Might be building a studio desk later this year

[alexdingley]

I'm looking into having a local cabinet-maker (met him and talked design & techniques... got a good vibe) build this for me... but also, it turns out my boss has a fairly high-end workshop at his home... so I might take a swing at building this myself.

I've been salivating over Sterling Modular's desk designs for a while, but can't afford to shell out $4200 for a studio desk. Had the chance to assemble one for a client recently, and essentially memorized the layout and how it goes together. I Dumbed it down the intricacy of their system (throwing away the sonically-transparent layout) and taught myself google's SketchUp program... and 'voila!'





Thoughts?

[Nick Sevilla]

This is what I did :

All oak pre cut slabs 8' x 4' x 5/8" for the surfaces, and pre cut 2" x 2" and 2" x 1" for the framing, and thin 1/8" panel wood for the side panelling. Used a transparent tint / finish for wood, wood screws and a little glue for the panels

Each sidecar is 8 rackspaces on top, and 2' depth for a worksurface. The centerpiece I made specifically for that console, with only 1" on either side extra for wiggle room. The racks above the console hold 4 spaces each.

The nice thing is the wide space between the speakers and the next surface below it, which means I do not get any reflections from the speakers to my ears. Makes it a more accurate listening experience.


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[jhbrandt]

Your desks are very nice and functional, however they probably will give you hell acoustically.

You should get the speakers OFF the desk and on stands behind the desk. The reason that major console manufacturers desks are sloped and Sterling & Argosy make desks the way they do is to manage reflections away from the engineer's ears. See my article on desk reflections in http://jhbrandt.net/NewsletterArchive/S ... ssue3.html

Cheers,
John

[rhythm ranch]

Thoughts?

Very nice design. I don't know if you're planning to use (or even install) rack spaces in the lower sections of the cabinets, but angling them toward the floor, as in your drawings, makes it difficult to access whatever you may put there.

[Nick Sevilla]

Your desks are very nice and functional, however they probably will give you hell acoustically.

You should get the speakers OFF the desk and on stands behind the desk. The reason that major console manufacturers desks are sloped and Sterling & Argosy make desks the way they do is to manage reflections away from the engineer's ears. See my article on desk reflections in http://jhbrandt.net/NewsletterArchive/S ... ssue3.html

Cheers,
John

Hi John. was this directed at my post, or the OP? Not sure...

[jhbrandt]

Yours, Nick.

Very nice job, though. I would recommend setting the speakers either BACK on stands or as far forward as possible. If you were to lay a mirror on the desk or on the console, would you be able to see the speakers? If so, you should move them so that the desk does not cause you any problems.

How is it working for you? Have you done any testing with REW or Fussmeasure? You can look at the ETC to check for early reflections.

Cheers,
John

[Nick Sevilla]

Yours, Nick.

Very nice job, though. I would recommend setting the speakers either BACK on stands or as far forward as possible. If you were to lay a mirror on the desk or on the console, would you be able to see the speakers? If so, you should move them so that the desk does not cause you any problems.

How is it working for you? Have you done any testing with REW or Fussmeasure? You can look at the ETC to check for early reflections.

Cheers,
John

Ah, ok.

Actually that is exactly why I designed it this way. The height between the console top (around 10") and the speakers is enough so that the sound does not reflect off the console in any appreciable way, unlike all the other desk designs, which have the speakers sitting right on top of, or just 2-4" above the console surface.

It has been working really really well for me. I monitor during mixing at two levels, 82 and 72 dB, and with those levels, there really is no noticeable reflections off of any surface.



The first "official" album I ever mixed using this room, won me a Grammy. So it definitely works for me...

[jhbrandt]

Brilliant. That's good to know.

- You CAN'T tell everything from a photo.

It is just my 'usual' caution that I give when someone is building a desk.

OP, in my honest opinion, the Sterling and Argosy style desks CAN be a bit TOO large and have TOO much surface area that you might not need. If you build the desk that you designed, do NOT place the speakers on those little shelves. You could even do without them.

I see that you put a shelf just behind the meter bridge of the console for, i assume, computer monitor(s). You can lower this shelf so that only the screen is visible over the meter bridge so that the LCD monitors present less surface area for diffraction.

Cheers,
John

PS, Nick, why you got the JH-24 all covered up for???!!

[Nick Sevilla]

Brilliant. That's good to know.

- You CAN'T tell everything from a photo.

It is just my 'usual' caution that I give when someone is building a desk.

OP, in my honest opinion, the Sterling and Argosy style desks CAN be a bit TOO large and have TOO much surface area that you might not need. If you build the desk that you designed, do NOT place the speakers on those little shelves. You could even do without them.

I see that you put a shelf just behind the meter bridge of the console for, i assume, computer monitor(s). You can lower this shelf so that only the screen is visible over the meter bridge so that the LCD monitors present less surface area for diffraction.

Cheers,
John

PS, Nick, why you got the JH-24 all covered up for???!!

No problem... you really have to bein the room to appreciate the sound. It's not clinical, it's musical and exciting. Makes it fun to mix.

As to why I keep the JH24 covered, well because I love it, and I don't want dust in it. I get to use it every now and then, but not enough to keep it uncovered. My wife made that quilt for it.

Cheers!

[jhbrandt]

...As to why I keep the JH24 covered, well because I love it, and I don't want dust in it. I get to use it every now and then, but not enough to keep it uncovered. My wife made that quilt for it.

Cheers!

Beautiful! +1

- John

[goose134]

Ummmm, why isn't the Grammy your avatar? I'd put my Oscar in mine, but my daughter is much cuter.

[Nick Sevilla]

Ummmm, why isn't the Grammy your avatar? I'd put my Oscar in mine, but my daughter is much cuter.

Because too many others have used it.

I respect mine enough to not do that to it.

Plus, Ultraman rocks!!!

[rhythm ranch]

Ultraman rocks!!!

+1

[goose134]

Ummmm, why isn't the Grammy your avatar? I'd put my Oscar in mine, but my daughter is much cuter.

Because too many others have used it.

I respect mine enough to not do that to it.

Plus, Ultraman rocks!!!

Nice. And yes, Ultraman DOES rock.

[Flight Feathers]

I made one recently out of oak ply and solid oak for the edging. I made it modular so the left module can move over if I ever get a bigger mixer, or break it out into just rack stands.

http://www.babipal.com/2013/06/recordin ... xer-stand/