The working from home thread: tips and advice

Derek the Dalek

Be careful out there

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58245846

Office is effectively done now. Pictures to follow

Same here, finally got around to it, lower budget though and the old JBL speakers still need a good clean

1 Attachment

Finally done... well, 99% done.

Desk works great, found myself standing 3 hours per day on average already, and for the most part the working environment achieves what I wanted to achieve.

What I was going for was "A long day in the office should not feel fatiguing and I should feel fresh at the end of it", balanced with "I and whomever I'm working with should feel like we're face to face in real life".

To that end:

• Sit and stand according to what felt right at the time.
  
• Lots of natural light and air, with only minimal artificial light needed (anticipating Winter).
  
• Shouldn't need to wear a headset to be heard or to hear.
  
• Video conferences and pre-records of webinars and conference talks should look like me.
  
  

There's a tonne of tech in here, and everything on the desk can be switched between a Windows PC mounted under the desk and whatever laptop (Linux or Mac) that goes onto the bamboo holder on the left of the desk.

The key pieces of tech:

• Camera is a Sony a7rii which I've had a number of years, connected to an Elgato CamLink, and with a 55mm f1.8 prime lens.
  
• Lighting is Elgato Key Light Air
  
• Mic is a Shure SM7b on a K&M broadcast arm.
  
• Speakers are PSI Audio A14-M Studio, driven by the SSL2 audio interface.
  
• Headphones are Audio Technica ATH-R70x, driven by the SSL2 audio interface.
  
• Control of a lot of this comes from the Elgato Stream Deck.
  
• Power comes from a 12-way rack power strip plugged into an APC Smart UPS 1500v. The power strip is mounted under the desk in a tidy integrated into the desk... it's a hidden mess of cables.
  
• USB is: Startech 7 port hub to monitor, camera to monitor, monitor to Lindy USB switch, Lindy switch to the Windows PC and the CalDigit, CalDigit to whatever laptop is plugged in. Most of this is also in the hidden nest of cables.
  
  

Furniture:

• Shelving is String.
  
• Desk is Humanscale Float.
  
• Chair is a very old Aeron.
  
• Various mounts on the desk are Elgato Multi-Mount.
  
• Speaker stands are ISO Acoustics.
  
  

End result: It cost a lot and was acquired over a very long period of time (a couple of years), but I've got a work space I don't physically feel, and a relaxed environment for long days of back to back meetings, tech work, or recording and editing presentations. And when I'm able to just work on docs I also have superb sounding music.

Edit 2023-11: lens is now the Sony 50mm f1.2 G Master, stream deck has been upgraded to stream deck +, monitor has been upgraded to a Samsung 32" 4k thing.

2 Attachments

👍👍👍

In contrast my low rent set up..

1 Attachment

What do you use to switch between mac / linux?

I now have two setups, one pc one mac, would be neat to merge them

What do you use to switch between mac / linux?

The monitor has multiple video inputs and I use that to switch video.

Everything else is chained in the complex USB setup described above and I use a USB switch: https://www.lindy.co.uk/usb-c4/2-port-usb-3-0-switch-p8194

So to switch computers I change the monitor input, and push the button on that switch. 2 buttons and everything changes over.

Seeing all these pristine, organised and elegant setups, I thought I post my messy one. Feels like a nice worn in shoe though :)

1 Attachment

How does the monitor stand work? Looks a bit offset?

It's on a folded arm so you can pull the monitor right forward.

Looks like a less offensive arm than most I've seen. Got a link?

It's come with the monitor: https://www.lg.com/uk/monitors/lg-27gn88a-b

Aha. Thanks for the link!

great setup. I've been considering adding key lights to my setup which is pretty similar which got me looking into the ways in which they can be controlled. The idea of a Stream Deck is nice but it's one more item on an already cluttered desk.

So for mac book pro users, there's an automation possible which lets you use the touchbar like a basic Stream Deck. It requires a little basic scripting but it's not complex from what I can see.

https://vninja.net/2020/12/04/automating-elgato-key-lights-from-touch-bar/

@Velocio are you using the Stream Deck in any other ways which I might miss out on?

