|
|
Post by indiehouse on Feb 18, 2021 15:06:54 GMT -6
Thinking about changing things up and getting a different studio desk. I'm currently using a two-bay Sterling Modular and two side racks that I built myself. I've been thinking about some serious downsizing.
I came across a couple of interesting options. Wanted to get your thoughts.
Here's a desk from Output. It's 900 bucks shipped. (https://output.com/products/platform). I know Output is this new-ish software company, so it's seems weird to think of buying studio furniture from them. Also, it's very hard to find contact info. Their website has a very corporate feel.
Here is a desk from a company called Spatial. I believe they are out of Nashville (Bobby Holland). This one is 1300 shipped. They seem really similar. This one looks to have a bit of a sloped desktop for reflections.
What do y'all think of these?
|
|
|
|
Post by jcoutu1 on Feb 18, 2021 16:36:18 GMT -6
I prefer the sloped gear from the output. I imagine sloped desktop would be frustrating too.
|
|
|
|
Post by m03 on Feb 18, 2021 16:42:17 GMT -6
I see the Output desks pop up second-hand on Craigslist somewhat frequently in my area. Might be worth exploring that route so that you can be in and out of it for not much money if it turns out not to meet your needs.
I prefer the sloped gear from the output.
On the Output, the rack walls are sloped but the rack rails aren't, and you'd probably need to remove a non-trivial amount of desktop material behind the rails in order to make your bottom gear fit if you mounted the rails that way.
|
|
|
|
Post by jcoutu1 on Feb 18, 2021 16:45:41 GMT -6
I see the Output desks pop up second-hand on Craigslist somewhat frequently in my area. Might be worth exploring that route so that you can be in and out of it for not much money if it turns out not to meet your needs.
I prefer the sloped gear from the output.
On the Output, the rack walls are sloped but the rack rails aren't, and you'd probably need to remove a non-trivial amount of desk material behind them in order to make your bottom gear fit if you sloped the rails.
Bummer. |
|
ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,086 
|
Post by ericn on Feb 18, 2021 17:10:48 GMT -6
Before I spent a penny I would find a local cabinet builder and sit and see what a true custom solution would cost.
|
|
|
|
Post by gravesnumber9 on Feb 18, 2021 17:26:24 GMT -6
Both of those are really nice. Nice to see some options that are a little more decor-friendly than the typical studio desk. ericn - have you ever had something like this built? I have no idea even the ballpark of what such a thing would cost, I'm curious. |
|
|
|
Post by indiehouse on Feb 18, 2021 17:27:15 GMT -6
Before I spent a penny I would find a local cabinet builder and sit and see what a true custom solution would cost. Yeah, but you gotta admit the price point of that Output desk is gonna be hard to beat. Had a builder friend offered to build me a desk a while back for 700. I paid double that for the Sterling. |
|
|
|
Post by gravesnumber9 on Feb 18, 2021 17:30:40 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by ragan on Feb 18, 2021 17:34:43 GMT -6
Just heard back from my good friend who had a desk built that he's really happy with. He said the guy was great to work with and can customize to any specs. www.audiorax.com |
|
|
|
Post by kcatthedog on Feb 18, 2021 17:38:44 GMT -6
That first one, a guy copied it and has a diy build Video on YouTube .
|
|
|
|
Post by Ned Ward on Feb 18, 2021 17:58:15 GMT -6
 I bought an IKEA desk and then built a 3-bay riser that I can take with me. downside is that I build it exactly 3 rack bays wide; doing it again I would have made the top wider to allow for dual 27" monitors in-between the speakers. No keyboard tray underneath but it works well and was super easy to build out of pine. Output desk could be built from a sheet of plywood, but finishing the rough edges... If I were doing this from scratch I'd get a deeper wood counter top from supply stores, build a rack to height for one side and legs for the other. But this is my hobby, not my job - but I'm itching to use my pocket screw kit I got for Christmas... |
|
|
|
Post by teejay on Feb 18, 2021 18:11:01 GMT -6
I see the Output desks pop up second-hand on Craigslist somewhat frequently in my area. Might be worth exploring that route so that you can be in and out of it for not much money if it turns out not to meet your needs.
I prefer the sloped gear from the output.
