A few weeks ago, I purchased a second second-hand Steinberg UR44 audio interface, as I found myself having to constantly unplug and replug my interface between home studio and field sessions. The issue with another piece of gear was that I had no space to nicely position it - as I needed access to the knobs and ports. So I decided to search for a monitor riser that would fit my equipment.
An old photo from May 2019, note the Behringer Eurorack RX1602 beneath the centre monitor, and the UR44 beside my Dell laptop on the left.
Most of the risers I had found on eBay and AliExpress unfortunately seemed too small, and the sellers were unable to provide interior dimensions. I had found a product from AudioRax which was a monitor stand with 1U/2U/3U/4U rack rail space - but at a starting price of US$119, it was very pricey; considering I had built one with scrap wood from my garage.
Kmart sold a riser which would seem to fit, however it was out of stock when I went in store. I then turned to Big W who stocked a product similar to the ones that I had found online. After an inspection with a measuring tape I had brought into the store, I went ahead and brought home my new purchase.
Out of the box - whilst my RX1602 would fit in the lower compartment (The body of the RX1602 is around 17" long, with two 1" rack ears; the monitor riser has an interior length of around 448mm / 17.64"), the UR44 would not fit both depth-wise and length-wise.
As a result, I had to forego the vertical divider, and cut the horizontal bar. I didn’t worry too much about any structural / load issues, since the UR44 has a sturdy metal casing that would support the monitor placed on top. The weight from the monitor and UR44 would then be supported by the RX1602.
I then cut some extra holes in the back panel - a large circle and a horizontal line so that I could feed in and route cables to the UR44; and extra semi-circle holes for routing cables to the RX1602.
After a dry-fit, I realised that I had to create a rectangular cutout for the entire lower compartment, where the semicircular cuts were - as the RX1602 was as deep as the riser.
After a little sanding and de-dusting, I connected my cables and fit in the monitor stand.
I was unable to see the labels on my RX1602 - so I used some of the cardboard discards as a wedge to raise (and provide support) to the middle compartment divider.
I reckon it looks good!
For $19, this monitor riser isn’t too bad, although if you go and buy it - I would advise to support the horizontal board for the middle compartment, as it may sag with a heavy monitor.
In terms of routing, this is how I will be using both UR44 interfaces together.
