Post Your Battlestation [2020 Edition]

Ryuzaki

Ryuzaki

お前はもう死んでいる
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If I recall correctly, the last time we did one of these was the 2015 Battlestation thread, five whole friggin years ago. Most of the pics are still up if you want to look. You gotta check out Satvrn's crib for sure. I want to drive my car into my living room too.

I figured it's time to go again, so here's my current hellscape:

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I'm still rocking an iPhone 6 because it refuses to die, thus the horrible quality pic. I cleaned up the lighting a bit in Photoshop, it was much worse. I'm keeping it pretty humble right now until I move into a permanent spot soon, in which case I'm going to build a new desk and really customize the new office / studio.

I'll try to answer any questions that might arise. The monitor is an 38" Ultrawide at 3840 x 1600 resolution (I wrote about it and how to organize your screen here). It's much better than the three 24" 1080p screens I had, though it looks less cool.

That thread also happens to have my set up from around 2016 maybe, so here's the old pic:

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Looks like the only thing that changed is a new location and the monitor. The keyboard is a an Ergodox I built and wrote about here. I had to solder every switch and everything, it was a pain but fun.

I have the big speaker monitors (Adam A7's) because I used to be heavy into recording and mixing. You can see my rack of some of the signal processing equipment I still use regularly enough to keep it out (on the right in the top picture). I started writing about how to improve your audio and video quality for podcasting and Youtube-ing here if you're interested.

On top of the rack I'm rocking the 2018 Mac Pro. In the rack, the silver unit with the blue lights and one pink one is my RAID storage. Three of them mirror each other and hold all the important work stuff and my media library. The right most one (pink) is a time machine capsule to create save states from the Mac Pro drive so I can always restore my set up if I get a new computer, delete something I needed, etc.

The little box under the right side of the screen with the big knob is a simply a passive monitor controller. I route my audio to it and then out to my speakers. It's a volume control basically, with a mute button and a mono button so I can drop music and video mixes to mono for a sanity check.

Share your set up and make sure to blur out anything sensitive!
 
It's a cool battlestation.

I also want to get a 40 inch curved monitor but I don't have a dedicated office yet, so I feel like it would take too much space.
 
Wow. What a nice setup. I’m thinking about switching to an ultra wide, currently using 2 27”.
What about the embody? For the first time I’m thinking about buying an ergo chair and I’m deciding between the Areron and a Steelcase Leap.
 
A bit ghetto I know, but the door opens up to my patio with minigolf for breaks so so theres that :tongue:.
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LiamGallagher said:
What about the embody?
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It's fine. My only qualm with it is I shouldn't have gotten the color scheme I did. The white parts collect dust and scratches that are more easily visible. The green fabric gets dirty and there's no easy way of cleaning this fabric without damaging it. I bought it with all of the upgrades and... whatever.

I've been real close to buying a different chair soon just to switch it up, probably this: ErgoChair 2 . It's a fraction of the price of the Embody, so I won't feel like I have to hold on to it any longer than needed.

My main issue with the Embody is once I was really slouching and being stupid, feet up on the desk, rather than tilting the back backwards to get the same effect, and one of the "spines" on the back broke, and now the lumbar region is messed up. It doesn't really effect my experience, but it's annoying that I can't control that now.

tyealia said:
A bit ghetto I know, but the left door opens up to my patio with minigolf for breaks so so theres that :tongue:.
Click to expand...

That's pretty sweet. Looks like a very relaxing place to be, minus the heat in the summer months, I'm sure.

Do you type on the laptop keyboard or do you have an independent keyboard?
 
Ryuzaki said:
That's pretty sweet. Looks like a very relaxing place to be, minus the heat in the summer months, I'm sure.

Do you type on the laptop keyboard or do you have an independent keyboard?
Click to expand...

Yes, it gets to 35 degrees with 85% humidity here where I am in Mexico (Near Puerto Vallarta), but massive mini-splits in every room running all day take care of that and I still pay 1/3 the electric bill I did in Toronto.

I have been using the laptop's keyboard without issue, would you recommend an independent?
 
Ryuzaki said:
It's fine. My only qualm with it is I shouldn't have gotten the color scheme I did. The white parts collect dust and scratches that are more easily visible. The green fabric gets dirty and there's no easy way of cleaning this fabric without damaging it. I bought it with all of the upgrades and... whatever.

I've been real close to buying a different chair soon just to switch it up, probably this: ErgoChair 2 . It's a fraction of the price of the Embody, so I won't feel like I have to hold on to it any longer than needed.

My main issue with the Embody is once I was really slouching and being stupid, feet up on the desk, rather than tilting the back backwards to get the same effect, and one of the "spines" on the back broke, and now the lumbar region is messed up. It doesn't really effect my experience, but it's annoying that I can't control that now.



