Free shipping included · 30 days to change your mind · Made in Orange, California
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Honest answers

Every question, answered.

All 17 of them — the practical, the skeptical, and the honest limits. Missing yours? hello@steadilabs.com reads everything.

Does it actually work on a console or a rack top?

That's where it holds steadiest. Hard, flat surfaces are exactly what the wide base and the fin grip are built for — no soft give to compensate for, just a footprint that plants and fins that hold the bottom inch.

I need water at the mic, but drinks aren't supposed to be near the gear — what's the move?

Keep it off the console and near the mic instead. The base holds the drink steady on the desk or a rack top, close enough to reach between takes without parking it where a fader slot can catch it.

Will my 40 oz tumbler fit?

Yes. The Stanley-style base lands right in the 2 to 3 inch range this base is built for.

What about a mug with a handle — my Throat Coat tea, for instance?

That's the one shape it can't take. The base fits the square, but the handle sits exactly where a fin needs to close — a handle-less travel cup solves it if the tea's staying in for the session.

Does it clamp to my mic stand?

No — that's the difference. Clamp-on stand holders only fit a narrow band of tube diameters and wobble unless they're shimmed; this sits on any flat surface nearby instead, so it isn't tied to a stand size at all.

There's no table in my booth — will it even work?

Yes, and that's the point. It doesn't need a table — it sits directly on the booth floor, a rack top, or the corner of the desk, wherever there's a few flat inches to spare.

Will it walk off the monitor top when playback gets loud?

The fin grip is built for exactly that — a vibrating cabinet is a milder shake than a bumped elbow, and the base settles the drink back level instead of letting it wander toward the edge.

How do I clean it?

Rinse it or run it through the dishwasher. It's one piece of flexible material with nothing built in to trap coffee residue.

Who makes it, and where do I buy one?

It's called the Steadi, molded in small runs in Orange, California by Steadi Labs — veteran-founded and patent pending. Every order ships free from steadilabs.com, with 30 days to change your mind.

I record in more than one room — the booth, the control room, sometimes a rented studio. Do I need a separate one for each?

No. Nothing about it mounts to a specific stand, desk, or console, so there's nothing to re-fit at a second location. Carry it in a bag or a drawer the way you'd carry a mouse, and it sits flat on whatever's nearest — the booth floor, a rack top, or someone else's console.

Will it rattle or make any noise near a hot mic?

No. It's one piece of molded flexible material with no moving parts — no spring, no clasp, nothing to click or buzz — so it doesn't add anything for a live mic to pick up, even set down close to it.

Dried soda or energy-drink residue is sticky — does it actually come out, or does it build up over time?

It comes out the same as a fresh spill would. There's no seam or slot for dried residue to collect in the way a console's fader slots do — a rinse or a dishwasher cycle clears it, even after it's had time to dry on.

Does hot tea straight off the kettle, like a Throat Coat brew, affect how well the fins grip?

No. The fins grip the outside of whatever's set into them, not what's inside it, so a handle-less travel cup fresh off the kettle and a can pulled from a cooler get the same hold either way.

Will the material or the grip wear out after months of daily studio use?

It's one piece of molded flexible material with nothing mechanical to loosen — no spring tension like a mic-stand clamp's, which needs reshimming as it wears, and no seal to dry out. There's nothing built into it to wear down with regular use.

Is this a good gift for an engineer, producer, or voice-over artist?

Yes — it solves a problem almost every studio, booth, and home rig has quietly worked around for as long as it's existed, with no setup and nothing to match to someone else's mic stand or desk. It ships free, molded in small runs in Orange, California, with 30 days for them to decide it earns a spot near the mic.

My studio already keeps a side table for drinks, away from the console — isn't that the same fix?

That's the fix most studios land on, and the standing complaint about it is real: keeping the drink away from the gear also keeps it out of reach, so it gets one sip and drifts back toward the console between takes anyway — and a booth with roughly three feet ten inches of interior often has no floor space for a table to begin with. This sits directly on the desk, the rack top, or the booth floor, so there's no out-of-reach table for the drink to migrate away from in the first place.

Will a slim energy-drink can slip through, the way it does with some open-ring mic-stand holders?

No — the fins close fully around the base instead of leaving an open ring. A slim 12 oz energy-drink can, the 'sleek' format some brands use, runs about 2.25 inches at the base, and a standard 12 or 16 oz can runs about 2.6 inches — both sit well inside the fins' full grip rather than balanced across a gap.

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