Laptops for music are nothing new. But better versions of Linux make no-hassle music production easier and more powerful – and new netbooks make it cheap and ultra-portable, too, for times when even that 15” laptop feels clunky. Netbooks aren’t for everyone, and I imagine some people will miss Windows and Mac OS, even with better compatibility and powerful features on Linux. But if you are looking for an additional, more mobile machine, the combination is definitely worth a look.

A significant revision to the one netbook customized for Linux music has just become available today – you read about it here first.

The elements of Linux-based music making have reached a nice convergence with the release of Ubuntu 9.04 – the combination of a polished, mature Linux distribution with a newly-updated real-time kernel for low-latency audio is looking especially potent. At the same time, the increasingly-popular netbook has also improved in the latest generation. Ronald Stewart of Indamixx, a custom Linux mobile computer builder and OS packager, writes to brag about his latest generation. And he’s even found a way to do mobile music in his vehicle. (Let’s hope traffic in the LA area isn’t so bad that you’re actually adjusting beats in a tracker on the road, however.)

Indamixx has three products here, one software and two hardware:

• The original Indamixx portable studio is built on Samsung’s OLPC platform. I reviewed it for Keyboard Magazine. It’s really, really ultra-portable, and is something of a technological achievement. But most of us would prefer something more like a laptop, with a little more power and a conventional keyboard/mouse. Good news:
• The Indamixx Laptop is a netbook, with more power and more conventional uses – but still pre-tuned to run Linux audio, and still ultra-portable.
• Transmission is Indamixx’s custom Linux distribution, built on Studio64 and Ubuntu 9.04, but with extra tools to make hosting Windows VSTs and importing your existing projects easier.

Transmission should be available soon for people who already own a netbook. You get more than you get with a stock Ubuntu install. For instance, the included commercial product ardourXchange allows you to import AAF files from Pro Tools, Logic, and the like into the open source Ardour DAW.

It also ships with the commercial app energyXT. I think it’d worth buying a copy of the superb, modern tracker Renoise, which has excellent Linux support. Renoise also got a significant update, now in beta, which I’ll talk about by next week. Ardour 3.0 is expected to be a major update, as well, with support for MIDI and VSTs – that could be a game-changer when it happens, so stay tuned.

The laptop is what especially intrigues me. Linux is great, but it is nice having a configuration that’s static, because it helps navigate around potential compatibility issues with specific hardware specs. (That’s a problem we see regularly on Windows, too, and even occasionally – as with a specific wifi bug on an early build of Leopard – on the Mac.)

Indamixx has a special version of the MSI Wind that comes pre-optimized for Indamixx. Ronald describes the newly-updated Indamixx Laptop specs. (We saw the laptop here on CDM first in November, but this is a significant upgrade from that model):

• Transmission OS 3.0, which thanks to the new kernel and Ubuntu 9.04 has various enhancements and does a much better job of handling network 3G / HDSPA cards for mobile connectivity
• A 2.0 GHz CPU – the only overclocking-capable netbook
• 2 GB pre-installed RAM from the factory, which (sadly) is rarity in netbooks
• 160 GB HDD (doubled from the previous model)
• 10.2” widescreen display, up from the somewhat-cramped 8.9” on the previous model
• Large-style keyboard layout, roughly 95% of the size of a regular keyboard
• 2.6 pounds, up to 4 hours battery life

The 2.6.29.1 kernel is new to Ubuntu 9.04. Combined with the real-time JACK, you get excellent low-latency performance. (Incidentally, I’ve found that also applies to Windows software running in Linux under the Windows compatibility environment WINE – I’ve had success with NI’s Reaktor. Not officially supported, but quite a lot of fun. Ronald reports at least one user running Guitar Rig 2, as well.)

Indamixx also throws in a carrying case and free FedEx shipping.

I’ll be installing Ubuntu 9.04 on my main PC laptop soon, and possibly also my MacBook. Stay tuned for more on the latest Linux OS and what you can do with it for creative music making.

More info:

http://www.indamixx.com/

Indamixx Laptop @ Amazon: Indamixx Portable Studio Netbook Edition Model 2

(also available from Musicians’ Friend)

Five hundred bucks. In music tech terms, that usually gets you, what, a single app bundle? Now, it can get you a whole computer, pre-loaded with a bunch of music software. It may not be as powerful as a modern laptop, but it’s also in a cute, smaller form factor you can keep everywhere in case inspiration strikes, or balance on the corner of your Steinway grand. Meet the Indamixx laptop. Whether you want one or not, it’s emblematic of the ongoing commoditization of laptop technology, with ever-cheaper, lower-power brains.

