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What is your monitor set up?

What is your monitor set up?

  • A single monitor 32" or smaller monitor

    Votes: 33 26.8%
  • A single 43" or bigger monitor

    Votes: 12 9.8%
  • Dual Monitors

    Votes: 30 24.4%
  • Triple Monitors

    Votes: 22 17.9%
  • An Ultrawide monitor

    Votes: 9 7.3%
  • An Ultrawide monitor + Additional Monitor(s)

    Votes: 10 8.1%
  • A 38" or 49" Ultrawide Monitor

    Votes: 4 3.3%
  • An Ultrawide monitor + Additional Monitor(s)

    Votes: 3 2.4%

  • Total voters
    123

thevisi0nary

Senior Member
No specific point to this poll, I am just always interested in what set up other people are using.

I used to use 3 small 1080p monitors. Right now I'm using a single 4k 32" inch, but I plan on upgrading to a 38" or 49" ultrawide in the far future instead of doing multiple monitors again.
 
Triple monitors. As I use my setup for photography and work as well, I have a fully calibrated 27" 2K screen as my main screen with my tracks, a second 1080p screen for my mixer/track manager and a 1080p laptop screen for auxiliary purposes (VST, manuals, toolbars etc.).

Although I use all three, the placement of them isn't ideal, which can result in issues with my neck. I am contemplating ditching the second 1080p screen, but that will impact my workflow in all 3 areas. It's not worth neck injury though and I'm not able to change the setup due to space constraints.

I use a 2017 Dell XPS 15 (9560) with a Dell D600 dockingstation to connect the displays.
 
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I use three 32" 4k Samsung displays - left one is for my ProTools machine, center and right ones are for my Logic machine. But half the time only the center one is powered on. I also have a tv on the wall above for viewing video from the Mac Mini running VideoSync.

Having two displays always felt weird with the big boundary right in the center, so for me it's gotta be either one or three (or five!).

I keep looking at Ultrawide displays, but I want tons of vertical pixels more than I want more width, so until there's an Ultrawide that has 2160 vertical pixels (or more), and I have a computer with a juicy enough video card to drive it, I'll stick with 4k displays. Seems like most Ultrawide displays are 1440 or so vertical pixels, and I don't want to go backwards in terms of how many tracks I can see at once.

I tried a 43" 4k display for a minute but in my setup it was too close, and I wound up moving my head around instead of just moving my eyes. Didn't realize that would be an issue until I was sitting in front of it. If my main display was farther away, like above a console or big control surface, then a 43" would be perfect.
 
I keep looking at Ultrawide displays, but I want tons of vertical pixels more than I want more width, so until there's an Ultrawide that has 2160 vertical pixels (or more), and I have a computer with a juicy enough video card to drive it, I'll stick with 4k displays. Seems like most Ultrawide displays are 1440 or so vertical pixels, and I don't want to go backwards in terms of how many tracks I can see at once.

Dell has ultrawide 40" curved 5k screens with 5120 x 2160 native resolution. (link)
 
If my main display was farther away, like above a console or big control surface, then a 43" would be perfect
I have a 55" far enough away that it's absolutely perfect for me, I love it so much. So much screen space and no moving my head. And my eyesight is not what it used to be.

Where's the option for quadruple monitors? Not sure if it qualifies as they are all clones but I have 3 additional 30" clones. Because they are clones of the 55" they are rather small but it's not necessarily for working on, more for just following along. One above the mixers, one above the piano (for recording), and one in the booth.
 
Boring answer..iMac 27”. But it’s great and works with editing photos. I’ve always liked glossy screens more because the colors are so vivid.
In my PC days I used to have two 1440p monitors.
 
Dell has ultrawide 40" curved 5k screens with 5120 x 2160 native resolution. (link)
Now THAT I LIKE! But I don't think the video card in my 2013 Mac Pro cylinder will drive the thing. I have the top video option but it is eight years old after all. So I will wait until my next computer to make the switch.

I actually don't like curved screens because I mount mine fairly low and slanted back a bit, and curved screens really want to be perfectly vertical or else things look a bit weird to me. But it's nice to see bigger and bigger pixel counts making their way to market.
 
Another option for non-curve 5K 34":


I have this one for over a year and is a stunning display.
Doesn't that resolution on a 34" screen tend to get a bit small? Sometimes I find 2k on my 27" to be a bit small, especially with software that doesn't scale well on high resolution, like old(er) VSTi and plug-ins.
 
Interesting thread — I currently have a two-monitor setup with 27" 4k connected to my MacBook 15 inch, with the monitor positioned right above my laptop screen (I prefer this vertical to side-by-side).

But that 27 is definitely too small for 4K, especially for my bi-focal eyes (aging. sigh). So I've been looking for a new set up. I noticed Christian Henson has a 40 something inch single monitor set up and I'm liking the simpler setup. Thinking of just getting a 40 inch 4K TV — much much cheaper than getting a monitor, but also want to be mindful not moving my head too much like @charlieclouser mentioned above (super valid point)...
 
I think computer screens are one of those things you just have to try out. What works will depend on your setup and personal preference.

I did the widescreen 34" thing for a few years and it was OK but I switched to 32" 4k a year or so ago and much prefer that setup. I find the 4k aspect ratio works a lot better for music production. I tried a 42" 4k but it was way too big when working on a normal desk. If it's on a wall 4+ feet away it might be OK but if it's only a couple feet in front of you then you're going to be doing a lot of neck twisting.

I find resolution is less a factor than aspect ratio these days. If you get one of those 5k widescreens and adjust resolution so you are good on the vertical then you might not like the horizontal range. Likewise, if you adapt resolution so you're good on the horizontal then the vertical might feel off. That was my experience, anyway. 16:9 like in 4k or HD feels right to me.

I also did the curved monitor thing and went away from that as well - too much wasted space.

rgames
 
Whatever software works with scaling is fine, for me the vast majority work except for some relics. Windows are also fine on it with scaling, Mac OS will be too.

I don’t run audio software on this, but here is how it looks
0E5CB02C-2150-431B-A3AC-CCEF5389ABDF.jpeg
What's that thing on the right that looks like a tablet?

Some kind of Wacom Cintiq?
 
What's that thing on the right that looks like a tablet?

Some kind of Wacom Cintiq?
It's an XP Pen Artist Pro:

There is a Wacom tablet there too, serves as a mousepad! :D
 
I noticed Christian Henson has a 40 something inch single monitor set up and I'm liking the simpler setup. Thinking of just getting a 40 inch 4K TV
I had a setup similar to Christian’s for over 2 years. A single 42”.
Getting the screen to eye level was a very hard on my desk. I have a feeling it's the same with Cristian's setup.
I was looking up most of time, which is not great at all.
ergonomically it didn’t worked, plus the single screen was requiring a lot of window management, moving plugins, the mixer, switching screen sets.

I ended up getting a second monitor at lower level, which is the main monitor now, and I am very happy with this setup.

CFE33263-0E56-4025-9B8E-397C0C7F8803.jpeg
 
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I don't fancy multi monitor setups unless I'm working somewhere else. Too much visual pollution for me. Also, when I had 3-4 monitors around me, I felt like the cheesier version of Neo looking for the white rabbit.

This is what I'm mostly comfortable with:

1. 32" 4k monitor where I can populate 3 virtual desktops with DAW-related windows. It takes a split of a second to switch virtual desktops with my trackball.
2. 55" 4k TV on the back to watch the sync'd picture.
 
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