 It's been a while since I've done one of these office tours where I show you guys all the equipment that I have here at my office, all this equipment, audio equipment, video equipment, computer equipment that I use to produce the content that gets posted to YouTube and Odyssey. So today I'm going to do one of these whirlwind tours of all the equipment in the office. Again, it's been a long time since I did one of these, but I have been getting some requests to do another one. So let's go. So let's start with the computer that I actually used to record all the videos, edit all the videos. So you guys can't really see that tower behind that third monitor there, but it's a very large tower in that machine. I've got 64 gigs of RAM. I've got a 1920 thread ripper, which is the first generation 12 core 24 thread thread ripper, which is still a monster CPU. It's great at rendering videos and things like that. Also, it's really good as far as running virtual machines, multiple virtual machines. So that's one of the reasons I have that particular CPU as well as that much RAM. As far as monitors, I have three 24 inch AOC brand monitors. They were rather cheap monitors. I want to say I paid about 120 bucks a piece for those three monitors, those three monitors. I bought probably about a year and a half to two years ago again. There's nothing special about those monitors. They're just three 24 inch monitors and they're mounted to a Wally triple monitor desk mount. Now this particular triple monitor mount, you can see between the middle monitor, there is a bar. If I get closer there, I'll show you where it is actually mounted to this wooden frame, this wood U. Now that wooden U frame is something that was custom built by my brother-in-law that is not part of the Wally triple monitor mount, right? By design, the triple monitor mount is actually supposed to be screwed into the desk itself. But I don't own this desk, this office here. I rent it as well as the furniture that is in the office, right? This is not my personal desk. So I did not want to damage the desk by doing a proper mount through the desk. So my brother-in-law, he likes working with wood. So he created this rather large wooden U base that the Wally triple monitor mount is mounted to. So that is really nice. By the way, the dimensions of this particular desk are six feet by three feet deep. So it's a rather deep desk, which is nice because some of this equipment like that rather large computer tower do require some depth as well as having space for my keyboard there. That is the ZSA Moonlander keyboard, which also requires some depth because it has those built-in wrist rests in front of it. And for the mouse, you guys can see I use a Kensington Expert trackball mouse and I've converted all of my mice on this computer as well as my home computer. All I use now are these Kensington Expert trackballs. I no longer use a standard mouse at all. I prefer these trackballs. They're just better as far as wrist pain. It's a lot easier on the wrist. I will never, ever go back to using a standard mouse having converted to the trackball. Also on my home computer, instead of the ZSA Moonlander, I have a ZSA Ergodox keyboard at home, which is very similar to the Moonlander in design. It's another split keyboard. It's very similar layout. So the Ergodox has a couple of extra keys on the thumb clusters compared to the Moonlander. As far as the microphone and the mic stand, the microphone is an electro voice RE27ND. That particular microphone is a very nice microphone. It is a dynamic microphone, which is important. Dynamic microphones really cut down on a lot of the background noise. For example, with condenser microphones, they typically pick up a lot of excess noise out on the street or neighbors here in the suite of offices that I have. It's very important for me that I use a dynamic microphone here in this office. The electro voice RE27ND, a great choice. You can see I've got it in a shock mount. As far as the arm that it's on, that particular scissor arm, that is the Rode PSA1 scissor arm. It's one of the more popular scissor arms that people use for this kind of work. I know people often want to know about pricing on some of this equipment. I've had for a number of years now, but when I bought the RE27ND microphone about three or four years ago, I want to say I paid about $400, like $400 to maybe $450 at the time was what that microphone was running for. And then of course I needed to pay an extra $40 or $50, I think, for the shock mount, because the shock mount did not come with it. And the Rode PSA1 scissor arm, that runs you around $100 as well. As far as the ZSA keyboards, the Moonlander, the Ergo Docks, those things run about $350 US. And I have three ZSA keyboards, the Moonlander, the Ergo Docks, and I also over here on the desk when we get to it, I have a ZSA Plank that one runs you about $260. So I've got about $1,000 worth of these ZSA keyboards, but honestly they're worth it. I can't imagine me ever using a standard like 110 key generic keyboard. I'll never go back to any of that. As far as the computer chair, it's nothing special. That was like a $90 chair that I bought off of Amazon. It is sold as a gaming chair. As you can see, it's got some recline to it, right? It's not one of those ergonomic chairs where it forces you to sit up straight. Or sitting back relaxing and gaming for the most part. So not necessarily the greatest chair for like sitting at a computer and actually doing work all day. But honestly, I quite like that chair. It's been a rather comfortable chair. I forget the brand, but again, that chair is nothing special. Let's move on to the camera. So the camera that I typically record on most of my videos where you guys see me sitting at my computer desk in front of the computer, that camera is a Panasonic Lumix G9. That camera, I want to say I paid around $900 to $1,000 for the camera itself. So it's about a $1,000 camera, but it's a quite nice camera. I mean, it's not terribly expensive. It's not the cheapest thing going, but it's a pretty good camera. I've been happy with that particular purchase. You