would work for me. But two units... well, yeah, you gotta collect ‘em all.
> 
> I love the feel of one of my friend’s euphonix controllers. Any experience on the feel of these keys as compared to that? Oh, what the... ordered.



Yeah man, that makes sense - and I may go another level (or two!) deep on certain things - I'm still experimenting. What's really amazing is how useful this is at so many day-to-day tasks: in Mail alone, I can add custom signatures depending on who an email is going to; assign junk filters, increase/decrease quote levels in a reply - all in one button press. I'm getting so many ideas for things I do all the time, I can really see going crazy with this!

It's been a while since I've been in front of a Euphonix console so I could't compare directly - but I will say this is different than anything else I've touched. The buttons are kind of "soft" and have a little side-to-side give to them - I wish they were hard/solid and more like a cherry switch, but the whole thing does feel really durable. The panel is metal, and feels very well made for $139. My only real complaint is the fixed USB cable that sticks out the top when you mount it slanted...


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## LLGen

Cheers, Jim. Thanks so much for your input. It’s on its way.


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## URL

Is it possible to use Stream Deck with win 10/Cubase, what type of command can you do in Cubase?


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## MatFluor

URL said:


> Is it possible to use Stream Deck with win 10/Cubase, what type of command can you do in Cubase?



Streamdeck is independent of program. The software sits in your system and does whatever you tell it to. That's the big plus, it works with everything.

Considering DAW work, you can do everything you push buttons for. Single Hotkeys or sequences of Hotkeys. Also things like "Hotkey-Text-Enter-hotkey" and stuff like that. So basically you can put every Keyboard command you have on there. To be clear, no midi or OSC messages, only Shortcuts/Hotkeys and text.
For example in Reaper or DP, I defined a Hotkeys that inserts a specific effect on a track. That Multi-Action in Reaper is
- Hotkey for "Insert FX in selected Track"
- wait 500ms
- Enter FX Name into pop-up window
- Press enter
So e.g. out an EQ in with one button press.
Same with things like cursor stuff like split something, go back to start and record, mute etcetcetc


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## bryla

Can you have it control one app (for example Transcribe!) and work in Sibelius?


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## MatFluor

bryla said:


> Can you have it control one app (for example Transcribe!) and work in Sibelius?



Unfortunately no - since it sends keystrokes, it only controls the program in focus. It does that with OBS, Twitch, Youtube etc. but there it uses other channels to do it.

But it automatically switches the so called profile (button layout and commands on it etc) to the program in focus if so defined - so when you click from Transcribe! to Sibelius, it automatically changes the profile, so you can work seamlessly.


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## N.Caffrey

could you guys make a video of how it improves your workflow?


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## URL

MatFluor said:


> Streamdeck is independent of program. The software sits in your system and does whatever you tell it to. That's the big plus, it works with everything.
> 
> Considering DAW work, you can do everything you push buttons for. Single Hotkeys or sequences of Hotkeys. Also things like "Hotkey-Text-Enter-hotkey" and stuff like that. So basically you can put every Keyboard command you have on there. To be clear, no midi or OSC messages, only Shortcuts/Hotkeys and text.
> For example in Reaper or DP, I defined a Hotkeys that inserts a specific effect on a track. That Multi-Action in Reaper is
> - Hotkey for "Insert FX in selected Track"
> - wait 500ms
> - Enter FX Name into pop-up window
> - Press enter
> So e.g. out an EQ in with one button press.
> Same with things like cursor stuff like split something, go back to start and record, mute etcetcetc



So for example its possible to have command that only shows used tracks in Cubase...?


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## MatFluor

URL said:


> So for example its possible to have command that only shows used tracks in Cubase...?



If you can do it via Hotkeys or the like, it can be done. I don't use Cubase, so I can't answer that.



N.Caffrey said:


> could you guys make a video of how it improves your workflow?



I made a "short" (sorry, 13 minutes, improv you know) video of Streamdeck, how I set it up and display the power especially of Multi Actions in Sibelius and Reaper.

I haven't come around to really dig out all the Keystrokes I want to use, but that should give a good first look on it.


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## N.Caffrey

MatFluor said:


> If you can do it via Hotkeys or the like, it can be done. I don't use Cubase, so I can't answer that.
> 
> 
> 
> I made a "short" (sorry, 13 minutes, improv you know) video of Streamdeck, how I set it up and display the power especially of Multi Actions in Sibelius and Reaper.
> 
> I haven't come around to really dig out all the Keystrokes I want to use, but that should give a good first look on it.



Awesome thank you!


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## N.Caffrey

Blakus said:


> You convinced me, Jim. I joined the stream deck party yesterday too. Really loving it! Having it automatically switch profiles for different apps is so satisfying  Very impressed with how easy it is to set up too! With the custom icon creator and drag 'n' drop capability, it's painless.


I'd love to see how you set it up for your DAW!


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## whinecellar

N.Caffrey said:


> I'd love to see how you set it up for your DAW!



You can see at least a few of the things I initially assigned in my pictures at the top of the thread. But really, the sky is the limit!


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## N.Caffrey

whinecellar said:


> You can see at least a few of the things I initially assigned in my pictures at the top of the thread. But really, the sky is the limit!


Thanks. Because these things looks cool, like even Logic remote. But then there are things you actually do faster just by using the keyboard. So I'm trying to gather more info on how this would improve my workflow, in a way that a keyboard shortcut wouldn't.


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## whinecellar

N.Caffrey said:


> Thanks. Because these things looks cool, like even Logic remote. But then there are things you actually do faster just by using the keyboard. So I'm trying to gather more info on how this would improve my workflow, in a way that a keyboard shortcut wouldn't.



I touched on a lot of that in my first post. Nothing wrong with key commands, but when you get into those that require multiple keystrokes, modifiers, etc., this becomes much nicer to use all day long. And beyond DAW use, getting into complete multi-actions with definable timing - this goes way beyond simple key commands.

So yeah, it can be pretty, but it’s far more about utility and workflow efficiency for me. Heck, I like that one button can type my stupid-long email address for me, or my system password when installing new software - some installers make you enter it 3 times for each element. Last night I installed all the Roland Cloud stuff - that was a LOT of password entering - but I just had to hit 1 button each time instead of continuously typing my password + Enter. That adds up!

Don’t listen to me though. Check out some videos on it!


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## chimuelo

I like it.
And I thought I was the only person still using the Contour Shuttle Pro..


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## Dewdman42

I think the key macro facility makes it interesting. Key maestro can obviously do that if you don’t care about pretty buttons. You could also combine it with key maestro I would guess which might make it possible to control apps they don’t have the current focus, but I’m just speculating now as i don’t have either product yet. Bome midi translator might also come in handy for turning key commands into midi

Have you been able to figure out a way with this using key commands to choose articulations and stuff like that?


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## Andrew Goodwin

Does it have a function to trigger scripts from Autohotkey or Applescript? I have a few things in Touch OSC that are done this way otherwise this looks really cool


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## whinecellar

chimuelo said:


> I like it.
> And I thought I was the only person still using the Contour Shuttle Pro..



No sir! I loved mine for almost 15 years and I hated retiring it, but they haven't been great about keeping it updated, and it got more and more flaky for me. The Behringer X-Touch gives me a good jog/shuttle wheel again (and a bigger one - I never liked the size on the Contour), and customizable buttons on that and these two Stream Deck units - I'm a happy camper!


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## whinecellar

Dewdman42 said:


> I think the key macro facility makes it interesting. Key maestro can obviously do that if you don’t care about pretty buttons. You could also combine it with key maestro I would guess which might make it possible to control apps they don’t have the current focus, but I’m just speculating now as i don’t have either product yet. Bome midi translator might also come in handy for turning key commands into midi
> 
> Have you been able to figure out a way with this using key commands to choose articulations and stuff like that?



Nah, I still have a second iPad running TouchOSC/Metagrid for all the MIDI stuff & articulation switching, plus a custom-mapped Behringer X-Touch Compact for all kinds of physical MIDI controls - so I'm set for all that.

I really think Stream Deck kills everything else for what it does - key mappings, macros, entire scripts or "multi actions" as they call them, etc. And yes, things like Key Maestro accomplish some of what it does, but then you end up spending a bunch of time in that having to set that up, and again every time you want to change something. Plus that's a separate app; Stream Deck just works in the background. And yes, you have to spend some time setting up Stream Deck, but it's far easier and faster in my experience, and the visual component to me is far more than "pretty" - done right, the visual aid is a huge boost for me. I don't have to think about what I'm doing as much; I just glance at it quickly and know instantly what I need.

To each their own, but nothing else has done what this does in such a satisfying way for me...


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## Dewdman42

Not to be persistent, but actually I think key Maestro actually does quite a bit more, so we could rightly say Stream Deck does some of what key Maestro does. There could be some advantage to using both together. For example, in order to have one panel of buttons that can send commands to different apps, some not currently in focus (redirected there by Key Maestro).

I see the main advantage of StreamDeck being that you have buttons with graphics and you don't have to remember any key shortcuts. For me, I think it would have to be one or the other...either TouchOSC or StreamDeck...I only have so much space here.. And probably TouchOSC is going to cover more bases it sounds like. Though StreamDeck might be useful for automating some oddball stuff in OS X. Have to think about that... But anyway, on the other hand, if KeyMaestro or Osculator or something could be used together with StreamDeck to provide all the stuff that many people do with TouchOSC...that would be another matter...I'd prefer real buttons then.


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## shawnsingh

I think I'm sold on this. Some questions about the feel of the buttons on the stream deck...

How easy is it to press the buttons repeatedly?

Is there a tactile "click", or is it only feedback from how far the button travels?

How far do the buttons travel, is it more like an actual keyboard key, or is it more like a mac book thin style key?

Thanks!


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## MatFluor

shawnsingh said:


> I think I'm sold on this. Some questions about the feel of the buttons on the stream deck...
> 
> How easy is it to press the buttons repeatedly?
> 
> Is there a tactile "click", or is it only feedback from how far the button travels?
> 
> How far do the buttons travel, is it more like an actual keyboard key, or is it more like a mac book thin style key?
> 
> Thanks!



It's a soft tactile click, I don't know what I can compare it to - the button themselves are a "soft" plastic (they don't change form or anything, they just feel smooth) and the click fits them so to speak. But yeah, without looking, I can definitely tell that I pressed it, and the click is audible - not loud, but audible enough.


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## whinecellar

MatFluor said:


> It's a soft tactile click, I don't know what I can compare it to - the button themselves are a "soft" plastic (they don't change form or anything, they just feel smooth) and the click fits them so to speak. But yeah, without looking, I can definitely tell that I pressed it, and the click is audible - not loud, but audible enough.



To that I would only add they have a fairly good bit of travel to them - definitely more than a MacBook Pro key (the previous gen, not the current disaster). They do feel pretty good I think. If I were nitpicking, they do have a little side to side wiggle - I wish they were a bit more linear; but man, for $139, it’s a really well-made piece of gear. Almost shockingly so for what you get!


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## shawnsingh

Sadly, just realized this isn't supported windows 7. Not sure when I'll be upgrading to 10.


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## brett

Has anyone tested with W7?


