# Studio Chairs



## synthpunk (Feb 1, 2017)

Passing this on.
http://output.com/output-favorites-studio-chairs


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## Living Fossil (Feb 1, 2017)

Thank you for posting this...
it reminds me that i'm delaying the purchase of a good studio chair since ages...
It's a really tough decision; such a chair has to be ergonomic, comfortable but not too (makes you lazy), it should be summer proof (no sweat on the back), and for me, it's important that it allows me to play keyboards with a similar feeling as a good piano chair (i.e. it should be quite stable).


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## Barrie B (Feb 1, 2017)

I finally manned up and got a aeron last year and it really is a great chair. Really comfortable and supportive, definitely summer proof (mind you, I work in London so that doesn't take much doing) - the thing I worried about was folding back the arms to do guitar etc. overdubs. They do fold back and go up and down easily, but I find I don't need to touch them. All round goodness...


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## synthpunk (Feb 1, 2017)

Tip: watch your local Craigslist for used Herman Miller Aeron chairs they pop up all the time. I got mine for $200 from a guy who was laid off and took his chair with him lol 

Yep, never spend more than an hour at a time in your chair, get up go for a walk let your dogs out do a quick errand and get your circulation going.


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## mac (Feb 1, 2017)

A cheaper and much better alternative (IMO) to the Aeron, is the Mirra. I honestly can't understand why the Aeron is so much more expensive. I've owned 3 different models of HM chair, including the Sayl too, and I would place the Aeron at the bottom of the three.


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## charlieclouser (Feb 1, 2017)

mac said:


> A cheaper and much better alternative (IMO) to the Aeron, is the Mirra. I honestly can't understand why the Aeron is so much more expensive. I've owned 3 different models of HM chair, including the Sayl too, and I would place the Aeron at the bottom of the three.



It's got to be the build quality that makes the Aeron so expensive. I'm still sitting on my very first one, bought within a few months of release in 1994 for around $1,500. Yes, I paid full pop and picked it up at an actual Herman Miller showroom in New Orleans - this was before you could just find them on eBay or Craigslist.... in fact this was before eBay or Craigslist existed!

Twenty-three years of daily use, and it still is as good as new. I did create a minor tear in the Pellicle mesh in an unfortunate incident with a gaudy wallet chain back in the late nineties, but the tear has not increased in size in the twenty years since then. All mechanisms still work as new, the arm rests have not deteriorated, and the swivel mechanism still has a bit of stiffness that I prefer over the later, more freely-rotating versions, of which I have a few. I checked out the Mirra and other more recent models as they've come out and while they seemed like more modern designs the comfort level didn't seem all that much different - but they did seem to be less over-engineered than the Aeron. Maybe that's the flaw in the Aeron - it's built to last far longer than most users will need. I have noticed that the more recent versions of the Aeron that I have are a little different and not so spectacularly over-engineered, so perhaps that's why the price (for the "Deluxe" model) has come down to around two-thirds of what it was upon initial release. Well, that and economy of scale, etc.

Being a big fan and collector of Herman Miller furniture (and especially Don Chadwick's designs) I had no problem plunking down full price when the Aeron came out and I have never regretted the purchase one bit. Check out the Herman Miller "Chadwick" sectional for more seventies design pr0n - I have fourteen pieces in total. My place looks like the waiting room in a doctor's office on a space station. Awesome.


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## synthpunk (Feb 1, 2017)

You can also buy replacement parts for the Aeron chairs which increases the lifespan as well. I've had to replace various hip bolts and other parts on chairs over the years.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 1, 2017)

I forget when I bought my Aeron, but I'm guessing it was 15 years ago. It's still just like new, and just as comfortable as when it was new. They have a 12-year on-site warranty.

But I sat on the Ergolab Stealth chair at NAMM and liked it a lot. Was it because the chair is so great or because walking around a NAMM show - or really standing still while talking to people at a NAMM show - makes *any* chair feel wonderful? The "it's for sitting at a console" pitch seems a little tenuous to me, because it's basically a copy of the Aeron (with some variation).


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## 5Lives (Feb 1, 2017)

What about those of you that have desks with keyboard drawers under them? I've found the working surface of those desks is too high for an Aeron (if you want to sit ergonomically). I ended up getting a Swopper stool due to that - it's pretty good!


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## charlieclouser (Feb 2, 2017)

This is why keyboard drawers never worked for me - and I've had a few setups like that over the years, both with the music keyboard on a drawer below the desk surface on which the computer keyboard rested (which puts the computer keyboard too high), as well as with the computer keyboard on a drawer below the music keyboard (way too low for comfortable typing). I'm six feet tall, and I've figured out the exact dimensions for comfort - and the tolerances are tight; basically less than an inch in either direction makes my shoulders hurt within an hour.

Knee space (the distance from the floor to the underside of the lowest part of the workstation) = 25 inches.

