Stream Deck as a nifty controller

rrobinso84

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Saw a shack photo a few months ago where the OP used some Stream Decks. Intrigued me! I've had mine (just one!) for a week or so and wanted to share a few photos to get the creative juices flowing here.

My main screen is where I set up and control some SDRs and web content.

The other screen is a demo of the Volume Controller showing how I balance several of the audio sources all sourced into the laptop.

Who else is using something similar and what's your setup?
 

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serial14

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I'm pondering this sort of thing right now. I haven't decided on the approach though. I'm currently pondering the Stream Deck or just a MIDI Button Controller and then writing some MIDI software to react to the buttons. Somewhat a "buy" vs "build" sort of decisions. I've been using a MIDI controller for a software application I'm working on and its been pretty nice and fun.

Regarding the Stream Deck though, I've got some questions @rrobinso84 might be able to answer or others.
1. Linux support? Research seems to indicate there is now linux support for the Stream Deck
2. I'd like to control things local to the computer as well as things across the network. Does Stream Deck allow you to do webhooks as a result of button pushes?
 

rrobinso84

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1. Linux support? Research seems to indicate there is now linux support for the Stream Deck
2. I'd like to control things local to the computer as well as things across the network. Does Stream Deck allow you to do webhooks as a result of button pushes?
1. I'm running Windows 10. Don't know.
2. I'm still sussing out what it's good for if a specific app doesn't have a direct api built in. There are many plug-ins available, but I haven't run across this kind yet.

One thing stream desk IS surprisingly good at is allowing you to control individual volume levels on an app by app basis. So, it becomes an effective virtual mixer of sorts if you have all your audio on the PC. Right now I can individually adjust ProScan's volume, the volume of two SDR outputs and the volume level of Chrome streaming ATC Live feeds.

Plus, having dedicated buttons for launching a sequence of commands or applications (and then killing them on the same button) is really nifty!

There are bugs. I can't for the life of me get the "mouse recorder" to behave predictably, for example. But I'm still exploring it and am generally pleased.
 

serial14

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I assume all that volume / mixing control though is utilizing a Windows API?

Thanks for the feedback, its helpful. Like many of us, I have a windows box as well for various tasks and radio duties( like Pro Scan ) so even if things don't work out on Linux, I could do things on Windows.

That reminds me of a windows question. What does the stream deck do when the windows session is locked? In the MIDI world for instance, Windows shuts down that driver/API and your application doesn't get MIDI inputs while the screen is locked. Said another way... if your windows session is locked and you push a button on the stream deck, say... to mute all your music, would it work?
 

TJX400

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I assume all that volume / mixing control though is utilizing a Windows API?

Thanks for the feedback, its helpful. Like many of us, I have a windows box as well for various tasks and radio duties( like Pro Scan ) so even if things don't work out on Linux, I could do things on Windows.

That reminds me of a windows question. What does the stream deck do when the windows session is locked? In the MIDI world for instance, Windows shuts down that driver/API and your application doesn't get MIDI inputs while the screen is locked. Said another way... if your windows session is locked and you push a button on the stream deck, say... to mute all your music, would it work?
It locks the StreamDeck as well.
 

jdebona

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I'm pondering this sort of thing right now. I haven't decided on the approach though. I'm currently pondering the Stream Deck or just a MIDI Button Controller and then writing some MIDI software to react to the buttons. Somewhat a "buy" vs "build" sort of decisions. I've been using a MIDI controller for a software application I'm working on and its been pretty nice and fun.

Regarding the Stream Deck though, I've got some questions @rrobinso84 might be able to answer or others.
1. Linux support? Research seems to indicate there is now linux support for the Stream Deck
2. I'd like to control things local to the computer as well as things across the network. Does Stream Deck allow you to do webhooks as a result of button pushes?
2. Yes. I'm having an IFTTT issue after they did an update a couple weeks ago, but yes webhooks are an awesome thing. You can use something like IFTTT or just a web shortcut URL. I have mine mainly setup for different lighting scenes in my office for OBS and video conferencing via Webex since I usually spend 6-8 hours a day on conference calls. I have 3 or 4 different vendors for my wi-fi lighting and electrical outlets, but with an IFTTT webhook, I consolidate it all to one button. It's still as kludgy as any other automation solution if you are relegated to Alt keyboard shortcuts and mouse clicks for macros, but with apps that have API integration like Voicemeeter it is the best macro/automation solution available IMHO.

I have the original 15-button one that I mainly keep on one screen/profile for volume control, mute, cough, copy/paste, screenshots, etc. I also have the larger 32-button one that changes the profile/screen whenever an application moves into the foreground, so I have keyboard shortcuts I can't remember or related apps right in front of me. I don't monitor as much as I used to due to workload, but I had a couple buttons that opened up all my scanner related apps, web pages, etc., and moved them to a virtual desktop just for scanning apps. Then with another button I could fire up a live stream. The possibilities are endless.
 

rrobinso84

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VoiceMeeter! VoiceMeeter will make controlling volume and muting so much easier! There is a plugin for the StreamDeck.
So I tried Voice Meeter, but I wasn't happy with it. All I really wanted was a nifty way to set the levels of my virtual channels individually. However, it appears VM groups all virtual channels into one slider channel in the virtual mixer. Can't use it to adjust each source individually.
Worse yet, after a couple of hours, it started getting flaky on me and eventually it took away my laptop speaker option as an output device! Decided to remove it and just use the windows settings to control each app. Sigh. Was looking forward to a nice mixer!
 

N1SQB

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Streamdeck is a fun and useful tool. I use it for managing my audio recording apps in my home studio, and to quickly access my favorite most visited sites. Here is a picture of me Streamdeck Plus. I love this thing. Hit a button and you are at the selected site almost instantly.
( depending on your router spped of course). It is highly customizeable.
 

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bamx2

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Bumping this up, has anyone has success using a streamdeck to control a SDS100? I have been able to write a few Macros for ProScan to enable/disable some lists. I didn't know if there was an ability to control the actual scanner - holds, channels, ect. Is there an API or Webhook through ProScan or another service that could do that?
 

TJX400

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There's nothing I'm aware of right now. Unless someone writes a plugin that interfaces with ProScan, but that's slightly out of my wheelhouse for now.
 
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