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## whinecellar

FYI, I'm told these are on sale today on Amazon for just $100. I could have saved $80 on my pair! Go get one (or two!) if you haven't already!


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## Robo Rivard

Wow, I just spent the evening programming my new Stream Deck with graphic applications, and I really love it! It works perfectly with Clip Studio Paint (ex-Manga Studio), and Photoshop. I wasn't as successful with Corel Painter 2019, for some shortcuts seem non-standard. If we want different setups for different applications, do we need to create specific "profiles"?

I can't wait to try it with Cubase 9.5 now.


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## JJP

whinecellar said:


> Your wish is my command. Second one just came today - already working great - and 2 of them side by side just happened to perfectly fit the stand I built for one of my iPads. Loving it!



For crying out loud, Jim. That sexy photo was completely unnecessary. Now I have to buy a pair of these.


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## Killiard

£95 today in the UK in the Amazon Prime day sale! I’m almost tempted to pick one up myself!


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## R. Soul

Killiard said:


> £95 today in the UK in the Amazon Prime day sale! I’m almost tempted to pick one up myself!


Just spotted this on HUKD. 
Got to check a few videos, cause I pretty much always have a hand on the keys ready for shortcuts, so I'm a bit worried that I wouldn't use it much. I hardly even use my MIDI CC controller


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## fiestared

whinecellar said:


> No sir! I loved mine for almost 15 years and I hated retiring it, but they haven't been great about keeping it updated, and it got more and more flaky for me. The Behringer X-Touch gives me a good jog/shuttle wheel again (and a bigger one - I never liked the size on the Contour), and customizable buttons on that and these two Stream Deck units - I'm a happy camper!


I still have mine too, but don't use it anymore, was good for video editing...


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## fiestared

Killiard said:


> £95 today in the UK in the Amazon Prime day sale! I’m almost tempted to pick one up myself!


Thanks, I think I will buy it, it saves me 40€, in France it's 150€, by the way I bought a crucial 2TO ssd for 270€ ( in less than minutes was sold out, not even time to inform friends)


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## Alex Fraser

I like the concept. But I need another toy/distraction like a need a hole in the head right now..


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## whinecellar

JJP said:


> For crying out loud, Jim. That sexy photo was completely unnecessary. Now I have to buy a pair of these.



Ha - my apologies  Seriously, it's been a while since I was so enamored with a little piece of gear like this. And honestly, I probably use it outside of Logic just as much as in my studio work - I've quickly come to rely on having to press just one button now for so many things that used to require constant mousing around or 2-3 key macros... not to mention typing entire text strings, email addresses, passwords, etc. - it really speeds up so many things. If you don't have one, you are really missing out!


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## whinecellar

Alex Fraser said:


> I like the concept. But I need another toy/distraction like a need a hole in the head right now..



Trust me Alex, this one is worth it. But I feel your pain.


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## fiestared

I've read that : - Connect Stream Deck "directly" to a USB port - Do not use a USB hub - True ? What's your experience... Thanks


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## MatFluor

fiestared said:


> I've read that : - Connect Stream Deck "directly" to a USB port - Do not use a USB hub - True ? What's your experience... Thanks



I have mine on a USB Hub, where two other things are plugged in as well...I didn't have any problems so far.


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## whinecellar

fiestared said:


> I've read that : - Connect Stream Deck "directly" to a USB port - Do not use a USB hub - True ? What's your experience... Thanks



I have both of mine connected to an Anker 10-port hub, along with a handful of other things – and I haven’t had a single problem. I think they’re just being cautious about what they guarantee.


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## fiestared

MatFluor said:


> I have mine on a USB Hub, where two other things are plugged in as well...I didn't have any problems so far.





whinecellar said:


> I have both of mine connected to an Anker 10-port hub, along with a handful of other things – and I haven’t had a single problem. I think they’re just being cautious about what they guarantee.


Great, I'm waiting for mine, so, I had a doubt, thanks for your answers MatFluor and Whinecellar


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## benmrx

Wow..., I haven't been able to get through this whole thread yet, but this thing is AMAZE-BALLS!!! I recently switched over from Quickeys to Keyboard Maestro, and if I can get the Stream Deck to work with Keyboard Maestro, then game over. FWIW, I've not dug into what this can do as far as building macros, but I'm assuming it can't do things like variables, multiple clipboards, user prompts, etc? I've built some redonkulous macros in KM that do different things in Cubase based on what window I'm in, or what's selected, or what certain pixel values on the screen have, etc.

[EDIT]
OK, got a Stream Deck in the ol' Amazon cart. Just want to see how it goes, but will most likely order another one next week. The real question is..., do I add some Pallete Gear modules. Not to stray off topic, but I soooo wish the Pallete Gear modules had a little scribble strip, so you could enter some text that displayed what that specific module was set to control...., and it would switch based on varioius 'layouts'.


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## tmhuud

whinecellar said:


> Second one just came today - already working great - and 2 of them side by side just happened to perfectly fit the stand I built for one of my iPads. Loving it!



Really liking this unit. Damnit Jim, I'm thinking of a second one myself.


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## whinecellar

tmhuud said:


> Really liking this unit. Damnit Jim, I'm thinking of a second one myself.



Ha - well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you, bud. Enjoy.


----------



## playz123

Just picked up one of these yesterday and what a great little device. Very fond of being able to select the appropriate profile just by opening a program, and even being able to create a new message in mail with the correct address. I found out how to back up Profiles as well, but they could provide a better manual though.


Question: My device is connected to a powered hub as well, meaning that when the computer shuts down, the logo remains on on the Stream Deck. Anyone found any problems leaving it connected like that for long periods??


----------



## Grégory Betton

Help please! Has someone managed to use hot keys (such as ctrl + shift + Q) in Logic Pro X without triggering the very annoying white flashing screen?

cc @whinecellar


----------



## Grégory Betton

Issue has been fixed in the 3.3.0 version. Update patch is available. Youhou!


----------



## tabulius

When I first saw this, the unit seemed limited and expensive for what it is. But reading this thread I quess I was wrong. Wish there was 5 x 5 or 4 x 5 rows to add more stuff.


----------



## Grégory Betton

Got the same impression when I first saw it. 15 configuration buttons is great, but a bit limited... and then, I tested it and discovered profiles and directories, and all the limitations are gone! 

Very happy with it. The only matter so far is that there is sometimes a bit of latency when stacking a lot of key commands in a row.


----------



## whinecellar

tabulius said:


> When I first saw this, the unit seemed limited and expensive for what it is. But reading this thread I quess I was wrong. Wish there was 5 x 5 or 4 x 5 rows to add more stuff.



Having 2 of them is absolute magic. I have my right one become a secondary set while the left one is my primary for the app in focus. However, for apps with tools - like a DAW or Photoshop - one becomes a tool palette. Best money I’ve spent this whole year!


----------



## tmhuud

Very nice Jim. I should add a 'no overlap' button. are you using the SD in single layer?


----------



## whinecellar

tmhuud said:


> Very nice Jim. I should add a 'no overlap' button. are you using the SD in single layer?



Thanks bud! No, I’m actually using two layers on each – but having a pair of them of course gives me that many more buttons per layer and alleviates a ton of layer jumping


----------



## tmhuud

Ah- I see. Is the top left button on the second controller used to jump a level higher? Or do you double tap buttons to advance a layer? Sorry for being lazy. I should consult the manual. For some reason I thought one had to have one button available to jump layers.


----------



## whinecellar

tmhuud said:


> Ah- I see. Is the top left button on the second controller used to jump a level higher? Or do you double tap buttons to advance a layer? Sorry for being lazy. I should consult the manual. For some reason I thought one had to have one button available to jump layers.



Yes, in that pic, the top left button shows that you're looking at the 2nd layer; you just tap that once to go a level higher (or lower if you're on the top level). But 90% of the time I don't do any layer jumping - some careful thought about layout gets me almost everything I want.


----------



## benmrx

So...., I made an overview type video for this unit about 2 months ago and then got busy with various projects. Honestly..., best money spent this year for getting shit done. There's a few not so obvious features that I think really make this unit stand out. I'm using it with Pro Tools, Cubase, Izotope RX, FMOD, WWise, Unity, Premiere, After Effects, Excel...., pretty much every single application I use now has a 'profile'. And using this unit 'in tandem' with Keyboard Maestro is just pure bliss. 

If my schedule stays as it is right now (hahahaha) I'll take the time to finish the video and upload it this week.


----------



## Grégory Betton

I will share here my personal presets I'm still working on for Logic Pro X if someone is interested.

I'm more using profiles than directories so far, because I wanted to change the back button position. It's working seamlessly.


----------



## samphony

Glad that Elgato implemented macros with the new updates. This way logic users can stack key commands onto one button. Very cool.

I gave mine back because that feature was missing but legato got this implemented very quickly so I think I’ll get a pair of them as well.


----------



## Grégory Betton

samphony said:


> Glad that Legato implemented macros with the new updates. This way logic users can stack key commands onto one button. Very cool.
> 
> I gave mine back because that feature was missing but legato got this implemented very quickly so I think I’ll get a pair of them as well.



It's *ELGATO*, as this (in Spanish):


----------



## samphony

Grégory Betton said:


> It's *ELGATO*, as this (in Spanish):


I know but auto correct did the rest :o)


----------



## SirkusPi

Grégory Betton said:


> I will share here my personal presets I'm still working on for Logic Pro X if someone is interested.
> 
> I'm more using profiles than directories so far, because I wanted to change the back button position. It's working seamlessly.



Yes please! I'm a Logic user and on the cusp of buying this; having some "ready to go" Logic presets would be terrific, if you're willing to share.


----------



## Grégory Betton

SirkusPi said:


> Yes please! I'm a Logic user and on the cusp of buying this; having some "ready to go" Logic presets would be terrific, if you're willing to share.


Keep in mind there'll be eminently personal and may not suit your need (plus I'm designing the icons and not really a good designer ), but they could be a good starting point indeed. I'll keep posted everyone who likes this message.


----------



## Grégory Betton

@Jake, @N.Caffrey, @SirkusPi, @Carlos Lopez-Real, and every other users who might me interested, here's my personal Streamdeck's profiles for Logic Pro X. I've also joined the key commands file based on the US startup one, plus a sketch file containing all the icons I've designed for these profiles.

Bear in mind that this is highly personal and may not suit your workflow, so feel free to adapt it as much as you need!

Considering the time I've spent (at least 20 hours), I hope this may have some value to you and help you save yours


----------



## SirkusPi

Thanks! I haven't even quite gotten around to purchasing the Stream Deck yet, but I've already downloaded these so I'll be ready to go (or at least have a great starting point) once I do. I appreciate your sharing all of your hard work!


----------



## Carlos Lopez-Real

Thank you for sharing these @Grégory Betton, it's very generous of you. I look forward to seeing how you've organised things.


----------



## Grégory Betton

Carlos Lopez-Real said:


> Thank you for sharing these @Grégory Betton, it's very generous of you. I look forward to seeing how you've organised things.



Well, mostly by category, so far. Plus there's some missing part (like setting markers or navigate into movies...). But usage will determine the creation of new "mixed" profiles I think, for instance some with navigation tools and locators settings. Feel free to make this your own and revert to me with feedback. I'm very curious about other's workflows.