Music keyboard height (the distance from the floor to the tops of the white keys) = 28 inches.

Desk surface height (the distance from the floor to the surface on which the computer keyboard rests) = 29 inches.

Armrest height (the distance from the floor to the tops of the armrests on the Aeron) = 30 inches.

From these dimensions you can see that the music keyboard has to be pretty low profile - if the entire thing is any more than four inches high then the computer keyboard winds up too high for comfortable typing. So big, chunky keyboards like most hammer-action 88-key controllers are not good for me. That's why I use the terrible and awesome M-Audio Keystation 88 (or the Alesis Q-88, which is basically the same thing). These keyboards are only three inches high, so when they are resting on a one-inch-thick surface, boom - four inches. Perfect.

Fortunately, the Argosy Dual-15k fits these dimensions pretty much exactly. They really did their homework. The bottom surface of the lower deck on which the music keyboard sits is 24.5 inches from the floor, and the top surface of the upper deck on which the computer keyboard sits is 28.5 inches from the floor. I've shimmed the whole thing up by a quarter-inch by resting it on those slippery-slider feet that you can get at Home Depot, the ones meant to allow heavy appliances and furniture to slide across floors, and I shimmed the upper deck upwards by another quarter-inch with a couple layers of 3m Dual-Lock. 

It took me nearly 20 years to get it right so I could withstand long hours behind the rig with no shoulder, arm, or wrist pain, and I finally got it right. Amazingly, one inch higher or lower really makes a huge difference for me. Here's what I've got now:






And here's a much less ergonomic setup I had back in the nineties at the NIN studio in New Orleans:






(Disregard the "No Limit Records" desktop wallpapers - that was a little nod to our fellow New Orleanians back then)

Those old Mac IIfx keyboards on top of the Kurzweil K-2500 were not nearly as comfortable as what I've got now!


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## ZeroZero (Feb 2, 2017)

I am looking for a chair which has a qwerty keyboard arm feature, so that you can sit in and when you need it, swivel in the querty. It seems such an obvious thing but I can't find anything decent. I have even tried making my own with no success. It needs to be non flakey, the adapter trays don't convince me here. 
I have a tray under the desk, but I never pull it out and use the querty on my lap, which does not feel good when I play music keys, which are directly in front of me. 

Z


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## Dietz (Feb 2, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Passing this on.
> http://output.com/output-favorites-studio-chairs


Nice link! But beware of the IKEA chair (or similar designs), though. As soon as the back-rest is as high as your ears, you will get nasty reflections and comb-filtering artifacts all the time.

... in fact, there's hardly anything that beats an Aeron on the long run.  You can get fully refurbished ones with warranty and all for about 50% less than the factory prices.


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## whinecellar (Feb 2, 2017)

Agreed on both the Aeron and Charlie's findings about measurements, Argosy desk, etc. My exact setup too, and I'm 6'0" as well. It took me forever to finally bite the bullet on an Aeron. It doesn't have the immediate "ahhhh" factor when you first sit in it, but not feeling beat up at the end of the day? Priceless.

Now, those of you who aren't exactly 6' tall... time for surgical correction.


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## Rob Elliott (Feb 2, 2017)

Dietz said:


> Nice link! But beware of the IKEA chair (or similar designs), though. As soon as the back-rest as high your ears, you will get nasty reflections and comb-filtering artifacts all the time.
> 
> ... in fact, there's hardly anything that beats an Aeron on the long run.  You can get fully refurbished ones with warranty and all for about 50% less than the factory prices.


Where is the best place to get a refurbished Aeron?


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## Dietz (Feb 2, 2017)

As my sources are located in the EU, they won't be of much interest for you - but maybe for other European readers. The shop I bought from is this one (maybe not the cheapest, but they seemed to be trustworthy):

-> http://www.designcabinet.biz/en/?gclid=CNnyqq2e8tECFRAW0wodGuoLbQ

.. they sell new ones, too, which are reasonably priced - by European standards, that is.  Several colleagues of mine got their Aerons from that place.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 2, 2017)

Okay, these pix that I just snapped with my iPhone are truly horrible, but the top one is with the desktop slid forward and the bottom one is with it back. So I guess this is real life - crap on the desk, etc., not an idealized pose. 

I've been working at this desk all day long for a good ten years and it works really well. The top of the MIDI keyboard is about 29-1/2" high, just like a piano, and the desktop is 5-1/2 or 6" above that. 

It's totally comfortable for writing with a pen, typing, mousing, playing, sequencing... and everything stays right where you want it in either desk position (actually the desktop can go quite a bit farther forward to get at all the sliders and stuff on the MIDI keyboard). My arms sit on the Aeron armrests when I'm typing. No carpal tunnel stuff, no strain.

