I’ve dabbled in streaming up to now, however I’m positively not a streamer. I play my video games alone, with a bit of music turned on within the background and loads of quantity to get me immersed. So, units just like the wildly widespread Elgato Stream Deck by no means appealed to me.
I might see the utility of getting devoted buttons for productiveness functions, however I couldn’t justify really spending cash on a tool. However then Cooler Grasp’s Stream Deck competitor, the MasterHub, confirmed up on my doorstep.
The modular desktop management panel is squarely focusing on the Stream Deck, however Cooler Grasp has a singular method on a desktop management middle. It’s totally modular, permitting you to combine, match, and swap out completely different parts immediately to make a command middle uniquely suited to you. The MasterHub gained’t get me began on streaming, however it rapidly grew to become second nature for accessing a few of my most frequent settings, information, and functions.
What you make of it
The MasterHub is totally modular. The machine itself is only a plastic base with a slew of gold-plated pins, and also you add modules on prime that safe themselves magnetically. That permits you not solely to decide on what modules you need in your MasterHub but in addition how they’re laid out. I wrote off that second level after I noticed the MasterHub earlier this yr, however it makes an enormous distinction.
I used the big dial module with an IPS show within the bottom-left nook of the machine, and provided that the MasterHub is about up on the proper aspect of my desk, it’s the closest management to my fingers. If I had been streaming, nevertheless, I would put the 15-key IPS show module nearer to my hand, or if I used to be utilizing Photoshop controls, I would use the precision fader module.
There are numerous completely different variations of the Stream Deck, however the MasterHub’s modular method is really one thing particular. You must adapt your workflow to one of many Stream Deck’s layouts, and though Elgato makes that straightforward to do, it’s nonetheless a transition. The MasterHub adapts to your workflow. You arrange the modules you need within the format you need, and you may even double-up on modules in the event you want extra controls of a particular sort.
You’ll be able to change the format at any time, too. Cooler Grasp has executed an incredible job of creating the MasterHub really feel aware of adjustments. Whereas writing this text, I swapped each module I had set as much as go from a horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation, and all the things populated to the proper orientation with my appropriate settings inside seconds. You’ll be able to retailer a number of profiles by means of the MasterHub software program (extra on that subsequent), so it’s not out of the query to utterly change the format for various functions.
I’ve touched on a couple of of the modules right here, however general, Cooler Grasp has 5 modules for the MasterHub now. There’s the big dial with an IPS show and the 15-key IPS show module, however Cooler Grasp additionally affords a module with twin scroller wheels, a module with three knobs, and a module with 5 mini faders. That’s a stable beginning lineup, however I believe Cooler Grasp will design and launch extra modules over time. Once I visited the corporate’s headquarters earlier this yr, for instance, it confirmed off a devoted show module that would slot into the MasterHub base.
Tactile response
Though the Stream Deck and MasterHub are focused at streaming, it’s laborious to overstate how good it’s having tactile knobs and buttons for digital controls. I can management my quantity with a big knob, scroll webpages with a curler, and launch my frequent apps like Steam and Discord with a button. I even arrange a few hotkeys I take advantage of generally as buttons, together with turning on HDR and opening the amount mixer in Home windows.
All of this comes along with the MasterHub software program, which is simple to make use of however a bit barebones for the time being. You’ll discover a record of instructions on the proper aspect, which you’ll filter by deciding on a knob or button. As soon as you discover the setting you need, you drag it over to the knob or button you need to assign it to. If it’s a button, you should utilize certainly one of a number of icons Cooler Grasp contains or add your individual, in addition to rename the project.
Probably the most highly effective module is undoubtedly the 15-key IPS show, the place all the actions in MasterHub can be found. There are dozens of settings to your system and getting round your PC, from launching web sites or functions to triggering hotkeys to adjusting media. MasterHub has a multitasking choice, as nicely, permitting you to set off a collection of actions with a single button press. And, if 15 keys isn’t sufficient for you, you possibly can retailer a number of pages and flip by means of them instantly from the keypad.
There are quantity of choices to your system and MasterHub (in addition to Cooler Grasp’s MasterCTRL with a suitable cooler), however some of these management pads dwell and die by their integrations. And out of the gate, Cooler Grasp has suite of choices out there. For streamers, you could have controls for each OBS Studio and Streamlabs. Each embrace choices to start out and cease streaming, transition between scenes, and management your varied audio sources. There are positively extra choices for OBS, although. You’ll be able to management the digital digital camera, apply a filter, and rather more.
Choices for Twitch can be found, too, from triggering an advert to talk settings to creating a clip. Cooler Grasp doesn’t have controls for another streaming platform, nevertheless. That’s not going to be an enormous deal normally, however the Stream Deck has controls for nearly each platform you could possibly need.
Someplace the MasterHub has a leg up is Adobe apps, or not less than Photoshop, Premiere Professional, and Illustrator. You’ll discover controls for all of those apps in MasterHub, freed from cost. The Stream Deck technically helps these apps — and much more Adobe apps — however you’ll must spend $15 for the hotkeys and icons for every in the event you don’t need to arrange the controls manually.
Though Cooler Grasp has a stable variety of choices out of the gate, it wants a number of work. There are such a lot of instruments that profit from one of these management middle, and Cooler Grasp doesn’t have a system to combine these instruments but.
Cooler Grasp must go additional
Cooler Grasp might make the best Stream Deck alternative on this planet, and it wouldn’t matter. Elgato has had years to construct up a big library of plugins from first- and third-party sources you can obtain on to the Stream Deck, and often at no cost. Cooler Grasp doesn’t have that but. The corporate says it would launch a market for plugins in some unspecified time in the future, however it would actually come right down to group curiosity if that market is price investing in or not.
The opposite problem is worth. The MasterHub equipment may be very costly. You’ll be able to choose up the essential streaming equipment with faders, rollers, and the 15-key show for $299 on the MasterHub Kickstarter now, however it will likely be $399 when it formally launches. And if you’d like all the modules, you’ll spend $399 now or $549 when it formally launches. In the meantime, the Stream Deck+ will run you $200, and you will get a primary Stream Deck for lower than $150.
The MasterHub appeals to those that want a number of controls, not just some shortcuts. It affords some clear benefits over an everyday Stream Deck, however it additionally is available in at a a lot greater worth. Cooler Grasp has constructed a stable basis, however I’d maintain off on investing within the ecosystem till we are able to see what {the marketplace} has to supply, in addition to what Cooler Grasp plans to do with its modular system sooner or later.
