Solid music stand recommendations

[grahamgrant]

Hi all,

Can anyone recommend a good model of music stand for the studio that isn’t going to be too expensive to buy in bulk?

Many thanks,

Graham

[BigRedX]

König & Meyer are generally regarded as being among the best and you can get spares for any bits that do fail or go missing.

[tacitus]

Totally agree. Not saying you can’t get more impressive ones elsewhere, but I still have all mine, going back over a third of a century. I’m sure others here have older ones.

If you know they’re going to last, you can buy them as you go. I also prefer the 3/8” thread they have against the US 5/8” most of the Chinese ones use.

[grahamgrant]

Any particular model that is best?

[James Perrett]

I've had one of these for a couple of years

https://cpc.farnell.com/pulse/pls00043/ ... dp/ST01603

which have been good so far but obviously I've not had them as long as some people have had their K&M stands.

[Chet Leeway]

You can't go wrong with Manhasset. Comparable in price to K&M, maybe slightly more expensive.

[The Elf]

I've been more than happy with my RATstands Jazz Stand. Cheap it isn't, but it's been worth the investment over the years I've had it.

[AlecSp]

Totally agree. Not saying you can’t get more impressive ones elsewhere, but I still have all mine, going back over a third of a century. I’m sure others here have older ones.

If you know they’re going to last, you can buy them as you go. I also prefer the 3/8” thread they have against the US 5/8” most of the Chinese ones use.

Er, music stands not mic stands...

Bought a bunch of K&M 11940 a while back. Still feel as robust as the day they arrived.

Just like mic stands, cheap music stands are a completely false economy. A mate bought some that were more or less falling to bits when they arrived.

My litany these days: K&M mic stands, VDC/Neutrik cables.

Still to work out what my go-to passive DI is after a shocking experience with Radial DI Pros (3 failures across 2 units over 2 years). It's (obviously) Orchid for active DI.

[BigRedX]

Still to work out what my go-to passive DI is after a shocking experience with Radial DI Pros (3 failures across 2 units over 2 years). It's (obviously) Orchid for active DI.

Have a look at the EMO range of passive DI boxes. Instrument, line and speaker inputs with pass-through for instrument and speaker. I have a couple of units that were bought second hand about 30 years ago and are still going strong.

[grahamgrant]

Totally agree. Not saying you can’t get more impressive ones elsewhere, but I still have all mine, going back over a third of a century. I’m sure others here have older ones.

If you know they’re going to last, you can buy them as you go. I also prefer the 3/8” thread they have against the US 5/8” most of the Chinese ones use.

Er, music stands not mic stands...

Bought a bunch of K&M 11940 a while back. Still feel as robust as the day they arrived.

Just like mic stands, cheap music stands are a completely false economy. A mate bought some that were more or less falling to bits when they arrived.

My litany these days: K&M mic stands, VDC/Neutrik cables.

Still to work out what my go-to passive DI is after a shocking experience with Radial DI Pros (3 failures across 2 units over 2 years). It's (obviously) Orchid for active DI.

Why obviously for the orchid DIs? Are they that good?

[Drew Stephenson]

For a long time their price vs performance was very hard to beat. They seem to have changed their distribution to a third party now and prices have gone up a bit - though that might just be the inflationary effect of the last couple of years.
Still very competitive I reckon.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I've had one of these for a couple of years

https://cpc.farnell.com/pulse/pls00043/ ... dp/ST01603

This is very similar to the K&M 11940 Alec mentions above — and this perforated plate type of music rest is what I would recommend too.

The folding ones are compact to carry, but are not very stable or reliable....

[Hugh Robjohns]

Still to work out what my go-to passive DI is after a shocking experience with Radial DI Pros (3 failures across 2 units over 2 years). It's (obviously) Orchid for active DI.

Orchid perform to very high standards and are good value ... but not as good as they were (because they're no longer sold direct from the manufacturer).

They also don't provide galvanic isolation which makes them inappropriate for some safety-critical situations...

But I'm shocked to hear of your Radial ProDI issues! What kinds of failures have you had? I have a couple of ProD2s and they've been rock solid for more than a decade.

[grahamgrant]

Thanks all - I’ve ordered an manhasset symphony for evaluation. Next step, chairs for performers (guitar, strings etc). Does anyone have recommendations for these as well? Thank you as always!

[sonics]

You didn't mention your budget, portability or storage requirements.
There is also the look to consider, which may be the top priority.

Manhasset is certainly an accepted orchestral standard, but try folding one into a tour case!

[AlecSp]

But I'm shocked to hear of your Radial ProDI issues! What kinds of failures have you had? I have a couple of ProD2s and they've been rock solid for more than a decade.

Two instances of stopped passing audio, one of passing distorted audio.

Fixed under warranty repair twice. On the third occaision, I got pretty shirty direct with Radial. To be fair to them, they offered to replace with brand new product, with pre-praid shipping back to them. Sadly, the UK distributor dicked about big time in implementing, that, but I finally ended up with two brand new replacements - shame I don't really trust them any more.

On looking inside, they're fairly basic inside.The big design weakness is the hefty transformer supported by just its spindly pins. Looking at the last failure, there was no sign of fractured solder joints, I suspect there may have been an internal fracture to one of the pins. They really need a more robust mounting of the transformer.

I hear many tales of these things lasting for ever. But it does look like they might have had a poorer patch recently - possibly a change in transformer to something more fragile.

Either way, I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy any more.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Hmmm. Disappointing, as you say.

There isn't much to go wrong in a passive DI, but if the transformer isn't adequately supported in a box that suffers physical shocks then there will inevirably be failures.

I will explore the internal build of my own units to see if all is well....

I also have a couple of EMO mono passive DIs which are very solid and have survived longer than the ProD2s, so can confirm their robustness.

[BigRedX]

Out of curiosity, I took the base off one of my single channel EMO DIs and everything inside is so tightly packed it would be almost impossible for anything to move. The two single channel units I bought second hand had obviously had quite a rough life before I got them as the print on the cases was very worn but electrically they are still fine. I also have dual channel units that were bought new just over 25 years ago. The only time I have had to replace one was because it got "lost" at a gig.

[Chet Leeway]

Thanks all - I’ve ordered an manhasset symphony for evaluation. Next step, chairs for performers (guitar, strings etc). Does anyone have recommendations for these as well? Thank you as always!

If you ever need a piano bench, Andexinger. 15+ years and 1000s of hours, no squeaks, no sign of wear, gas/spring lifting system still works flawlessly. Very sturdy, comfortable and user friendly.

[grahamgrant]

That’s now on the list! Thank you very much.

My manhasset stand arrived and it’s not nearly as solid as expected, but it’s ok.