FUCK IT - I'm just gonna BUILD a desk.. Anyone else done it?

[Melb_shredder]

So.. after careful consideration.. I figure FUCK IT. I will be building my own desk to suit my needs. It seems to be the correct course of action! Here's a quick SKetchup of the desk I want to make, what do you guys think of it? It's for a pretty small sized room, and I want to build it in a way that I can dismantle it when I move (which will probably be sometime next year I hope)

Cheers,
Chris

 

[MaellaJohn]

I've been thinking about doing this.
Seems like a fun idea. And more convenient than spending a shit load of money for one. lol

 

[006]

Looks pretty cool man, I dig the spots where the monitors will go, quite ingenious actually. I just wanted to ask though, noticing your model, did you factor in the thickness of the pieces of wood? They are all flat in that model so just wanted to point that out in case you didn't realize. This is one I designed in Sketchup for myself:

Which is based off of the core design of the desk I have had for years, which I modified last year to have a rack shelf like the one in that design. However, the current rack is 90º vertical, where this new design puts the rack at a <45º angle, putting my iMac slightly lower which would be more comfortable. Plus the new one is wider to accommodate rackmount hardware on the right.

Anyway, not to derail, I apologize haha. I vote for building it yourself, you truly get what you need, I never felt like pre-designed desks would work for me. And besides, unless you get something ridiculous like an Argosy, where usually people are designing the room around the desk, no reason not to build your own, IMO.

 

[MatrixClaw]

I built my desk based around a desk I got at Ikea. Perfect for my uses, and only cost me ~$300 with 3 3-space racks on the top for all my stuff. Plenty of room for two computer monitors, plus my studio monitors. I had actually planned on making it look similar to the one 006 shared above, but I'm lazy and the design I ended up going with works just fine for my purposes, and didn't require me to cut into the desktop

If you can afford to build your own, and have the time and tools to do it, go for it! But nice looking wood is expensive, and so is time

 

[AudioGeekZine]

You realize that there's no way for you to be in the sweet spot while mixing? You're going to be too close to the left speaker.
Better off having nothing under the desk and the big rack freestanding on your left or right.

my desk was built with ikea parts

 

[Melb_shredder]

Looks pretty cool man, I dig the spots where the monitors will go, quite ingenious actually. I just wanted to ask though, noticing your model, did you factor in the thickness of the pieces of wood? They are all flat in that model so just wanted to point that out in case you didn't realize. This is one I designed in Sketchup for myself:

Which is based off of the core design of the desk I have had for years, which I modified last year to have a rack shelf like the one in that design. However, the current rack is 90º vertical, where this new design puts the rack at a <45º angle, putting my iMac slightly lower which would be more comfortable. Plus the new one is wider to accommodate rackmount hardware on the right.

Anyway, not to derail, I apologize haha. I vote for building it yourself, you truly get what you need, I never felt like pre-designed desks would work for me. And besides, unless you get something ridiculous like an Argosy, where usually people are designing the room around the desk, no reason not to build your own, IMO.

Hey dude! Yep! I actually have calculated for wood thickness... however I just don't know how to model it in sketchup! First time I've ever used it to be honest But yep! Totally have all of that figured out

Thanks for the anecdote to, good to see others think it's a good idea and pretty doable too

Yeah, I figure the monitor cylindrical swivels are a nifty feature, just gotta find the best place to get them/ build them!

 

[GeertSamuel]

Just do it! I started my build last week, almost finished! Putting the last finishing touches on it tonight.. so I was meaning to post pictures of the whole build tonight in another thread. Here are 2 sneak peaks..

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Done it, worth every penny It's nothing flashy, but serves its purpose. I made a thread about it, but can't seem to find it

 

[OneDaySky]

Yup i built my own at the beginning of the year, all to my requirements!

 

[OneDaySky]

Here we do Jarkko ;p

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/629562-studio-desk-plans-you-sketchup-content.html

 

[006]

You realize that there's no way for you to be in the sweet spot while mixing? You're going to be too close to the left speaker.
Better off having nothing under the desk and the big rack freestanding on your left or right.

Yeah but I don't really sit on the left like that when I am mixing, no issues.

 

[ahjteam]

This is one I designed in Sketchup for myself:

Holy shit, how long did it take you to make that Sketchup?

 

[006]

Holy shit, how long did it take you to make that Sketchup?

Not long actually. I started first by modeling my current desk, to learn how to use the program. After I did that I had it all pretty much down so I attempted a new design, took way less time. Once you learn how to use everything, or the relevant stuff anyway, you can make literally anything you want.

...I didn't make all of that though... haha. The iMac, chair, BX8As, keyboard, mouse and rack gear were all models pre-made by someone in Skethup's Model Warehouse for free. I only made the desk, level pilot, monitor stands and Auralex MoPads (nobody has modeled those in the flat configuration for some reason, only angled).

 

[ahjteam]

...I didn't make all of that though... haha. The iMac, chair, BX8As, keyboard, mouse and rack gear were all models pre-made by someone in Skethup's Model Warehouse for free.

Ah, explains 90% why I thought it was awesome, especially the chair :Smokedev:

 

[abt]

Do it. I built mine and there's nothing I would change about it. It's not that hard and it's pretty cheap too.

 

[Severu]

You should be careful with designing the gap where your legs go, I had a desk with a small gap and it can get pretty unconfortable, just thought I should mention that.

 

[Ermz]

One thing that bothers me about those designs where the monitors are mounted on the desk itself is the sweet spot.

#1: Will you not be too close to the monitors?
#2: How do you account for your monitors coupling to the desk? ie. worse sound than dedicated stands/soffit mounting? Your hands will be on the desk, which the speakers will be resonating through, which means those vibrations will pass through you and cause comb filtering with the air-transmitted sound from the speakers.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Hey ermz!
On the first note, it will have a key board slide, I generally sit as far as possible, my eye sit is not so good up close, so I should actually be seated right in the sweet spot so no issue there

On the second thing... Holy fuck! Honestly, I did not even know that's how it works :S and I'm not exactly in the know with how that works..

So say I go with my slide out key/ mouse design... What is the science going on with the monitors on the desk and that causing issues??

 

[Ermz]

Well, acoustics is a prick of a thing. Any 'x' factor you introduce into an environment has a very high chance of impacting your monitoring path negatively.

Desks are a huge problem when it comes to monitoring, both in terms of creating early reflections and also transmitting sound physically. The issue with mounting your monitors on the desk comes from the monitor cabinet resonating sympathetically with the drivers. The lighter/less dense the cabinet, the more it tends to resonate with music. That resonance is transferred through the desk and through the person using it via mechanical vibration. That means sound arrives to one's ear twice. Once actually THROUGH the desk, and again through the air (the air transmission being slower). This creates physical comb filtering.

The reason people decouple monitors from their environment is to stop those physical vibrations from traveling. One of the worst kinds is floor-transmission. That's why I've got stands, filled with sand, in order to increase their density, and my monitors are decoupled from those stands using rubber mounts. Your ability to decouple is pretty hard-hit if you're mounting your monitors on the actual desk.

That's why I still use this shitty desk. I haven't found anything that's acoustically neutral and worth investing in. The market options are awful, and horrendously overpriced here, while I also wouldn't trust any cabinet maker here to make a sufficiently sturdy studio desk.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Holyyyyyyy junk.... That's a lot to consider! Very very interesting indeed... Shizen. Well now I'm going to has to think haaaarder about this aren't I! The desk I currently use has them decoupled via pads etc and the desk is solid as fuck, but your point stands as something I didn't initially consider.. Hmm! Thanksdude, back to the board I guess