Studio Desk Thread

WiresDreamDisasters

What's a good but inexpensive way to arrive at something like this?


Coz those bloody desks cost £535 and I'm not paying that!!

Right now I have some Ikea KALLAX storage units with a desk top straddled across the top of them. Cheap and cheerful, but the storage aspect isn't perfect - hard to get into the rear units because of where my computer sits and they're just big holes with no shelving - so I'm looking at changing it when we move.

What are people doing for attractive and cheap(ish) desks with enough storage for audio interfaces, pedals, cables, etc etc

??

Funkfingers

Pic no worky. Just blue placeholder.

WiresDreamDisasters

Funkfingers said:

Pic no worky. Just blue placeholder.

Fixed! Cheers.

Musicwolf

How are your woodworking skills?  Mine are almost nonexistant but I still managed to knock up a 19" rack and a pull out shelf for a digital piano.

octatonic

Studio furniture is usually very poor value for money but other than building it yourself there are very few options.
Most of it is overpriced chipboard with a few rack spaces.
If you want to shock yourself have a look at the price of an Argosy Eclipse.

On a budget I'd be doing this- get a table from Ikea, some cheap Ultimate Stands for your monitors and put everything rack mounted in some rack cases that you stack up on a dolly or some wheels.
It won't be that ergonomic but to do it properly otherwise takes a couple of grand.
The cheap stuff doesn't travel well if you ever have to pull it apart and move.

I would absolutely not be buying the thing in first post- 9u spaces for £500 is poor value for money.
Also I hate the monitor position of those- way too high.

I'm using a Buso Producer XL that I had modified to be a bit wider- it gives me 36 units of rack space- 16 up top, 10 each side  underneath each 8u side.
It has hardwood edges  and can fit an 88 note controller- it looks like this:



It has also survived two international moves, albeit it crated.
It was expensive but IMHO worth the money- less than half what I'd pay for something from Argosy.

One other thing- it is a massive pain in the ass when your studio uses more than one screw size for securing rack gear- I've finally managed to move everything to just M5 bolts. I'd consider that as part of the purchase too.

Otherwise find someone who can build something for you, or adapt an Ikea thing to give you some rack spaces.
You could buy an Ikea table and a pair of 4u wooden racks and put them on either side of the table, secured with velcro.

For storage- low Ikea Billy bookcases and some cheap 3u rack drawers.

Danny1969

Have a look for used stuff ..... we got this Argosy unit for about £300 and I sold it for about the same 

octatonic

Danny1969 said:

Have a look for used stuff ..... we got this Argosy unit for about £300 and I sold it for about the same 

That is a good point.
Used studio furniture is basically worthless compared to the purchase price.
I tried selling a Quiklok Z600, it took forever, and in the end I gave it away to someone when I desperately needed the space back.

WiresDreamDisasters

Definitely not looking to spend money money on it. Cheap as chips is preferable.

My wood working is nonexistent too, but maybe I could build something. Won't know really until we move in a month or two.

Blackdream

There’s quite a few self build ideas with plans here that cater for different budgets / skill levels.
https://www.thehomeroute.com/diy-studio-desk-plans-and-ideas/

thegummy

To me the only real advantage of that over just an Ikea table is that the music keyboard and computer keyboard/mouse are on different levels so can both be used easily without getting in the way of each other.

I solved that by putting a very small keyboard stand on my Ikea table for the music keyboard to go on and to me that is just as functional as the one in your photo. Then the speakers are on piles of books to get them up to height and isolation pads to acoustically separate them.

thegummy

octatonic said:

Studio furniture is usually very poor value for money but other than building it yourself there are very few options.
Most of it is overpriced chipboard with a few rack spaces.
If you want to shock yourself have a look at the price of an Argosy Eclipse.

On a budget I'd be doing this- get a table from Ikea, some cheap Ultimate Stands for your monitors and put everything rack mounted in some rack cases that you stack up on a dolly or some wheels.
It won't be that ergonomic but to do it properly otherwise takes a couple of grand.
The cheap stuff doesn't travel well if you ever have to pull it apart and move.

I would absolutely not be buying the thing in first post- 9u spaces for £500 is poor value for money.
Also I hate the monitor position of those- way too high.

I'm using a Buso Producer XL that I had modified to be a bit wider- it gives me 36 units of rack space- 16 up top, 10 each side  underneath each 8u side.
It has hardwood edges  and can fit an 88 note controller- it looks like this:



It has also survived two international moves, albeit it crated.
It was expensive but IMHO worth the money- less than half what I'd pay for something from Argosy.

One other thing- it is a massive pain in the ass when your studio uses more than one screw size for securing rack gear- I've finally managed to move everything to just M5 bolts. I'd consider that as part of the purchase too.

Otherwise find someone who can build something for you, or adapt an Ikea thing to give you some rack spaces.
You could buy an Ikea table and a pair of 4u wooden racks and put them on either side of the table, secured with velcro.