----------



## Wunderhorn

BTW - The discount ($99) for Streamdeck on Amazon is back - at least for today. Ordered it, I am curious...


----------



## dbudimir

Wunderhorn said:


> BTW - The discount ($99) for Streamdeck on Amazon is back - at least for today. Ordered it, I am curious...


Glad you mentioned this. Great deal. Thanks


----------



## Dietz

Sytem requirements say "Windows 10". Anybody successfully tried Stream Deck with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit?


----------



## Grégory Betton

Dietz said:


> Sytem requirements say "Windows 10". Anybody successfully tried Stream Deck with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit?


It doesn't work. They tried it in my office but had to upgrade windows.


----------



## Killiard

Wunderhorn said:


> BTW - The discount ($99) for Streamdeck on Amazon is back - at least for today. Ordered it, I am curious...



Thanks! I never got round to picking up one of these last year. Just ordered one here in the UK for £89.


----------



## mark.warman

I'm also in the UK but am only seeing the 6-button version available on Amazon for £80. Do you have a link to that great price for the 15-button unit, Jordan?


----------



## Killiard

Ah, sorry. It would appear that they’ve put the price back up in the past hour!! 
That’s a bit strange!


----------



## Dietz

Grégory Betton said:


> It doesn't work. They tried it in my office but had to upgrade windows.


 That's a pity. Thanks for the first-hand information, Grégory!


----------



## Markus Kohlprath

I just bought it for 129,-€ in the german amazon shop. Was hoping for 99,- but didn’t want to wait longer. So at least a little deal.


----------



## Markus Kohlprath

Grégory Betton said:


> It's *ELGATO*, as this (in Spanish):


Probably a musicians autocorrect


----------



## Michael Antrum

It was £ 89 in amazon.co.uk this morning, but went back up. I very nearly ordered one, but had a suspicion it would end up in the back of the drawer....


----------



## SomeGuy

Looks like the sale is over so I can do more research. What is the main advantage of this vs an iPad running lemur or metagrid?


----------



## tmhuud

Tactile response? (If your into that)


----------



## playz123

The Stream Deck is definitely worth purchasing. Been using one in the studio (Mac Pro) for a year now, and yesterday I bought another one for my office (PC). Compact, solidly built, versatile and fun to program and use.


----------



## Grégory Betton

Just for those who haven't seen it yet, I've created some (far from perfect) Logic Pro X profiles for the Streamdeck. Hope it may help you: https://github.com/grebett/streamdeck


----------



## dbudimir

Nice to have an actual Black Friday weekend unboxing rather than just downloaded libraries!!!!


----------



## sostenuto

playz123 said:


> The Stream Deck is definitely worth purchasing. Been using one in the studio (Mac Pro) for a year now, and yesterday I bought another one for my office (PC). Compact, solidly built, versatile and fun to program and use.



Looking hard at Stream Deck (Win10 Pro here), but not yet getting a good handle on what specific functions are 'no brainers' for it. I run (2) 27" quality monitors and tons of content down on Taskbar.
No criticism, just wanting to make sure I'm not adding something very close to functionality already in place. What 'key' (15) functions are obvious for you ?


----------



## playz123

sostenuto said:


> Looking hard at Stream Deck (Win10 Pro here), but not yet getting a good handle on what specific functions are 'no brainers' for it. I run (2) 27" quality monitors and tons of content down on Taskbar.
> No criticism, just wanting to make sure I'm not adding something very close to functionality already in place. What 'key' (15) functions are obvious for you ?



I'll just respond to the music related aspects via my Mac, and not about what I plan to do on a PC. 
On the first level, the 15 buttons are set to open various programs including Cubase, go to web sites like this one, create e-mails, stream music etc. When I then click on the Cubase button on that screen, Cubase opens and as well it takes me to another screen level where I have all kinds of commands for Cubase programmed. (e.g. Start, Stop, Record, next Marker, Pencil Tool, Scissors Tool etc. etc.). If I click on the Logic Pro button on the first screen it then opens Logic Pro and a third level of buttons where I have similar commands programmed as per Cubase. So, Stream Deck is not a 'one-trick pony', and once one gets used to just hitting buttons to do things instead of typing in key commands and clicking around all the time with a mouse, it's value becomes even more apparent. I have the Stream deck on my left and my mouse on the right of my computer keyboard.

I've made my own icons in Photoshop and if you are able to do that, you can get some really cool results, use actual program logos and even make ones with a person's picture. The ones on the Elgato site are usable, but I much prefer my own. I just make them about 400x 400 pixels at 72 dpi and that is more than sufficient. Hope that helps. 

PS: Here's a button image for V.I. Control:


----------



## sostenuto

playz123 said:


> ********************
> On the first level, the 15 buttons are set to open various programs including Cubase, go to web sites like this one, create e-mails, stream music etc. When I then click on the Cubase button on that screen, Cubase opens and as well it takes me to another screen level where I have all kinds of commands for Cubase programmed. (e.g. Start, Stop, Record, next Marker, Pencil Tool, Scissors Tool etc. etc.). **** So, Stream Deck is not a 'one-trick pony', and once one gets used to just hitting buttons to do things instead of typing in key commands and clicking around all the time with a mouse, it's value becomes even more apparent. I have the Stream deck on my left and my mouse on the right of my computer keyboard.



Great ! Continued to follow posts, and Folder levels is now clear. Unlocks powerful capabilities.
I use Keyboard /Trackball Mouse mostly, but now using Wacom Intuos Tablet /Stylus with impressive speed and accuracy. Some Architects, Digital Designers advance to using the Wacom all day for all interactive functions. Takes trust, commitment, time, but full DAW usage seems attractive.

THX


----------



## Mystic

Got one as well. Looking forward to customizing the hell out of it.


----------



## MartinH.

sostenuto said:


> Takes trust, commitment, time, but full DAW usage seems attractive.


Why? Just curious. I've been using Wacom tablets for more than half my life and still only really use them for drawing or playing games like Diablo / Path of Exile where you don't need a high degree of clicking accuracy. For pretty much all else I prefer a mouse. Are you on a Mac maybe?


----------



## DANIELE

Mystic said:


> Got one as well. Looking forward to customizing the hell out of it.



Same here, I was spotting it for a long time. I can't wait to use it on many things.


----------



## ilmai

I'm going to replace my MIDI keyboard with a Linnstrument soon, and have been looking into a solution to replace transport buttons and some other functions I'm going to lose in the process. The Stream Deck looks like a really interesting option that would be of more general use than a dedicated transport controller.

I have one doubt though: one reason I prefer transport buttons to keyboard shortcuts is that sometimes keyboard commands are eaten by a VST if a plugin window is in focus. I haven't tested when it does or doesn't happen, so I'm not sure if it's about my OS (Windows), my DAW (Bitwig), the specific plugin in question or if it's a more general problem. Have you found this to be a problem when using the Stream Deck, or do you have any workarounds for the situation? Apparently the Stream Deck doesn't support sending MCU commands?


----------



## sostenuto

MartinH. said:


> Why? Just curious. I've been using Wacom tablets for more than half my life and still only really use them for drawing or playing games like Diablo / Path of Exile where you don't need a high degree of clicking accuracy. For pretty much all else I prefer a mouse. Are you on a Mac maybe?



PC /Win10 Pro /Reaper. Bought it for painting with Corel Painter. 
Posted mostly to see if others were using something like Wacom for music-related acitvity. Guess not .......... 
I'm still amazed by how extensively some Users with demanding accuracy and efficiency are able to use Wacom for almost all daily work .....


----------



## MartinH.

sostenuto said:


> PC /Win10 Pro /Reaper. Bought it for painting with Corel Painter.
> Posted mostly to see if others were using something like Wacom for music-related acitvity. Guess not ..........
> I'm still amazed by how extensively some Users with demanding accuracy and efficiency are able to use Wacom for almost all daily work .....



I've seen a trailer for a course where someone used an apple stylus on an ipad (or similar, don't know what exactly it was) to draw notes on note lines, like in a drawing program, not a notation program. And I thought that has to be one of the most pretentious things I've ever seen (no offense intended)...

But now that you mention it I wonder if it would be possible to somehow read pen pressure data in Reaper and use it to set the velocity of notes that you draw. That would kind of make sense for the hand full of people that use a tablet and don't play in their midi data with a keyboard.


----------



## DANIELE

I have to questions:

1) Do you know where I could find some icon packs for this?
2) Is there a way to change contextually with a window focus? For example I'd like to change automatically the keys based on the focus in Reaper.


----------



## MatFluor

DANIELE said:


> I have to questions:
> 
> 1) Do you know where I could find some icon packs for this?
> 2) Is there a way to change contextually with a window focus? For example I'd like to change automatically the keys based on the focus in Reaper.



1) There are icon packs floating around somewhere, on the elgato subreddit or somewhere else. I got one, but don't remember where I got it from.

2) Yes, you can define that. It switches automatically on window focus if you want it to.


----------



## DANIELE

MatFluor said:


> 1) There are icon packs floating around somewhere, on the elgato subreddit or somewhere else. I got one, but don't remember where I got it from.
> 
> 2) Yes, you can define that. It switches automatically on window focus if you want it to.




1) Ok, if someone has that please share!

2) I know that I can switch profile based on active application but can I do this inside an application? I'd like to show different layouts when I focused on the mixer instead of arranger or midi editor and so on....are you sure I can do this?


----------



## MatFluor

DANIELE said:


> 1) Ok, if someone has that please share!
> 
> 2) I know that I can switch profile based on active application but can I do this inside an application? I'd like to show different layouts when I focused on the mixer instead of arranger or midi editor and so on....are you sure I can do this?



Ah, misunderstood then - no, only on active application (as far as I know)


----------



## Olfirf

Stream deck could really be useful, if it was possible to ...

... send midi or OSC by pushing those buttons.

... receive text or images to display on the buttons. By that, I mean not a static look, including a tree of sub menues, but rather on the fly change of the displayed images.

If both where possible, you could use stream deck to display and switch you keyswitches for Kontakt libraries. And these could be automatically updated on track selection. That already works for me on Lemur, but I would find it more appealing to get physical buttons under my hands. This is the first affordable OLED buttons I have seen. Unfortunately, it seems like you would have to dive deeply into hacking and programming, to be able doing what I described.


----------



## samphony

Would be great if ELGATO Gaming could release an iPad app. I would pay for that.


----------



## benmrx

FWIW I use Stream Deck in combination with Keyboard Maestro for sending MIDI messages. 

I could not live without the Stream Deck at this point. Especially when it comes to game audio implementation. It’s just such a slick workflow.


----------



## Audio Birdi

samphony said:


> Would be great if ELGATO Gaming could release an iPad app. I would pay for that.


I would too! if they bring the functionality to Android and iOS, it'd be an instant purchase! :D


----------



## sostenuto

The following here makes this seem an obvious addition … right now! Selfish uncertainty is what are '*no brainer*' Win10 Pro / Reaper 'starters' for (15) Buttons _ for $136. ? If this gets settled, no doubt many other personal apps will be obvious.

