The Ideal Near-Field Desktop Listening Setup

[Boxermotor]

In our post-COVID world of working from home and oft-repeated virtual meetings (another term for Zoom fatigue), I thought I would reach out and invite others to share their thoughts on the ideal desktop setup for working and listening to music. Beside the benefit of crystal-clear sound for virtual meetings, listening to favorite music at audiophile quality can add joy and productivity to the work day (the dynamism and even metrics of Baroque music often helps me plow through the most tiresome tasks). I've learned that taking the posture of a humble learner (rather than thinking I've come up with the best ideas) can lead to new areas of discovery and innovation.

It might help to set some parameters - perhaps a small room (12'x15' or 4m x 5m thereabouts), 2.0 or 2.1 system, output from a computer (capable of 24 bit /96 kHz minimum), near-field speakers (passive or active), using headphones when needed (e.g. no matter how much you try to educate your family members, some will never appreciate the pleasure of audiophile speakers as the walls in the house are shaking), and whether a subwoofer is preferable. Of course I'm interested in audiophile-level desktop components that sufficiently drive whichever speakers and headphones are used.

Based on my limited research here's what I might piece together if starting from scratch:

Speakers: KEF R3's, LS50 Meta's, or Revel M106's (still not sure if any of these are the best choice for near-field listening)
Headphones: Dan Clark Aeon 2 open headphones (or Stealth, if a great aunt died and left me independently wealthy)
Power amp: SMSL AO200
DAC: SMSL SU-10
Headphone Amp: Topping A90
DAC/Amp (in place of the above): Topping DX7 Pro+
Subwoofer: not sure

What would be your ideal setup?

 

[twsecrest]

JBL LSR306 studio monitors, with Monoprice 10" sub-woofer.
Topping DX7 Pro+

 

[Boxermotor]

JBL LSR306 studio monitors, with Monoprice 10" sub-woofer.
Topping DX7 Pro+

Looks like we both like the DX7 Pro+. The JBLs are a new idea, along with the SW. I’ll take a look at those, thanks!

 

[NiagaraPete]

Have you considered going active with Genelec or Neumann? Either would be my first choice.

 

[napfkuchen]

Got some Genelec speakers and would never buy a stereo system without room-correction. Kef R3 and this miniDSP, instead of the DAC or DAC/AMP, should also be a very good choice.

 

[Boxermotor]

Have you considered going active with Genelec or Neumann? Either would be my first choice.

I know both those brands rate highly, buy I don't know much about active speakers. Why would they be preferable over passive? Thanks!

 

[NiagaraPete]

I know both those brands rate highly, buy I don't know much about active speakers. Why would they be preferable over passive? Thanks!

Amps are built it. Depending on model DSP is built in, extremely solid and well built. Future proof. You can service either brand for decades. Designed for near field and studio use (don't let that scare you for home use) it just means they are neutral.

 

[twsecrest]

Looks like we both like the DX7 Pro+. The JBLs are a new idea, along with the SW. I’ll take a look at those, thanks!

I'm sure there are lots of good brands of studio monitors to buy, the JBL brand just seems to get as lot of good feedback.
I like the Monoprice 10" sub-woofer because of the price, so I'm assuming it's a good bang for the buck.
Higher costing sub-woofer might be better, just have no idea on which sub-woofer is worthwhile, for the higher price.
I prefer all in one DAC/head amps (like topping) and not separate DAC and amp.

 

[Boxermotor]

Got some Genelec speakers and would never buy a stereo system without room-correction. Kef R3 and this miniDSP, instead of the DAC or DAC/AMP, should also be a very good choice.

Thanks for the reference to the miniDSP. That's new information for me. Also, I assumed room correction for near-field listening wasn't important...Thanks!

Amps are built it. Depending on model DSP is built in, extremely solid and well built. Future proof. You can service either brand for decades. Designed for near field and studio use (don't let that scare you for home use) it just means they are neutral.

Thanks, that's helpful. Neutral speakers are important to me as I'm interested in accurate reproduction (the "neutral" debate aside).

 

[twsecrest]

I know both those brands rate highly, buy I don't know much about active speakers. Why would they be preferable over passive? Thanks!

My two cents
I see studio monitors are more about intimate detail in the audio, passive speakers seem more about filling up a large are with sound (for a given price point).
Studio monitor (2-way) will come with 2 separate amplifier, one for the tweeter and one for the woofer

 

[digitalfrost]

So I'm gonna describe what I have - it's close to ideal for me at least close enough that I do not want to buy anything else. I use at the moment 3 audio interfaces:

- RME Digiface for the speakers
- Topping D10 for the headphones
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 for the microphone/vinyl

For company meetings I actually use my old gaming headset, a Corsair Void Pro - the main reason is that it's wireless. If you wanted a business solution for this problem I'd suggest a Jabra Evolve2 85. It's horribly overpriced in a way, but good luck finding a wireless headset with microphone arm and active noise cancellation. Being able to walk around in meetings has been great for me so I'd always want a wireless headset.