For storage- low Ikea Billy bookcases and some cheap 3u rack drawers.

What's the deal with the iPad thing, is that an audio interface or what?

Seems pretty cool, would love to know about that.

octatonic

thegummy said:

octatonic said:

Studio furniture is usually very poor value for money but other than building it yourself there are very few options.
Most of it is overpriced chipboard with a few rack spaces.
If you want to shock yourself have a look at the price of an Argosy Eclipse.

On a budget I'd be doing this- get a table from Ikea, some cheap Ultimate Stands for your monitors and put everything rack mounted in some rack cases that you stack up on a dolly or some wheels.
It won't be that ergonomic but to do it properly otherwise takes a couple of grand.
The cheap stuff doesn't travel well if you ever have to pull it apart and move.

I would absolutely not be buying the thing in first post- 9u spaces for £500 is poor value for money.
Also I hate the monitor position of those- way too high.

I'm using a Buso Producer XL that I had modified to be a bit wider- it gives me 36 units of rack space- 16 up top, 10 each side  underneath each 8u side.
It has hardwood edges  and can fit an 88 note controller- it looks like this:



It has also survived two international moves, albeit it crated.
It was expensive but IMHO worth the money- less than half what I'd pay for something from Argosy.

One other thing- it is a massive pain in the ass when your studio uses more than one screw size for securing rack gear- I've finally managed to move everything to just M5 bolts. I'd consider that as part of the purchase too.

Otherwise find someone who can build something for you, or adapt an Ikea thing to give you some rack spaces.
You could buy an Ikea table and a pair of 4u wooden racks and put them on either side of the table, secured with velcro.

For storage- low Ikea Billy bookcases and some cheap 3u rack drawers.

What's the deal with the iPad thing, is that an audio interface or what?

Seems pretty cool, would love to know about that.

It is an Avid Dock.
It is transport control and gives me iPad control for faders.
I've tried larger devices with more faders but they never work as well with all DAW's.
For what I do I need to be able to use multiple DAW's- currently I mix and record in Logic, Pro Tools, Studio One, Reaper, Cubase, Nuendo, Ableton Live and Sampltude. This is the device that talks to the most DAW's without massive compromise.

thegummy

octatonic said:

thegummy said:

octatonic said:

Studio furniture is usually very poor value for money but other than building it yourself there are very few options.
Most of it is overpriced chipboard with a few rack spaces.
If you want to shock yourself have a look at the price of an Argosy Eclipse.

On a budget I'd be doing this- get a table from Ikea, some cheap Ultimate Stands for your monitors and put everything rack mounted in some rack cases that you stack up on a dolly or some wheels.
It won't be that ergonomic but to do it properly otherwise takes a couple of grand.
The cheap stuff doesn't travel well if you ever have to pull it apart and move.

I would absolutely not be buying the thing in first post- 9u spaces for £500 is poor value for money.
Also I hate the monitor position of those- way too high.

I'm using a Buso Producer XL that I had modified to be a bit wider- it gives me 36 units of rack space- 16 up top, 10 each side  underneath each 8u side.
It has hardwood edges  and can fit an 88 note controller- it looks like this:



It has also survived two international moves, albeit it crated.
It was expensive but IMHO worth the money- less than half what I'd pay for something from Argosy.

One other thing- it is a massive pain in the ass when your studio uses more than one screw size for securing rack gear- I've finally managed to move everything to just M5 bolts. I'd consider that as part of the purchase too.

Otherwise find someone who can build something for you, or adapt an Ikea thing to give you some rack spaces.
You could buy an Ikea table and a pair of 4u wooden racks and put them on either side of the table, secured with velcro.

For storage- low Ikea Billy bookcases and some cheap 3u rack drawers.

What's the deal with the iPad thing, is that an audio interface or what?

Seems pretty cool, would love to know about that.

It is an Avid Dock.
It is transport control and gives me iPad control for faders.
I've tried larger devices with more faders but they never work as well with all DAW's.
For what I do I need to be able to use multiple DAW's- currently I mix and record in Logic, Pro Tools, Studio One, Reaper, Cubase, Nuendo, Ableton Live and Sampltude. This is the device that talks to the most DAW's without massive compromise.

Nice, always been intrigued with using a tablet to control a daw since it can change instantly depending on context.

octatonic

thegummy said:

octatonic said:

thegummy said:

octatonic said:

Studio furniture is usually very poor value for money but other than building it yourself there are very few options.
Most of it is overpriced chipboard with a few rack spaces.
If you want to shock yourself have a look at the price of an Argosy Eclipse.

On a budget I'd be doing this- get a table from Ikea, some cheap Ultimate Stands for your monitors and put everything rack mounted in some rack cases that you stack up on a dolly or some wheels.
It won't be that ergonomic but to do it properly otherwise takes a couple of grand.
The cheap stuff doesn't travel well if you ever have to pull it apart and move.

