Custom workstation desk- feedback needed

[pabelius]

Hello all.

I'm getting a custom desk built for my smallish room (14d x 10w x 9.5h) and I wanted some opinions/feedback on potential sonic issues. As you can see, it's a U-shaped desk. I was intending to put the speakers on wooden mounts on the left and right corners of the desk. They'd probably be about 1-2' from the corners of the room. My friend was warning me about reflections from the desk surface of those right and left wings. The sitting space in the middle is about 56" wide and the wings themselves are 23" each. I score to picture and I have a tv mounted on the wall in front of me and a couch about 6' behind me for clients. Should I be concerned about reflections from the laminate surface of those wings? It's a fairly noisy room and mostly used for writing, but I do deliver final mixes on some projects and want to keep things as accurate as possible.

Thanks,
Rob

[big country]

you could always build a soffet for your monitors

make it kinda blend in to the wall

[jayman]

PLEASE do yourself a favor and make sure no part of your desk is made out of plywood. I had a custom desk built once and I had a terrible resonating low frequency that I couldn't get rid of. I tried lots of things in my room. One day, I pulled the desk to the back of my room for something and turned the speakers on and Shazam! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I moved the desk back and it sounded terrible again. I talked to some folks who told me that plywood resonates so you have to build your desk out of solids; either solid wood or mdf or particle board. So, I had to give the desk away. It was an expensive learning experience. So, keep that in mind.

[jwl]

Yeah, I agree you should think about resonance. Resonance is in most cases controlled by mass; the more mass the less resonance (or more accurately the lower the frequency at which it resonates). Mass is good.

MDF is often used in speaker cabinets, so its resonance properties are actually quite good, mostly because it is very consistent material. Plywood, otoh, can often have gaps in it etc and isn't as consistent. This could be what jayman was experiencing, although based on his description it could have been room acoustics at work (ie, moving the placement into or out of a room mode). Depends on whether or not the speakers were still on the desk when it was moved.

[pabelius]

Yeah, thanks for the heads up. I'm having kkaudio build the desk. I use one of their stock desks now and have zero resonance troubles with it. They specifically build studio furniture, but I will ask what the material is, since I don't know!

And I'm not sure what a soffet is, but I don't think I'll be able to put the speakers against the wall.

[jayfrigo]

With desks, think of reflection paths (jst like walls, ceilings and floors) and angle surfaces to prevent early reflections to listening position. You can also build absorption into certain surfaces, and even use some cavities for a little (very little usually) bass trapping. Also, it's best to make it open underneath for bass to ride on through.

[pabelius]

Originally Posted by jayfrigo

With desks, think of reflection paths (jst like walls, ceilings and floors) and angle surfaces to prevent early reflections to listening position. You can also build absorption into certain surfaces, and even use some cavities for a little (very little usually) bass trapping. Also, it's best to make it open underneath for bass to ride on through.

Hm...good point. However, treating the wings of the desk with angles or material would render them useless as work surfaces, no? I wonder how much a difference the angle of the speakers would make...as well as their height off the desk.



And good point about it being open underneath. I had initially wanted it to be a boxed back, but I will reconsider with the bass in mind! That's why this forum is so helpful. Thanks for the tip.

[pabelius]

Originally Posted by pabelius

I wonder how much a difference the angle of the speakers would make...as well as their height off the desk.

...or for that matter if the problem would be helped greatly by not mounting the monitors on the desk at all. I have some speaker stands I could put to use. That would put them very close to the wall, which might cause more problems than it solves. But it's an option.

[jayman]

You've probably seen these already..... this is what I want to get soon... Great desks and seemingly great acoustically as well.

http://sterlingmodular.com/

[jayfrigo]

Speakers on stands are usually preferable, but indeed there are other variables to consider. As for reflections, yes, some work surfaces need to be flat to be useful, but you can make the footprint as small as possible, and angle some others (or even treat some) with reflections in mind, especially if you put the speakers on stands.

[pabelius]

Originally Posted by jayfrigo

Speakers on stands are usually preferable, but indeed there are other variables to consider. As for reflections, yes, some work surfaces need to be flat to be useful, but you can make the footprint as small as possible, and angle some others (or even treat some) with reflections in mind, especially if you put the speakers on stands.

So Jay, I'm assuming you think reflections from the desk will be problematic...?

[DSD_Mastering]

Originally Posted by pabelius

So Jay, I'm assuming you think reflections from the desk will be problematic...?

Yes they are. I have custom consoles in my rooms that have rounded corners and angled fronts. Bob Hodas did my rooms and said my consoles have minimal effect on the sound.
I would suggest you do more research into custom consoles and find one that would suit your needs and also offer you minimal acoustical interference.

Regards,
Bruce

[jayfrigo]

Originally Posted by pabelius

So Jay, I'm assuming you think reflections from the desk will be problematic...?

Desk reflections definitely do have an impact. I'm not the kind of guy to say eliminate the desk, because that doesn't automatically solve all your problems; it just changes the conditions. Besides, the point of a room is to get some work done, so you need to consider the ergonomics as quite important, and I think a console or desk of some sort makes the work flow better.

Bearing all of that in mind, you definitely want to try to minimize the impact of the furniture and equipment. Racks should be low and to the sides (consider reflection paths here too), video screens low as well, broad flat surfaces minimized or treated at least in part if possible, and other surfaces angled appropriately to avoid early reflections at the listening position. It should also be as open as possible as to be transparent as much as is practical, at least to lower frequencies. Big desks are big problems, acoustically speaking.