Seeking recommendations: desktop synth stands/stacking

[Jace-BeOS]

I have a few desk/tabletop devices that aren’t rackable (don’t want to hunch in front of my rack anyway), and I think there’s probably a better use of space by stacking them.

I’ve looked up various stands for various hardware/purposes (laptop, DJ, etc) for weeks and I’m not finding a solution I like. I thought I’d identified a stand I might be able to use but the video of a guy assembling it showed just how utterly flimsy it is. I want stability.

Any recommendations? Anyone here have examples of their own stacked setup to share (which includes stuff I can also acquire - custom made stuff won’t help me)?

[lfm]

I bought a bunch of these - very flexible and usable for many things - and cheap.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_laptopstand.htm

I assume they are on us market as well.

I can put two as a pair on a desk or piano to get one synth, or module up a bit.
I raised a floorboard up from floor a bit to easily work with the stomp boxes.
You can stack on top of each other as well to get a flat surface.

[chaosWyrM]

it might be helpful to know what it was about the things you looked at that you didnt like.

i just got one of these...and for my purposes its been exactly what i wanted/needed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HJ ... UTF8&psc=1


this is how im using it:

[whyterabbyt]

I bought a bunch of these - very flexible and usable for many things - and cheap.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_laptopstand.htm

yeah, i picked up one of that style recenly.

Ive also got 3 or 4 of these for different bits of gear so that they are 'propped up' rather than flat.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000CKVOOY

The other thing Ive got is a couple of those desk-clamp type monitor stands (one single-arm one that tilts and swivels and one dual-arm that just swivel); you can fit VESA-mount iPad/laptop brackets/holders to them which Ive used them for various controllers (Kore, Launchpad, BCR2000). Ive tweaked the brackets a bit with extra bolts and silicon putty (sugru) to fit different controllers.

[Michael L]

I use Crane dj stands, iklips, vesa, and made a few for specialised bits.
Here is a Crane: http://www.thecranestand.com

[Mushy Mushy]

Try KVgear

Plenty of solutions there.

[Jace-BeOS]

I bought a bunch of these - very flexible and usable for many things - and cheap.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_laptopstand.htm

I assume they are on us market as well.

Yes, they are. My issues with them:

1. Stability. They seem to wobble and wiggle a lot.

2. I cannot place equipment on their base because the base isn’t flat. I need to be able to set things under the thing the stand is supporting.

[Jace-BeOS]

it might be helpful to know what it was about the things you looked at that you didnt like.

i just got one of these...and for my purposes its been exactly what i wanted/needed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HJ ... UTF8&psc=1

this is how im using it:

Thanks for the photo. I’m fairly sure the stuff I want to place underneath won’t fit between the legs. Whatever that device is that you have underneath the Neutron seems to fit perfectly. How stable is the stand?

[chaosWyrM]

it might be helpful to know what it was about the things you looked at that you didnt like.

i just got one of these...and for my purposes its been exactly what i wanted/needed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HJ ... UTF8&psc=1

this is how im using it:

Thanks for the photo. I’m fairly sure the stuff I want to place underneath won’t fit between the legs. Whatever that device is that you have underneath the Neutron seems to fit perfectly. How stable is the stand?

thats a synthstrom deluge under the neutron. is doesnt really fit under the legs part, as the legs of the stand go under the stand for the deluge. that is to say the deluge and its stand are both wider than the distance between the legs of the laptop stand.

as for stability....well, i dont feel like its going to collapse or tip over, even when fiddling with the neutron. it does wobble a tiny bit, nothing crazy, and i do feel like i should give it support when inserting the patch cables. i dont feel like i have to, but i should. if it had a keyboard, im not sure id like to play on it...but for this application its fine. no complaints for the price i paid.

[Jace-BeOS]

I’m... really not comfortable with fiddly things. If I’m going to add some semi-modular analog gear to my desktop, I need it to be really stable; semi-modular is already fiddly

In one of the spots I want to stack gear, I have an Alesis Fusion 8HD on a desk. I’d really like if a hardware stand’s base could fit entirely underneath it, holding smaller pieces above the Fusion (with some room to still see the Fusion’s controls). This means I need stands with very flat bases, so the Fusion can rest on top of them. I’ve seen a total of two such products that might work, but I’m not sure about their stability.

The one you have has an edge that would get in the way (forcing the Fusion too far forward). There are others with a similar design that do have flat bases. They looked terribly unstable in assembly videos I watched. These two stands seem to be the same product sold under many names. The price looked right at first, then I saw them in video and I realized the price was for cheap engineering and assembly.

