Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 – Studio
Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 – Studio Controller, 15 macro keys, trigger actions in apps and software like OBS, Twitch, YouTube and more, works with Mac and PC, Black
| Weight: | 145 g |
| Dimensions: | 8.4 x 11.8 x 2.5 cm; 145 Grams |
| Brand: | Elgato |
| Model: | 10GBA9901 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Corsair |
| Dimensions: | 8.4 x 11.8 x 2.5 cm; 145 Grams |
Spoiler alert. This device is awesome and invaluable if you regularly use different Mac and PC software programmes, especially for editing audio & video.
You can stop there or read on for a bit of a story and the actual review – your choice.
The story
This device sat on a shelf for well over 12 months. It was a compulsive purchase based on a video I watched on YouTube and possibly at the end of a night out with friends, erm
I had almost forgotten about this purchase, not because it wasn’t of use, I just didn’t think I needed it at the time; my mistake!
Let me explain
As mentioned, this was an impulse purchase because it looked cool and I told myself I’d use iteventually.
It must have struck a chord of sorts because I was sure to buy the upgraded MKII version with a detachable/replaceable USB cable.
I didn’t use it.
Jump forward 12 months and video editing is now a main focus and keyboard short cuts are all the rage. As my editing skills develop and my editing frequency increases and as ridiculous as this sounds (it did to me when I heard other editors say it) multiple key short cuts were becoming a pain in the backside and in particular the blade cut and delete (yes, Final Cut Pro X on the Mac) Enter the Elgato Stream Deck.
The Review
The Elgato Stream Deck is a fully customisable macro keypad that allows you to set single key inputs for what would normally be multi-keyboard/finger short-cuts e.g. ctrl+cmd+arrow up to lift a clip from the timeline in Final Cut Pro, is now a one button press and with a nice vibrant pic displayed on the very smooth LCD buttons to boot. More on that in a bit.
This little device works across a variety of apps for both Mac & PC and not just editing software. It also comes with Elgato (via download) free software for optimising and customising the macro keys and shortcuts.
This is a super tidy unit (specs below) and well built. It won’t take being bounced off the floor, but oddly enough, that’s not its intended purpose. The main icon panel can sit directly on your desk or in the angled case. The USB cable is attached under the unit, but flat and right angled so that the unit can sit flush with your desk regardless of preferred set-up.
The 15 macro key version I have sits just about right for my needs at the moment, but you may wish to look at the 6 or the much bigger 32 key versions, depending on your own needs. I will say that after finding out just how useful this piece of equipment can be, I am looking at the 32 key version for in the not too distant future.
As an example of the speed of work flow, I’ll use another FCP application – I have the mouse on the right and the Stream Deck on the left. I select the point I wish to cut. Press the centre macro key and then press the macro key underneath its it is set to delete. This finger/thumb quick action is so convenient and time saving.
The LCD keys are also customisable via the previously mentioned Elgato software. This option also allows you to assign set functions to keys and also assign an icon. A pleasant surprise was that there are loads of free icons available in the Elgato icon library. One of my main hotkey shortcuts is for YouTube (yes, you can assign URLs to the macro keys too) and there was a YouTube icon in the library along with multiple community created ones, which for the most part are great! There are even animated icons if you want them, but I personally prefer the static icons, but it’s your choice.
The next pleasant surprise was that you can set different profiles or ‘pages’ of icons for the different software you are using. If you are jumping from Premier Pro to Microsoft Office or Final Cut Pro to Light Room, then you can set up you own pages, hotkeys & icons as you wish which equals fantastic versatility!
All good so far, so now a couple of minor gripes
Every once in a while the unit won’t boot up properly, but this is pretty rare.
The angle of the stand is great visually, but for my (left) hand it’s too steep at roughly a 60 degree angle, when half that would have been much more comfortable whilst still allowing you to see the icons. You can take the unit off the stand and as you get more used to and with more frequency, you won’t even look at the buttons. This is the best way to go in my opinion, but again it’s nice to have the option of stand or no stand.
One last note and this is nothing to do with the unit; I would suggest you learn some main/most used keyboard shortcuts before you use the Stream Deck. Reason – if the deck stops working in the middle of an edit and you don’t know/remember the actual keyboard ones, then you’re stuck. Again, this is unlikely, but worth considering.
On the whole an awesome and effective idea, executed fantastically by Elgato.
Side note:
Elgato have also released the + version which features 8 macro keys, a touch stripe and dials, which can be incorporate into a streaming set up. I cannot comment on that device at the moment, but perhaps in the future
Specs:
Size: 11.8 x 8.4 x 2.5cm without stand
Weight: 145g
Connection: USB 2.0 (cable is roughly 1.5 metres)
Stand angle: Approx. 60degrees
Materials: Plastic
Brillia
Not cheap, but absolutely indispensable. I use this for flightsimming in MSFS 2020 and video editing. The ability to have an infinite number of functions and be able to organise and customise everything is terrific.
