The working from home thread: tips and advice

Have plugged it in today, so will see how I get on in the next day or so and feedback.

I have a log cabin in the garden, so no one can hear me cry.

haha nice

The Jabra is designed to pick up all noise in the room, and the built-in noise cancellation is aimed at aircon.

On the Elgato Wave, for whatever headset and/or speakers you have... are you using the headset jack on the back of the mic? If not, you need to do so to get the echo cancellation that is built-in.

I have zero echo or feedback on a system where big speakers are pointed at my head and a mic is directly in front of my mouth... the key to that was using the audio out on the same device as the audio in... meaning an audio interface. But the Wave has a tiny audio interface built-in, and you need to use the headphone jack to fully use it.

I'm currently using the USB connection, into my TS3 dock. Sound is monitor speakers on my Samsung 43M70A which is DP to HDMI from the same TS3.

Are you saying that I'll get better / actual echo cancellation if I swap the USB C connection of the Elgato to the headphone jack and plug that into the jack on my TS3?

No, I'm saying that there is a circuit: https://wiki.analog.com/resources/tools-software/sigmastudio/toolbox/adialgorithms/aec it's in every audio device that has both input and output.

When you entirely rely on the mic and speakers in a laptop, this circuit is in use.

It connects the input and output in such a way that echoes are cancelled. It's an analog thing.

But... to get this, the only rule is that you must have both signals as analog in the same place.

The back of the Wave 3 has a headphone jack... to take advantage of the AEC circuit, you need to use the headphone jack.

Meaning... headphones or external speakers connected to the mic and both signals are analog within that.

The Jabra would win here, not because it does a better job of isolating your voice (it does not, it picks up the whole room), but because it's all integrated and so the AEC circuitry is used.

Just done my first call on it. Apparently I sound different but no less clear, they can tell that the mic is further away from me, but not to a level that means I am harder to hear or understand. I would say that I have pretty much zero background noise to contend with, I am in a log cabin on my own, nowhere near any roads etc.

Fwiw this is my setup and everyone says the audio is fine. In fact we have builders in the house right now...I can hear them but no one on my remote meetings does. I had to switch to a headset when they were angle grinding but that's about it.

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Mrs GB and daughter going away for 4 days, finally get to test my WFH setup properly (without ANY interruptions).

Mrs GB also definite that her next job (she tends to do short/medium term contracts) will almost certainly be back in an office; she just misses the day-to-day contact too much and both of us WFH is tricky as we don't have two "good" dedicated work spaces setup, and there's no way we can share the one "good" space we have.

My current webcam (logitec c920) has a microphone.. would/could/should I be able to use this as you describe (with just some separate speakers)? I think the webcam only has usb out though so would be dealing with two seperate interfaces if I’ve understood you well. .. I suppose I can just try it out and see how it sounds to others (cheaper than going straight for the jabra at any rate)

pls buy Fushi ghee only

Maybe not best thread but...I've recently set up a PA system at work connected to a PC to allow a hybrid set up of a group meeting on our shopfloor whilst sharing through TEAMS for those at home. To allow people on TEAMS to see [small parts] problems up close, I'm looking for a wireless webcam, preferably using RF but Bluetooth considered. Wireless, as safety is a concern, the cord being a trip hazard. Obviously there's loads of wifi cameras available but I cannot see how I can integrate this with TEAMS and there are security complications adding devices to the network. I am drawing a blank on wireless webcams, any clues?

Something like DroidCam which lets you use a mobile phone as a webcam via wifi seems an easy option. There's a variety of different ones out there.

EDIT: but might be an issue if you can't add devices to the network.

Can anyone please confirm if the Caldigit TS3 can run a 5k monitor + a 4k monitor? Or do I need to TS4 for that? My brain is a mush today and doesn't compute sales copy.

Yes, networks are all locked down, needs IT support to add anything, hardware or software. We have tried just using mobile phone cameras on TEAMS but picture quality isn't fantastic especially for detail and a bit clunky in use eg phone user has to switch to sharing their screen, they start with an image up their nose, then have to switch cameras etc. I'd rather have one dedicated camera which the meeting leader controls from the PC.

There's also the option to 'share video' rather than using it like a webcam - gives more controls and makes it behave like a screen share.

FYI DroidCam has a USB connection mode too.

Hey

Completely missed your question. Looking for £300.
Here's a few pics...

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All the Jabra chat made me jump on a Speak 510, arrived this morning from Cex. Apparently I sound clear and it sounds good to me, nice to be liberated from headphones.

Good old Cex being Cex, is always a lottery if what you receive matches the description, this time it included a £45 bluetooth dongle that wasn't mentioned, so that was a bonus

Yes had one in previous workplace. No one touched it, if you got in late that was your chair.

But someone please, office chair options before I buy a hideous gamer thing.

Herman Miller, Humanscale, Steelcase.

Corrigo - they were designed with backs in mind

(The main difference is they have a narrow back, so your shoulders aren't pushed forward by a bucket seat, which makes a huge difference to back health)

office chair options before I buy a hideous gamer thing

Most common office chairs amongst well paid engineers at my company, all of whom are working from home... is this, when it feels a bit crappy (in 3 years time) it's cheap enough to just buy another:
£180 https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/markus-office-chair-vissle-dark-grey-30261152/

A few people have, and love, this... which I also had in the Cloudflare office and liked a lot:
£680 https://www.huntsoffice.co.uk/office-furniture/steelcase-think-3d-knit-back-office-chair

I purchased a metal one of these 20 years ago, it's still the chair I use today (though I did replace the material once):
£1,229 https://www.johnlewis.com/herman-miller-aeron-office-chair-graphite/p3177252

For my Aeron, I've probably spent £800 in total as I bought it from an office resale place and then bought spares to refurbish it only a few years ago. Amortises nicely at £40 per year.

If you want to do the resale thing, then sites like these https://www.officefurnitureinlondon.co.uk/product-category/second-hand-office-chairs/ https://www.brothersofficefurniture.co.uk/category/seating/used-mesh-chairs

have used a yoga ball for many years. Super cheap and comfortable

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I always mention it when it comes up but look on 2ndhnd.com I'm currently sitting on a brilliant £1k steelcase leap v2 that I paid something like £280 for delivered.

obviously their options depends on current stock from office clearances etc but i can imagine that's a boom industry at the moment.