I would absolutely not be buying the thing in first post- 9u spaces for £500 is poor value for money.
Also I hate the monitor position of those- way too high.

I'm using a Buso Producer XL that I had modified to be a bit wider- it gives me 36 units of rack space- 16 up top, 10 each side  underneath each 8u side.
It has hardwood edges  and can fit an 88 note controller- it looks like this:



It has also survived two international moves, albeit it crated.
It was expensive but IMHO worth the money- less than half what I'd pay for something from Argosy.

One other thing- it is a massive pain in the ass when your studio uses more than one screw size for securing rack gear- I've finally managed to move everything to just M5 bolts. I'd consider that as part of the purchase too.

Otherwise find someone who can build something for you, or adapt an Ikea thing to give you some rack spaces.
You could buy an Ikea table and a pair of 4u wooden racks and put them on either side of the table, secured with velcro.

For storage- low Ikea Billy bookcases and some cheap 3u rack drawers.

What's the deal with the iPad thing, is that an audio interface or what?

Seems pretty cool, would love to know about that.

It is an Avid Dock.
It is transport control and gives me iPad control for faders.
I've tried larger devices with more faders but they never work as well with all DAW's.
For what I do I need to be able to use multiple DAW's- currently I mix and record in Logic, Pro Tools, Studio One, Reaper, Cubase, Nuendo, Ableton Live and Sampltude. This is the device that talks to the most DAW's without massive compromise.

Nice, always been intrigued with using a tablet to control a daw since it can change instantly depending on context.

The dock is a really good idea- you have one physical fader for whatever track you are selecting in your DAW but if you need to control something else you had faders on the iPad, which is multitouch.

I've tried all sorts of controllers, SSL Nucleus, Mackie Control, Faderport and various large format consoles that also work as studio controllers.
It is a massive technical challenge and simply keeping pace with the rate of change a single DAW is a massive ask, and I need to use all the major DAW's.

Avid are pretty good at keeping things up to date- Mackie Control hasn't been updated in ages, SSL Nucleus still isn't Catalina compatible.

Also, if most people are honest they mostly use the mouse and keyboard- I'm the same.
I had 32 channels of Mackie control plus a C4 for plugin control.
It worked ok but it is basically a solution looking for a problem.

I basically just need transport control plus a bit of extra control when needed.
I'm also really glad to get 80% of my desk back.

PolarityMan

I just used an office desk but it kinda sucks for actually storing stuff in. It is big and high quality though. I end d up taking off the storage drawers in the end though to make more space underneath.

Branshen

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stage-Stands-WS7500B-Studio-Workstation/dp/B01BWM5GT4

On stage in less than half the price. But no space for rack stuff. 

Lodious

I bought this for housing my interface.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/19-2U-DESKTOP-STUDIO-RACK-POD-CASE-CABINET-FURNITURE-TEXTURED-BLACK/333405243862?_trkparms=aid%3D1110002%26algo%3DSPLICE.SOI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200122160600%26meid%3D9b604ee90d0c4fddb4322cb3eb2d7328%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D233433207630%26itm%3D333405243862%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850



I can't express how much nicer it is being able to pull cables out without having the interface slide about. I can almost read some of the information on the display of a UFX II, so money well spent. 

TTony

I got a load of old office desks for free a while back (they were literally going into skips at the place I was working at the time, so I intercepted a few and diverted them into the back of my car).

Here's a couple of them going into my then-new workshop, where they've now survived ~2-3 years of rough use!



I've also got one in my main music room, but with shelves above (simple DiY mdf job) and drawers below. plus a fairly cheap keyboard stand  to one side with a controller & synth on it.  Total cost <£100.

There must be s/h office furniture shops nearby?  These desks aren't fancy, but they're sturdy, take up little room (ie simple design) and you can then add whatever you need in terms of shelves, speaker stands, etc to fit your space  and needs.

GavRichList

I really like the look of the Output desk too, but it's horribly overpriced, especially when you factor getting it to the UK. Im also a fan of the Zaor Miza 88XL desk and maybe I'll end up with one down the line (maybe in the next house). In the end I went for the Glorious Workench for my recent move into a smaller room as it gave me 8U of rack space, a keyboard tray and the like, for money I was prepared to spend. Its solid as a rock to be fair, and was easy to build. Essentially Ikea furniture. 

https://i.imgur.com/ql5jrun.jpg

p90fool

Look at you lot with your fancy-pants furniture, what you really need is an old formica table from an Italian restaurant.

Tbh when I had racks of FX, mixers and a control surface I did have proper studio furniture but it ate half of my small room. It's a much nicer experience having plenty of room to play instruments and my Mac tucked in a corner out of the way. 
It does really need a revamp though, I'm just too busy to do it yet and it works just fine. 

Musicwolf

And for those using 2 PC monitors you may find one of these useful