Highlights:

• Brains: 1.6Ghz Intel Atom CPU netbook (looks similar to the Asus, but it’s actually Sylvania)
• energyXT bundled: Runs energyXT, the awesome music production workstation with modular features and some unique editing capabilities – sort of the “indie” electronic music workstation of choice
• Full laptop-like specs: a full complement of I/O including 3 USB ports; an 80 GB hard drive (not bad for a machine this size!)
• Custom Linux distro + apps: Tons of pre-configured Linux music production software running on a custom distribution called “Transmission” – with Hydrogen Drums, Ardour DAW, DJ software Mixxx (that’s three x’s to Indamixx’s’s two – don’t ask), and lots of other lovely tools
• Sounds pre-loaded: 2900 drum sounds, 350 samples + scratches
• Import sessions: The new Ardour Xchange imports from your existing DAW (worth its own article, I think!)
• Broadcast your sets: Included Internet console for streaming your live gigs, etc.
• Hosts Windows VSTs: An included Windows-compatible host for your existing plug-ins
• Bundle: includes 1GB SD card, free carrying case, free US shipping, a t-shirt, and 30 days software support while you get it set up

$499 for the whole bundle – stuff like Ardour Xchange alone lists for US$75, energyXT is commercial, and you get these other goodies, as well (the memory card, case, etc.). So I think this is very competitively priced.

More reflections from Liliputing, which is a must-read blog if you’re into netbooks. (And it’s the creation of Brad Linder, audiophile and NPR producer who occasionally checks in on mobile recording here.)

In a story I originally broke here, Trinity Audio Group has already built an all-in-one, ready-to-run Linux audio machine in a UMPC form factor, the Indamixx. I reviewed that Samsung Q1 Ultra machine for Keyboard Magazine, and was particularly impressed with the software configuration. I’ll be honest, though, personally I could never get that comfortable with the UMPC-style Indamixx, because I found input methods to be overly cramped, and the tradeoff for the UMPC’s extreme mobility is vastly trimmed-down performance – at a price (US$1199) that remains awfully steep. Touch is appealing, and it’s worth holding one just to marvel at the technological achievement, but in practice I just didn’t like the thing that much. I know some people feel differently – EnergyXT creator Jørgen Aase adores his – but you realize that maybe traditional laptops have something going for them.

I’m not alone. The netbook market has already more or less clobbered the UMPC in the market. Under the hood is the same enabling technology: increasingly power-smart, low-heat Intel mobile CPUs. They still fall well short of what the Core 2 Duo can do, but they’re getting better. And in the netbook, they have two massive advantages: one, they’re super cheap, even relative to bigger conventional laptops, and two, they’re in a familiar form factor that’s been made more compact.

Turns out, that whole laptop form factor isn’t so bad, after all. It tilts the screen up, and allows for a big screen. It provides ample keyboard input. It folds to protect the vital bits. It has plenty of I/O.

So, whereas the original UMPC Indamixx might have only niche appeal, you can bet the Indamixx netbook could be a huge hit.

You can pre-order the Indamixx laptop with a US$99 deposit, and guarantee delivery by Christmas by ordering by December 15. With USB2, you could easily plug in audio interfaces and keyboards, some of which have excellent support on Linux. On the downside, unlike something like the Lenovo S10, it won’t run Ableton (at least not with some effort – anyone tried WINE?) On the upside, Linux has audio features Windows XP doesn’t, it comes pre-configured with a bunch of software, and runs nicely on this kind of hardware.

I hope to test one of these machines soon. And yes, before people start protesting, there still is a great argument for conventional laptops — $500 will buy you a fairly impressive conventional machine, and you can install Linux on that, as well; with more of an investment, you could get a machine that easily smokes this one. I do like maxing out the capabilities of just those kinds of machines. But you have to admit, you can see some appeal to this machine, as well. And I do think some of the developments here, from the low-power CPU to the use of the Linux distribution, have some implications for all laptops. Stay tuned.

Indamixx Laptop Pre-Order Page