Part of the trick is that the desktop is on really heavy-duty drawer slides, so it glides effortlessly. I've been having these desks custom made to order and selling them, but this isn't a sales post (no really!). All's I'm saying is that this setup works perfectly, even though the desktop is higher than standard.


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## whinecellar (Feb 2, 2017)

Rob Elliott said:


> Where is the best place to get a refurbished Aeron?



I got mine at www.officedesigns.com and recommend them highly. They replace any part of the chair that doesn't look brand new with brand new parts, so you basically get a brand new Aeron for about half price, and with a 10-year warranty. I paid $579 shipped for mine fully loaded, with the upgraded leather arm rests. Great folks to deal with!


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## Greg (Feb 2, 2017)

Love my Aeron chair. My big problem is slouching / hunching over my keyboard. If anyone has tips to combat that, I'd be forever grateful.


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## Mystic (Feb 2, 2017)

No Steelcase on that list. They just lost all legitimacy. 

I love my Leap chair. May upgrade to a Gesture in the near future but as I'm building a new convertible desk, I plan on spending a lot more time standing up so the need for an upgrade on my already awesome chair isn't as needed.


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## brett (Feb 2, 2017)

The new "Aeron Remastered" has recently been announced (and released in some parts of the world)

Looks like a mashup been the Aeron and Mirra 2 ?


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 2, 2017)

> I ended up getting a Swopper stool due to that - it's pretty good!



I have one of those too, and I like it for half an hour, but after that it hurts my tailbone. My wife can work on hers all day, and my daughter does too, but I just use mine for auxiliary and guest seating.

They have a memory foam seat that may be more padded, so maybe one of these years I'll look into that. But right now I still love the Aeron.

Also, the pitch about it strengthening your core because the thing moves around... I'm highly skeptical, because I feel no strain whatsoever in my core when I sit on it.

Mystic:



> I'm building a new convertible desk, I plan on spending a lot more time standing up



A lot of people really like working standing up, but my lower back and everything else hurts like crazy when I'm on my feet for very long (unless I'm walking). It's been like that since I was in my 20s, so it's not age-related, and I don't have back issues.


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## Mystic (Feb 2, 2017)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> Mystic:
> 
> A lot of people really like working standing up, but my lower back and everything else hurts like crazy when I'm on my feet for very long (unless I'm walking). It's been like that since I was in my 20s, so it's not age-related, and I don't have back issues.


That's actually part of the reason why I'm doing it. I'm one of the people with some major back issues and I need to be standing more regardless of wanting to sit so I can move and build those muscles up around my spine. :\


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 2, 2017)

Hope it helps your back. While I don't have issues, I've tweaked my back enough times to know that's no fun. Every single move you make uses your back.


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## tack (Feb 2, 2017)

Mystic said:


> I love my Leap chair. May upgrade to a Gesture in the near future but as I'm building a new convertible desk, I plan on spending a lot more time standing up so the need for an upgrade on my already awesome chair isn't as needed.


The local Steelcase distributor was kind enough to loan me a Gesture for a couple weeks and I ended up getting a decked out Leap (leather and headrest). There was just something about the Gesture that didn't agree with my back. I also <3 my Leap.


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## Mystic (Feb 2, 2017)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> Hope it helps your back. While I don't have issues, I've tweaked my back enough times to know that's no fun. Every single move you make uses your back.


Thanks for that. It's degenerative spinal issue so not much I can do for it apart from build the muscles up around it for support. Investing in a good chair with great support was the best thing I've done and I stress the importance to producers all the time because we sit so much.


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## Mystic (Feb 2, 2017)

tack said:


> The local Steelcase distributor was kind enough to loan me a Gesture for a couple weeks and I ended up getting a decked out Leap (leather and headrest). There was just something about the Gesture that didn't agree with my back. I also <3 my Leap.


I may see if they will loan me a Gesture while my Leap is being serviced soon. I sat in one for about 10 minutes while buying my wife's new desk last year and I liked it but it's like buying a bed; you need more time in it to see if it works.


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## catsass (Feb 4, 2017)

This older thread contains a ton of useful information, and helped me narrow down my choices.
I ultimately went with the Aeron, and have zero regrets.
http://vi-control.net/community/threads/comfortable-studio-chair.43537/


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## AR (Feb 4, 2017)

There's this German swabian company called Interstuhl. I got a cheap 2nd hand restored one for 100 bucks. Definitely worth a look for chairs in a 800-1000 prize range. They won several tests.


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## BubbaMc (Dec 16, 2018)

I know this is an old thread, but I've recently bought a used Kab Controller which I'd put up against anything from Herman Miller. These are reasonably easy to find on the used market also.


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## whiskers (Dec 17, 2018)

Curious on this as well.

Anyone have recommendations for a chair for a smaller guy that doesn't break the bank?

See also, any recommendations for a scrawny guy who spent way too much on VIs already?


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