Elgato Stream Deck pedal review

When I first saw the Elgato Stream Deck Pedal, I was a little confused as to who it might be for. When you have the standard Stream Deck, Mini, XL and more, do you really need a pedal? And why a pedal? It seemed so far out of left field to me that it didn’t make sense until I tried it. Not every streamer will need the Elgato Stream Deck Pedal, but it’s a nice addition if you decide to get one.

specifications

• Size: 175 x 244 x 49m / 6.9 x 9.6 x 1.9in

• Pedals: 3 x customizable foot pedals

• spring tension sets: 4 x soft, 4 x medium, 4 x hard and 2 x stopper

• Cable: USB-C to USB-A cable, detachable

• Price: $89.99 on the Elgato website

first thoughts

Taking the pedal out of the box, I’m once again impressed by Elgato’s willingness to use no plastic materials in the box. Instead of tiny plastic bags for the extra springs that come with the Stream Deck Pedal, tiny paper bags keep the packaging sustainable, and the whole package screams premium.

The pedal itself looks pretty plain, which makes sense since you’ll be spending most of your time stepping on the face. A large Elgato logo adorns the larger, central pedal, while two angled pedals flank either side. Connecting the pedal to the PC is via a simple USB-C to USB-A cable, which thankfully is detachable. Elgato has been embracing this lately with the Stream Deck 2.0 and Elgato FaceCam, and it’s nice to see the company continuing this trend.

While I really prefer the standard springs installed on the pedal itself, Elgato includes multiple sets of springs so you can make sure each pedal’s action is exactly how you want it. The bottom of the Stream Deck pedal also includes non-slip feet that even grip carpet, meaning the pedal has never moved on me during use – a pretty important feature here.

I’ve used pedals to control audio in the past. As a musician in my 20s, I used a pedal to mute my sax mic on stage when I wasn’t playing, and added effects over the mic myself when I needed them. I understand that in this context and for session musicians and more the pedal makes perfect sense. As for streaming, I was wondering what this might add to a setup, especially if you’re already integrated into the Elgato ecosystem like I am.

Surprisingly, the pedal can contribute a lot.

foot control

The Elgato Stream Deck Pedal is controlled with the Elgato Steam Deck software. If you’ve used this before, it will be quite familiar. The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to set up the actions you want each pedal to perform, from changing scenes in OBS to muting your mic on Discord so you can just talk to chat.

Additionally, Smart Profiles in the Elgato Stream Deck app mean your pedal isn’t limited to just three actions. Want a separate profile for Premiere Pro? Set up a profile and the pedal will switch profiles when you switch apps. Recording music and need an effect or the ability to quickly play a track through your headphones? Set up a profile.

For me, using it to create new layers in Photoshop, mute my mic during calls and recordings, and easily start and stop media became almost second nature. The pedal’s smooth action and satisfying click when pressed never felt muddy in practice, although I’ll say it took a bit of getting used to at first. I’m used to bouncy guitar pedals that have a lot of free play, especially to create certain distortion effects and the like. This feels more like simply pressing a button, not necessarily swinging a pedal down.

That’s not a bad thing, but if you’re looking for something to replace a wah, reverb pedal and more, it might not be the best. However, if you want to be in control of your recording studio setup, e.g. B. mute the microphone, start or stop the track in your monitors and more, the pedal can do this.

If you are also looking for a way to make some of your games easier, the Elgato Stream Deck Pedal will help you and here. By assigning a pedal to an in-game macro, firing during a raid can become as easy as tapping your foot. Want to peek around a wall or just bring up the build menu Fourteen days? You can assign pretty much anything to the pedal, and it’s a lot easier to tweak it during the heat of the game than hitting a button on the Stream Deck.

However, this is not a device that every gamer or even streamer needs. I have both a Steam Deck Mini and a Steam Deck 2.0, both of which come loaded with macros, transitions and more to support both workflow and streaming. Integrating the pedal was easy, but I found that as I got used to the pedal, I started using the established setup. It initially felt like an unnecessary addition.

However, once I got used to using it for actions like screen transitions in OBS, muting an audio source in my Wave Link, and foot-clicking to start/stop the stream, it slowly started to work its way into my workflow. Now it feels like second nature, but I’m not sure it was necessary.

Conclusion

Not much goes wrong with the Elgato Stream Deck Pedal. It’s a good piece of kit that, once you get used to it, can be a good addition to any workflow. Whether you’re a video editor, game streamer, or musician, it has a use case for you. But is it necessary?

Short answer: no. Not you need a stream deck pedal, especially if you’re already rooted in the current Elgato ecosystem. But I will say it’s a very nice addition. The fact that it seems so limited at first glance, but when combined with the real star of any Elgato product, the software, offers so many possibilities, is great. And that means that regardless of your personal use case, you’ll likely find a place for it in your setup.

At $89.99 it’s a bit pricey for many budget streamers out there, but it’s not bad when you look at the pedal market otherwise. Pedals for racing kits, guitar pedals, and more can be just as expensive, if not more so. Again, it’s the software that makes the pedal worth its money in the end. It’s really powerful and lets the Elgato Stream Deck Pedal really shine.

The Elgato Stream Deck Pedal is a nice piece of kit. It’s built really well, the ability to tune it to your liking with both software and physical springs is a great touch, and it fits right into most under-desk floor setups. The software makes this a really powerful addition to your streaming or recording setup, and the ability to use it beyond those applications only adds to its value.

The ability to swap tools in Photoshop, mute your video for a moment on a Zoom call, or just mute your mic during a call at the touch of a button is nice. While the pedal isn’t a necessary addition to your setup, unlike say a Stream Deck or FaceCam, it’s nice to have despite that little extra control.

Whether you buy it as a necessary addition to your setup or simply as a novelty to add a little extra control, you won’t be disappointed with the Stream Deck Pedal.