For those who love systems and structure, owning a 19-inch rack with just one slot filled is just not it. But what if the rest of your gear isn’t 19-inch? Well, then you go out and make it so, just like [Cal Bryant] did recently.
The goal was to consolidate multiple devices — DAC, input selector, streamer, and power routing — into a single 2U rackmount unit. His first attempts involved drilling 1U panels to attach gear with removable faceplates. That worked, but not all devices played nice. So his next step became a fully custom enclosure with CAD-modeled brackets and front panels.
OpenSCAD turned out to be a lifesaver, letting [Cal] design modular mounting solutions. Exporting proper circles for CNC turret punching however appeared to be a nightmare. It was FreeCAD to the rescue for post-processing. After some sanding and auto-shop painting, the final faceplate looked factory-made.
Custom switch boxes for power and audio routing keep things tidy, housing everything from USB to XLR inputs. A 4-pole switch even allows seamless swapping between his DAC and DJ controller, while UV-printed graphics bring the finishing touch to this project. For those looking to clean up their Hi-Fi setup (or just love modding for the sake of it), there’s a lot to learn from this build.
If buying a rack is not within your budget, you could start with well-known IKEA LACK furniture.
That is a neat solution! I hate how a lot of modern equipment comes in oddly sized plastic boxes, that are often lightweight enough so that any movement to a cable throws them off the shelf, or pulls them away from the front.
it’s even worse when they take that idea into a VST plugin with a 90s nonrectangular UI. especially when they replace linear slides with rotating knobs. do they rotate on vertical drag? horizontal drag? if you’re lucky they will rotate with the mouse wheel when hovering.
anyways back to physical devices: not only they’re all weird shapes, they’re also all sorts of funky colors and not the proper Professional Black.
I do have a MOTU unit that is 1U half-width. it looks like a standalone unit but it also can be bolted to another MOTU device to fit two in a 19 inch 1U .
Nicely done, this turned out looking very clean!