I’ve seen the launch of a new ‘handheld PC’ called Steam Deck.
I’m not really techie, but what does this mean for musicians? Apparently the Steam Deck can do anything what a PC can do…so goes the blurb, so will we be-able to like DAW on the go?
I appreciate Ipads are more than capable, but being able to switch between gaming and dawing, would be pretty, pretty, pretty good.
How big is the screen?
7 inch, i believe. Very similar to the switch’s dimensions.
Was interested in this for gaming, but I didn’t even consider the application for musicians. Actually, I would be very interested if it can receive midi even if it won’t accept external audio. I actually got a lot of use out of the Korg Gadget app on the Nintendo Switch, but would still be using it in my setup if the Switch worked with a midi controller
Is that screen size good enough for your DAW?
With my mincers a 70” screen wouldn’t be enough 
The placement of the controls on that thing look extremely unpleasant.
But I’m intrigued. Especially on dock (how I mainly play my Switch)
Is 7 inches ever enough?!
The OS it ships with is Linux, but it should be able to run something like Bitwig without too much trouble. Now we just need a “controller” script for gamepad buttons 
Truly though, the touchpads are pressure sensitive and of course do XY, so maybe they could be made into MPE pads 
It does look pretty good, I would think adding a headless M8 or some other tracker software to it would be my thought to get around the smaller screen, M8 is essentially game pad controls already. Not exactly a DAW but it could be fun.
Oh man, just dawned on me that you could very well install Reaper on this thing. I’d been meaning to buy a new Macbook, but since this will be at least half the price and I don’t mind Linux as long as it supports my interface, this could be the portable recording computer to end all others.
We’ll see, but if it works I’ll definitely buy one as my next computer.
Could be quite handy connected to a monitor or TV via USB C.
Quite interested to see where this goes…
I am also thinking, this could be interesting for music production. It can hold a full windows installation no problem.
i was thinking the same thing. i don’t believe you’ll be running any big Ableton sets or anything, but if it can handle something that’s more lightweight and can make use of all those buttons and touchscreen, either in Windows or Linux, there could be some interesting applications.
AudioMulch comes to mind with it’s mappable Metasurface component: What is AudioMulch? | AudioMulch
but i’m sure there are plenty of other bits of software that could be cool in the right hands (literally)
I’ll not be defiling my steam deck with windows 
I also don’t think it’ll be very useful , or the an optimal way to use the hardware either.
but I do have many ideas for music dev projects for it…
can’t wait for it to turn up … roll on Q2 !
Yeah. No Windows for me neither. But Linux should also have some options, no?
My reactions : There definitely is a place for this sort of thing for musical applications. A general purpose MPC One / Maschine Plus sort of product, perhaps hand held like the Steam Deck, with a substantial set of physical controls like on a variety of controllers now.
The sort of product you’d feel OK to use as a dedicated machine to host a great software synth like Pigments, Falcon, Serum, Omnisphere, …
And yet at the same time you could flip it around and flash new firmware to a hardware synth, or use as an editor, or patch librarian, or even as a midi processor. Or think about the sequencers and a plethora of other advanced musical software products available.
And yet it’s more than a laptop or tablet, i don’t mean in price, but as a device that is playable, with real musical intent, having musical controls fully incorporated.
This is my reaction to the Steam Deck, it is an interesting product, but it is unfinished as a general purpose music device. That said it likely could be adapted to a variety of musical applications, and as such deserves further consideration.
I’ll be surprised if this runs anything like Omnisphere in useable form…
(or any intensive app like this)
I think for serious use, you’d be looking at one of the SSD models, so entry is $529…
then if we look at the Steam Deck dev information, they talk about similar power MiniPC … which costs pretty similar amounts… and its not that powerful. and even then , by their words… has a more powerful CPU, but not quite as much GPU… which is going to play against us for musical application.
and frankly, lets give this some context , lowest Mac Mini M1 can be picked up for $649, and will absolutely blow this out the water (and most other PCs ) (*)
so if you’re not using the portability… why bother at all?
personally, Im limiting my expectations on this… in terms of ‘general purpose use’.
I think it will play games, excellently, party due to excellent GPU/CPU combo, but also because it developers (of games) will optimise for it, since its ‘known platform’
… again, thats why it’ll be great for music applications that are designed for IT.
but its not designed as a general purpose device, and I think in practice, we will find it has limited use in that role beyond YouTubers making content claiming “SteamDeck running Windows… your desktop replacement”
(*) ok, I admit, you’d really want the 16gb version for music, but still its not going to be long before we start seeing these drop in price or become available used, as Apple inevitably release new models.
Peter Kirn talks to Aroon Karvna, who has been running Bitwig, VCV Rack Pro, etc. on his Steam Deck.