House move - music setup around work desk ideas

bencowling81

thecolourbox said:

bencowling81 said:

Here is my similar setup. I find a single ultra wide screen preferable to a 2 screen setup. The HX stomp is wired into input 1 and a mic cable is on hand in input 2 on the focusrite, which goes out to the monitors. The screen acts as a usb hub, with ethernet, the focusrite and the keyboard and mouse receiver plugged into the screen. That way whenever I switch from laptop (work) to Mac mini (play) all peripherals are instantly available. 

Interesting thanks. How do you  get on with interference from the screens and/or computers? Are your speakers either side of your monitor?

I tried to add a link to a photo but struggling to do so. I did initially get some interference but I think that was more to do with the audio cables being really close to the power cables. I upgraded the audio cables to starquad cables from @designacable ; and it has reduced the interference to practically negligible. 

thecolourbox

Ahh ok, cool, well I get it with good or bad cables, as well as with the wireless (admittedly a crap cheap Lekato setup) so that might actually be the thing that ends this before it's even begun. It could be the crap laptop, but I suppose buying a new computer is an expensive way of finding out that it's not the laptop. Shall have to wait and see I suppose

My guitar is a Squier Mustang with Lace Sensors, they seem decent pickups for most things so I'm reluctant to swap them for something like the EMGs or whatever although they would probably solve it. 

I guess the Mustang could explain my lack of depth of bass in the speakers as well but I like the guitar, it suits my size and the neck's nice, so I'd stick with it

jasonbone75

Check for mains adapters sharing the extension leads and sockets. I have one particularly troublesome phone charger that adds noise to almost any audio systems that are powered from the same socket. Took me a while to figure that one out! Powered external PC speaker PSUs could well be crappy too. There are a lot of potential sources in and around office desks in addition to displays

thecolourbox

I'm pretty sure it's screens and computers in general - been the same in various rooms across 2 different houses. When I used to live with parents, I used to have to stand about 10 ft away when recording, which as you can imagine was super convenient. Hmm

EDIT: On reflection, as is always the case when I start a thread, I've realised what I'm talking about can't be done so I think I need to think again (and possibly see if selling off my plugins instead might be a better bet)

octatonic

thecolourbox said:

Stratavarious said:

Plan on two screens/computer monitors. So much better for working.   

Invest in a decent pair of powered monitors it will make it all so much more rewarding.  I have a Denon hifi set up on my desk studio too so I can switch to a typical home setup.

I use one big screen and my work laptop screen for work - it works for my job as I read a lot of lease documents (PDF) which works perfectly on small screen, spreadsheet and inbox on the big screen. Working with two monitors would restrict the rest of the stuff I could have on the desk and would not give me any real advantage.

My monitor speakers are Fostex PM0.4n (Product Page), they are cheap and I think pretty unremarkable but sound ok when playing back recorded music, just a bit light I guess when just listening to my guitar playing so they need the bass jacking up (but i'd have to guess how much to reduce by when recording if that makes sense)

The Fostex PM0.4n are not magnetically shielded.

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/fostex-pm0-4n-265141

That could be part of the noise you are experiencing.

thecolourbox

octatonic said:

thecolourbox said:

Stratavarious said:

Plan on two screens/computer monitors. So much better for working.   

Invest in a decent pair of powered monitors it will make it all so much more rewarding.  I have a Denon hifi set up on my desk studio too so I can switch to a typical home setup.

I use one big screen and my work laptop screen for work - it works for my job as I read a lot of lease documents (PDF) which works perfectly on small screen, spreadsheet and inbox on the big screen. Working with two monitors would restrict the rest of the stuff I could have on the desk and would not give me any real advantage.

My monitor speakers are Fostex PM0.4n (Product Page), they are cheap and I think pretty unremarkable but sound ok when playing back recorded music, just a bit light I guess when just listening to my guitar playing so they need the bass jacking up (but i'd have to guess how much to reduce by when recording if that makes sense)

The Fostex PM0.4n are not magnetically shielded.