This is how my desk ends up when I've not been working at it for a few days. Monday morning usually starts with finding some space.

Dibs black winegums

Have some totally unnecessary speakers/monitors arriving today for some music/podcast listening between calls. The hope being that as a manager now I'll have fewer customer calls.

https://www.presonus.com/products/Eris-E45-BT

@Velocio are you using the Stream Deck in any other ways which I might miss out on?

I probably push the buttons on the thing about 5-10 times per day.

Thinking of what that looks like as a % of use, I use it for:

• 70% of my Key Light Air control... pre-programmed buttons for brightness and colour temperature means I can adjust the lights in a moment between meetings as the day progresses.
  
• 20% Hue light control... turning lights on and off in the room I'm in, the hallway, or after making a cup of tea I may remember I need to turn out the kitchen light and can't be arsed getting up to do it.
  
• 10% microphone and volume control. This is mostly to mute the microphone regardless of which video conference software is fired up. If I need to mute fast then this button does it and I don't have to try and point the mouse at the right part of the screen.
  
  

The Key Light Air control is the vast majority of use though... muting is down at once or twice a week as normally I'd use the mouse, and things like volume I have a huge knob on my desk to do, and Hue lights I tend to use the Hue control at the doorway.

So yeah... you really do not need a Stream Deck, I thought I'd use it even more than I do. I also thought I wouldn't use the Elgato Control Center (Key Light tray software)... but I actually use that the most.

Have some totally unnecessary speakers/monitors arriving today for some music/podcast listening between calls. The hope being that as a manager now I'll have fewer customer calls.

https://www.presonus.com/products/Eris-E­45-BT

those look great but not sure why everyone goes for studio monitors. I find them very harsh.

They rated highly on some "what speakers should I buy" list for an amount that didn't scare me. I am no audiophile.

I feel slightly better about the state of my desk and slightly worse about my variety of snacks.

those look great but not sure why everyone goes for studio monitors. I find them very harsh.

Studio monitors are "transparent"... you hear the audio but not the equipment. Yes if you're listening to music a lot this can sound harsh, and if that's the focus then regular stereo speakers can be more comfortable... they introduce character, and this can mean "warmth" and "smoothness" or "fullness" (typically people mean more bass)... which can be an easier listen than studio monitors.

But thinking of audio work, vocals, video conferences, audio editing... actually voices with more bass can be boomy and that's tiring, or for gaming explosions can be too overwhelming, or the stereo separation isn't great (speakers are usually for rooms, whereas studio monitors are "nearfield" and are good 1m away from you).

Studio monitors aren't better / worse than stereo speakers... they're just different. Whether they work for you is totally down to what you use them for.

For a desk and mixed use that includes meetings and gaming, IMHO any nearfield monitors will be a better choice than speakers designed to fill a room... the "tightness" of the sound is why that's my preference (also called "directionality"), meaning nearfield monitors will try and make a really narrow cone of perfect sound in front of them. There's a sweet spot horizontally and vertically in front, which creates a really perfect listening spot with wide stereo separation. Compared to stereo speakers which really just try and fill a room and tend to have a wide spread for the sound they make.

For example here are decibel heatmaps for a pair of Adam T5V studio monitors:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/adam-t5v-review-studio-monitor.18122/

Nearfield monitors are perfect sound, transparent, and loud in a specific sweet spot in front of them - which is all great for mixed use and on a desk... precisely what they were made for in a recording studio.

If all you're doing is putting music on... don't bother, some AudioEngine A2+ connected via bluetooth will knock yours socks off at the price point https://audioengineusa.com/shop/wirelessspeakers/a2-wireless-computer-speakers/ and they don't need an amp or cabling from your laptop.

I have these as my desk speakers (also hooked up to a guitar thingy) - they good!

Very directional as they are studio monitors so recommend some little stands to point them towards your ears, like these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kanto-Desktop-Speaker-Stands-Speakers/dp/B00X16SBU6?th=1

Can fine tune the bass/treble cutoffs on the back if you find them boomy or harsh.