guys also see next to it is a light. That is a Elgato key light. So that gives me some illumination. But honestly, I don't have that Elgato key light. I use it, but typically that thing is only running somewhere between 10 to 20% of max power as far as the light it puts out. Because it's a very strong light and I don't need that much light in the front of me when I'm recording. Because one of the downsides of being in front of three monitors and recording at a desk in front of three monitors is those three monitors put out a ton of light, especially when you have your camera ISO set very low, which most people do. Having those three monitors really shines a very big spotlight on you anyway. So that's one thing to consider when you're recording in front of computer monitors is there's going to be a lot of light on you and that light is not always the same color. Like right now, obviously it's more purpleish and bluish because of the wallpaper. But if I had a white background, you know, it will be much brighter on me. If I had a solid black background on the monitors, it would not be very much light on me at all and it fluctuates, especially as you start opening various web pages that are different colors. And it's one of the things that's very hard to get lighting right when you're in front of all of these computer monitors. It's really almost impossible to get the perfect lighting and have it stay constant throughout a video, especially as you're browsing the internet. Now as far as lighting, other than the Elgato key light and of course any light that comes off the monitors, I've got several light stands around this office. This one here is nothing special. This is a very cheap umbrella stand. So obviously you've got the umbrella to diffuse the light. Behind the umbrella is just a compact fluorescent bulb, a naked compact fluorescent bulb. And it's on a rather cheap stand that, you know, I use not just for the umbrella lights itself. I can actually take off the head of the umbrella light and I could actually mount a camera to that particular stand or microphone. But again, that's a very kind of cheap stand. You can see it's very thin, kind of flimsy. I don't like putting anything expensive on that stand. But for these umbrella lights, it is rather perfect. If I move around, my favorite lights are actually on these stands here. Let me come back a little bit so you can get this in frame. Now this is a rolling C stand. You can see I've got some sandbags on it to prevent it from tipping over because it does have a lot of weight. But I have two identical rolling C stands, essentially. These are made by Impact and these were rather expensive C stands. I can't remember what I paid for them, but I want to say I paid at least $150, maybe $200 for the stand itself. On top of the stand sits these FavoTech LED panels. So it's essentially a square panel box full of LEDs. And on top of the box, of course, I have this diffuser. So basically the light from the LED panels is a little bit too direct, too harsh. So to give it some softness when you're illuminating whatever subject you're recording, in this case, myself, I have these soft boxes on top of the FavoTech panels. And the FavoTech panels, by the way, are sold as a pair. And that's why I have two of the rolling C stands. I have two of the FavoTech panels. As far as the color of the LEDs, they range from a very white color to a more orangish yellowish daylight color as well. One of the things you see on the rolling C stand, as well as mounted to both of the desks in this office, if I zoom in, you will see a lot of various arms mounted to things. So these arms here, this one here that I'm looking at right here, this is a Manfrotto arm, this particular arm that Manfrotto makes a lot of clamps and arms. You can see the clamp right there. And then mounted to the clamp is this little L-bent arm that, you know, obviously you can adjust and tighten up. And on top of the Manfrotto arm, I have one of the Manfrotto quick release plates. And that quick release plate, I actually have quick release plates on some Elgato arms here. So there's a Manfrotto quick release plate. And there is a Manfrotto quick release plate. Also I have two Manfrotto camera tripods. Both of them have quick release plates built into them. And what this allows me to do, if I swing back over to the camera here, which is also on a Elgato arm, on top of the Elgato arm, it has a Manfrotto quick release plate that is mounted to the camera and with the push of a button, I can actually just push a button on that quick release plate and the camera pops off. And then all I have to do is bring the camera to any of these other Manfrotto quick release plates and push down the camera down on it and it just snaps in place. Literally within seconds I can move that camera from any one of these quick release plates that are mounted on various things around this office. And this is one of the beautiful things about these quick release plates, which are not cheap, but I probably have bought half a dozen of these Manfrotto quick release plates at this point and they are extremely useful. Now on this desk here, on this side of the office, I have this desk. There's not a lot sitting on it that you guys necessarily ever see on camera. I have an old Lenovo ThinkPad that's probably 12 years old. That's a Lenovo, I want to say it's an E45 or I forget the model number. It has one of the old AMD A6 APUs in it. It's a horrible machine. It's got like eight gigs of RAM in it though, but I use it to test various Linux distros on from time to time. Right now I've got DTOS installed on that machine. I've got the ZSA Plank keyboard right there. The statue of Buddha that I bought from TJ Maxx many, many years ago. I've got some LED lights, a pair of LED lights in the background here. Now those particular LED lights, they're cheap. I've had them for a couple of years. I want to say there's some off-brand LED strip bar lights that I paid like 25 bucks for. Made in China, like it says, made in China on the box. It's a very generic kind of thing. They're not great lights. You guys rarely see them