Review: Trinity Audio Group Indamixx

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Asher Fulero

THE BEST ATTEMPT AT A HANDHELD MUSIC STUDIO YET

Aiming to create a killer musical device sized somewhere between a laptop and a PDA, the designers of the new Indamixx Portable Studio have assembled a beast of a unit that brings new meaning to the concept of a portable DAW. About the size of a Sony PSP, Indamixx is the first handheld Linux machine and offers all the expandability, open-source availability and flexibly efficient architecture of the Linux platform within a custom-designed GUI that lets your fingers do the walking (with some help from a stylus pen). While there are definitely some weaknesses, there is no denying its cool factor. There are undoubtedly a large number of creative types out there who will be salivating to get their hands on a pocket-size Linux box — especially once they see what superstar DJs like Cut Chemist and Donald Glaude are doing with it.

GEARED UP

Indamixx is built on top of a Samsung Q1 Ultra, a portable Windows machine that sports an Intel processor; a bright, 7-inch, touch-enabled (single touch, not multitouch) LCD screen; a split QWERTY keyboard (about the size of texting keys on a cell phone); a minijoystick for mouse control; a 4-way directional pad; and left/right mouse-click buttons. Systems specs include 1 GB of built-in RAM (expandable to 2 GB), a 40 GB hard drive, two USB ports, Ethernet, VGA monitor port, 802.11g Wi-Fi, a built-in microphone, speakers and a battery that can last as long as three hours.

The Indamixx designers took this device and wiped Windows, loaded up Linux and packed the unit with all the great Linux-friendly audio software they could find. To help navigate the usual Linux code line-input interface, the designers added a special graphic user interface (GUI) called Transmission. Then they added 260 audio plug-ins, custom-produced drum kits, DJ samples and scratch samples to assist with quick song making. With no driver hassles or updates necessary, you can simply turn it on and start making beats.

With the combined software, this unit's potential is limitless. Ardour is much like a mini-Logic: a full-featured DAW that lets you assemble your projects. Energy XT compares to Fruity Loops and is great for making drum 'n' bass grooves or more complicated combinations of samples and sequences. Mixxx is a simple but powerful 2-deck digital DJ program with beat matching, Audacity handles 2-track audio editing, Hydrogen is a drum machine/sequencer, and ALSA puts a modular synthesizer and effects processor in your palm. You also get a simple mixer, CD-burning program, media player, loop sequencer and another synth. The powerful Web suite includes the Epiphany Web browser, Pidgin IM for chatting, gFTP for file transfer, Skype for making Internet phone calls and IDJC for easy, one-click Web audio streaming. The Transmission interface also works as a BitTorrent client. For routing audio, MIDI and ALSA signals inside the system, Indamixx uses Jack, an easy and stable ReWire-like patch bay.

THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE AIR

There's plenty to talk about with such a complicated and flexible piece of machinery (like all the ways you could make beats on a plane, broadcast a DJ set from Starbucks or make free Skype calls when you find free Wi-Fi), but Indamixx has several truly awesome powers that make it a product to seriously consider. First, consider it as a portable Webcasting device; rather than carrying around a dedicated computer and interface to run the streaming software, why not let Indamixx be your portable stream-box? A simple stereo signal sent into the ⅛-inch headphone jack (which conveniently doubles as a stereo line input) can easily be routed via Jack to the Internet DJ Console (IDJC) app, which makes it incredibly simple to stream audio via Shoutcast or IceCast 2 with just a few clicks. Also, IDJC is one of the few apps designed with larger buttons, making it easier to do almost everything. You can mix from two Playlists, play single files from your browser, or mix in any live input from Jack, including outputs from any of Indamixx's apps. Imagine using your fingers to beat-slide your tracks (made in Ardour and Energy XT) within Mixxx as you fade the live IDJC Webcast between your signal and the one coming in from your friend's DJ send.

Indamixx can also act as a centerpiece; with Ethernet, a VGA monitor, a USB keyboard and a mouse connected up, it can power a larger rig — although that's really what a home desktop system is for. But if you've been making basic beats on the go and you want to fine-tune them when you get home, having the larger monitor and keys to work with could help you go from beats you made on the train to a track you want to take into the bigger studio. And for any Web-savvy DJs or performers who want to integrate Web-streaming broadcasts into their world, Indamixx is a fantastic all-in-one solution.

