The Loupedeck Live ($269) joins the company's growing stable of creative editing consoles. It's a small device, ideal for use with a desktop or notebook, with a wired USB connection and support for a number of creative apps in the photo and video arena. It offers much much of the functionality of the pricier Loupedeck CT ($549) for about half the price, and has proven to be our favorite in an emerging category of products for digital creators, earning it our Editors' Choice award.

Just the Top Half, Please

You wouldn't be off base in describing the Loupedeck Live as half of a Loupedeck CT. The Live takes the top half of the larger CT and makes it its own device. You lose access to some additional programmable keys, as well as the CT's exquisite central touch dial, but the rest of the CT's functionality is retained.

The Live squeezes six control dials, a twelve-panel touch panel, and eight round control buttons into its frame. It's a little bit smaller all around than the trackpad on a MacBook Pro, measuring 1.2 by 5.9 by 4.3 inches (HWD). It weighs about a half pound, so it won't add much weight to carry for on-the-go editors.

It's USB-C device and ships with a removable USB-C cable, as well as a dongle to connect to the older USB-A interface. It works with macOS 10.13 and newer, as well as Windows 10 systems. Loupedeck software is a requirement for configuration and operation—it's a quick download and, on a Mac, is always visible in the system menu bar.

The Live is made for use with creative apps—think photo and video editing—and live streaming. On the Mac you're able to load, edit, or make your own custom profiles to control Ableton, Apple Final Cut Pro, Aurora HDR, Capture One, macOS, Spotify Premium, and popular Adobe CC applications—After Effects, Audition, Illustrator, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro.

Live streaming apps are notably absent from the macOS support list. Twitch, a platform for game streaming, is supported if you have an account. But popular broadcast apps OBS and Streamlabs are only supported on Windows.

If you want to use the Live with an unsupported app you can, but with limitations. You can create a custom profile for any app you wish to use, but will be limited to programming functions that support keyboard shortcuts.

The controls themselves feel great. Each of the six dials turns comfortably, with quiet detent clicks providing tactile feedback. They also have a press-in action, typically used to reset a slider adjustment to its default, neutral value. They abut the color display, useful as it labels the function of each dial, a visual reminder of what you've set them to do.

The panel is also sensitive to touch. A plastic window frame breaks it up into 12 touch-sensitive squares. Touch response is excellent, and there's a bit of haptic vibration to let you know that your press is registered.

Experience in Lightroom

I paired the Loupedeck Live with the creative app I use most, Adobe Lightroom Classic. I was happy to see that it automatically translated the custom profile I had made for the Loupedeck CT as a starting point on my iMac. That's a plus if you're moving from one console to another, and if you use the console on multiple systems you can export and import profiles through the configuration app.

I imagine most folks shopping for a product like the Live will be starting fresh. Premade profiles are included for all of the supported apps, and are thoughtfully laid out. For Lightroom, the round buttons swap through touch menus tuned for different workflow functions—rating photos, making basic edits, color adjustment, and Loupedeck's included film-look presets are all there.

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It's a good starting point, and the software makes it fairly simple to change things. I swapped out the functions of some of the dials—I rarely use the Texture control and tend to dial in white balance numerically, so I swapped them out for black and white level adjustments.

If you really want to get into the woods, you can make nested menus. I went down that route for my presets, creating a main page with some of my favorites, and sub-menus with more pointed black-and-white, instant film, and vintage looks.

The software does a good job making it easy to customize settings—Loupedeck has made improvements to its layout and functionality since we reviewed the Loupedeck CT, and I'm pleased to see that it's easier to navigate through different pages and functions.

Regardless of what app you're setting up, the commands available for assignment are shown on the right. A search bar is included, useful as there are pages and pages and pages of options for many.

A visual representation of the device is at the center—you can hover your cursor over a button to see its function, or click it to virtually activate it. You can drag and drop functions from the left nav bar to add items. To rearrange screens, drag icons around just as you would on your phone's home screen.

The rightmost column of the app shows a hierarchal view. Each custom menu page is viewable as an expandable tree, and you're always able to click directly to the general overview of the device, or jump to adjust the button functions.

If you're curious about how the app works, you can download it and work with different presets prior to purchase—I recommend it if you think you'll want to tinker. Loupedeck's site also offers a curated library of homemade configurations.

A Creative Console Worth Buying

When we reviewed the Loupedeck CT last year, there were two sticking points: the software was a bit difficult to use, and the device itself was priced at a premium. We're pleased to see that the company has made some smart updates to its software—customizing the console is no longer a daunting task—and the Live's $269 price point is more palatable.

Its dials and touch controls provide as hands-on a feel when you're editing photos as when you're using your camera. And it speeds up your workflow—it's a lot easier to turn a couple of dials to adjust exposure levels than to drag your mouse across half a dozen on-screen sliders.

You do lose out on the large, touch-sensitive control dial included with the Loupedeck CT. It's very useful, especially for making fine rotation adjustments and scrubbing through video timelines, enough to justify the $549 price for some. There are alternatives out there without touch screens too, like the affordable TourBox ($169) and the modular Monogram Creative Console ($499).

The Loupedeck Live is our favorite of the bunch, and our Editors' Choice winner. It's nearly as useful as the Loupedeck CT for half the price. More importantly, the mix of touch controls and dials are quite useful for any creator yearning for a more hands-on approach to editing.