Home studio, no 'live' functionality, no space issues, comprehend 'folder' concept, yet too constrained by keyboard /mouse-trackball addiction …..  
El Gato, with their global perspective, must surely have some generic 'templates' in mind for Win /OSX /x,y,z DAW(s), and many others.

Ready to purchase and enjoy, with > (15) effective /efficient Button ideas.
_( No Gaming pls )_


----------



## Land of Missing Parts

Power Elgato!


----------



## ProfoundSilence

Land of Missing Parts said:


> Power Elgato!


nobodies cat should be powered. 

assuming you meant "el gato"

cats are devious enough as is, no reason to empower them


To the real though, this thing looks REALLY cool.


----------



## playz123

ProfoundSilence said:


> nobodies cat should be powered.
> 
> assuming you meant "el gato"
> 
> cats are devious enough as is, no reason to empower them
> 
> 
> To the real though, this thing looks REALLY cool.


It is really cool....I have two of them...one in the studio on my Mac and the other in my office on a PC. Real time saver too!


----------



## sostenuto

playz123 said:


> It is really cool....I have two of them...one in the studio on my Mac and the other in my office on a PC. Real time saver too!



I doubt your music-related activities are far from some level of mainstream. 
Looking forward to any further info you might add, specifically for PC & Windows. 
I'm always open to real 'tools' that provide efficiency and convenience, just not being very insightful in terms of initial setup and usage of Stream Deck. My bad, so far.


----------



## playz123

The setup on a PC is just as easy as on a Mac. It does take a little time to program all the buttons, especially if you have two or three profiles, but the fun part comes if you make you own icons in Photoshop or whatever. One may also find, that as one works with the Stream Deck, one may shift buttons around to more logical places than in the beginning. Because I'd set up the one in the studio previously, the only time consuming thing for the second one was making the icons I wanted.


----------



## sostenuto

Cool !! Long ago I went down the Picture Window Pro path and still use it …. despite the originator now retired and no ongoing updates. Haven't done Icons, but will check. Lots out there I can make-do for a start. 
I run dual 24" /27" monitors on both Desktop DAW(s). Task bars are now to (3) rows and could shift key tasks to Stream Deck and learn. 
Only one Thread recently on Reaper Forum, but found this Link interesting.

http://www.stephenschappler.com/2018/02/16/using-a-stream-deck-for-game-audio-production/

THX for Replying! I will monitor for more info and drop some holiday hints to family …


----------



## playz123

sostenuto said:


> Cool !! Long ago I went down the Picture Window Pro path and still use it …. despite the originator now retired and no ongoing updates. Haven't done Icons, but will check. Lots out there I can make-do for a start.
> I run dual 24" /27" monitors on both Desktop DAW(s). Task bars are now to (3) rows and could shift key tasks to Stream Deck and learn.
> Only one Thread recently on Reaper Forum, but found this Link interesting.
> 
> http://www.stephenschappler.com/2018/02/16/using-a-stream-deck-for-game-audio-production/
> 
> THX for Replying! I will monitor for more info and drop some holiday hints to family …


There are icons that can be used and customized on the Elgato site, so no one HAS to make them, but I just found that making them in Photoshop gave me exactly what I wanted. Both the Stream Deck and the Mini were on sale on Black Friday, but before that the price was staying fairly consistent. Hope Santa grants your wish!


----------



## samphony

Audio Birdi said:


> I would too! if they bring the functionality to Android and iOS, it'd be an instant purchase! :D


Let them know via their Twitter channel!!!


----------



## ag75

Nice little review from Scoringnotes.com 

https://www.scoringnotes.com/reviews/boost-your-workflow-a-stream-deck-review/


----------



## natronica

Thanks for all the recommendations. I just made the jump and I’m loving it so far. Does anyone know if it’s possible to create a button that combines a folder AND an action?
For instance: I’d love to be able to click a folder to open my violin articulations while at the same time setting the violin track to record enable.


----------



## natronica

FYI - just got off the phone with Elgato tech support. A button that combines a folder and an action isn't currently possible, but they're adding a request for that in the future.


----------



## Audio Birdi

The new Stream Deck XL and Stream Deck Mobile got released yesterday! :D

Elgato Stream Deck XL
https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/stream-deck-xl

Elgato Stream Deck Mobile
https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/stream-deck-mobile

Exactly what I was looking for! wanted to get 2 stream decks but now just can get the huge one :D Ever since Quadro app for iOS got discontinued, there wasn't a viable solution until the Stream Deck Series .


----------



## MisteR

Subscription only.


----------



## DANIELE

Audio Birdi said:


> The new Stream Deck XL and Stream Deck Mobile got released yesterday! :D
> 
> Elgato Stream Deck XL
> https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/stream-deck-xl
> 
> Elgato Stream Deck Mobile
> https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/stream-deck-mobile
> 
> Exactly what I was looking for! wanted to get 2 stream decks but now just can get the huge one :D Ever since Quadro app for iOS got discontinued, there wasn't a viable solution until the Stream Deck Series .



I'll wait for the black friday for the 32 buttons one. Now I have the 15 buttons one.


----------



## Mystic

Audio Birdi said:


> The new Stream Deck XL and Stream Deck Mobile got released yesterday! :D
> 
> Elgato Stream Deck XL
> https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/stream-deck-xl
> 
> Elgato Stream Deck Mobile
> https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/stream-deck-mobile
> 
> Exactly what I was looking for! wanted to get 2 stream decks but now just can get the huge one :D Ever since Quadro app for iOS got discontinued, there wasn't a viable solution until the Stream Deck Series .


Oof $250. If they do another sale, I might pick one up. We'll see. I'd need to see how large it is too. As nice as my Stream Deck is, I think having one too large could be problematic as well so I might go with two regulars instead. I really like mine.


----------



## Land of Missing Parts

Stream Deck is $100 for Prime Day


----------



## DANIELE

I'm very tempted to buy another one but I think I'll wait for the XL to be on sale since it has 32 buttons that are more than 15 + 15.


----------



## sostenuto

I may grab (2) at this price …. (2) Desktop PC DAW(s) _OR_ more footprint versatility on #1 DAW


----------



## Garry

Thanks to everyone for the recommendations on this great thread, and especially to @whinecellar for starting it off. Just ordered mine...


----------



## whinecellar

Glad you’re all digging it! Can’t believe the $99 special on the new one!


----------



## tack

Impulse bought thanks to Prime Day. I don't exactly know if I need it yet, but I know I'll have fun playing with it.


----------



## JeffvR

Not sure if anyone else has this problem. But when I have a more "complicated" shortcut like Ctrl+Shift+H, my computer tends to do only the Ctrl+Shift. I have to press the button a couple of times before it get's to the Ctrl+Shift+H command


----------



## tack

JeffvR said:


> But when I have a more "complicated" shortcut like Ctrl+Shift+H, my computer tends to do only the Ctrl+Shift. I have to press the button a couple of times before it get's to the Ctrl+Shift+H command


You might try the BarRaider Super Macro plugin? I'm using it for some pretty funky keyboard shortcuts (to trigger a Bome translator so I can inject MIDI as if it came from a control surface), such as {{rwin}{rctrl}{ralt}{1}} and it seems to be working reliably so far. It has a lot more flexible macro capabilities too than the built-in Multi Action.

Is anyone aware of a means of switching Stream Deck profiles via global keyboard shortcut (or any other programmatic means)? I know it can change profiles based on foreground application but that's not flexible enough for what I'm looking for. I want it to change profiles based on what part of my DAW is focused (MIDI editor, mixer panel, etc). I can take care of the "do [something] when thing is focused" part, but just need to understand what possible [somethings] exist. As far as I've been able to tell, it's not possible.


----------



## Jdiggity1

tack said:


> Is anyone aware of a means of switching Stream Deck profiles via global keyboard shortcut (or any other programmatic means)? I know it can change profiles based on foreground application but that's not flexible enough for what I'm looking for. I want it to change profiles based on what part of my DAW is focused (MIDI editor, mixer panel, etc). I can take care of the "do [something] when thing is focused" part, but just need to understand what possible [somethings] exist. As far as I've been able to tell, it's not possible.


The only way to change profile that I know of is by using their Switch Profile button, but that would not have any benefit over just using folders.
Folders allow you to go back to the previous screen, where profiles do not. Unless you keep all available profiles as buttons inside each profile. Like so:





But then you're limited to only 10 buttons in each profile as opposed to 14 if you used folders.


----------



## JJP

Jdiggity1 said:


> The only way to change profile that I know of is by using their Switch Profile button, but that would not have any benefit over just using folders.
> Folders allow you to go back to the previous screen, where profiles do not. Unless you keep all available profiles as buttons inside each profile. Like so:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But then you're limited to only 10 buttons in each profile as opposed to 14 if you used folders.


I set up a Keyboad Maestro macro that switches profiles via the Stream Deck menu based on certain triggers.


----------



## Jdiggity1

JJP said:


> I set up a Keyboad Maestro macro that switches profiles via the Stream Deck menu based on certain triggers.


Always gotta one-up me, dont ya JJP.
FWIW, keyboard maestro is not on Windows. So that's not an option for me. So there, I win!
Or... Lose. Hm...


----------



## tack

JJP said:


> I set up a Keyboad Maestro macro that switches profiles via the Stream Deck menu based on certain triggers.


I could do that with Autohotkey too, but AFAICT when the Stream Deck software is open the automatic profile change based on foreground application stops working. (Which makes sense if you're actively building your profile layouts, you probably don't want it to switch around on you.) I'd really like to preserve that functionality but just augment it by doing extra things when my DAW is in the foreground.

Anyway, I asked on their subreddit. If nothing else maybe it will convert to a feature request to allow assigning global hotkeys to change profiles.


----------



## Garry

Oh WOW, just wow! This thing is frickin awesome!!!! I don't know how many of these things I'm going to buy, but I think I want one in every room!!

@whinecellar - they should be giving you commission on these things, and if not, go buy shares in the company! Huge thank you for the recommendation; this strokes that geeky itch in me like a dog having his belly scratched!!


----------



## chillbot

Any of you using this with Cakewalk/Bandlab/Sonar? Would love to compare notes...


----------



## benmrx

Anyone else get the info on the update for Keyboard Maestro v9. It has a new plugin for the Stream Deck!!! 

Things are about to get interesting.


----------



## JJP

I"m using it. Just reprogrammed a few things. The real benefit is that you can set a Stream Deck key as a trigger for a macro. No need to have the SD trigger a hotkey combination or AppleScript which in turn triggers a macro.

However, I am seeing some benefits of the AppleScript route because you don't have to keep track of all the key IDs when changing things. This can get a little cumbersome if you have multiple profiles, folders, etc.


----------



## Stevie

tack said:


> I could do that with Autohotkey too, but AFAICT when the Stream Deck software is open the automatic profile change based on foreground application stops working. (Which makes sense if you're actively building your profile layouts, you probably don't want it to switch around on you.) I'd really like to preserve that functionality but just augment it by doing extra things when my DAW is in the foreground.
> 
> Anyway, I asked on their subreddit. If nothing else maybe it will convert to a feature request to allow assigning global hotkeys to change profiles.



