PC Macroboard Update: I Bought One! Epomaker EK21 VIA

Sometimes, somethings are just too good of a bargain you can't pass it up. And when I saw a macroboard available for sale, it took me several minutes to decide to take advantage of it. 

I am buying this: Epomaker EK21 VIA

Epomaker EK21 VIA, courtesy of Epomaker.com

You may be asking: so what? It's a numpad. 

Ah, but it's a triple mode numpad: wired, Bluetooth, and dongle-wireless. 

Okay, so? 

It's also VIA firmware customizable. No proprietary software needed. Use the nearly universal VIA website to map everything, from macros to layers. And it has a knob in the upper left corner. It's RGB, hot swappable switches, And it has 4 layers (0 through 3), and can be paired to up to 3 devices under Bluetooth. No more struggling with proprietary macro software. 

And the best thing is the price. It's on sale for $33.99, and there's a $5 off coupon you get if you do the spinner game on their website. Shipping from China is free. Final out the door price: $28.99. No tax either. 

I can easily program the RGB lights to indicate the layer mode, which means I have 20 keys and 1 knob to program * 4 layers to map. Even if we take away 1 key as layer switch, that's still 19 keys + 1 knob x 4 I can map actions to. 

The only thing that could be better would be it has a display, like Stream Dock or XenceLabs macropad. And those are $100. Maybe discounted to $80 if I find it REALLY on sale. And they don't have nearly as many keys as this. For saving $50+ dollars, I can live with the limitations, esp. if I find my "relegendable" keycaps I stashed away somewhere. 

Weirder PC Macroboards, but These are Virtual!

Previously we'd talked about the wonderful wacky world of PC macroboards, where "programmable" boards of every size a shape hopes via for your dollars with promise to help you be more productive. 

But there's one subcategory I did not mention... the virtual macropad! 

Got an old smartphone or tablet lying around gathering dust? You can probably turn it into a macropad. There are two software options: Touch Portal, and StreamDeck Mobile. 

Touch Portal, via Touch Portal

Touch Portal has been around a bit longer, and can be run on very old mobile hardware (as old as Android 4!)  It claims to be compatible with a TON of native PC, individual apps, even games and streaming utilities, with multiple layers of customization. If you can get the software working, you can enjoy some very powerful capabilities and automations for a low price. Download the PC host program free, and download the Touch Portal client to the mobile device (sideloading is fine) and let them see each other by joining the same wifi network. Done! Add a few buttons to see if it's working for you. There are a ton of options for each button and you can definitely customize the behavior to a very deep degree. 

However, you are limited in the number of buttons you can put on screen with the free version, as well as lack of any plug-in support. To get that, you need to fork over $13 for the pro version upgrade (that's lifetime, NOT a subscription!) An optional upgrades is the multi-device upgrade ($6.99 so you can use multiple tablets or phones, each with its own copy of Touch Portal sending commands to the PC), as well as some graphics upgrades. The payment is one-and-done, NOT a subscription. And that is pretty darn cheap, IMHO, but kinda complicated to setup. But they have a Discord channel if you need some help. 

Stream Deck Mobile tries to achieve the same thing as Touch Portal, but uses their own Stream Deck program on the PC as the host to receive those commands. Stream Deck Mobile offers a fully working demo for 30 days. Once demo time expires, your stream deck mobile will shrink to only have 6 keys (like Stream Deck mini), but it will keep working. The pro license, is $2.99 a month, $25 for a full year, or $49.95 for a lifetime license. That pro license gives you the full power, over 100 buttons per page and access to any premium content. Here's the link to the Android and iOS versions. 

And here comes G.skill that tries to have the cake and eat it too, by selling a dedicated... "tablet" with customized widgets/buttons on screen they are calling the Wigidash. 

Also keep in mind that due to StreamDeck's popularity, there are clones appearing on the market. Ajazz makes one that looks identical, except in white, There are some generic names, like "IYUT D15", that's also a virtually identical clone. Same device is on sale at Aliexpress for as low as $55 and known as Miratech 293S (or just 293S). This appears to be a legally reverse engineered device from a clean room and thus the basic functions will work fine. However, whether it enjoys third-party support is the real question there.  

All these lead Elgato to release the new "Neo" product line, which also has a new version of Stream Deck that has some twist knobs for analog adjustments, similar to their previous "Stream Deck Plus" version, as well as buttons with multiple layers of functions. 

If you got the money, setting up such devices to automate your setup has never been easier!

The Wonderful and Wacky World of MacroBoards (for PC)

A Macroboard is basically a small keyboard that one can program to to perform a whole series of functions (aka macros). However, there are a wide variety of them, from cheap to expensive, from nearly useless to extremely useful, from cheap crap to built like a tank, from a tiny three-key all the way up to a 64-key keyboard plus extra control knobs and such. Welcome to the wonderful wacky world of macroboards. 

DOIO Megalodon Console 64 keyboard/macroboard

3-key macroboard on Alliexpress.com, about $6 USD

As I am a PC Windows user, I am going to talk about it from the PC users' perspective. Don't own a Mac, can't talk about them. 

Anyway, as you can see the sizes of these keyboards vary greatly. You can also sometimes find twist-knobs on these to give you 1-D scrolling control. The knob has a geeky name: rotary encoder. And often act as a pushbutton key itself. 