That's pretty sweet. Looks like a very relaxing place to be, minus the heat in the summer months, I'm sure.

Do you type on the laptop keyboard or do you have an independent keyboard?
Click to expand...

I've been looking for a good chair and I've narrowed down my options to either a Steelcase Leap or a Herman Miller Aeron; both are quite expensive but I've read that they really offer a good lumbar support and they are really comfy. The embody looks totally amazing but it exceeds my budget.

Took a look at the ergo chair 2 and it looks insane. The design is very futuristic and I really loved it. The only downside for me is the shipping cost (~$350), but still cheaper than a Steelcase or a Herman Miller.
 
I have the Ergochair, and also a standing desk from Autonomous. Only drawback is shipping is suuuuper slow to Spain. The gear is great though.
 
Do any of you use a footrest?

I have neck and should problems and I thought that it was those that kept me uncomfortable in a seated position. Then by coincidence I worked at a desk in a hotel with a chair opposite the desk and I had my legs up in a 90 degree level. Suddenly I could sit and work for hours in the same position.

That's why I bought the highest footrest I could find. Not one of those made for office chairs, but those made for lounge chairs.
 
@bernard, I once thought about making something like this:

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This is a bad example but it gets the point across. A hanging footrest from the bottom of the back end of my desk. If done right it could be adjustable in height. I'd also make the fabric your feet rest on much wider so you could spread out some if you want, or by moving your feet together they would rest lower by some amount.

Yeah, you sound like you could use a tall but thin ottoman or something custom made that fits under your desk without eating up too much space.
 
I have a messed up lower back and upper back/lower neck from injury while on deployment overseas. I can barely sit for longer than an cpl hours normally before i get stabbing pains in my shoulder/upper back area that about makes a guy cry, like i get "stuck" and can barely move and it feels like someone literally stabbing me with a knife if i move wrong. I finally bought a decent office chair (not the 1200$ ones) with a higher back that offers support which i have noticed helps big time. That and i also use a foot rest like you stated and i have noticed it also helps with that pain issue in the upper back. My set up is in a office armoire that has a shelf that i keep empty underneath and that is what i use for a leg rest. Sounds wierd probably but it helps and is comfortable for me, way more than before. Also when my back does start getting back jacked up like that, at the end of the day i usually go for a country cruise for 20-30 min and put the heated seats on in the vehicle and this helps HUGE with loosening everything up and with the pain. It was hard for me to sit behind a computer feeling like im in a recliner postition but after i got used to it vs sitting forward like normal i dont deal with the back issues like i used to near as much. For some reason using a "foot rest" and that posture position helps.
 
Yes, sitting upright and "ergonomic" might be for prevention, but not for people with actual back problems.
 
I don't really use the footrest, except for the last few days as I've been using the chair as the only seating furniture I have while waiting for the move of my furniture haha. I like the standing desk though, but I gave both to my wife for her home office as she has to work from home at least for the rest of the year. So I will figure out something else for my office, maybe I'll buy the same, not sure.
 
Ryuzaki said:
I've been real close to buying a different chair soon just to switch it up, probably this: ErgoChair 2 . It's a fraction of the price of the Embody, so I won't feel like I have to hold on to it any longer than needed.
Click to expand...
Did you end up purchasing the ErgoChair 2? I've been looking to purchase a chair and I've done a lot of research into both the Herman Miller Aeron and Embody, but each chair costs like $500+ more in Canada than in the USA, making the prices a little bit insane. I've looked at the ErgoChair 2 online and it's much cheaper, but I've heard mixed-reviews.
 
Aeron is worth it.
 
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Ergonomics is key. I have a split keyboard, ergonomic chair, lumbar support, monitors at eye level, a foot pad if needed, a stool, and a kneeling chair. Also, I put a camelbak to the back of my chair for easy water access. I fill it up about once a day.

For there are rumors on here that I don't work, each 3x5 card is a to-do item. I actually have a lot of stuff to do.

The couch is for when I read or nap or sleep at the office. Some times, I'd rather just spend the night at the office; but, it's usually for reading a good philosophy book and not actually cramming work.

The print thats to the left of the meadow in the second photo is from the State Museum of Berlin, my favorite city.

Finally, if you're wondering, the furniture itself is made of some heavy wood, which cost the attorney, who retired, who purchased it and was in this office before me, $20,000 or so. I purchased it from him for an amazing $2,000 :smile: The office chairs did require $400 worth of upholstering, as they were sagging.

In all, I still have to hang up some more art but I really like my office. It's my sanctuary and where I can get peace and quiet.
 
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