Can you point me to that thread? I want to add my voice as well. This feature would make Stream Deck even better.


----------



## tack

Stevie said:


> Can you point me to that thread? I want to add my voice as well. This feature would make Stream Deck even better.


There's no native capability. They invited me to write a plugin. 

The Reddit thread is here. I think a basic global key binding to profiles would be really useful.


----------



## Stevie

tack said:


> There's no native capability. They invited me to write a plugin.
> 
> The Reddit thread is here. I think a basic global key binding to profiles would be really useful.



Doh! Well, if I had the chops, I would definitely jump in to write a plugin. Same as you, I would love to have the ability to switch to different layouts, when the ME has focus or Mediabay, etc...

Actually, having command line support would also help in this case.


However, have you found a different way to switch layers depending on the window focus inn Reaper, maybe with AHK?


----------



## Stevie

someone wrote a plugin "profileswitcher" which will switch a profile according the focused window (name), however I couldn't get it working. I hope the author can fix it:








GitHub - sbelectronics/streamdeck: smbaker's streamdeck plugins


smbaker's streamdeck plugins. Contribute to sbelectronics/streamdeck development by creating an account on GitHub.




github.com


----------



## Grégory Betton

Stevie said:


> someone wrote a plugin "profileswitcher" which will switch a profile according the focused window (name), however I couldn't get it working. I hope the author can fix it:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GitHub - sbelectronics/streamdeck: smbaker's streamdeck plugins
> 
> 
> smbaker's streamdeck plugins. Contribute to sbelectronics/streamdeck development by creating an account on GitHub.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> github.com


What is it supposed to do? Isn’t the streamdeck app already able to switch between profiles regarding currently active apps?


----------



## Stevie

The plugin will scan the current window that has focus and change the profile automatically. With Stream Deck itself, you can only switch manually.


----------



## Sears Poncho

Count me in the Stream Deck fan club. I use it with Sibelius, bought "Notation Express" for $29. Huge time saver.


----------



## Land of Missing Parts

Stevie said:


> With Stream Deck itself, you can only switch manually.


My Stream Deck app switches automatically, whenever I switch to a new application. I don't have to do it manually.


----------



## sbarrettmusic

Stevie said:


> The plugin will scan the current window that has focus and change the profile automatically. With Stream Deck itself, you can only switch manually.



If you have the Configure Stream Deck window open, it will only switch manually. But if you close that window it will automatically switch profiles when you switch focus to different applications.


----------



## jononotbono

I just ordered a 15 button stream deck. But I actually ordered it so I can control video streaming. I’m sure for DAW use it’s amazing. And I say that with quite a good understanding of using touchscreens. Excited and know I will want at least 10 more. To sit by the ipads. And the Raven. And all the other shit that I Hope speeds something up 😂


----------



## Stevie

Land of Missing Parts said:


> My Stream Deck app switches automatically, whenever I switch to a new application. I don't have to do it manually.



Sorry, I missed an important detail. I should have been more specific.
This plugin will switch profiles WITHIN an application. So, when you open the MIDI editor in your DAW, you could have a different profile as when you focus the arrange window or score editor, etc...


----------



## Stevie

Has anyone tried the plugin and does it work for you?


----------



## sbarrettmusic

I would love to try it out, but I am on Mac


----------



## Saxer

sbarrettmusic said:


> I would love to try it out, but I am on Mac


I use it on Mac (Hardware)


----------



## sbarrettmusic

Saxer said:


> I use it on Mac (Hardware)


I meant the plugin Stevie posted. I love my Stream Deck!


----------



## jononotbono

Mine hasn't arrived yet but I'm starting to think I should have ordered the XL version. I was being sensible for the first time in my life.


----------



## Simon Schrenk

A friend of mine hooked it up with KeyboardMaestro in his Mac to achieve something like profile switching. There is an integration of Stream Deck into KM where you can address each key of the StreamDeck and attach it to an action. He set it up so he has different actions for the keys when different windows are active. So basically he just presses the same buttons on his stream deck, but KM react differently to them depending on the open window or program. (The pics for the buttons are also set via KM)


----------



## Grégory Betton

Stevie said:


> Sorry, I missed an important detail. I should have been more specific.
> This plugin will switch profiles WITHIN an application. So, when you open the MIDI editor in your DAW, you could have a different profile as when you focus the arrange window or score editor, etc...


Ok this is cool! Now I want it :/ But on a Mac too!



Simon Schrenk said:


> A friend of mine hooked it up with KeyboardMaestro in his Mac to achieve something like profile switching. There is an integration of Stream Deck into KM where you can address each key of the StreamDeck and attach it to an action. He set it up so he has different actions for the keys when different windows are active. So basically he just presses the same buttons on his stream deck, but KM react differently to them depending on the open window or program. (The pics for the buttons are also set via KM)



Yeah, KM usage alongside the StreamDeck has a huge potential! I use it for instance to trigger a macro that switches MIDI outputs in TransMidifier (so that my SL Fadercontrol V2 could control Logic and Studio One alternatively). Everything seems possible, but it takes a bit of time to find the correct workflow and configure the macros.


----------



## Simon Schrenk

Grégory Betton said:


> Ok this is cool! Now I want it :/ But on a Mac too!
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, KM usage alongside the StreamDeck has a huge potential! I use it for instance to trigger a macro that switches MIDI outputs in TransMidifier (so that my SL Fadercontrol V2 could control Logic and Studio One alternatively). Everything seems possible, but it takes a bit of time to find the correct workflow and configure the macros.



Absolutely! It's THE killer duo. I can trigger all macros and midi logical presets etc directly in KeyboardMaestro without any set up of key commands and those KM macros can be directly triggered from a KM plugin for StreamDeck which lets you select your macros directly without any key commands as well.. so I never have to worry about any key switches being doubled or anything... I can just change something, without worrying... it's incredible... but the one thing is missing, and that is switch profiles from outside of StreamDeck... that would be amazing to have custom profiles for your piano roll , your mixer etc... I've already written a request to Elgato about it... but if it's just me (or us composers) who would use the feature, it might not be enough for them to consider it...


----------



## jononotbono

I can see myself getting 4 XLs and just getting rid of the touch screen full stop. Nothing beats physical buttons and there won’t be any bullshit WiFi adhoc connections. Actually touching a button and it instantly working with no latency and actually not having to look and see if you pressed the right thing? Never 😂


----------



## Grégory Betton

Well, it's maybe me but I don't feel the StreamDeck's buttons to be very reactive. I won't use them as a primary keyboard for instance. They do the job for what they're designed though: customisable physical inputs you hit once in a while, but not 4 times every second


----------



## Simon Schrenk

jononotbono said:


> I can see myself getting 4 XLs and just getting rid of the touch screen full stop. Nothing beats physical buttons and there won’t be any bullshit WiFi adhoc connections. Actually touching a button and it instantly working with no latency and actually not having to look and see if you pressed the right thing? Never 😂


that was exactly the reason for me to switch from meta grid to that. Instant feedback, it has something joyful to press those buttons :D it's weird ^^ 
And the combination with KM to never worry about key commands was the best thing!!


----------



## bvaughn0402

I like KM a lot ... but when it comes to audio stuff, I'm still wondering what it would be useful for.

What are all you guys using KM for?


----------



## JJP

Grégory Betton said:


> They do the job for what they're designed though: customisable physical inputs you hit once in a while, but not 4 times every second


This is very true. The added layer of software may be partly to blame for the fact that it is not as "immediate" as a typical keyboard.


----------



## charlieclouser

jononotbono said:


> I can see myself getting 4 XLs and just getting rid of the touch screen full stop. Nothing beats physical buttons and there won’t be any bullshit WiFi adhoc connections. Actually touching a button and it instantly working with no latency and actually not having to look and see if you pressed the right thing? Never 😂



I didn't see any info on the Elegato website regarding using multiple StreamDeck units at the same time, although I didn't dig too deep into the documentation or anything.

Are multiple units expressly supported? Anybody doing this (on Mac)?


----------



## JJP

bvaughn0402 said:


> What are all you guys using KM for?



All sorts of things. I have a ProTools macro that I trigger when I open a file from a client that changes a whole bunch of settings like the transport display, click, etc to settings that I use for my work.

Open a file, trigger the macro, and get to work.



charlieclouser said:


> Are multiple units expressly supported? Anybody doing this (on Mac)?



I do this. I have an XL and a basic stream deck. For example in Finale, I have tools set up on the XL. When I select a certain tool, a sub-pallete of tools and macros appears on the smaller stream deck.


----------



## jononotbono

charlieclouser said:


> I didn't see any info on the Elegato website regarding using multiple StreamDeck units at the same time, although I didn't dig too deep into the documentation or anything.
> 
> Are multiple units expressly supported? Anybody doing this (on Mac)?


I know you can definitely on PC (officially supported with Stream Deck 2). I’ve just emailed Elgato asking if 4 XL Stream Decks can be used on OSX. Will share the reply when I get one.

The thought of having physical buttons again is a joyous thought indeed.


----------



## Anthony

Is the Stream Deck still being sold by Elgato? The Shop Now button is grayed-out on their webpage. I tried using different browsers and devices, but no luck. Could this be due to COVID-19?


----------



## Simon Schrenk

bvaughn0402 said:


> I like KM a lot ... but when it comes to audio stuff, I'm still wondering what it would be useful for.
> 
> What are all you guys using KM for?


I trigger all my Midi Logical Presets with KM. I also set up to load my plugins on my tracks and load them with the correct preset, or choose presets with a palette before executing the macro. Visibility is also handled through KM with a Palette.


----------



## Vonk

jononotbono said:


> The thought of having physical buttons again is a joyous thought indeed.


I'll be intested to see if you can make Streamdeck as clever and flexible as Metagrid has been up to now. Metagrid was, in part, specifically designed with Cubase in mind. Streamdeck is not and I've not much enjoyed trying to adapt it with new PLE and macro generic remotes. I gave up because I was just duplicating what I could already achieve with metagrid, and apart from being tactile, it wasn't adding anything. And an ipad is useful for many other things , in many other places.....
I do use the Streamdeck, for Davinci Resolve, Photoshop and Sibelius, just not Cubase. Keep us posted!


----------



## Simon Schrenk

Vonk said:


> I'll be intested to see if you can make Streamdeck as clever and flexible as Metagrid has been up to now. Metagrid was, in part, specifically designed with Cubase in mind. Streamdeck is not and I've not much enjoyed trying to adapt it with new PLE and macro generic remotes. I gave up because I was just duplicating what I could already achieve with metagrid, and apart from being tactile, it wasn't adding anything. And an ipad is useful for many other things , in many other places.....
> I do use the Streamdeck, for Davinci Resolve, Photoshop and Sibelius, just not Cubase. Keep us posted!


yes, without Keyboard Maestro between Cubase and the StreamDeck it wouldn't be as intuitive as MetaGrid. But with it is just so easy... no key command setup etc. KM can just trigger Macros and MLE commands directly. And StreamDeck can activate KM macros directly without any key command setup etc...


