Guest Review: Crane Stand: The Best DJ Laptop/Controller Stand On The Market?

Guest Review
Crane Stand: The Best DJ Laptop/Controller Stand On The Market?
by Phil Morse, editor, Digital DJ Tips (http://www.digitaldjtips.com/)

If you are a digital DJ who plays in less-than-ideally set up DJ booths, bars, lounges and parties, then having a good stand to put your laptop or DJ controller onto is a given.

Not only will it save your back in long sets, but without a doubt, having your equipment in exactly the right position for you to play from improves your performance. You can keep your eye on the crowd and the controls at the same time, and you can reach everything that much quicker. (And we all know that timing is everything in DJing.)

I'd been looking for a stand for a while, but those I found seemed more like flimsy and over-complicated "corporate" laptop stands - even some of the better musician's ones didn't look very friendly for setting up fast in a dark DJ booth. Either that, or they weren't really very portable.

However, when I was at the BPM Show in England in October (in my position as editor of Digital DJ Tips) I fell in love with one particular type of stand, called the Crane Stand. And while I try and make it a rule not to buy stuff when I'm attending shows for work purposes, despite that there was one of these tucked in my hand luggage on the way home!



So - the fact that I bought one of these and flew out of there with it in my backpack tells you that it's portable and folds down small. But what you don't know yet is just is how gorgeous the design of this stand is.

Made from lightweight aircraft-grade aluminium, and with spot-welding that's guaranteed for life by the tiny Seattle company that makes it, you are always going to feel good pulling one of these out of your bag to set up with.

The stand can be put up in two ways depending on the weight of the equipment you want to put on it, and to be honest I think it could hold anything you're going to want it to. It is adjustable to infinite angles and positions (although only one height), and has no removable parts - it remains one single item, folded or set up. Nothing to lose, nothing to over-complicate things.

It certainly isn't cheap, but if you're going to perch an $800 DJ controller or a $1200 MacBook Pro on one of these, and then go on to use it to perform live from in front of hundreds of people, you're going to want to know it can do the job and that it won't fail on you. This stand definitely can.

And also, to me style is important, and the Crane Stand has that too. You wouldn't DJ off an ugly or badly designed DJ controller or laptop, so why put it on a poor stand? An investment in one of these will pay you back many times over in ease of use, safety, and all-important approving glances from other DJs!

By Phil Morse, editor, Digital DJ Tips (http://www.digitaldjtips.com)