So these macroboards come in various sizes and shapes and layouts, and there are a ton of other differentiating factors, which we will list here:

• Size (how many keys, how many encoders)
• Layout (how the keys and encoders are arranged)
• Interface to computer (MicroUSB or USB-C wired, 2.4 GHz wireless, Bluetooth)
• Backlight for the keys (none, white, RGB)
• Firmware (proprietary simple, proprietary GUI, GMK / VIA ROM) 
• Display keys or mini-display per key as labels (expensive)
• Number of layers supported (more layers, more keys can be programmed)
• Key mounting method (if MX stems, can be replaced with other MX keys)
• Key switch mounting method (if swappable)
• Case material (acrylic, plastic, aluminum, mixed, etc.) and color (if any choice)
• Source/vendor: retailer, etsy?, Aliexpress, Temu, Amazon, Newegg, keyboard shop, etc.
• Others?

Generally, the more features you see (the larger it is, it supports wireless and wired, etc.) the most it will cost. The little 3-key board costs about $6 on Aliexpress. A 6-key 1-knob board costs about $12-20. Something that's the size of a numpad (about 18-20 keys) should be between $35-90 depending on feature set. At the higher end, the Console 64 board above costs well over $200 depending on what switches and keys you want with it, but it's also GMK/VIA compatible. 

For the truly high-end, there are the per-key display macroboards such as the Elgato StreamDeck and proprietary editing boards such as the LoupeDeck and even single purpose boards such as the Davinci Resolve Speed Editor from Black Magic Designs, to be used with Davinci Resolve video editor. 

Elgato Stream Deck Mk II courtesy of Elgato

Loupedeck+Loupedeck+ courtesy of Loupedeck

BMD Davinci Resolve Speed Editor

If you prefer something DIY many mechanical keyboard shops offer proprietary kits. You just add your own mechanical keyboard switches and keycaps, and assemble a few other things. Adafruit, for example, has their RP2040 which even has an OLED display, in addition to 12 keys and a rotary encoder. 

Generally, you get what you pay for. If it's too cheap, they probably took a shortcut somewhere and you may not realize it until you got it in hand and test it yourself. As an example, I dug up My 3-knob 11-key macropad and decided to use it, then found out that while it "supports" 3 layers, the only way to switch among the layers was via a TINY button that's NOT one of the 11 buttons on top, making it almost impossible to use. It also require a proprietary software that were difficult to download, and the directly linked version doesn't work, requiring you to download an "upgraded" version. It's a piece of junk, basically. I know I didn't pay more than $50 for this, and I still feel ripped off. 

But what can a macropad do for you? Quite a bit. 

• Launch programs and put them in specific spots on the screen
• Trigger specific functions in almost any software on your PC
• Automatically switch customization as it detects different software loading
• Control not just overall volume, but volume for individual apps, great for streaming
• Add soundboard and reaction functions to the stream, no need to pick from menu
• Map all the video conference controls to buttons, from mute all to kick user
• Control your smarthome with a few button presses
• And much more...

That is, of course, ONLY if your macroboard can be mapped to those functions, which is why the big brands, like Elgato, enjoys an advantage here due to their wide support by 3rd party vendors, and GMK/VIA, because they standardized the interface, thus requiring NO special drivers once the macros were loaded into the hardware. 

If you barely use your keyboard, then macroboard probably will NOT help you much. But if you spend a LOT of time fiddling with controls on your PC and wish you can just push ONE button to get it all done, or need to control a lot of different software, preferably with a single control center, then a macroboard may seem like a godsend. 

If you just want something cheap to get your "feet wet", so to speak, and you don't mind ordering from China, here's one... multiple knobs, 9 keys, less than $40, VIA compatible. You will need to indicate which kit you want, and what switches you want on those, AND you need extra keys to put on the switches. This is NOT a ready-to-unbox product. If you want one that's ready to run out of the box that'll cost you $50-60. 

And if you're willing to pay that much, why not pay for the best? That'd be the Xencelabs Quick Keys. Yes, it's $100, but it has a wheel, 4 layers, and 10 keys (so 40 shortcuts), and there's a per-key display so you don't have to guess what each key does. It will literally tell you. Sure, you can get better looking ones, like Elgato Steam Deck with per button display, but why when this costs less? 

Again, welcome to the wonderful and wacky world of macroboards. May you find interesting uses for them (and not spend the money on the wrong things). 

Weird Limitation on this 3 knob 11 key macroboard...

A while back, I'm not sure where, I picked up this macro keyboard that has 3 rotating encoders (knobs) and 11 keys. However, I can't find a use for it at the time, so I put it back in the box. (I actually also have a single knob 6 key version I probably bought off Temu)  Now that I dug it out again, I start to wonder what can I do with it. 

Took me a while, but I FINALLY found the right driver for it. It was made by Videyt, but their download website is NOT well designed. The software listed next to the device actually will NOT work. I had to download the version just above it, the "upgraded" version's software, to see the device. 

And somehow Chrome won't finish the download. Had to bring out Firefox to download the file correctly. 

Then there's the problem of setting "layers". You see, while the software claims to support 3 layers of settings, there seems to be no key or keymapping in the software that lets you toggle through the layers. 

It wasn't until I find better description of the device that I realize there isn't one. There is an EXTERNAL button that toggles among the 3 layers. The button was so tiny and recessed flat I thought it was a reset or Bluetooth pairing request button. It wasn't until I saw a diagram that labelled the LED as layer indicator that I realized there's only a manual switch. Yes, I know this is not an exact match, but it's close enough. And yes, mine has RGB lights... and Bluetooth. 

Probably should have paid a bit more so I can get one that's compatible with GMK or VIA firmware... so I can toggle layers via one of the keys, not a switch. Hahaha. Still, those are like $70-100, whereas this one... is about $35-45. (The little 1 knob 6 key one is like... $10-15?)

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