----------



## Vonk

Simon Schrenk said:


> yes, without Keyboard Maestro between Cubase and the StreamDeck it wouldn't be as intuitive as MetaGrid. But with it is just so easy... no key command setup etc. KM can just trigger Macros and MLE commands directly. And StreamDeck can activate KM macros directly without any key command setup etc...


Bu Keyboard Maestro has no effective Windows equivalent unfortunately. OS division - win some lose some.


----------



## Simon Schrenk

Vonk said:


> Bu Keyboard Maestro has no effective Windows equivalent unfortunately. OS division - win some lose some.


I heard auto hotkey could do quite similar things like KM, but a bit complexer as it seems... https://www.autohotkey.com


----------



## Vonk

Yes, it suits people with a programming background, as it's script based. But alas that is not me.


----------



## bvaughn0402

Simon Schrenk said:


> I trigger all my Midi Logical Presets with KM. I also set up to load my plugins on my tracks and load them with the correct preset, or choose presets with a palette before executing the macro. Visibility is also handled through KM with a Palette.



Simon, any chance you might share your KM code or logic for one or two of these actions? I'm curious how you have it do this. I don't think the "click on this part of the screen" stuff works very good, so I imagine that people are more specific in their KM code.


----------



## Simon Schrenk

bvaughn0402 said:


> Simon, any chance you might share your KM code or logic for one or two of these actions? I'm curious how you have it do this. I don't think the "click on this part of the screen" stuff works very good, so I imagine that people are more specific in their KM code.


yes sure. Absolutely no magic here :D 
The action is called "Select or Show a Menu Item". Then you can simply navigate to the MLE Preset as KM can access all menu points shown in the menu bar. The Midi logical presets do appear there, so no problem.


----------



## bvaughn0402

Oh wow, thanks! I need to start playing around with this. Thank you!


----------



## Simon Schrenk

bvaughn0402 said:


> Oh wow, thanks! I need to start playing around with this. Thank you!


You’re welcome 😊


----------



## jononotbono

Vonk said:


> I'll be intested to see if you can make Streamdeck as clever and flexible as Metagrid has been up to now. Metagrid was, in part, specifically designed with Cubase in mind. Streamdeck is not and I've not much enjoyed trying to adapt it with new PLE and macro generic remotes. I gave up because I was just duplicating what I could already achieve with metagrid, and apart from being tactile, it wasn't adding anything. And an ipad is useful for many other things , in many other places.....
> I do use the Streamdeck, for Davinci Resolve, Photoshop and Sibelius, just not Cubase. Keep us posted!



I’m looking forward to playing about with (should arrive tomorrow and did actually order it for Video but I’ll have to try it with Cubase too).


----------



## stigc56

charlieclouser said:


> I didn't see any info on the Elegato website regarding using multiple StreamDeck units at the same time, although I didn't dig too deep into the documentation or anything.
> 
> Are multiple units expressly supported? Anybody doing this (on Mac)?


I have 2 units at the same time on Mac. Works fine.


----------



## samphony

jononotbono said:


> I can see myself getting 4 XLs and just getting rid of the touch screen full stop. Nothing beats physical buttons and there won’t be any bullshit WiFi adhoc connections. Actually touching a button and it instantly working with no latency and actually not having to look and see if you pressed the right thing? Never 😂


But as soon as you use multiple layers on the XL‘s you would need to look at the buttons to assure yourself hitting the right button, no?


----------



## danwool

Better late than never to the party! I'm impressed. I can't believe it took me so long to get on board!

Now my QWERTY looks downright primitive. I'm ready for a full Stream Deck keyboard to replace it! ...it could turn into a traditional QWERTY when the curser is in a text field.

I'm a little disappointed that the iOS app is, not only *not* free, but is subscription :( I'd be happy to pay anything within reason for a Stream Deck app, but not a subscription. It seems like a weird fit for a subscription-model actually. Anyone finding the Stream Deck app subscription useful?


----------



## brenneisen

danwool said:


> I'm ready for a full Stream Deck keyboard to replace the it


----------



## Reid Rosefelt

I don't know if anybody's already mentioned this, but there is a company called sideshowfx that makes Icons and preprogrammed buttons for Streamdeck and Touch-Portal.

They have Photoshop, Final Cut X, After Effects, Davinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, and Cinema 4D. No Cubase, alas. They make versions for both sizes of Streamdecks.

They also offer free sampler packs.

Get them HERE.


----------



## danwool

brenneisen said:


>


Cool, but I'm also going to need the extended numeric keypad


----------



## Mystic

brenneisen said:


>


I waited years for the Optimus as many others did and was appalled when they priced that thing at over $1000. To make matters worse, it wasn't nearly as good to use as people expected.


----------



## Reid Rosefelt

Anthony said:


> Is the Stream Deck still being sold by Elgato? The Shop Now button is grayed-out on their webpage. I tried using different browsers and devices, but no luck. Could this be due to COVID-19?


They have them on Amazon.


----------



## vrocko

TigerTheFrog said:


> They have them on Amazon.


Elgato was bought by Corsair, you can buy it Here.


----------



## Audio Birdi

Just found out that the Stream Deck Mobile app is available on android now too! :D









Stream Deck Mobile | elgato.com


With Stream Deck, take full control of your content and focus on what matters most: your audience.




www.elgato.com





Amazon Fire HD Tablets end up going for a great price, so may consider a couple to have two 15-button Stream Decks with bigger buttons and font 

Which is something that hindered me with the physical-button ones. Not to say they weren't awesome!


----------



## Loïc D

Hi everyone,

FWIW, I did 2 PSD for designing buttons, you can open them in Photoshop or any equivalent (Photopea rules!) :
- One PSD contains colored frames, that can be used with the Stream Deck native button labels
- One PSD contains colored buttons (_à la SSL_) with labels rendered inside the PSD

Get them here : https://www.dropbox.com/s/xq8zivirehca15x/StreamDeck_Buttons.zip?dl=0

Please use them and modify them as you wish & need.

What I can testify is that it looks good with readable labels (see below on sh*tty picture).


_BTW, I am doubtful that some icons pack render so well on the real device (typically grey goes blueish, white bleeds, burgundy goes purple, etc.). It requires a lot of tries to find the right color, font setting, etc._


----------



## lucor

Not sure if this was mentioned here yet, but there is now a free midi addon available in the Streamdeck 'Store' (simply called 'Midi' by Trevliga Spel) which has been working really well for me. There's also a dedicated Cubase addon by the same guy.


----------



## Reid Rosefelt

LowweeK said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> FWIW, I did 2 PSD for designing buttons, you can open them in Photoshop or any equivalent (Photopea rules!) :
> - One PSD contains colored frames, that can be used with the Stream Deck native button labels
> - One PSD contains colored buttons (_à la SSL_) with labels rendered inside the PSD
> 
> Get them here : https://www.dropbox.com/s/xq8zivirehca15x/StreamDeck_Buttons.zip?dl=0
> 
> Please use them and modify them as you wish & need.
> 
> What I can testify is that it looks good with readable labels (see below on sh*tty picture).
> 
> 
> _BTW, I am doubtful that some icons pack render so well on the real device (typically grey goes blueish, white bleeds, burgundy goes purple, etc.). It requires a lot of tries to find the right color, font setting, etc._


Thank you! These are great. I've made some myself, but I don't have a system like this--they are all kind of one-offs. Maybe I will try to collect them at some point.


----------



## JeffvR

lucor said:


> Not sure if this was mentioned here yet, but there is now a free midi addon available in the Streamdeck 'Store' (simply called 'Midi' by Trevliga Spel) which has been working really well for me. There's also a dedicated Cubase addon by the same guy.


Yes this is really cool! And ICONS over here: https://trevligaspel.se/streamdeck/cubase/extras/Icons.zip


----------



## LudovicVDP

Hi all,

Can't find any video on Stream Deck and Cubase... Was wondering if you can have the buttons adapting automatically according to the screen you're on.

Ex: You open the midi editor -> it automatically shows you, let's say "transpose +12", "Transpose-12" "quantize", "legato", whatever...
Then you're back to the main screen and it switches back to "Open instrument" "show brass folder","show strings", "cut begin"... 

Or if you would have to creates folders to enter to find those functions (meaning some extra pushes)

Thanks


----------



## Jdiggity1

LudovicVDP said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Can't find any video on Stream Deck and Cubase... Was wondering if you can have the buttons adapting automatically according to the screen you're on.
> 
> Ex: You open the midi editor -> it automatically shows you, let's say "transpose +12", "Transpose-12" "quantize", "legato", whatever...
> Then you're back to the main screen and it switches back to "Open instrument" "show brass folder","show strings", "cut begin"...
> 
> Or if you would have to creates folders to enter to find those functions (meaning some extra pushes)
> 
> Thanks


It won't change automatically, but you can have multiple levels of folders for categorizing your buttons.


----------



## LudovicVDP

Jdiggity1 said:


> It won't change automatically, but you can have multiple levels of folders for categorizing your buttons.



Would have been great. 
Thanks for the reply !

I was considering the 15 but 32 seems a better choice then...


----------



## ckett

charlieclouser said:


> I didn't see any info on the Elegato website regarding using multiple StreamDeck units at the same time, although I didn't dig too deep into the documentation or anything.
> 
> Are multiple units expressly supported? Anybody doing this (on Mac)?


Charlie,

Multiple Stream Decks have been supported for a while. I had two at one time and now just have the one large Stream Deck.


----------



## Simon Schrenk

LudovicVDP said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Can't find any video on Stream Deck and Cubase... Was wondering if you can have the buttons adapting automatically according to the screen you're on.
> 
> Ex: You open the midi editor -> it automatically shows you, let's say "transpose +12", "Transpose-12" "quantize", "legato", whatever...
> Then you're back to the main screen and it switches back to "Open instrument" "show brass folder","show strings", "cut begin"...
> 
> Or if you would have to creates folders to enter to find those functions (meaning some extra pushes)
> 
> Thanks


Basically there would be a simple solution via Keyboard Maestro e.g. to change profiles in the Stream Deck depending on the active window. Stream Deck at this moment doesn't allow to switch profiles from the outside, but I requested this feature some time ago and I was told that it is forwarded to the development team. So, if any of you also think this would be great (and it would totally rock) please contact the Elgato Support with it, so they see that it is a relevant feature. 
Having automatically a new set of macros when turning to the piano roll and mixer etc would be sooo awesome!


----------



## K. Johnston

One solution for this would be to trigger the profile switch as part of a multi block that is configured to open or close a window or screen set. I have done this for my midi editor in reaper with a dedicated exit editor button on that midi editor profile which returns it back to the main DAW profile after the editor is closed. So long as you use the stream deck to navigate the windows you won’t run into issues.


----------



## Daniel Bailey

Has anyone figured out how to use Stream Deck XL with a Mac to select a VST Plugin in say Ableton Live 10 and open it up so you can change patches etc.

I use a project template in Ableton live set up so that when I open Live I have:

Track 1 - Omnisphere
Track 2 - Hive 2
Track 3 - Keyscape
Track 4 - Kontakt 6
Track 5 - Diva
Track 6 - Korg Kronos 2 - 61 key external instrument
Track 7 - Korg Kronos 2 - 73 key external instrument
Track 8 - Zebra HZ

Might there be a way to press a button on the Stream Deck and open up a specifc instance of Omnisphere (or toggle through them if I add more)

Just looking for ideas on how to do this.