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/fostex-pm0-4n-265141

That could be part of the noise you are experiencing.

I don't use the computer with the Fostex monitors currently, I use them with my modelling unit which sounds fine. I only use the computer with headphones. Also just sitting here with one of those plug in headphone things gives the noise, so it's definitely from the monitors through the pickups

octatonic

thecolourbox said:

octatonic said:

thecolourbox said:

Stratavarious said:

Plan on two screens/computer monitors. So much better for working.   

Invest in a decent pair of powered monitors it will make it all so much more rewarding.  I have a Denon hifi set up on my desk studio too so I can switch to a typical home setup.

I use one big screen and my work laptop screen for work - it works for my job as I read a lot of lease documents (PDF) which works perfectly on small screen, spreadsheet and inbox on the big screen. Working with two monitors would restrict the rest of the stuff I could have on the desk and would not give me any real advantage.

My monitor speakers are Fostex PM0.4n (Product Page), they are cheap and I think pretty unremarkable but sound ok when playing back recorded music, just a bit light I guess when just listening to my guitar playing so they need the bass jacking up (but i'd have to guess how much to reduce by when recording if that makes sense)

The Fostex PM0.4n are not magnetically shielded.

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/fostex-pm0-4n-265141

That could be part of the noise you are experiencing.

I don't use the computer with the Fostex monitors currently, I use them with my modelling unit which sounds fine. I only use the computer with headphones. Also just sitting here with one of those plug in headphone things gives the noise, so it's definitely from the monitors through the pickups

Yes, I agree.

thecolourbox

octatonic said:

thecolourbox said:

octatonic said:

thecolourbox said:

Stratavarious said:

Plan on two screens/computer monitors. So much better for working.   

Invest in a decent pair of powered monitors it will make it all so much more rewarding.  I have a Denon hifi set up on my desk studio too so I can switch to a typical home setup.

I use one big screen and my work laptop screen for work - it works for my job as I read a lot of lease documents (PDF) which works perfectly on small screen, spreadsheet and inbox on the big screen. Working with two monitors would restrict the rest of the stuff I could have on the desk and would not give me any real advantage.

My monitor speakers are Fostex PM0.4n (Product Page), they are cheap and I think pretty unremarkable but sound ok when playing back recorded music, just a bit light I guess when just listening to my guitar playing so they need the bass jacking up (but i'd have to guess how much to reduce by when recording if that makes sense)

The Fostex PM0.4n are not magnetically shielded.

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/fostex-pm0-4n-265141

That could be part of the noise you are experiencing.

I don't use the computer with the Fostex monitors currently, I use them with my modelling unit which sounds fine. I only use the computer with headphones. Also just sitting here with one of those plug in headphone things gives the noise, so it's definitely from the monitors through the pickups

Yes, I agree.

Not to worry, back to drawing board I think

thecolourbox

So the house move is approaching at a snail's pace but I've had some thoughts and stuff on this. Still no closer to buying a functioning computer but that can come in time I suppose.

The main focus so far has been on working out how to combat the computer screen noise issue. I had a little play on Helix and, assisted by a very helpful demo video of the new MXRxTMR Double Down pedal, I actually came up with a really good preset to approximate the current Jack White sounds, with fairly liberal application of the input gate to offset the nasty screen noise.  However that's only one of the styles I play, the other is more Jeff Buckley inspired, ie a basic slightly jazzy clean with a bit of extra gain on occasion - this is harder to do as the noise gate cuts off the quieter playing.

I vaguely broached the subject of having a second furniture unit for music stuff but that didn't seem too likely when we looked at the measurements of the room, as we will have two desks and probably a wardrobe and drawers also. 

Any ideas on how to combat this? It must be a fairly common thing to occur? Hopefully the answer isn't a new guitar with EMGs or Variax as I quite like my existing Squier and don't want to pay twice the value of that on something I like less but is a bit quieter

thecolourbox

Is there such thing as a mini subwoofer, that I could use with my studio monitors which seem to actively cut the bass out? Or do they need to be big out of necessity (which I imagine is the case)

House moves look to be falling through completely but would still be good to get my setup minimalised if we are stuck in this place

Sporky

Depends on how small and your budget.

