What size screen do you use? (thinking about acoustics)

[Guest]

I need to get a better screen but I don't know if I should go 27" or 32". My worry with 32" is that it may hurt my listening position due to the size of the physical screen... Has anyone played with this?

[James Perrett]

In my home based setup I have a 27" screen between the monitors and a smaller laptop screen below it. In the studio I have 2 x 21" screens between the monitors but my listening position is further away than in my home setup. The screens tend to be slightly behind the front face of the monitors.

[Lophophora]

In my experience the desk itself is more detrimental than the computer monitor, because it's literally in the way. But I guess that depends on how far you are from the monitor, and how far it is from the speakers.

I doubt there would be a significant difference between 27" and 32" but if you want to be sure, just take two measurements with Room EQ Wizard (or equivalent): one with a 27" and one with a 32" monitor. If you only have a 27" at hand, take a measurement with no monitor at all just to get an idea of its influence on the frequency response at the listening position.

FR accidents are relatively easy to compensate in the mid and high range, unlike the low end, because they usually don't have a long decay time and are less caused by the room boundaries. However, comb filtering that might result from reflections on the desk (or monitor) might be an issue.

[Luke W]

I'm running a 34" monitor with a 32" TV screen straight above it, but both are placed back behind the line of the speakers.

I think it's safe to say that in most spaces there will be lots of other factors that will be playing a much larger part in the sound of the room than the screen though, so I would say to go for the one that's most comfortable/practical to work on.

[Hugh Robjohns]

It's really not the size of the computer screen that matters, it's where it is placed in relation to the loudspeakers. if the screen is placed behind a line stretching between the speaker baffles it will not have a significant impact on the sound. If it is in front then it will, due to reflections and diffractions.

I run two 21.5-inch screens side by side, just behind the line between the speakers.

As was said above, reflections off the desk are likely to be more problematic in most situations.

[Zukan]

It's really not the size of the computer screen that matters, it's where it is placed in relation to the loudspeakers.

Beat me to it.

I use a 42" TV but placed behind the line of monitors and in a bay. Never had a problem.

[Mixedup]

I use a 27-inch one. I've tried larger screens and multiple monitors over the years and abandoned the idea a long time ago; you can only focus on so much at once, and I tend to switch views using keyboard shortcuts, which is how I work when using the laptop. (One caveat being that I'd probably add a second screen if I were doing audio for picture.)

As Hugh says, if the screen is behind the line from speaker to speaker, you're on safe ground. As long as you don't have a big reflective surface behind you, that is!

[Guest]

In my experience the desk itself is more detrimental than the computer monitor, because it's literally in the way. But I guess that depends on how far you are from the monitor, and how far it is from the speakers.

I doubt there would be a significant difference between 27" and 32" but if you want to be sure, just take two measurements with Room EQ Wizard (or equivalent): one with a 27" and one with a 32" monitor. Take a look at SPAM LINK REMOVED If you only have a 27" at hand, take a measurement with no monitor at all just to get an idea of its influence on the frequency response at the listening position.

FR accidents are relatively easy to compensate in the mid and high range, unlike the low end, because they usually don't have a long decay time and are less caused by the room boundaries. However, comb filtering that might result from reflections on the desk (or monitor) might be an issue.

Unfortunately I only have a 27" monitor so I will check with and without the monitor when I can. My desk is as small as I can go without it hurting my ability to work, so I can't touch that. Thanks for the tips

[Martin Walker]

As was said above, reflections off the desk are likely to be more problematic in most situations.

I too run a single 27-inch screen, placed in between the monitor speakers for minimum acoustic disruption.

However, desk reflections are something I'm about to explore (I can certainly hear the improvement in stereo imaging if I place a large acoustic tile over my desk).

Raising the back of the desk slightly so it slopes downwards towards you invariably helps, by moving its 'mirror point' to force the desk reflections lower than your ears.

Apparently a 6 degree tilt is a useful recommendation, as it is sufficient in many cases without causing items to roll off your desk onto the floor. That for my 30-inch deep desk means raising the two back desk feet by three inches.

Martin

[Drew Stephenson]

One of my next jobs is to make a new speaker and screen* shelf for my desk. The current one isn't quite deep enough for me to really get my screens behind the front baffles of the speakers.
That's the easy bit of the project, replacing the main shelf will be a bit more convoluted.