On the Output, the rack walls are sloped but the rack rails aren't, and you'd probably need to remove a non-trivial amount of desktop material behind the rails in order to make your bottom gear fit if you mounted the rails that way.
The rack walls/separators are reversible so you can have a straight vertical edge to the front. "Each angled separator can be reversed and installed with a straight edge for a different look and feel."  |
|
|
|
Post by m03 on Feb 18, 2021 18:24:35 GMT -6
I see the Output desks pop up second-hand on Craigslist somewhat frequently in my area. Might be worth exploring that route so that you can be in and out of it for not much money if it turns out not to meet your needs.
On the Output, the rack walls are sloped but the rack rails aren't, and you'd probably need to remove a non-trivial amount of desktop material behind the rails in order to make your bottom gear fit if you mounted the rails that way.
The rack walls/separators are reversible so you can have a straight vertical edge to the front. "Each angled separator can be reversed and installed with a straight edge for a different look and feel." I was speaking to the orientation of the rails, which are intended to be vertical no matter which way you mount them. You'd have to cut away the desk surface to mount gear if they were angled. |
|
ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,086
|
Post by ericn on Feb 18, 2021 19:04:40 GMT -6
Both of those are really nice. Nice to see some options that are a little more decor-friendly than the typical studio desk. ericn - have you ever had something like this built? I have no idea even the ballpark of what such a thing would cost, I'm curious. No I have built a few though, every market is different but the advantages of first having something made out of hardwood vs particle board. Then truly built for your space and how you work is priceless. Even if you started with a heavy duty frame that was from some office furniture recycling place and just had the top built you would be ahead. The other thing is shipping all the manufactured stuff gets expensive and back in my gearpimp days I just assumed it would show up damaged. I have seen very few of the manufactured desks that age well, lots of sagging tops and bridges, nothing worse than a 3 space rack that is only useable as a 2.75 space because of sag. That’s another major complaint about manufactured desks, the racks are often spec’ed at exactly the size of the rack panels no wiggle room for that slightly to large panel. Most of them also have the racks set back a bit and some gear can be hard to use. |
|
|
|
Post by indiehouse on Feb 18, 2021 19:08:11 GMT -6
That first one, a guy copied it and has a diy build Video on YouTube . Make no mistake, I’m DIY all the way. It’s just these days, time is scarce. Like, really scarce. I barely have the time to actually play and record. Which is super depressing. But hey, at least I’ll have time in retirement when I’m old with arthritis and have lost most of my hearing. |
|
|
|
Post by indiehouse on Feb 18, 2021 19:10:55 GMT -6
Both of those are really nice. Nice to see some options that are a little more decor-friendly than the typical studio desk. ericn - have you ever had something like this built? I have no idea even the ballpark of what such a thing would cost, I'm curious. No I have built a few though, every market is different but the advantages of first having something made out of hardwood vs particle board. Then truly built for your space and how you work is priceless. Even if you started with a heavy duty frame that was from some office furniture recycling place and just had the top built you would be ahead. The other thing is shipping all the manufactured stuff gets expensive and back in my gearpimp days I just assumed it would show up damaged. I have seen very few of the manufactured desks that age well, lots of sagging tops and bridges, nothing worse than a 3 space rack that is only useable as a 2.75 space because of sag. That’s another major complaint about manufactured desks, the racks are often spec’ed at exactly the size of the rack panels no wiggle room for that slightly to large panel. Most of them also have the racks set back a bit and some gear can be hard to use. Wouldn’t you say this is a bit atypical of the standard Sweetwater MDF manufactured desks, though? These look like solid pieces of plywood. No description on the Output desk, but the Spatial desk touts 1” thick, hand-selected birch. |
|
|
|
Post by aremos on Feb 18, 2021 20:31:00 GMT -6
This company, AZ studio workstations (https://www.azstudioworkstations.com/summit-sit-stand-keyboard-studio-desk/), makes an array of diverse workstations with space for 88 keyboard controller & some that go up & down:
|
|
|
|
Post by Martin John Butler on Feb 18, 2021 20:45:07 GMT -6
|
|
ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,086
|
Post by ericn on Feb 18, 2021 21:43:37 GMT -6
