Recording Workstation Desk Recommendations

[herb]

Just like the title says. Need a recommendation for a workstation desk. All my stuff is on a table but as I am nearing retirement from my job of almost forty years I plan on spending a lot more time with music and would like an organized area. According to reviews it seems that there are a lot of cheap, flimsy desks on the market. Not looking to spend a fortune but will pay up for a nice quality unit. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[Ed Driscoll]

Just like the title says. Need a recommendation for a workstation desk. All my stuff is on a table but as I am nearing retirement from my job of almost forty years I plan on spending a lot more time with music and would like an organized area. According to reviews it seems that there are a lot of cheap, flimsy desks on the market. Not looking to spend a fortune but will pay up for a nice quality unit. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

A lot of it depends on your workflow and how much outboard gear you plan to use, and if you're planning a dedicated hardware mixer. I mainly mix "in the box," with outboard gear primarily for the initial recording of vocals and guitar. I've been very happy so far with my Omnirax Force 32 Desk; which I purchased in 2017, though I will admit to hiring a professional furniture guy to build it, who brought along an assistant to mount the massive top. The quality is quite good, and the guys at Omnirax were easy to work with, and did a very good job matching the top to the existing wood color in my studio:

Mitch Gallagher's studio outfitting video features a desk that allows vertical mounting of rack mounted gear. I'm not sure what type of desk it is, but that's also an option to consider:

 

[herb]

A lot of it depends on your workflow and how much outboard gear you plan to use, and if you're planning a dedicated hardware mixer. I mainly mix "in the box," with outboard gear primarily for the initial recording of vocals and guitar. I've been very happy so far with my Omnirax Force 32 Desk; which I purchased in 2017, though I will admit to hiring a professional furniture guy to build it, who brought along an assistant to mount the massive top. The quality is quite good, and the guys at Omnirax were easy to work with, and did a very good job matching the top to the existing wood color in my studio

Wow. That is nice. I don't know if I need anything too elaborate. I'm a hobbyist and am pretty much doing this for my amusement. I'll look into Omnirax and see if that's in my budget. Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[Ken Fortunato]

Just like the title says. Need a recommendation for a workstation desk. All my stuff is on a table but as I am nearing retirement from my job of almost forty years I plan on spending a lot more time with music and would like an organized area. According to reviews it seems that there are a lot of cheap, flimsy desks on the market. Not looking to spend a fortune but will pay up for a nice quality unit. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Herb, I'm in the same boat... I've been shopping for home studio desk for over two years, and I'm still not any closer to making a decision.

Now... While I haven't been able to figure out what I want, I have been able to figure out 'what I don't want'... Number one on the list of "don't want", are built in studio monitor pedestals. Personally, I'd rather have them on dedicated isolation stands. Number two on the list, is tons of "under desktop" rack space. I'm okay with a two tier desk, with rack space on both sides, for gear that's a part of every recording session. Anything else can go in a 'roll-around' rack. I don't plan on having that amount of rack gear anyway. However, if it comes to that, (ya know, like I hit the lottery or something), I'll worry about it then...

I'm kind of curious to hear what you're thinking... :salude

 

[herb]

Hey Kenny. Seems were looking for about the same thing. I already have a roller rack with most of my rackmount equipment on it. I just need a neat, orderly, multi-tiered desk that is sturdy. It seems that most of the complaints on the run of the mill desks that you see at places like Sweetwater are that they are cheap and flimsy.

I guess I'm looking at the next level up?

 

[Ken Fortunato]

Hey Kenny. Seems were looking for about the same thing. I already have a roller rack with most of my rackmount equipment on it. I just need a neat, orderly, multi-tiered desk that is sturdy. It seems that most of the complaints on the run of the mill desks that you see at places like Sweetwater are that they are cheap and flimsy.

I guess I'm looking at the next level up?

I hear ya... I came close to buying this one, Argosy HALO Base Workstation Studio Desk... I don't know... Seems like a lot of money for what it is...

 

[Ed Driscoll]

Number two on the list, is tons of "under desktop" rack space. I'm okay with a two tier desk, with rack space on both sides, for gear that's a part of every recording session. Anything else can go in a 'roll-around' rack.

So far, the only things I have in the rack spaces under the desk are the patchbay, the Sweetwater music PC, and a Warm Audio WA-2A. As long as it's simple "set and forget" gear (the WA-2A essentially has two knobs, peak reduction and output gain), then it's fine under the desk. I also have a large slideout drawer in the bottom of the left-hand column for things like regularly used guitar and mic cables, patch cables, a capo, and my Peterson virtual strobe tuner.

 

[Ken Fortunato]

So far, the only things I have in the rack spaces under the desk are the patchbay, the Sweetwater music PC, and a Warm Audio WA-2A. As long as it's simple "set and forget" gear (the WA-2A essentially has two knobs, peak reduction and output gain), then it's fine under the desk. I also have a large slideout drawer in the bottom of the left-hand column for things like regularly used guitar and mic cables, patch cables, a capo, and my Peterson virtual strobe tuner.