The whole system pretty much follows the unix philosophy of having one tool for one job, so everything is separates. The Digiface feeds two DACs, which feed two power amplifiers for the speakers and subs, the D10 feeds a Geshelli Archel2 for the headphones and the Scarlett 2i2 is only used to record my studio microphone (I have a König+Meyer mic stand) or if I want to listen to vinyl (there is a turntable on a shelf behind me - everything has to go trough the PC for it to work - it's my only source).

As you can see the speakers are all DIY. This pairing was an accident, I build the subs as desk-stands for the KEF LS50, but I ended up liking my old DIY speakers better and it turned out that I got the tweeter at hear height if I just lay the subs on the side

The desk is height adjustable and I use that quite a lot, so I'm not sure how well that would work if I had subwoofers on the floor. When I raise the desk I notice a lot more volume in the upper bass as well, but who cares, for critical listening I'm sitting down anyway.

Everything is controlled from my private PC and it would be too much hassle to connect it to the company laptop. If I need to do something I simply remote desktop to my private machine to control the hifi. Everything goes through EqualizerAPO - I do digital room correction via DRC-FIR for the speakers, I can apply EQ for the headphones and I have various VSTs on the mic (noisgate, compressor...). People are telling me my voice sounds like an audio book narrator
Having separate interfaces for each purpose comes in handy here.

As for headphones, I have Beyerdynamic DT990s, XENNS Mangird Tea2s and some other IEMs.

I have often though of replacing the speakers with a complete set from Neumann or Genelec (including subs), but ultimately I'm very happy with what I have. Everything is custom made exactly how I like it and I doubt there is much improvement to be had. I'm very much sold on RME cards because of the great drivers, so to consolidate a single Fireface UFX could do everything I require - but my EqAPO setup would not work as nice as it does now and it's a 19" device which they are hard to rack in a home environment.

Behind the desk is an Ikea Expedit (now Kallax) which happens to fit 9.5-10" devices into one tray. I have a Benchmark AHB2 in there for the sats and an XTZ Edge A2-300 for the subs, plus the DACs and Phono pre. I mounted some fans behind to have some air moving over the devices. And on top of the Expedit is my turntable. So all my Hifi stuff is within reach.

If I had to start from scratch I'd pretty sure I'd go with RME interface + Neumann or Genelec for the rest.

 

[TimW]

Most studio monitors are designed for near-field listening, such as on a desk. In fact many include EQ settings for correcting the response when placed on a desk. Having the amplifiers built in saves space on your desk. Some even have built in room correction capabilities which is still important for near-field listening. Due to the active design, they can have the most accurate and neutral sound possible. Genelec and Neuman make the best studio monitors, but other good brands to consider are:
JBL
Kali
iLoud
Adam
Focal
Dynaudio

The only drawbacks can be limited connectivity and hiss which is worse in on some models than others.

 

[Boxermotor]

My two cents
I see studio monitors are more about intimate detail in the audio, passive speakers seem more about filling up a large are with sound (for a given price point).
Studio monitor (2-way) will come with 2 separate amplifier, one for the tweeter and one for the woofer

Yeah, that's an important distinction. I'm not so much interested in filling a room with sound, or loudness, as much as getting a detailed reproduction of sound and soundstage (the "being there" experience).

 

[NiagaraPete]

Yeah, that's an important distinction. I'm not so much interested in filling a room with sound, or loudness, as much as getting a detailed reproduction of sound and soundstage (the "being there" experience).

Have you decided on budget? That will narrow down options.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Maybe spend some time reading. The Genelec site terrific docs to answer questions. Like this one:

Correct Monitors - Genelec.com

A monitor, by definition, observes, checks, controls, warns or keeps a continuous record of something. An audio monitor, studio monitor or monitoring speaker is more than just a good-sounding loudspeaker. It is a device used in the process of recording, mixing or broadcasting audio in any...

www.genelec.com

 

[Boxermotor]

Have you decided on budget? That will narrow down options.

The "great intersection" of sound quality vs. the limits of my hearing. I'm pretty convinced I could achieve that goal for under $2,000 (Dan Clark Expanse headphones aside), so let's say that...

 

[NiagaraPete]

The "great intersection" of sound quality vs. the limits of my hearing. I'm pretty convinced I could achieve that goal for under $2,000 (Dan Clark Expanse headphones aside), so let's say that...

Well for that kind of coin a Genelec 8330+ GLM would be close. In Neumann a KH 120 maybe. Prices will depend on your country.

 

[Berwhale]

See my signature, also lots of pictures of members setups here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/your-desktop-audio-setup.12057/

 

[Somafunk]

The ideal near field listening setup is the one I have now, see signature. It’ll do me till I pop off.

 

[Boxermotor]

The ideal near field listening setup is the one I have now, see signature. It’ll do me till I pop off.

Nice! I'll check out your components (a lot of things I haven't looked at yet). I would love to create my ultimate "pop off" system!