JUST A TOUCH AWAY

At a deeper level, much of the user experience with a product like this comes down to two key elements: physical interface and learning curve. While Indamixx is truly a valiant effort and certainly can do some seriously cool things, it falls a bit short in both those two key categories. However, it blows any competition away in terms of breadth of DAW capacity inside a small form factor, and that alone will make it a piece that many a producer will cherish.

As sleek as the Transmission GUI is for navigating the different applications (divided into Audio/MIDI/Video, Web, Graphic and Accessories) and maintaining several open programs/windows, it doesn't solve the problem of controls being too small to accurately hit with a finger. In almost every task and program, I had to break out the included stylus at some point. I'm sorry to say, but that's a buzzkill when using a $1,200 touch-screen device. To be fair, there are also three cool “soft-touch” buttons just above the right side of the screen that allow anytime-access to volume up/down and a menu that drops down a minibrowser from your current mouse position. That was very handy for switching apps because it is difficult to choose them with your finger at the top bar due to their proximity to the raised edge around the screen — a problem that also plagues scroll bars near the right edge of the screen.

The QWERTY keypad is split in half on the top two sides, and while that may seem easy, I actually found it disorienting. The keys themselves are very small, actually smaller and closer together than those on my little LG enV cell phone. The long list of modifiers (Shift, Ctrl, Tab, Esc, SYM, Space, Alt and NumLock), some of which stay held after you press them and must be pressed again to disengage, are more confusing still and have no visual feedback to show their status. The included onboard touch-screen keyboard is handy but awkward to resize and usually covers up the active text, so you can't see what you're typing until you click away from it. Also, the joystick-controlled mouse is quite awkward. After seven or eight attempts to manipulate the pointer into a particular spot, I usually just reach for the stylus to save time, which really takes the wind out of the sails of my work flow.

The learning curve depends on the user's familiarity with the software or ability to learn quickly. If you are fluent with Ardour or Energy XT already, then Indamixx will be a relatively easy transition. And there is really no taking away from their combined power; Ardour and Energy XT are extremely rich programs that can do a lot of different things very well. But to the unfamiliar, this many new programs can be overwhelming, with entirely new interfaces to learn. Many of them are vague as to how they interact with the other programs, and I had a lot of trouble getting the ALSA/MIDI system to work properly with outboard gear from Novation and M-Audio, despite several attempts and things appearing to be okay. For example, the Novation ReMote SL Compact keys would not trigger the synth in Energy XT, although the drumpads would.

Indamixx designers probably won't agree, but it seems to me that due to the ever-growing number and sophistication of iPhone/iPod Touch music-making apps, Indamixx faces some indirect competition from Apple. Sure, the two devices have different musical scopes, but the attractions are similar: portability, real-world musical applications and cool factor. Indamixx is free of Apple-induced constraints, but it is behind on user friendliness and learning curve. While you can't do full 32-bit recording DAW work on an iPhone and or connect it to outboard gear or controllers like with the Indamixx, more apps for the Apple devices (such as the glitzy new iZotope iDrum) are designed for finger control and entice you with beautiful Core Graphics. Indamixx's apps have greater pro potential, but using them can be rife with accidents, despite the fact that several are adapted for small screens (Ardourino, Energy XT Indamixx Edition, Mixxx Digital DJ Indamixx Edition and others). For example, trying to edit automation break-points in Ardour without the stylus was extremely tedious because the zoom controls are on the edge and the break-points themselves are too small to grab with your finger.

With all of that said, I should really point out that it would take only one or two really amazing, graphically slick Linux-friendly music apps to dramatically improve the Indamixx user experience and make it the wonder machine we all hope and think it could be. That's the beauty of software updates.

TRINITY AUDIO GROUP

INDAMIXX > $1,199

Pros: Full DAW capabilities on the go. Bright, visible touch screen. Easy interfacing. Tons of great software.

Cons: No multitouch. Many controls too small to touch with a finger, requiring a stylus. Flash sites can be problematic in the browser.

Contact: www.indamixx.com

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