Yup... It all looks great... The only thing in those pictures that freaks me out, is the 'Landline Telephone'... Are you kiddin'me??? :laugh2: eace2 :2cool

 

[Ed Driscoll]

Yup... It all looks great... The only thing in those pictures that freaks me out, is the 'Landline Telephone'... Are you kiddin'me??? :laugh2: eace2 :2cool

My wife has to get a hold of me somehow when I vanish into the funkbunker. :laugh2:

 

[Ken Fortunato]

My wife has to get a hold of me somehow when I vanish into the funkbunker. :laugh2:

Okay brother... :salude

 

[rockabilly69]

Just like the title says. Need a recommendation for a workstation desk. All my stuff is on a table but as I am nearing retirement from my job of almost forty years I plan on spending a lot more time with music and would like an organized area. According to reviews it seems that there are a lot of cheap, flimsy desks on the market. Not looking to spend a fortune but will pay up for a nice quality unit. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Hi Herb, what kind of gear do you want organized with your new desk? Could you perhaps take a picture of what you have now, so I can see what your talking about. I have a small project studio and a bedroom house recording area that uses different gear so I may have suggestions for you.

 

[zacknorton]

most readily available "studio" desks are acoustic nightmares.

The table tops are fairly resonant, the frames are SUPER resonant and the speaker mounts are an afterthought.

Northward Acoustics is at the HIGH end of the budget scale, but I'd strongly suggest giving their stuff a look and having someone build a desk for you that eliminates the problems most desks come with.

 

[Ken Fortunato]

most readily available "studio" desks are acoustic nightmares.

The table tops are fairly resonant, the frames are SUPER resonant and the speaker mounts are an afterthought.

Northward Acoustics is at the HIGH end of the budget scale, but I'd strongly suggest giving their stuff a look and having someone build a desk for you that eliminates the problems most desks come with.

The Northward stuff looks real nice, but for that kind of money, they should... :salude

 

[zacknorton]

Looks are one thing and NA does great looking work! The desk needs to hold shit...and be functional. But it also needs to NOT RESONATE like a damn drum.

That's the thing that's seemingly completely overlooked and undermentioned in all the marketing for these things.

Next to speaker Isolation and Placement in the room, the desk is probably the next biggest factor in a mix room's performance. (Assuming the space is reasonably well treated with purpose designed acoustic treatment etc. )

Now if you've got a fairly large analog mixing board, you're stuck with that. but a "production desk" is something completely different. Something you can very much control.

But if you're buying one from Mid Atlantic or Argosy (?) or Sweetwater etc.... you should be aware of the potential problem you're bringing into your space. Because none of the Retail available "studio desks" I've seen had any functional acoustic design to them.

 

[J T]

Most of the studios with consoles don't have room for furniture like that. Its just the console, a small table for the computer monitor and keyboard (if that), and outboard gear racks, leather couch, tape machines, lava light.

Yeah that's a good point about vibration. If you've got the monitors and sub going, you're going to feel it. You're better off with as solid a desk as you can get. Don't scrimp on particle board. You'll be happier with the good stuff.

 

[herb]

Hi Herb, what kind of gear do you want organized with your new desk? Could you perhaps take a picture of what you have now, so I can see what your talking about. I have a small project studio and a bedroom house recording area that uses different gear so I may have suggestions for you.

Thanks for the offer. I am in the shopping mode right now. Getting ideas. Right now my studio space is in my upstairs loft. It's a nice spot for what I do but the desk area could definitely be improved.

Also, I am planning on moving from this house. I have been here 36 years, just retired from my job and looking to live in a more quiet area. I don't even know what my new studio space will look like yet but it will be a hefty consideration when my search begins for a new home, which will be in about a year.

Let me look and I'll try and find a picture of what I have now. It's not the most elaborate setup but it's fine for what I do. I do plan on expanding a bit by adding some more outboard gear like maybe a nice preamp or two, compressor and one or two other things. That's about it.

 

[herb]

https://flic.kr/p/2iESwCbhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/187357227@N05/

Well, here's what it looked like about 20 years ago. Totally different now. Plus, no view of the desk. I'll go up and take a few new pics later on today.

 

[herb]

Okay. Here's my studio space as of this morning. As you can see, room for growth but while I was working for 40 years this is where I came home to have fun with my music. Keep in mind I won't be here in about a year.

https://flic.kr/p/2j3ju4T byhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/187357227@N05/

https://flic.kr/p/2j3jtvo byhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/187357227@N05/

https://flic.kr/p/2j3jtFU https://www.flickr.com/photos/187357227@N05/

 

[Ed Driscoll]

Okay. Here's my studio space as of this morning. As you can see, room for growth but while I was working for 40 years this is where I came home to have fun with my music. Keep in mind I won't be here in about a year.

Great looking set-up. What is the Roland VSR-880 like?

 

[herb]

Great looking set-up. What is the Roland VSR-880 like?

Good eye! Old technology but it still works great. In reality it's still there because I don't think I could give it away.

Now I mainly go into a Presonus interface directly into the Garageband in my iMac and use it's effects. I also have a newer iMac that I use besides the one in the picture. Would eventually like to get a couple of nice mic preamps, an outboard compressor and maybe a couple of other things. This is all just for my own amusement, not a money making venture.