New WFH Setup
EndersShadow
Posts: 17,593
Since March 13, 2020 I've been working remotely from home, along with my wife. Our house is not setup for 1 home office, let alone two lol....
To start with we both had our desks in the master on either side of the room. This proved problematic as I'm on conference calls throughout most of business hours which was distracting her.
So we moved her "office" to one side of our loft. I continued to work in the master bedroom throughout most of 2020. I realized toward the end of 2020 that this was not an ideal setup and was taking a mental toll on me (going to bed looking at work and waking up looking at work).
I determined I needed somewhere with a door so I could compartmentalize work from home.
The only place that was even an option was our master bedroom closet... which is an interesting choice to say the least lol.
I went to work and made a bunch of room at the back of the closet and ended up with about a 6 foot wide x 5 foot deep space and set myself up with a folding table to start with.
Scouring Facebook Marketplace netted a pair of old desks that were perfect for the space. One of them would span wall to wall (once cut down from 8' to 6') with a section to put the docking station for work and some other stuff. The piece I cut off also will function later as a shelf (for the turntable). The remaining desk will be in my garage for now but offers some flexibility if I ever decide to expand things.
Working from home with no co-workers to complain about music gave me an opportunity to setup an office rig of more than just headphones. I have a fair amount of various gear not in use, and some from my actual work cubicle (brought home when it became clear I wasn't going back after a couple months). Originally I wanted to do a DIY pair of bookshelves using some repurposed cabinets, and then slowly would build up a full little tube rig. After thinking on that and doing a fair amount of pricing etc I realized that was going to just be too much, and honestly outside my comfort level and take a long time to build.
I decided to simply the wiring and just go with a pair of powered studio monitors. I originally was looking at KRK's (the Rokit 5 or 6's) and realized they were going to be both too big and too outside my budget.
I remembered the thread from X where someone mentioned PreSonus (and @VR3 mentioned Mackie). With my self imposed budget of 300 all in for the speakers/sub I ended up with a pair of PreSonus Eris 3.5 and Sub 8. I also needed to reduce the fire hazard I was using to power everything (powerstrip into powerstrip, into powerstrip). Did some digging and ended up with a TrippLite Isobar PDU. I had a tube headphone amp, tube phono preamp and turntable already. Lastly I had been wanting to upgrade my Raspberry Pi so took the opportunity to add the official 7" touchscreen and a case for it.
At the end of the day I ended up with a pretty nice office setup.
Sources:
All thats left is some future upgrades I would like to try which may include:
The setup sounds quite nice even at very low volumes. I also am reminded how nice it is to have an enclosed space on a subfloor for bass (both tactile feel and SPL). This setup has helped make working a lot better.
Here are some pictures. Worth noting is I have been able to keep all the cables separated. The IC's are run independently of powercables for any of the gear. I do still have some cable management as I want to get some cable raceways to better keep the IC's and whatnot hidden along with the cables for the powered sub/speakers which are intentionally using that Furman so I can turn them off independent of the entire stack of gear.
To start with we both had our desks in the master on either side of the room. This proved problematic as I'm on conference calls throughout most of business hours which was distracting her.
So we moved her "office" to one side of our loft. I continued to work in the master bedroom throughout most of 2020. I realized toward the end of 2020 that this was not an ideal setup and was taking a mental toll on me (going to bed looking at work and waking up looking at work).
I determined I needed somewhere with a door so I could compartmentalize work from home.
The only place that was even an option was our master bedroom closet... which is an interesting choice to say the least lol.
I went to work and made a bunch of room at the back of the closet and ended up with about a 6 foot wide x 5 foot deep space and set myself up with a folding table to start with.
Scouring Facebook Marketplace netted a pair of old desks that were perfect for the space. One of them would span wall to wall (once cut down from 8' to 6') with a section to put the docking station for work and some other stuff. The piece I cut off also will function later as a shelf (for the turntable). The remaining desk will be in my garage for now but offers some flexibility if I ever decide to expand things.
Working from home with no co-workers to complain about music gave me an opportunity to setup an office rig of more than just headphones. I have a fair amount of various gear not in use, and some from my actual work cubicle (brought home when it became clear I wasn't going back after a couple months). Originally I wanted to do a DIY pair of bookshelves using some repurposed cabinets, and then slowly would build up a full little tube rig. After thinking on that and doing a fair amount of pricing etc I realized that was going to just be too much, and honestly outside my comfort level and take a long time to build.
I decided to simply the wiring and just go with a pair of powered studio monitors. I originally was looking at KRK's (the Rokit 5 or 6's) and realized they were going to be both too big and too outside my budget.
I remembered the thread from X where someone mentioned PreSonus (and @VR3 mentioned Mackie). With my self imposed budget of 300 all in for the speakers/sub I ended up with a pair of PreSonus Eris 3.5 and Sub 8. I also needed to reduce the fire hazard I was using to power everything (powerstrip into powerstrip, into powerstrip). Did some digging and ended up with a TrippLite Isobar PDU. I had a tube headphone amp, tube phono preamp and turntable already. Lastly I had been wanting to upgrade my Raspberry Pi so took the opportunity to add the official 7" touchscreen and a case for it.
At the end of the day I ended up with a pretty nice office setup.