Thanks,


----------



## Vonk

Daniel Bailey said:


> Has anyone figured out how to use Stream Deck XL with a Mac to select a VST Plugin in say Ableton Live 10 and open it up so you can change patches etc.


You need to work with something like Keyboard Maestro to do this, - then you can use a streamdeck button to invoke the commands. I'm on Windows and do this with AutoHotKey and Streamdeck


----------



## Daniel Bailey

I have Keyboard Maestro, but I don't see within KM how I would do that. Any specific suggestions?


----------



## Pietro

I'm on PC, but can say that it comes down to writing a macro that would open a certain window, mouse click in a specific field and that with a specific delay between actions.

Autohotkey does this and can also figure out if a specific object is visible on the screen. For example if a certain window is open or if you need to open it first. Or if a plugin is already loaded. Or if a certain vst slot is free. 

I figured that our for Cubase.

- Piotr


----------



## Marko Zirkovich

For anybody who does not have Keyboard Maestro or Autohotkey - there's a StreamDeck action that can be installed from the "More Actions" area at the lower right hand corner of the Stream Deck Editor. Simply search for SuperMacro by BarRaider and install.

Here's a page with the changelog, the various commands that are available and some use cases:








streamdeck-supermacro/README.md at master · BarRaider/streamdeck-supermacro


Create sophisticated macros easily and run them through your Stream Deck - streamdeck-supermacro/README.md at master · BarRaider/streamdeck-supermacro




github.com





I can't vouch for it in regards to super complex stuff because I haven't gone there yet with my StreamDeck. But I've used it for non-music stuff like automating repetitive keystroke actions with mouse clicks in specific areas, waiting a few milliseconds and replacing text etc. It worked really well for that.


----------



## Daniel Bailey

I am hoping there is a better way to do it than click in the window at a certain pixel location, because when the window size changes, it often breaks the macro. That might be the only option.

You would think that a VST plugin would spawn a named window that could easily be opened and manipulated.


----------



## davidson

I'm wondering when using streamdeck with logic, is it possible to have a single key which will first add a new track and then add a particular instrument preset from your logic library?


----------



## Simon Schrenk

in combination with KeyboardMaestro no problem! Might also be possible in StreamDeck with the multi actions


----------



## davidson

Simon Schrenk said:


> in combination with KeyboardMaestro no problem! Might also be possible in StreamDeck with the multi actions



Cheers. If any logic users could still confirm either way though it would be appreciated. I must have spent 6 hours searching and watching videos since last night and I'm still none the wiser!


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## Simon Schrenk

can you load an instrument in logic only with key commands (also arrows, tab, etc) ?

If you need to navigate somewhere with the mouse to type something in than its not possible with just the streamDeck, since it can only enter keyboard strokes or key commands.


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## LudovicVDP

Always wanted a Stream Deck but never pulled the trigger (money, you know...)

As trying to grow money on trees takes more time that I had hoped, I've got a 100 years old tablet that someone was throwing away (literally) and I bought the pro version of Touch Portal instead.
That's a 10 EUR StreamDeck right there.
Works with no lag even with the old tablet. Grid size is customizable (up to 10*11 I think), icons as well (import your own images). Easy to set up. No cable as it goes via wifi. Multiple folders with possible automatic opening after a function is pressed (ex: I have multiple buttons on my main grid opening websites or programs... When I press the button to open Cubase on my main grid, it automatically moves to my "Cubase" grid on the tablet. )
I don't know whether it's missing functions compared to the StreamDeck.

I like it a lot actually. It tamed my GAS a bit on this....... for the moment at least


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## davidson

Simon Schrenk said:


> can you load an instrument in logic only with key commands (also arrows, tab, etc) ?
> 
> If you need to navigate somewhere with the mouse to type something in than its not possible with just the streamDeck, since it can only enter keyboard strokes or key commands.



Unfortunately not. Oh well, thanks for your help


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## Simon Schrenk

davidson said:


> Unfortunately not. Oh well, thanks for your help


still possible in combination with KeyboardMaestro, though


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## davidson

Simon Schrenk said:


> still possible in combination with KeyboardMaestro, though



I had a quick look at KM when you mentioned it, and it seemed like a layer of complication that I could live without haha.


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## peladio

Usi


LudovicVDP said:


> Always wanted a Stream Deck but never pulled the trigger (money, you know...)
> 
> As trying to grow money on trees takes more time that I had hoped, I've got a 100 years old tablet that someone was throwing away (literally) and I bought the pro version of Touch Portal instead.
> That's a 10 EUR StreamDeck right there.
> Works with no lag even with the old tablet. Grid size is customizable (up to 10*11 I think), icons as well (import your own images). Easy to set up. No cable as it goes via wifi. Multiple folders with possible automatic opening after a function is pressed (ex: I have multiple buttons on my main grid opening websites or programs... When I press the button to open Cubase on my main grid, it automatically moves to my "Cubase" grid on the tablet. )
> I don't know whether it's missing functions compared to the StreamDeck.
> 
> I like it a lot actually. It tamed my GAS a bit on this....... for the moment at least



Using it too..it's not a cool toy like Streamdeck, but it does everything Streamdeck does for much less $$$..


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## JJP

davidson said:


> I had a quick look at KM when you mentioned it, and it seemed like a layer of complication that I could live without haha.



The nice thing about Keyboard Maestro is that once you set up your macros, you rarely have to think about it again unless you want to change something in your workflow.


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## MartinH.

Is there a way in windows 7 to configure a generic keyboard to trigger macros, without interfering with your main keyboard? I love autohotkey scripts, but I just don't have enough easily reachable buttons to put functions on. It would be cool if I could just add for example a bluetooth wireless numpad and map autohotkey macros to it, without sacrificing my main numpad.


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## noisyneil

Simon Schrenk said:


> Basically there would be a simple solution via Keyboard Maestro e.g. to change profiles in the Stream Deck depending on the active window. Stream Deck at this moment doesn't allow to switch profiles from the outside, but I requested this feature some time ago and I was told that it is forwarded to the development team. So, if any of you also think this would be great (and it would totally rock) please contact the Elgato Support with it, so they see that it is a relevant feature.
> Having automatically a new set of macros when turning to the piano roll and mixer etc would be sooo awesome!



I've managed to get different palettes to show up for the arrange and piano roll areas with Keyboard Maestro. If the same were possible with Stream Deck, I'd be very tempted to get one. Have you figured it out by any chance?









Animated GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY


Discover & share this Animated GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.




gph.is


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## Simon Schrenk

noisyneil said:


> I've managed to get different palettes to show up for the arrange and piano roll areas with Keyboard Maestro. If the same were possible with Stream Deck, I'd be very tempted to get one. Have you figured it out by any chance?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Animated GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
> 
> 
> Discover & share this Animated GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> gph.is


Unfortunately not. Haven’t found a solution yet :/


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## method1

noisyneil said:


> I've managed to get different palettes to show up for the arrange and piano roll areas with Keyboard Maestro. If the same were possible with Stream Deck, I'd be very tempted to get one. Have you figured it out by any chance?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Animated GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
> 
> 
> Discover & share this Animated GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> gph.is



It's possible to simulate via KM, but takes a fair bit of setup. 
You need to set up separate macro groups that are enabled/disabled by the same trigger that launches your palettes. Each macro group will have to assign the images to the buttons as well.


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## mat10000

Hello,

I have just made more than 340 graphics icons for Cubase or Nuendo and Stream Deck, Loupdeck CT ...

Now more than 650! And Stream Deck XL and Loupedeck CT complete profiles

You can find them on https://www.iconsbycasma.com

Good discovery!








Mathieu
Studio/Sono CASMA
www.studiocasma.be


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## Reid Rosefelt

mat10000 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have just made more than 340 graphics icons for Cubase or Nuendo and Stream Deck, Loupdeck CT ...
> 
> You can find them on https://www.iconsbycasma.com
> 
> Good discovery!
> 
> Mathieu
> Studio/Sono CASMA
> www.studiocasma.be


Glad you've done this.

Does this come in template form, or are they just icons for the user to put in as they wish?

If you create templates, do you have sets for both the regular Streamdeck and Streamdeck XL


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## mat10000

TigerTheFrog said:


> Glad you've done this.
> 
> Does this come in template form, or are they just icons for the user to put in as they wish?
> 
> If you create templates, do you have sets for both the regular Streamdeck and Streamdeck XL


Hello, 
I don't have a user preset.
It is very difficult because there are a lot of shortcuts to add besides the basics. 
In addition, I use a French keyboard which is different from an English, Belgian, ... 
There are so many icons that it is better to personalize even the shortcuts as needed.
Sorry. 

Mathieu


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## noisyneil

so i took the plunge and the fact that i've been able to set up region gain increment buttons for logic has already earned the SD a place in my studio and my heart. a vocal swiftly de-essed and no RSI from mousing all over the place!

there's one thing i'm flummoxed by:

the SD spotify plugin gets feedback from the app's playback state. if you press play in the app or hit the space bar, the artwork appears on the relevant button. great! i haven't found a way to make the transport controls react to what's happening in logic. if i hit play in logic, the play button on the SD still tells me it's stopped. it must be possible to have some kinda two-way communication, but it's beyond my understanding!


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## HenrikSkram

Ordered a StreamDeck XL Wondering about SoundFlow or not.. 
using Protools and Logic side by side; anyone using SoundFlow in this manner, or is the StreamDeck app good for Protools as well?


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## Nimrod7

I have a StreamDeck on my work (not music) computer to open documents, jump to URL's etc. 
Outstanding piece of kit. 

However, I would never use it for music. 
Reason is the travel of the buttons is too long, also the pressure needed is high.
It will be uncomfortable for repeating actions, e.g. I have an action to move notes per tick, left or right. That will be weird in a streamdeck. 

I much prefer a tablet (I have a metagrid) setup. Also the layout of the buttons is a big advantage to find something quickly versus the Streamdeck. 

Just my two cents.


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## Gerbil

The problem I have with using a tablet as a virtual streamdeck is that I have to look at the screen to see where each function is. With the physical streamdeck, I can operate it without looking.


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## Geoff Grace

HenrikSkram said:


> Ordered a StreamDeck XL Wondering about SoundFlow or not..
> using Protools and Logic side by side; anyone using SoundFlow in this manner, or is the StreamDeck app good for Protools as well?


I'm using it with Pro Tools. Works great!






Best,

Geoff


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## HenrikSkram

Geoff Grace said:


> I'm using it with Pro Tools. Works great!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Best,
> 
> Geoff


Nice icons! Made them yourself?


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## Geoff Grace

HenrikSkram said:


> Nice icons! Made them yourself?


Thanks, *Henrik*. If I recall correctly, I Photoshopped most of them from a screenshot of Pro Tools on my Mac.

Best,

Geoff


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## Will Wilson

I just found the MIDI Buttons plugin in the more actions menu as well! Makes it great for keyswitching!


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## Øivind

Shameless self plug!