* or monitor and monitor if you prefer!

[Luke W]

One of my next jobs is to make a new speaker and screen* shelf for my desk. The current one isn't quite deep enough for me to really get my screens behind the front baffles of the speakers.
That's the easy bit of the project, replacing the main shelf will be a bit more convoluted.

I used up some leftover Rockwool/Cara from building my panels and made up a stand for my screens that gets them right back behind the desk between my speaker stands and doubles up as an additional trap. Seemed like quite a handy idea at the time.

[zenguitar]

The OP has returned, quoted one of the replies, and inserted a spam link into the quoted reply.

As there have been useful responses I have decided to let the thread remain. But the spam link has been removed and the OP is subject to a complete ban.

Andy

[jimjazzdad]

The OP has returned, quoted one of the replies, and inserted a spam link into the quoted reply...

Andy

I cruise several audio/recording forums a day and have never noticed this sort of thing on any of the other web sites. Do other sites just put up with it or is SOS particularly prone to such attacks? I must say that the mods do a great job here - the posts are generally respectful even if opinions diverge and scarcely a troll in site.

[zenguitar]

Quoting text from a legitimate post and inserting a spam link is a common spamming trick. One we've been wise to for many years

Usually they are removed completely and never seen publicly. But in this instance a number of people had replied in good faith so I decided a different course of moderation to respect those contributions.

I can't comment on other sites, but I doubt SOS is especially prone to such attacks.

Andy

[Ben Asaro]

Quoting text from a legitimate post and inserting a spam link is a common spamming trick. One we've been wise to for many years

When 'bots come up with better thread ideas than humans?

I use a 32" screen set back about 4" from my monitors. I used a 27" display for about 3 years and it just felt too restricted so I went up in size over the summer. 32" seems significantly larger and has worked a treat!

[ManFromGlass]

Time to engage the SOS revenge spambot

[Drew Stephenson]

One of my next jobs is to make a new speaker and screen* shelf for my desk. The current one isn't quite deep enough for me to really get my screens behind the front baffles of the speakers.
That's the easy bit of the project, replacing the main shelf will be a bit more convoluted.

I used up some leftover Rockwool/Cara from building my panels and made up a stand for my screens that gets them right back behind the desk between my speaker stands and doubles up as an additional trap. Seemed like quite a handy idea at the time.

My guitar racks sit behind the desk so I can't sensibly build a dedicated stand, but a new desk shelf is easy enough.

[Martin Walker]

My guitar racks sit behind the desk so I can't sensibly build a dedicated stand, but a new desk shelf is easy enough.

Do be careful Drew - in my previous studio I had a full-width shelf built onto my desk for my monitor screen to sit on, and then I put all my rack FX 'under' the shelf'.

When I was dismantling this studio prior to moving, I had a quick listen to my acoustics once this shelf had been removed, and the stereo image was noticeably clearer. So much so that I abandoned the shelf in my current studio to give my monitor speakers a clearer path to my ears.

Martin

[Drew Stephenson]

Not sure I understand entirely Martin.
My desk is like so:

I'm talking about replacing the top shelf (that the monitors and monitors are currently sitting on) with a new one, in the same place, but which extends backwards another four or five inches in the centre. This way the screens can sit further back without making any other changes to the desk or the monitor position.
(P.S. ignore the little desk off to the left, was doing some podcast recording for work).

[Martin Walker]

Not sure I understand entirely Martin.

Ah, you'd better ignore me then

Yours is exactly the approach I had in my previous studio - a two-tier desk with rack bits and bobs slotted in underneath.

My point was that when I removed that shelf altogether and then propped up my two loudspeakers to the same height as before, I could hear the acoustic improvement immediately with all that 'free space' in front of the speakers.

If you're already happy with your sound with that full-width top shelf in place, and are about to replace it with a deeper one so your monitor screens can go further back then fine - carry on!

What I did instead in my current studio was to throw away the top shelf, saw a 19-inch wide 9-u high hole in my desk, installed all my rack gear horizontally into that to keep it well out of the way of the loudspeakers. buy 1-metre high floor-mounting stands for my loudspeakers to get them off the desk altogether, and install a huge 'megatrap' behind the desk that my monitor screen now sits on, as shown here:

Martin