Review: FEELWORLD LIVEPRO L1 Multi-Format Video Mixer

The FEELWORLD LIVEPRO L1 (Figure 1, below) is a $325 video mixer that accepts 4 HDMI inputs and has HDMI out for preview or program views and a headphone jack. In three days of testing, I found hardware operation solid with a few rough edges but no major sticking points. Ease of use was outstanding. However, my attempts to access advanced functions via Mac or Windows programs failed, and FEELWORLD never responded to my support requests. So, if you need advanced features or handholding look elsewhere.

Figure 1. The FEELWORLD LIVEPRO L1 has onboard previews, an HDMI out for program or preview and a headphone jack.

Inputs and Outputs

The unit weighs about 1.5 pounds and is 185mm x 110mm and slopes from 39mm high down to 29.5mm, about the size of a very thick paperback except not as wide. On the back are the 4 HDMI inputs, the HDMI output, and the power connection. The left side holds the LAN connector used for control and updating, the USB 3.0 output, and a 3.5" audio input and output. On the right is a mounting screw to attach the unit to a tripod or other production gear.

Like most inexpensive mixing appliances, the LIVEPRO can’t stream directly to a service provider. Instead, you send the program feed out via the USB 3.0 port to a connected computer running a program like Wirecast, vMix, or OBS, which encodes and sends the stream to a service provider. The LIVEPRO also has no onboard recording function; for that, you’ll need a computer or other device that can record the USB 3.0 output.

You see the operational surface in Figure 1. The actual display area of the TFT screen is a bit smaller than billed, about 1.75” compared to the advertised 2”. Still, it provides the necessary preview of the four inputs.

Figure 2 (below) shows the preview output from the HDMI monitor. On top, the live program stream is on the right, while the input in the PST, or preview window, is cued for transitioning to the program stream via the T-bar. On the bottom are the four inputs, with the live input in red, the preview input in yellow, and the other two are in green, indicating that they are live and can be selected for preview.

Figure 2. Here’s the preview output from the HDMI monitor. Click the image to see it at full size.

To switch between the inputs in default mode, you click an input button to queue it to the preview window. Then you can take it live manually using the T-bar. Alternatively, you can switch to a “Fast” mode where you press the desired button to take that input live, with a choice of 14 transitions and a configurable transition time.

There are up to 5 audio inputs, 4 with the HDMI and 1 with the Audio In port. During operation, you can configure the unit to switch audio with the video, which is seldom the desired setup, to input from any single HDMI source, or from the audio input port. As an example, when producing the demo video that accompanies this article, I used a microphone connected to HDMI 3.

Note that the LIVEPRO has no audio mixing capabilities; if you need to mix audio from different sources, you’ll need a separate hardware mixer to either feed into the audio input port or into the computer actually recording or streaming the production.

I’ll cover more configuration options below, but now you know enough to understand basic operation; you plug in your inputs, choose your audio source, and switch using the T-bar or in Fast mode by pressing the desired button. Total learning time after setup is about two minutes, making the unit perfect for productions that use volunteers and selfie productions when you’re both the talent and the mixer operator.

Now let’s dig a bit deeper into setup and configuration and then I’ll discuss some additional findings.

Setup

You access setup options via the Menu button on the right under the SETUP label, choosing options using the Push control to the right. There’s not a lot that you have to do, but there are some configurations that you should know about.

First, you can choose the resolution and frame rate for your HDMI output and whether the external monitor displays the program or preview window. The unit supports a maximum resolution of 1920x1080 and outputs as low as 1024x768, at 24, 25, 50, and 60 fps. Depending upon your monitor however, if you switch out of 60 fps it may not be able to display the video.

In most cases, you’ll want to switch the production at full resolution, and if you want to capture at a lower resolution, you can adjust the USB output to the same parameters as for the HDMI output.

You can configure the USB output to either the program or preview feed, though other than product demonstrations, I’m not sure when you’d want to send preview output to your streaming software.

Under the hood, the LIVEPRO L1 does a good job adjusting both input resolutions and frame rates to the target output; I mixed 1080p60 output from my notebook with video ranging from 720p to 4K and the unit handled all resolutions without incident.

Also in the setup menu are the controls for choosing your audio source plus IP address, version information, and the reset button.