This might not be practical anyway, since there’s already a tier on the desk where the Fusion lives, above and behind the Fusion, with racks on it. I basically need something that wraps around the back of the Fusion without adding too much extra depth or obstructing the Fusion’s controls.

But I also desire a tiered main desktop space, not just the area over the Fusion. I have a fair amount of desk space to make use of, but it’s all flat. The desk came with a second tier, but it was so poorly designed (both physically and ergonomically) that I removed it. I’d rather have a few movable tiers than one monolithic tier bound to the desktop in the wrong place for everything. The Fusion is making use of the board from the second tier, so that its feet rest on a surface on the desk behind me (otherwise, that desk is too narrow for the Fusion’s widely placed feet).

I have another horizontal space to my right that I created by placing a (cushioned) thick sheet of wood across a floor-standing rack and a keyboard stand. It’s surprisingly stable, considering it’s a makeshift surface. That middle section on my right is made for standing at (it’s too high for being seated), but there’s too much leaning / reaching because things are all on one level.

(in total, it’s a sort of backward C-shaped workspace)

Ergonomics and speed matter to me. I already feel like I have to do too much every time I want to play with music (remove dust cover sheets, power-on multiple devices, wake the computer, log in, start software, etc). It’s a barrier. In fact, that’s probably the real theme here for this thread: reducing the barriers of daily equipment usage.

I want more stuff to be within reach of just sitting (or standing) and it’s not working as is. I am moving things around too much to make it feel worthwhile to suddenly switch to another device or workflow (move things out of the way, drag cables around, move a device forward, rearrange keyboard, MIDI controller, and trackpad). Having stackable gear seems to be a good solution but I can’t find the appropriate materials for this.

I’ve seen some photos and videos where people have really nice setups, and almost no one producing interview videos ever asks the artists about their furniture. No one cares about the ergonomics; it’s only the electronics they ask about. The few people with great setups who are asked tend to reveal that they’re using custom furniture. The people posting studio photos on this forum usually say the same. I can’t build things.

Just recently I watched a bunch of studio tour videos and this one guy had a set of the best real wood, 3-tiered, slide-out keyboard drawer desks I’ve ever seen. They were built by his friend.

[VariKusBrainZ]

I bought a bunch of these - very flexible and usable for many things - and cheap.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_laptopstand.htm

I assume they are on us market as well.

Yes, they are. My issues with them:

1. Stability. They seem to wobble and wiggle a lot.

2. I cannot place equipment on their base because the base isn’t flat. I need to be able to set things under the thing the stand is supporting.

I use one of these stands and to put something underneath I use one of these IKEA laptop supports to cover the base

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/sma ... -00326334/

I have a Microbrute on the laptop stand and Machinedrum tucked underneath sitting on IKEA laptop support.

I cut little grooves in the bottom of the IKEA laptop support so it doesn't slide around on the base of the laptop stand

[Trevor Refix]

I have various homemade stands that I've made, but the one I'm most happy with is the one I stumbled onto for my Octatrack. I just used one of those folding 'V' guitar stands I had laying around, placed a small piece of wood below the Octatrack so it clears the 2 front 'lips' and viola - The Ot is at about a 70 degree angle, super sturdy, and there's room for cables to pass beneath. Sorry, no phone handy in my studio at the moment, will try to remember to post a pic later

[Jace-BeOS]

It sounds like this is a market that needs more product. If I only had the tools and the skills, since I need an income... But I have neither, and won’t be acquiring them.

[sin night]

I have a few stands looking like that Millenium (it looks like they are the very same stands, just rebranded), they are stable enough after placing something heavy enough on the bottom, like a monitor controller or a mixer.
The bottom of those stands is not flat, but that hasn't stopped me from placing things over the base, sometimes with the help of a bit of foam.

I also use the Ikea Isberget stand to tilt my Maschine Mikro MK2. I think it's a nearly-perfect solution.


On my desk, I raised the screens with a rectangular shelf. Those are meant to be hang on the wall (they have holes on the back), but they do the job on the desk. It's not that strong (is not solid wood), but it's enough for the task. Unfortunately mine is a little small, so I had to "upgrade" it by placing another shelf over it. Maybe one day I'll replace it with a bigger one.
The advantage of the rectangular shelf is that I can place a few things under the screens, like my Mac Mini and my D-05.
Those shelf are quite common now in stores, they can be found in every place selling a bit of forniture.

Luckily the shelf has the almost the same tonality of the desk. The desk was custom made by a local forniture maker, but it's a very simple design, nothing to really talk about.

[Jace-BeOS]

Thanks, everyone, for sharing images and suggestions . Please do keep them coming if anyone has more to show.