Any genius ideas for cable management?

Bundle your cable. You can use Velcro ties if you want to be able to move/change cables, more permanent cable ties if you don’t. Bundles will lay flatter in your trough. Does it have any holes you can cable-tie the bundles to?

Not in the genius category, but maybe sub-bundle logical smaller groups of cables within the tray with velcro straps so if you need to get something out, you can grab an entire small sub-bundle from the rest of the sub-bundles in the tray fairly easily, and then get the single cable out of the small sub-bundle a heck of a lot easier than trying to extract it from a non-sub-bundled mess.

nortiks said:

Not in the genius category, but maybe sub-bundle logical smaller groups of cables within the tray with velcro straps so if you need to get something out, you can grab an entire small sub-bundle from the rest of the sub-bundles in the tray fairly easily, and then get the single cable out of the small sub-bundle a heck of a lot easier than trying to extract it from a non-sub-bundled mess.

Click to expand...

With respect to you both, I havw been doing this for years, budles are OK-ish until you want to get at a signel cable from within them. Looking for "genius" level solutions.

Have you tried spirals? They work sometimes rather nicely, especially with thicker cables.

There probably aren’t any genius-level solutions that aren’t in daily use by IT cabling installers, so browsing the results of a search for “SME network cable management” might inspire.

Assuming you haven’t got fake floors/ceilings to play with, and given bundles don’t work because of occasional change, and assuming there’s a suitable common-denominator cable/connector format, my first thought was to add sockets along the desk running (via trough) back to a patch panel at one end. Second thought was a lowerable overhead cable tray so cables go vertically from their gear rather than getting tangled in the horizontal. Also allows separation of power, which may or may not be important…

I like (these re-useable) zip ties, velcro straps & ties, and this mesh material called cable snakeskin - this one is especially great because cables won't escape, however they are easy to remove or change out as needed. Kinda like creating custom audio snakes. For anything along a wall or behind/under a desk I'll use adhesive cable covers sometimes, though they are a little more of a pain to change anything out. Looks really tidy though, especially if you need to run several cables along the wall or floor. I will also sometimes use really large office binder clips to keep cable runs in place and in line (not my photo but this is the idea). I use a combination of these where needed and they all prevent any tangling and movement.

I had a really tidy cable management setup for a couple years, and then I got into modular synths... talk about unleash the spaghetti monster! But I'm pretty good about hanging the cables on a rack when not in use

What about something like this? This is used in pinball machines.
Edit: under the table that is. The rest of the cables i would bundle up using velcro.

This is how we professionals manage cables:

Nick Batzdorf said:

This is how we professionals manage cables:

Click to expand...

You are correct, sir.

Nick Batzdorf said:

This is how we professionals manage cables

Click to expand...

Needs more gaffer tape.

Yeas back, I had carefully placed all the cables behind the gear in my friend's new studio. They were neatly laid in place, out of sight, but individually accessible, allowing for easy replacement/rerouting in the event such activities were required.

Intern came in and "Anal-ized" the situation, locking everything in place with multiple cable ties, tightly secured to furniture supports.

Palpable consternation followed.

Internal came in and removed aforementioned cable ties, thus preserving his ability to ambulate.

ZeroZero said:

With respect to you both, I havw been doing this for years, budles are OK-ish until you want to get at a signel cable from within them. Looking for "genius" level solutions.

Click to expand...

Well, with all due respect your original post describes a tray with cables overflowing out of it and no mention of any sort of bundling at all much less sub-bundling, and tangling random cables when trying to get one out. Bottom line is if you want it both pretty and manageable, there is no substitution for doing the work of customizing cable lengths and sub-bundling and routing everything in dedicated spaces. Which is exactly how IT people do it.

I always thought I was smart because I use black electrical tape folded over on itself as a cable hanger behind my desk.
I don't know about that anymore.

Definitely not a genius idea, but I screwed fully enclosed electrical trunking to the kickboard under my desks, then cut holes in it at regular intervals, so that cables can be taken in and out. Not a lot different from a cable trough, except that cables can't escape.

Nick Batzdorf said:

This is how we professionals manage cables:

Click to expand...

I don't think you have enough accumulated dust there, Nick. You need to let the layers gradually accrete in order to mellow out your sound.

JohnG said:

I don't think you have enough accumulated dust there, Nick. You need to let the layers gradually accrete in order to mellow out your sound.

Click to expand...

The dust keeps the smoke in, and the smoke powers the equipment. Don't let the smoke out!

The cleaner your cable management, the harder it will be to access a single cable. so yes, things like bundling cables will really help make it less messy, but it also makes it less accessable.

Haven't found a solution myself either.

A few years ago I bought a couple of these, did the trick for me.