Versatile
Finding new uses for this every few days, from pasting text, opening apps, multiple keystrokes, turning on my office and monitor lights etc.
In my DAW (Reaper) it switches to a dedicated profile and I have a range of shortcuts to custom actions. Editing a podcast is so much faster now.
Very good macro pad
Im one of the few people that doesnt use this for streaming, but just as a normal macro pad. For gaming, its cool as i have a steelseries apex pro, and through that software and using the function key i can assign secondary functions F13 to F24, and in the stream deck i created keys corresponding to this. This way is kind of janky as not a lot of games support binding keys to F13-F24, like PUBG, but otherwise its a really cool way to make navigating your pc easier, like launching most used programs in an instant.
Son loves it - all programmed up
My son wanted this switcher to automate moving from one system to another for his home gaming set-up. This definitely does the trick and he has several macros programmed in to set up things he wants to do – so a good timesaver for him. I mentioned it at work and they went and bought some as well for our video recording studio.
Can't fault i
Works great.
Use it everyday at my PC, to open apps. Change volume, or even change audio device.
The easy of use now to switch from headphones to speakers with it is awesome. (Plugin for the app is super easy)
Amazing functionailty in a small footpri
Sits nicely on my desk – if you use an Elgato Wave XLR, the Mk2 stream deck is the exact same size, so they fit nicely next to each other. It has great integration with Discord, Spotify, Hue lights, and even tools like Home Assistant and Homebridge. If you want to see what plugins exist, or what devices you own that would work with it, you can use the stream deck app and use a trial – or use the limited 6 button version – to have a look at what it works with. Has great integration with Key Lights, the Wave family of devices, and the Facecam – as with a lot of relatively high-end products, it works wonderfully with other devices from the same brand.
You can take the faceplate off for customisation, which by itself is pretty nice. You can also take the actual Stream Deck out of the casing, giving you a much smaller footprint if you want to 3D print a casing for mounting puroses, or if you want to build it into a desk for whatever reason.
Overall, it’s a great little product and it gives a lot of options for customisation – and far more plugins than any of the existing competition, so if you’re worried about having not enough plugins, theres a very small chance of it not having what you need.
Apart from being sent the white one when I ordered black (I decided to stick with it as Amazon’s return policy means I have to wait for a refund to clear before buying the right one again) it’s worked well for what I wanted it for.
The screen behind the buttons isn’t a great resolution and the buttons feel a bit spongy but the functionality is there.
It doesn’t clip in to it’s stand (it just kinda sits in it) which meant I needed to use a bit of blue tack to stop it jumping out from the vibrations of force feedback.
With those annoyances out the way, as a button box for SIM racing it’s been amazing.
Launch games at a single button press, set up car controls like bias etc, you can do pretty much what you want.
I’ve had this device for less than a week but I’m using it for gaming and photo editing.
It adds a great level of immersion to Euro Truck Simulator 2 (someone has created custom icons for it too if you Google it), efficiency to Defense Grid 2 (I created icons including the tower and the prices, as well as uprades etc.) and I made a quick and dirty setup for Paint.Net, which made the icon creation much faster.
In addition to this I’m using it for:
– Philips Hue lighting in the room it’s in
– Spotify control on my computer and an Echo device
– Train Sim World 2 (this was free and seemed like a good test)
– Starting a Linux VM in VMware Workstation (there are further control I could add to this)
– Starting specific applications
I can definitely see me using this on more games, especially simulators and strategy games, possibly binding scripts for easier automation and finding efficiencies for repetitive tasks in different apps.
There are a fair few plugins, but these are mainly geared towards streamers (no surprise there) but there are a few for graphics related apps too. The hotkey, hotkey switch, multi action and multi action switch really make up for this. I’ve not pushed these too far but they seem great so far e.g. in ETS2 I press a key to turn on the ignition, delay for a second and then starts the engine, if I press the button a second time it turns the engine off, the two states have different icons.
You can even use animated gifs for the icons, although I’ve read that the overuse of these can cause performance issues (unsure if that’s the case on the MK2). It’s perfect for a hazard light indicator in ETS2 though!
If I had to add one criticism, it’s that it could do with a bit more anti-slip by either being grippier or heavier, it’s not terrible on that front and I could probably find a solution myself but worth mentioning for a fair review.
The 15 seems to be a perfect size, the XL is tempting but at that point it almost a keyboard from a finding-the-right-key perspective, though not having used to XL you can take my opinion with a pinch of salt and it’ll really depend on how you want to use it. As well as having profiles (that auto-switches when an exe is running and selected) each icon can be a folder which can contain other folders, I’m not sure if there are depth limits.
All-in-all this piece of kit is so customisable that it’d be difficult not to find a use for it if you are a regular computer user. Highly recommend!