I developed the Dorico Notation Express profiles (www.notationexpress.com) to be pretty comprehensive, particularly for users that have to switch back and forth between Dorico and other notation programs. If you’re aiming to get things like note entry on the Stream Deck then the XL is very worthwhile.
On the other hand, if you only use it as an extension for triggering short sequences of commands and tricky menu items then the regular device may fit the bill.
For what it’s worth, in my day to day use I don’t depend on a Stream Deck for any of the Dorico functions that have a factory single-key shortcut (note values, articulations, slurs, tuplets etc.). I customise a folder of functions for the specific task at hand. For instance, at the moment I’m taking an orchestral piece and making a piano reduction, so the functions I need frequently are:
- Paste Special > Reduce
- Duplicate to stave above/below
- A couple of filters
- Change/Merge to Upstem Voice 1
- Change/Merge to Downstem Voice 1
- Remove dynamic from group
and so on.
If I’m inputting then it’s more likely that what I’ll want in front of me is a select bunch of Playing Techniques (e.g. a button that tells Dorico to type Shift-P arco Enter).
All of these functions are programmed up in the Stream Deck profile, but I copy and paste them and drag them around within the Stream Deck’s own software.
The reality is that for some jobs, I really need more than 14 functions available to me (14 rather than 15 as I keep things in multiple folders and top left is always my “back” button). If everything lives in one folder, each individual function is a single button push. If functions have to be spread across multiple folders, it could be that you need three button pushes - one to get out of the current folder, another to get to the appropriate folder, another to fire the command. At that point I start to question whether it might be quicker to use the mouse.
For more advanced functionality you could set up macros in Keyboard Maestro and give them global hotkey triggers that the Stream Deck can send.