Elgato gave streamers a new level of control with the Stream Deck. It’s my favourite piece of streaming hardware, as it allows me to switch scenes, manage audio, trigger replays, and even stage a concert with the push of a button. I love the device and the Stream Deck platform so much that I just doubled down and bought a Stream Deck XL for access to even more buttons.
Many alternatives have risen in its wake, though they’re almost entirely software solutions that use your PC or phone. The Stream Deck still sets itself apart by being a physical device with tangible buttons that can be pressed without having to take your eyes off the camera.
Enter the Loupedeck Live. Best known for making tactile control devices for content creation, they’re taking their expertise to the world of streaming.
Unlike the Stream Deck, the Loupdeck Live gives users more types of control mechanisms beyond physical buttons. Six knobs appear on the sides of the unit, which will be great for controlling the volume of different sources. Eight physical buttons run along the bottom of the face. In the centre is a single touch screen with a divider to designate the 12 different touch buttons. The addition of knobs and touch sliders is fantastic, but I don’t like the idea of the touch screen interface not being actual buttons. The dividers help, but I love the tactile feedback of pressing in a button and having a notch on the Home button in the middle so that I can use the device without looking.
Based on the information listed on their site, the device will come with software integrations for Streamlabs, OBS, and Twitch. However, I’d love to see what other integrations will occur going forward. Being able to add Voicemod and Spotify support among many others has made the Stream Deck increasingly more valuable today than it was at launch. There’s potential for the Loupedeck Live to do the same. That said, it looks like there might be additional costs to some of these extra features.
Having just bought a Stream Deck XL, I’m not in the market for yet another stream controller. However, I will keep this on my radar. The device itself looks great overall and could really be a game-changer. Remains to be seen how deep they’ll go with the software, but added software functionality could really take the device to the next level. At $269 USD, It’s also priced right in between the regular Stream Deck and the XL, which feels fair by comparison.
Would you give the Loupedeck Live a shot?
In Third Person 