The main center area buttons are touch screen buttons - not physical buttons
The knobs are described as analog dials, but they’re actually rotary encoders with push button
There’s an official SDK for writing plugins to integrate with their desktop app
There’s an unofficial SDK for direct access. With this, the center touch screen area isn’t limited to the button arrangement shown - display anything there and implement any touch like gestures.
Expensive (current pricing on Amazon AU: LoupeDeck Live almost aud$500 compared to StreamDeck+ aud$300) (but see update below)
There are other versions too… one smaller/cheaper (but perhaps hard to get), others much more expensive.
TL;DR: would you consider one of these if there was an integration with Cantabile?
Update: I just realized the LoupeDeck Live and the Razor Stream Controller are essentially the same device and the unofficial SDK works with both. The Razor is about the same price as the StreamDeck+.
They look pretty good, and offer a larger number of controls than the Stream Deck+. A shame that the display buttons aren’t physical buttons. Other than that… nice.
At face value this is better value for money than the SD+, but overall it depends on how well their software works. Not a budget option, though.
The Loupedeck Live is unavailable on Amazon UK. A couple of searches suggests that it may be discontinued.
In Italy, only the Loupedeck Live S is available. At least, that’s what I read, but I have some doubts. Their homepage and online-shop make me think there’s something strange going on (no price, no delivery information).
The device seems interesting, but at this point I’m not sure if it’s better than the Stream Deck.
I’d consider buying a secondhand one to install custom Cantabile-only software. But…
Button-wise I don’t know that it would give me any more than my Stream Deck. And for rotary controls there are cheaper options, such as the Behringer X-Touch Mini.
The beauty of the LoupeDeck is having these controls in one device, but it does seem a bit of a compromise.
I’m going to leave this device for now, maybe revisit later.
I did some more reading about this and as best I can tell that whole display area (the buttons and the vertical touch strips on each side are all single display panel, but there’s a grid fascia over it dividing it into those areas. There’s also supposed to be some haptic feedback, but apparently it’s pretty weak. Sounds meh.
Has anyone looked into availability of the Razor Stream Controller in other parts of the world? LoupeDeck’s distribution seems poor, but I think Razor might be better.
For me there are too few display buttons on the Soomfon, but I can imagine that for many people it would be fine.
KoolShiro do something similar to the Soomfon (same device, different badge?), for even cheaper on UK Amazon - 45 pounds as I type. That would make it attractively cost-effective.
I’d say that the Waveshare is potentially the ‘power’ option, especially if the upper screen can be exploited meaningfully by Cantabile, e.g. timecode, song & state names, etc. All it seems to lack is a solid raked stand. It’s considerably more expensive, though, and the only UK supplier I can see is AliExpress.
I’m guessing that the Waveshare is made for customisation?
Yes looks like the same device as been rebadged multiple times. There’s also the Ajazz AKP03 which is just aud$54 on aliexpress. (less than 30gbp).
One thing which might be interesting about this device is the buttons are implemented very differently to the StreamDeck buttons. The StreamDeck is basically a big touch sensitive screen with “touchy” clear caps overlaid. The Waveshare device has actual mechanical switches with a tiny lcd screens in the keycap (at least that’s how it’s described on their site). This would mean the buttons are much more tactile like PC Keyboard keys and less mushy like StreamDeck keys.
And yes, it’s more expensive, but I think it’s a really nice form factor - 20 display keys, 2 encoders and a bonus display area. Apparently, it runs two separate machines internally - a linux machine and a QMK compatible MCU. Sounds complex.
I’ve written to WaveShare asking about SDKs, awaiting reply.
I’d favour the Waveshare, primarily for it’s generous amount of buttons, and potentially for that small upper screen, which could be of huge value, were Cantabile able to populate it with useful information.
If you decide to pursue this, and you find that it can be done, I’m minded to grab one for myself to play guinea-pig.
If it had a built-in audio interface I wouldn’t touch it. I’m always wary of devices that try to do too much. The best devices specialise in one function and undertaking that function uncompromisingly well.
I just purchased a mini PC for my new Cantabile machine and I’m trying to decide what to use for a keyboard. I already have a StreamDeck. However, during our live gigs I often need to search for a song, for a request. Any advice on how to search for a song without being able to type a partial name on a keyboard? Can this be done with one of these controllers?
Thank you - David
Brad’s Profiles include one that displays all of the Songs in the current Set. Not a search function, but that isn’t really a job for a performance device such as the Stream Deck (though you could do it if could invoke the search function with a button and a create a set of pages for letter keys…).
