DJ cables – of course you need them, but they turn even the cleanest of desks and booths into veritable rat’s nests. In this article, we share our top tricks for taming those pesky leads and keeping your workspace clean and organised. They’re simple, don’t cost a lot of money, and are something that you could do over the weekend as a little project…
7 Cable Tricks
1.Use Velcro cable ties
Velcro zip ties are cheap, plentiful, and are the most basic cable management accessory you can use. These are available at any hardware store – they’re basically little pieces of Velcro that loop into each other, allowing cables to be bundled together. They’re the quickest and cheapest way to get cables organised. They’re also removable, so if you decide to remove a cable from the bunch, you just have to undo the Velcro tie.
Stay away from cable zip ties, which are plastic loops that perform the same function, although in a permanent manner: if you decide to remove a cable, for instance, you have to snip it with a pair of scissors.
Price: US$10 for 100 pieces
2. Store your power strip in a box
The UTWire In-Box (pictured above) lets you store those power bricks and wall warts out of sight while providing a compartment for your extension power strip. It sits under your table and declutters the floor space below it, which is important if you find yourself accidentally stepping on your power strip or knocking off power supplies from time to time.
Price: US$26
3. Fully-wrap cables together…
A favourite of tech geeks and YouTubers the world over, the OmniMount is a wrap that neatly bundles all your cables – what’s different here is that there are holes along the OmniMount that allow you to pull out a lead. This lets you have one single wrap for all the cables behind your mixer, DJ controller, DJ media players or turntables, and you’ll be able to plug them into their respective jacks. You can also place the OmniMount under your DJ desk for an even cleaner tabletop.
Price: US$15
4. … or have them slotted in a cable channel organiser
Similar to the OmniMount, the J-Channel Cable Raceway lets you bunch all your leads together, but instead of being a piece of fabric, the Raceway is made of hard plastic that remains fixed under your desktop.
You can attach it using double-sided tape or some other strong adhesive, and you run your audio, power, and computer cables through it so your tabletop looks less cluttered while nothing is left dangling under your desk.
Price: US$15
5. Use a multitasking power strip
Your DJ kit needs to connect to power, so you may as well get a power source that allows you to charge your smart devices as well. This strip from Orico has eight power outlets onboard, enough for your laptop, DJ controller / mixer, media players / turntables, and a pair of desktop monitor speakers, plus it’s got five USB ports onboard for charging your tablet and smartphone.
Pair this with the UTWire In-Box mounted at the bottom of your desk with double-sided tape, and you’ve got an elegant power and charging solution that’s within arm’s reach instead of bunched up like little snakes on the floor.
Price: US$28
6. Place your speakers on a stand…
Give your speakers a boost by placing them on top of these Kanto S2 Speaker Stands. This allows you to set your speaker monitors up at an angle so they point towards your ears, and they also minimise vibrations between the speaker cabinet and your desk, which leads to tighter bass and clearer sound.
Floating your speakers also gives you more flexibility in managing the cable connections they have – you’re able to route the leads under the speakers themselves. If your leads are thin, use a Velcro zip to tie them to the rear of the stands out of view.
Price: US$25
Get them on Kanto website: Kanto S2 Speaker Stands
7. … and do the same with your laptop
If you’re a digital DJ and you use a laptop, there’s no excuse not to place it on top of a DJ stand. It increases the space available on your DJ desk by providing a floating surface for a very small base footprint, plus it saves you from backaches and pains associated with hunching over a laptop.
You can get a cheap one like the Pyle-Pro Laptop Stand, which is fine for home studio use. If you’re looking for one that you can take with you to the gig, though, we recommend something more robust and capable of disassembly such as the Magma or Crane DJ stands. again, you can then attach your cables to the stand to keep them neatly out of view.
Price: US$18
Get it on Pyle website: Pyle-Pro Laptop Stand
Finally…
These are basic tricks for clearing up the mess that inevitably comes with having DJ gear, and it really doesn’t take a lot of cash to clean up and de-clutter your DJ desk. It still is a workspace (never mind what your significant other says about your “DJ hobby”), and you should treat it as such.
• Not sure which cables go in which sockets? Read our DJ Cable Masterguide. It has everything you need to know about audio, digital, and power cables.
What are your thoughts on this piece? How do you keep your DJ desk tidy? Any tricks you’d want to share, or perhaps some accessories that you use that you think would help our readers? Tell us below.
Joey Santos