No I have built a few though, every market is different but the advantages of first having something made out of hardwood vs particle board. Then truly built for your space and how you work is priceless. Even if you started with a heavy duty frame that was from some office furniture recycling place and just had the top built you would be ahead. The other thing is shipping all the manufactured stuff gets expensive and back in my gearpimp days I just assumed it would show up damaged. I have seen very few of the manufactured desks that age well, lots of sagging tops and bridges, nothing worse than a 3 space rack that is only useable as a 2.75 space because of sag. That’s another major complaint about manufactured desks, the racks are often spec’ed at exactly the size of the rack panels no wiggle room for that slightly to large panel. Most of them also have the racks set back a bit and some gear can be hard to use. Wouldn’t you say this is a bit atypical of the standard Sweetwater MDF manufactured desks, though? These look like solid pieces of plywood. No description on the Output desk, but the Spatial desk touts 1” thick, hand-selected birch. 1in Hand selected birch implies real birch hardwood ( actual dimension of .75in) that’s not bad but a lot has to do with the joinery. 19mm 3/4in Baltic Birch Ply would be stronger but more expensive. One thing you kind of have to ask yourself when looking at the assembly instructions for any assembly required furniture is was this engineered to last or for easy assembly? I’m not saying MDF is bad, hell I’m sitting here next to 30 feet of IKEA Billy book cases stacked 12ft high, granted there is as much structural metal in this stack as MDF but you can do it. I know I’m weird I see that ugly beam as a good thing. |
|
|
|
Post by teejay on Feb 18, 2021 21:54:24 GMT -6
The rack walls/separators are reversible so you can have a straight vertical edge to the front. "Each angled separator can be reversed and installed with a straight edge for a different look and feel." I was speaking to the orientation of the rails, which are intended to be vertical no matter which way you mount them. You'd have to cut away the desk surface to mount gear if they were angled. Yeah, I'm with you on that. Just can't imagine someone buying this and then cutting out the desktop to angle the gear. Plus in this setup I would think that the desktop is a big part of the support of the gear. |
|
|
|
Post by jmoose on Feb 18, 2021 22:21:21 GMT -6
Fwiw I considered the output desk when I decommissioned my Soundcraft last July. Mostly because the price seemed reasonable vs other ready to go furniture. At the time they quoted 16-20 weeks for shipping!!! Yeah, no way.
Problem is I'm a competent woodsmith & can build something myself for a fraction of the cost. Big chunk of money goes into shipping... I'd be shocked if raw materials on the output desk were over $200.
I ended up using my office desk which is my folks old oak butcher block kitchen table from the late 70s. That with a rack on top is doing ok for now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bat Lanyard on Feb 18, 2021 23:30:15 GMT -6
For sure a world of get what you pay for. The labor's the hang. Takes a shitload to fabricate and finish something that is quality, and rightfully so.
I've done plenty of commercial cabinet, furniture, welding and concrete countertop work over the last 25 years.
The Output stuff looks like a good cost-effective solution if Ikea or something else isn't going to work for you. You can see the Output stuff is birch plywood stained, etc. Not bad at all, just is what it is.
Finding a local cabinet maker to work with is ideal, but that's also a custom solution.
Just built a new desk and rack for my studio, so speaking from that perspective.
|
|
|
|
Post by indiehouse on Feb 19, 2021 8:35:08 GMT -6
What am I missing between the Output desk and the Spatial desk that would justify the price difference? They seem really similar, just stylistically a bit different.
|
|
|
|
Post by Chad on Feb 19, 2021 9:30:55 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by drbill on Feb 19, 2021 9:46:01 GMT -6
Just heard back from my good friend who had a desk built that he's really happy with. He said the guy was great to work with and can customize to any specs. www.audiorax.comI have not bought any desk(s) from him, but all my racks (finger jointed) now come from audiorax. High end, excellent hardwood builds. (I believe he also does some baltic birch plywood builds now that are lower cost as well). I stain them myself to match the studio. All his racks have held up excellently - it's very dry here, and all my other custom built finger jointed racks by others are in the process of splitting and falling apart. Money wasted. I think his foray into desks is pretty recent, but he's a great woodworker, and does quality work - if becoming a bit expensive. Highest recommendation!! |
|
