De-Fi Platform Studio Review: A Good Compact Recording Desk

Nine years ago I decided to get back to making music aft a precise agelong hiatus. In the beginning, my setup was highly humble, featuring an aging ThinkPad and a inexpensive MIDI controller. I didn’t adjacent person an audio interface for decently signaling my guitar.

Since then, well, things person gotten a spot retired of hand. My synth postulation grew from a mates toys (a Casio VL-1 and a Stylophone) to good implicit a twelve instruments. I person much MIDI controllers than immoderate quality could ever need. I picked up decent workplace monitors, an audio interface, and adjacent immoderate ADAT expansions truthful I could support much of my ever increasing cogwheel collection permanently connected.

One happening that didn’t change, however, was my desk. Up until conscionable a mates of weeks ago, I was inactive making bash with the aforesaid inexpensive Ikea Lagkapten/Alex combo ($220). It was a ample desk, but it didn’t springiness maine a batch of flexibility for laying retired my setup. Now that I’ve had an accidental to cheque retired the updated mentation of De-Fi's Platform Studio Production Desk, which has dedicated mounting points for rack gear, abstraction for speakers, and a pull-out keyboard tray, I don’t cognize that I tin ever spell back. If you're successful the marketplace for an affordable workplace table for your music-making and are trying to determine betwixt cheaper options and a dedicated table similar this one, work on.

Getting Settled

For each of its aesthetic angles and signaling workplace glamour, the Platform Desk, which was primitively made by a marque called Output that has present rebranded to De-Fi, inactive goes unneurotic similar Ikea furniture. It’s a portion of flatpack that you request to assemble with the assistance of a screwdriver and an Allen wrench. It’s decidedly much important than your mean Malm portion (what with it being made retired of plywood alternatively of particle board), but the basal conception is the same.

As hard arsenic it is to believe, 1 country wherever Ikea does person a limb up connected De-Fi is the prime of the instructions. There is a video walk-through of the assembly that is OK, but it could beryllium much detailed. The “print” version, well, don’t fuss printing it. For immoderate reason, it’s formatted arsenic a single-page PDF erstwhile it should intelligibly beryllium 5 oregon six. When you effort to people it retired you extremity up with a narrow, illegible portion down the mediate of a azygous portion of paper.

The parts database besides failed to notation that determination was a powerfulness drill spot for the hex screws successful 1 of the bags. I lone discovered it halfway done assembly, aft my hands were aching and I’d stripped a fewer screws with the Allen wrench.

It’s besides worthy mentioning a mates of tiny quality-control issues I encountered during assembly. The support pin holes for the apical level were missing connected 1 side, and I had to drill them successful myself. And immoderate of the edges weren’t peculiarly neat. I adjacent got a beauteous nasty splinter from the articulator of the desktop.

Living successful Tight Spaces

There was 1 beauteous evident con erstwhile everything was afloat assembled: the size of this desk. I unrecorded successful NYC, truthful abstraction is astatine a premium, and fitting the 60-inch-wide by 38-inch-deep table was difficult. Folks with a batch of abstraction won't person the aforesaid issue, but it's worthy looking into the size earlier ordering. My location workplace is besides my bureau and my impermanent bedroom; it was a spot cramped to statesman with. Previously determination was capable country to locomotion betwixt the unfolded pullout sofa and my desk. Now adjacent my seat won’t acceptable betwixt the table and the ft of the pullout. In bid to marque country for the desk, I had to ditch my show stands (the table has elevated spaces for monitors to beryllium placed).

Another instantly evident con is that the Platform Desk has nary drawers. Granted, workplace desks mostly don’t, but it did mean I had to support astir the Alex drawer portion from my aged table for emblematic desk-y storage. The full level abstraction taken up by my revamped signaling country had abruptly exploded.