I also made a few icons for the Stream Deck, started out just making them for my own use, but then it grew a bit and I thought others might like them. Not all icons are DAW specific, I mostly made things that made sense to me. 

I have set the pack to be 50% off right now if anyone wants to pick it up on the cheap.









Stream Deck DAW Icons


Product type: Digital downloadDownload size: 18.5 MB (28.2 MB unpacked) Take your productivity to the next level with these custom made icons for the Stream Deck. All icons are regular PNG files so they can be used for a myriad of applications and not just the Stream Deck. New in version 1.9...




store.oivindrosvold.com





Attached is a freebie of 20 something icons as well


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## zedmaster

Is it possible to create keyboard macros with this?
e.g. I want to write "Hello, Vi-Control the best Forum ever". Is it possible to bind that text to one key, so it types that really fast for me with the push of a button? Would help me with my customer support work.

BTW cool icons, oivind! Is setting up the Stream Deck functions in Studio 1 easy?


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## Will Wilson

zedmaster said:


> Is it possible to create keyboard macros with this?
> e.g. I want to write "Hello, Vi-Control the best Forum ever". Is it possible to bind that text to one key, so it types that really fast for me with the push of a button? Would help me with my customer support work.


Yes. There is a text option where you can enter text to be “pasted” when the action key is pressed.


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## zedmaster

Sweet! Will surely get this once I'm back in Germany with some unused Amazon coupons haha. 
Hope it will be easy to set this up with Studio 1.


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## Øivind

zedmaster said:


> BTW cool icons, oivind! Is setting up the Stream Deck functions in Studio 1 easy?


Thank you 

As @Will Wilson said, the Midi program is pretty sweet and setting the Stream Deck up for any program is as easy as just adding the hot-key to the stream deck and it will input it for the program that is in focus. I believe you can create dynamic profiles for specific programs as well, so it jumps to a specific profile when you change focus to another program. I haven't tested it, but that could be very handy if you are switching between several programs often.


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## Will Wilson

oivind_rosvold said:


> Thank you
> 
> As @Will Wilson said, the Midi program is pretty sweet and setting the Stream Deck up for any program is as easy as just adding the hot-key to the stream deck and it will input it for the program that is in focus. I believe you can create dynamic profiles for specific programs as well, so it jumps to a specific profile when you change focus to another program. I haven't tested it, but that could be very handy if you are switching between several programs often.


Correct. You can create multiple profiles, you can assign a profile to launch automatically when a certain application is in focus. You can also switch profiles by assigning a profile switch button on the streamdeck or by using the streamdeck menu item. I personally just switch based on apps (Logic, Zoom, VSCode etc) and on all of those have a "Home" button to take me back to my default profile.


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## Jiffster

Hey folks - just stumbled across this thread and wondered if anyone had successfully managed to make a streamdeck single-button action for creating a new instance of Kontakt within Cubase, or better yet, creating and loading a specific kontakt library? 

As in: Hit Streamdeck button > New inst track with Kontakt is created (or Kontakt with library loaded for the gold star!) 

I've seen some people talk about solutions involving 3rd party mouse movement macro recorders, but would ideally like a solution that's portable and doesn't rely on the same mouse position each time.


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## G.Poncelet

Not exactly what you’re 


Jiffster said:


> Hey folks - just stumbled across this thread and wondered if anyone had successfully managed to make a streamdeck single-button action for creating a new instance of Kontakt within Cubase, or better yet, creating and loading a specific kontakt library?
> 
> As in: Hit Streamdeck button > New inst track with Kontakt is created (or Kontakt with library loaded for the gold star!)
> 
> I've seen some people talk about solutions involving 3rd party mouse movement macro recorders, but would ideally like a solution that's portable and doesn't rely on the same mouse position each time.


it’s not exactly what you are asking for, but I created a Streamdeck button that open the virtual instruments menu in Logic Pro X, with the help of Keyboard Maestro.There’s a KM plug-in available for Stream Deck. I’m just learning KM, so I’m pretty sure that you could program a simple macro to do that particular task in Cubase.


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## stigc56

zedmaster said:


> Is it possible to create keyboard macros with this?
> e.g. I want to write "Hello, Vi-Control the best Forum ever". Is it possible to bind that text to one key, so it types that really fast for me with the push of a button? Would help me with my customer support work.
> 
> BTW cool icons, oivind! Is setting up the Stream Deck functions in Studio 1 easy?


If you are on Mac then Keyboard Maestro is the macro recorder, works so well with Streamdeck.


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## Øivind

Jiffster said:


> Hey folks - just stumbled across this thread and wondered if anyone had successfully managed to make a streamdeck single-button action for creating a new instance of Kontakt within Cubase, or better yet, creating and loading a specific kontakt library?
> 
> As in: Hit Streamdeck button > New inst track with Kontakt is created (or Kontakt with library loaded for the gold star!)
> 
> I've seen some people talk about solutions involving 3rd party mouse movement macro recorders, but would ideally like a solution that's portable and doesn't rely on the same mouse position each time.


I haven't tried this, but maybe it can work, start with a 3 button setup, 1 for opening up the insert instrument menu in Cubase, then 1 for typing in free text e.g Kontakt, and one for Enter, and then you use the Multi Action option on the Stream Deck and put all those 3 into it. :D It even supports delays.


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## Jiffster

oivind_rosvold said:


> I haven't tried this, but maybe it can work, start with a 3 button setup, 1 for opening up the insert instrument menu in Cubase, then 1 for typing in free text e.g Kontakt, and one for Enter, and then you use the Multi Action option on the Stream Deck and put all those 3 into it. :D


Awesome suggestion! I'll give that a shot!


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## Øivind

Seems like Cubase does not allow you to Tab over to the instrument drop down, so you can insert a search string :/ Same with favorites as well, you can tab over to the search field, but there is no way with buttons to get down to your favorites. As far as i can tell.


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## Øivind

I think what the others pointed out is much more elegant, but I found 1 workaround that kinda works.

Add a Kontakt instance to your project then hide it.

1: Ctrl+F
2: Insert text: Kontakt (or whatever you call the hidden track)
3: Enter/Return
4: Duplicate (needs to be set in Key Commands)
5: Key Up (to select the previous track which is the original kontakt instance)
6: Hide (needs to be set in Key Commands)

Then create a Multi Action on the Stream Deck, and copy/paste all these into it.
I just tested it and it works  Tho all the inserted Kontakt instances will be at the top of the project with this method.


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## mat10000

Icons By CASMA

Cubase/Nuendo Icons pack and profiles
_Stream Deck, Loupedec CT,
Touch Portal compatible
and more...










More than 650 infographics icons with a resolution of 300 x 300 px.
With 2 backgrounds color (Clear and Dark)
Developed by the Sound Engineer of Studio CASMA.
Untagged and Tagged icons are now available in english and french !

*Full Profiles for Loupedeck CT and Stream Deck XL Now Availables !*

*https://www.iconsbycasma.com*

*



*

Mathieu Caseau
Studio/Sono CASMA
www.studiocasma.be_​


----------



## fakemaxwell

I see a lot of people asking "how do I add X VST"? The Answer- https://bitfocus.io/companion/

Been using this since day one with my Stream Deck XL. It's definitely more for somebody who's down to tinker a bit, but combined with Reaper it's sped up my workflow considerably. I'm not sure how it works for other DAWs, but since Reaper is built around actions, and you can trigger actions with OSC, anything you want to do can be assigned to a button with Companion. If your DAW supports OSC actions in a similar way check it out. Here's my FX page:






Hitting the buttons adds those to tracks or items, whichever is selected. You can swap between stock Stream Deck and Companion easily, but I haven't touched the Elgato software since I installed Companion.


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## zedmaster

I just posted a video where I show a nice Stream Deck Setup with Studio One 
Lots and lots of great possibilities to improve workflows. Any suggestions for must-have macros for music production?


----------



## sostenuto

zedmaster said:


> I just posted a video where I show a nice Stream Deck Setup with Studio One
> Lots and lots of great possibilities to improve workflows. Any suggestions for must-have macros for music production?



Just added Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT Keyboard _ with (6) Macro Keys + Stream Deck software.
Will also truly appreciate top 'music' Macros to begin working toward separate Stream Deck XL purchase. Mostly Live-play Piano accompaniment with bass, drums, guitar, and related Mixing.

Using Win10 Pro & Reaper. THX !


----------



## noisyneil

davidson said:


> I'm wondering when using streamdeck with logic, is it possible to have a single key which will first add a new track and then add a particular instrument preset from your logic library?


yes, i'm doing that to insert a preset track stack containing 3 instruments. keyboard maestro will do almost anything if you put the time in.


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## PhilA

I bit the bullet and got a standard stream deck. Just wow where have you been all my life.
I've just configured Trevliga Spel's Midi plugin too and it's sends notes to Kontakt.
I work IT for a living and automation is my love, so do once use many is a mind set for me. I can't wait to configure this for all of my apps.
Just having the default single button press to open my favourite apps and sites is amazing. I've already got a Macro (multi action) set up with opens SoundSource and Toggles ARC off and on for when I swap between monitors and Phones.


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## GALLO

Hello! I have bought Stream deck 15 keys. I want to use it with Protools but I see that it does not have a template for that Daw. Someone please share any or some information about it?
I have searched the internet and I have only found the option to do it through Soundflow, but it is paid and for now I am going to avoid it :(
Please! Thanks!


----------



## playz123

GALLO said:


> Hello! I have bought Stream deck 15 keys. I want to use it with Protools but I see that it does not have a template for that Daw. Someone please share any or some information about it?
> I have searched the internet and I have only found the option to do it through Soundflow, but it is paid and for now I am going to avoid it :(
> Please! Thanks!


Like most others have done, just design your own Custom layout for PT or whatever other program you plan to use it with. Plenty of icons are available online or you can even make your own custom ones as many of us have done. You don’t need a predesigned layout.


----------



## GALLO

Thanks playz123 for answering. I know you can make your own, but I thought there was something approximate about what you can then customize yourself. In the stream deck itself comes the option of Cubase or Nuendo. Anyway, if someone is kind enough to share or inform me about where to find it, it would be of great help. I don't have much free time.
By the way, I have read that it gives problems in windows, right? Luckily I will use it mainly on MAC.
icons are also welcome 
Thanks!


----------



## noisyneil

The most powerful way is to Trigger KM macros via the Stream Deck.

If you're talking about icon sets for cosmetics, just make your own from screenshots or downloaded images. I use a lot of plain black buttons with the built in text editor, as icons can actually be confusing when you have a lot of them. How do you design an icon for "separate polyphonic midi by voice"? Easier to have text showing "Chords to Divisi", for me anyway.


----------



## Akarin

GALLO said:


> Thanks playz123 for answering. I know you can make your own, but I thought there was something approximate about what you can then customize yourself. In the stream deck itself comes the option of Cubase or Nuendo. Anyway, if someone is kind enough to share or inform me about where to find it, it would be of great help. I don't have much free time.
> By the way, I have read that it gives problems in windows, right? Luckily I will use it mainly on MAC.
> icons are also welcome
> Thanks!



Here I show how to set up a Stream Deck with your DAW, maybe it helps:


----------