Sources:
- Raspberry Pi 3B+ w HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro HAT running Volumio (has access to my music on my DNLA server, Spotify, and Pandora). Controlled via 7" touchscreen or the Volumio app on my iPhone
- Technics SL-B3 (not shown) paired with a Yaqin MS-22b Phono preamp
- Audioquest YIQ-G component cable (Pi -> HK Signature)
- MIT EXP (HK Signature -> Eris 3.5)
- Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 (HK Signature -> Sub 8)
- Pittdog Special (Yaqin MS-22B -> HK Signature)
- Little Dot 1+ tube amp
- Beyerdynamic DT-770 32ohm headphones
All thats left is some future upgrades I would like to try which may include:
- C7 cable for Eris 3.5
- Better powercables for the Sub8, HK Signature, Little Dot 1+, and Yaqin (nothing fancy, just something better than stock)
- HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro Hat (would let me use the BlackCat Veloce cable I have and love and go digital into the HK Signature)
- Ifi iPower or iPowerX (to power the Pi from the HiFiBerry DAC) or 5v linear PSU (thinking TeraDak)
- Another set of midgrade RCA's so I can run from the HK Signature to my Little Dot
- IsoAcoustic ISO-130 stands
The setup sounds quite nice even at very low volumes. I also am reminded how nice it is to have an enclosed space on a subfloor for bass (both tactile feel and SPL). This setup has helped make working a lot better.
Here are some pictures. Worth noting is I have been able to keep all the cables separated. The IC's are run independently of powercables for any of the gear. I do still have some cable management as I want to get some cable raceways to better keep the IC's and whatnot hidden along with the cables for the powered sub/speakers which are intentionally using that Furman so I can turn them off independent of the entire stack of gear.
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
Comments
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Original desk setup
New desk, speakers, etc
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Nice, now they will call you back to work. 😳😎Pio Elete Pro 520
Panamax 5400-EX
Sunfire TGP 5
Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
PS Audio GCPH phono pre
Sunfire CG 200 X 5
Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
OPPO BDP-83 SE
SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
Ctr CS1000p
Sur - FX1000 x 4
SUB - SVS PB2-Plus
Workkout room:
Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
Onkyo TX-DS898
GFA 555
Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
Ft - SDA 1C
Not being used:
RTi 38's -4
RT55i's - 2
RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
LSI 15's
CSi40
PSW 404 -
Looks amazing! 👍
You are lucky your closet has a window, but even so, I could never work in such a small space personally. I've been lucky that I do have a home office, so I haven't had to make such choices.
Incidentally, neither of us expect to go back to the office, ever. That's going to leave a big empty space in the 777 Tower in the downtown Los Angeles financial district. The company will have to decide what they want to do with it. There are those who want to return to the office, so they may just shrink it (it's a modular space, even though it doesn't look like it when you visit, but they just move separating walls, as needed).Alea jacta est! -
That’s awesome dan! Love it. I have a colleague who gets up and 3am to do his writing and his desk is in the closet! I’m sure his music setup doesn’t compare lol. It’s super cool that you have a window! Enjoy!Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
Nice office setup, I agree it's great to have a window to look out of instead of just looking at a wall.Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
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Very nice!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Looks amazing! 👍
You are lucky your closet has a window, but even so, I could never work in such a small space personally. I've been lucky that I do have a home office, so I haven't had to make such choices.
Incidentally, neither of us expect to go back to the office, ever. That's going to leave a big empty space in the 777 Tower in the downtown Los Angeles financial district. The company will have to decide what they want to do with it. There are those who want to return to the office, so they may just shrink it (it's a modular space, even though it doesn't look like it when you visit, but they just move separating walls, as needed).
Yes it is difficult to be confined in that small of a space, but not having to dress in business casual 24/7 makes it worthwhile lol...That’s awesome dan! Love it. I have a colleague who gets up and 3am to do his writing and his desk is in the closet! I’m sure his music setup doesn’t compare lol. It’s super cool that you have a window! Enjoy!
Thanks man. It took a long time to figure out what I wanted to do, but having a physical door to close and separate work from home has made a big difference.
That window actually causes some vision problems as it gets really bright and throws me off in the late afternoon.
I need to get some sort of blinds for at least the both 1/2.
I can’t wait till it’s warmer and I can potentially OPEN it and get some fresh air."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Nice setup. Wish I could have tunes at work.Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.-John Wooden
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Nice setup. Wish I could have tunes at work.Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.-John Wooden
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EndersShadow wrote: »Looks amazing! 👍
You are lucky your closet has a window, but even so, I could never work in such a small space personally. I've been lucky that I do have a home office, so I haven't had to make such choices.
Incidentally, neither of us expect to go back to the office, ever. That's going to leave a big empty space in the 777 Tower in the downtown Los Angeles financial district. The company will have to decide what they want to do with it. There are those who want to return to the office, so they may just shrink it (it's a modular space, even though it doesn't look like it when you visit, but they just move separating walls, as needed).
Yes it is difficult to be confined in that small of a space, but not having to dress in business casual 24/7 makes it worthwhile lol...That’s awesome dan! Love it. I have a colleague who gets up and 3am to do his writing and his desk is in the closet! I’m sure his music setup doesn’t compare lol. It’s super cool that you have a window! Enjoy!
Thanks man. It took a long time to figure out what I wanted to do, but having a physical door to close and separate work from home has made a big difference.
That window actually causes some vision problems as it gets really bright and throws me off in the late afternoon.
I need to get some sort of blinds for at least the both 1/2.
I can’t wait till it’s warmer and I can potentially OPEN it and get some fresh air.
If the window is not too big the faux plantation blinds from Lowe’s are not too expensive, and they look pretty nice and cut a lot of light. I have had good experience with their machine that cuts them down to size as well...Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
Looks great man! Bet it sounds great to- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