The SVS 3000 Micro is genuinely good, and very tweakable, but its £900.

thecolourbox

My budget is low, I need adequate rather than good. I'm not really going to notice the benefits with my level of music.
That one is more than my entire setup is worth

Not to worry, was just an idea

Snap

Stratavarious said:

Plan on two screens/computer monitors. So much better for working.   

Invest in a decent pair of powered monitors it will make it all so much more rewarding.  I have a Denon hifi set up on my desk studio too so I can switch to a typical home setup.

This is exactly what I have! My speakers/monitors are stacked too, either side of the two screens. I have a tower PC, Dell laptop and a Mac Mini on an HDMI switcher for the screens.

Desk - I built from key clamps, scaffolding and OSB board - it's about a metre deep on the desk top. I have a large frame overhead with a big shelf too, across the width of the desk, more scaffolding. 
1.6m wide, 1 m deep. More than big enough to get everything on, including a Blackstar Flybass amp! Was v chuffed with myself when I put this together. 

PolarityMan

thecolourbox said:

Is there such thing as a mini subwoofer, that I could use with my studio monitors which seem to actively cut the bass out? Or do they need to be big out of necessity (which I imagine is the case)

House moves look to be falling through completely but would still be good to get my setup minimalised if we are stuck in this place

You should be able to get reasonable low end out of monitors. Some of them have controls on the back to set a a high pass filter for when they are paired with a sub. Have you checked that they are set flat? 

Could also be a room problem as well. You might find it handy to use either a referencing plugin like metric A/B or otherwise just a simple EQ to isolate just the low end so you can hear what's going on. 

thecolourbox

PolarityMan said:

thecolourbox said:

Is there such thing as a mini subwoofer, that I could use with my studio monitors which seem to actively cut the bass out? Or do they need to be big out of necessity (which I imagine is the case)

House moves look to be falling through completely but would still be good to get my setup minimalised if we are stuck in this place

You should be able to get reasonable low end out of monitors. Some of them have controls on the back to set a a high pass filter for when they are paired with a sub. Have you checked that they are set flat? 

Could also be a room problem as well. You might find it handy to use either a referencing plugin like metric A/B or otherwise just a simple EQ to isolate just the low end so you can hear what's going on. 

That could be the case with most monitor speakers but I think these are just not very good ones to be honest - there's a couple of replies further up the thread which point to this. Only a volume control on these, using the EQ options on my modelling unit or on a mixer before inputting into them does nothing unless they are extremely boosted, at which point it just distorts.

Sadly no budget to get good ones or to play the trial and error game at this point. Not to worry. Going to try a cheap soundbar plus woofer system thing I found in the loft at some point as I recall that sounding better than these monitors at some point in the past

PolarityMan

I mean if you have stuff lying around its worth a try but I reckon if you are spending money then trying to add a subwoofer would have worse results than just upgrading, especially if you are willing to go second hand. 

thecolourbox

I understand the logic, but I also kind of put a price on my own time and that price increases massively if the time involved includes having to deal with people to sell stuff and then to buy replacements as I don't deal especially well with the process

Rocker

I am very confused by this discussion.  As I understand it, the OP wants to arrange his computer desk to cater for work and music.  Which is the most important?  Your answer will guide you,

thecolourbox

Sorry, my ideas and discussions do often go off track a bit, not least because I'm a bit odd in my perception of things.

Essentially, I need to take up less space in the new house (if we ever actually get there) and I hoped to take the opportunity to fix a couple of issues I currently have and combine it into one item of furniture rather than two. 
I already have a work desk, and can't work at home without it, so I hoped using that made sense but at the same time, it brings problems.

I dunno, probably all a big waste of time as I'm shit at it anyway lol