I am finally building a good home recording studio. I need a good desk, I don't mind spending some $ on something that is well made and will last. Ok PRF, recommend my ass a desk...

I have found adding "audio" or "studio" makes furniture more expensive the way "wedding" makes rental halls, or catering more expensive.

My personal solution was to get a regular computer/home office desk that fits my mixing desk with a pull out keyboard/mouse shelf. I have equipment racks off to the side. Works great for my setup.

I guess that's the first question then innit. To be clear you are asking for a recommendation on a desk to use in your home studio and not one of those audio-dedicated studio desks? Because unless you have a big console mixer, outboard gear, patchbay, etc that is a fairly extravagant purchase these days & they all look like they're stuck in the 90s.

My current setup is an adjustable sit/stand desk and rack gear off to the side...in racks. It's fine.

If I had to replace it, I'd just settle in and comb second-hand furniture/antique stores and/or be patient on local craigslist/fb marketplace and find a bad-ass old heavy mid-century desk and call it good. Got my partner a really awesome steel desk that could have been a set piece on Mad Men for $50 (but was not fun or easy to move so consider your options as some may require disassembly to get in your vehicle or space).

Having drawers is nicer than having racks IMO unless you really twist knobs a lot and want them super close, and even then a small side rack on wheels that you can nest yourself in is really handy. Old Teacher's desks are good too and I love the look (bonus points for the DEEP drawers for confiscating switchblades).

Most important of all is making sure you're comfortable at it - the height works for you, etc. Ergonomics is an over-looked and extremely important detail when it comes to a place you may be parked at for hours at a time.

if you know that some things will be mandatory forever and ever amen, it's not a terrible idea to have something custom-built. i knew that i'd always be using an 88-key synth as my main MIDI input, that i'd need some storage space for picks, manuals, etc., and that i'd want plenty of flat surface space to grow into. worked with a furniture craftsman that i'd used on a couple of other projects -- made the specs myself in photoshop (height, width, depth, drawer and shelf placement, etc).

built like a tank and much more handsome than the hulking MDF piles on sweetwater for around the cost of an american telecaster.

Garth wrote: Mon May 08, 2023 10:37 am I guess that's the first question then innit. To be clear you are asking for a recommendation on a desk to use in your home studio and not one of those audio-dedicated studio desks?

Kind of both, my studio room is only about 8x8 so I can't do anything to fancy, but I want nice and comfortable.

Do you need racks or rack spaces built-in to the desk?

I've tried solving what you're looking for for my own set up. A common approach is just a good, adjustable (as noted) desk. Big, flat surface,with skinny legs that are easy to get around. On top of that, if you need racks, either adding them to one side or as a raiser for your monitor to sit on.

But this is more often for people whose works skews towards more music production than using it as a desk. It's not often clear how people balance the use of a shared space like that.

some important points being hit on here, like primary goals of the space. What do you want to have directly in front of you? What will be using the most? For most of us, that is a computer/DAW, for others it might be an analog mixer or on the other side, an MPC or 88-key controller?

What do you want to have directly in front of you and what should go off to the side? What are you using the most? What do you need easy access to? Do you have rack gear that is in frequent use?

Answering those questions might help formulate the direction you should go. If the centerpiece is your DAW, then a good, solid computer desk will probably fit the bill. A music production-dedicated desk will cost 2x as much or more and be 2x as ugly, but you might need a keyboard-forward workstation in which case a normal desk probably wouldn't be suitable.

I have 2 of these in my synth room:
https://affordableportables.net/produc ... nd-chrome/

Pros are that they are affordable, look alright, height adjustable, large surface area (30x60), stable and easy to assemble. On the other hand I’m probably stupid b/c these are heavy AF glass tops and probably a ticking time bomb before they spontaneously shatter and kill me. Most of my gear is modular and/or at least semi portable so it’s not exceptionally heavy.

In terms of acoustics/vibrations I have huge windows in that room anyway so it’s definitely not an ideal recording space but fine for fucking around and experimenting at normal volumes. My monitors do sit on the desk but they are isolated on small risers. 7” woofers and no sub so they probably couldn’t generate enough bass to really cause rattles anyway.