Studio Furniture: RAB LS840 Desk and Auray ERS-12U

RAB Audio LS840 Desk

I revisited my recording room’s layout to improve on my efficiency. I wanted to get as my outboard gear in front of me and ready to be patched in to use. I’ve had my my preamps and buss compressor patched in for the most part, but could not integrate my 500-series rack efficiently.

I thought about building my own desk, but decided to an off the shelf solution. I wanted to go with a smaller desk to avoid the temptation of leaving junk on the tabletop. I went with the RAB LS840 because it was narrower than the typical 48” desk. Most MDF desks at this price range offer 6RU, but the RAB had 8. I needed enough space to get my 500 series rack, Chameleon Labs 7603 pre/EQ, Audioscape Bus Comp, and Klark Teknik 1176-KT directly in front of me.

Front view.

The build was straightforward for the most part. The unboxing and assembly video provided by RAB Audio’s YouTube channel was a helpful resource. All of the pieces lined up easily, much better than some other flat pack furniture that I’ve built in the past. Most pieces were secured with hex head screws.

The keyboard tray was a disappointment for me. The black screws for the tray’s components were difficult to tighten by hand, and I gave up on fully tightening the screws. The 32” width keyboard tray barely fit my M-Audio Keystation 49 II keyboard. The volume slider rubs against the bottom of the table a bit.

Tight fit for M-Audio Keystation 49 II.

I was finding the 8in/8out limiting on my UR824 interface, so I decided that I will chain my preamps with EQs and compressors. 

I’ve initially wired up a UR824 line output into the 1176-KT, followed by the 7603 Line Input back into the UR824 to use as a Comp-EQ hardware insert. It was immediately obvious how much more useful it was to have the controls directly in front of me rather than off to the side. 

Desk rack - left side.

I plan on having the following inserts set up:

• Klark Teknik 1176-KT > Chameleon Labs 7603
• 2x CAPI VP28 > Audioscape Bus Comp
• Stam SA73 > Hairball FET500 Rev D > CAPI LC25

I will be looking into adding more acoustic treatment to smooth out the low end in the room with the new desk installed.

The corners are treated, but I may look into treatment above my listening space.

Some plots using Room EQ Wizard and a Behringer ECM8000 mic.

JBL LSR305 Left 1/24 Octave Smoothing 30Hz - 20kHz

JBL LSR305 Right 1/24 Octave Smoothing 30Hz - 20kHz

JBL LSR305 Left 1/3 Octave Smoothing 30Hz - 20kHz

JBL LSR305 Right 1/3 Octave Smoothing 30Hz - 20kHz

JBL LSR305 Left 1/24 Octave Smoothing 35Hz - 400Hz

JBL LSR305 Left Spectrogram

JBL LSR305 Right Spectrogram

Edit - 1/11/25 - I took some more steps to work on cable management around my desk. One of my main goals with this iteration of the desk setup is to more easily switch from tracking with my CAPI VP28 mic preamps to mixing with them as line level saturation devices. The best way I think of was to get the input connections in front of me to patch into. I bought a Redco 2RU panel, pre-punched for 24 D-series connectors, and installed only what I needed.

I decided to install female XLR connectors for front panel access of the CAPI VP28, Chameleon Labs 7603, and Stam SA-73 preamp inputs. I had some spare 1/4” feed through connectors, which I used to move the connection points of my Wavs-PRS Guitar Interface and DIYRE L2A Reamp. The front panel access to these devices should keep me from bumping into their knobs.

I used install-grade wiring to neaten back panel connections to reduce the cable clutter. For years, I’ve been using regular-sized audio cable (~0.25” OD), either pre-made from Monoprice or DIY’d with Mogami and Redco. The thinner cables should help minimize the mess on the rear panels of the equipment.

Auray ERS-12U Rack

I bought a couple of Auray ERS-12U equipment racks to house the rest of my rack mount gear. The were $130 each on sale, but even the full $170 price is much less expensive than any of the other 12RU racks made of MDF.

The main rack is filled with my sub-$120 budget outboard buys over the years. The height of the 12U rack on casters happens to be at desk level.

Many online reviews complained about the rack rail threads being incompatible with the hardware provided, but I did not find this to be the case. A generous amount of 10-32 and 12-24 hardware was provided, but I only used the 10-32 screws. I had some old Middle Atlantic 10-32 screws that fit well on the rails as well. 

To be continued.