in my videos. They don't put out a ton of light either. But again, I didn't pay very much for them. Right next to the Buddha, I've got this little camera rig here for if I want to mount one of my cameras in a handheld rig and carry it around. I've got that as well as I've got a Sennheiser shotgun mic on top of that. That is the Sennheiser MKE600 microphone. And of course, it's got an adapter which would allow it to plug into one of my Panasonic cameras and then I'd mount the Panasonic camera, of course, inside the rig. I've also got a little light on the rig in the front. You can see I've got a little tiny LED light if I also need to have some lighting on the rig. And over here in this corner, I've got some extra equipment. I've got a tripod with a second camera. That's a Panasonic G7. That was the camera that I used when I first started my YouTube channel and I still use it on occasion. Sometimes if I don't feel like moving my Panasonic G9 from the desk, especially if I'm going to record from a different angle instead of moving that camera, if I'm going to record from this angle anyway and I've got that camera on that tripod, well, I'll just use that camera instead. I also have a second microphone on this stand here. That is a second RE27 ND microphone. So I've got two of those. And again, that just allows me to use the same microphone with the same audio settings without needing to move this one that is mounted to the desk, especially with that microphone. I don't want to ever have to break that arm down and that's a lot of work moving a microphone. So I've got the second one on this stand. It's just a standing stand, right? Microphone stand that I can just move around the office anywhere I want to go as long as I'm recording from a standing position. Also in this office, I have a little couch, right? A little love seat. And mostly that's here. I don't actually sit in that thing very often. I rarely actually sit in that particular love seat because obviously I'm typically at one of the two computer desk and both the computer desk have computer chairs, but mainly I put that here in this office to suck up sound. One of the things when I moved into this office, it was too live. There was too much echo, too much reverb. And one of the things I did was I built these panels here, right? These foam acoustic panels, which I just bought some cheap foam squares and I mounted them to basically some poster board and cut them to, you know, equal sizes. And then I just tack them to the wall. All four walls of this office have these, you know, custom built acoustic panels that, again, I didn't spend much money on and, you know, are they cheap? Yes, but do they look nice? Actually, they don't look too bad. You would almost think they were professionally made other than there is a little bit of gapping that shows up especially on camera. Now in real life, these actually look much better than they actually do on camera. So those are the acoustic panels, which do help with the sound a lot. The couch really helps. And I also added a curtain. There's one window in this office. I put a curtain up that also sucks up some sound. Now let's focus a little bit on the audio equipment because we've already talked about microphones, but we really haven't talked about any of the analog equipment that is on this audio server rack. Now for those of you that have been around for a while, nothing has really changed as far as the audio equipment on this server rack. So obviously, let's start from the beginning of the chain of events to the end. So the very first thing I needed was a power strip. So I actually have a power strip right here, this black strip here. So that is, I forget the brand, I want to say that is a Furman power strip. Furman makes a lot of power conditioners and power strips and things like that. This one obviously is meant to be rack mounted in a server rack. And you can't see it because it's on the other side, but on the other side of that particular power conditioner, there are eight plug-ins. So I can plug eight devices into that power strip. And that's what I needed because I've got eight devices essentially mounted to the server rack that I need plugs for. So below the power conditioner, I have a Behringer Sonic Exciter. Now the Sonic Exciter is kind of a weird piece of equipment. I actually don't use it much these days. But what it does is it allows you to liven up the mid-ranges of your sound. And this is a particularly useful piece of equipment, mainly for music production, for just voice. It's not something you probably necessarily need to use. Now below that I have a NETI Preamp. You guys see eight XLR connections on the NETI Preamp. Right now I only have one microphone plugged in. That particular one plug is the microphone at the desk that I'm always using. So that pretty much stays plugged in all the time. Occasionally I will plug in a second, sometimes even a third microphone. The second microphone is typically this other RE27ND. And sometimes if I want to use the Sennheiser Shotgun mic, that Sennheiser MKE600, it will also be plugged in. And they all have their own specific channel that I plugged them into because each channel is for a different one of those mics because I do different effects, different settings like force EQ and limiter, expander, gate kind of things on these mics. Speaking of EQ, I've got two EQs right below the NETI Preamp. I've got two 231S EQs. Those are from DBX. That's the DBX 231S and I got two of them. Now the 231S is a dual channel EQ and because I have two of them, I can actually plug four microphones up into those EQs. So really everything in this rack is set up for up to four microphones. That way I could plug in four microphones to identical settings. For example, if I had a four person podcast and we were doing this podcast live in this room, I could buy four of the same microphones and I could plug everything into this equipment, set them all to the same settings and I don't do that. Obviously I don't produce any kind of live podcast, but if I ever wanted to, I am set up for that. Now below the two EQs, I have two expanded limiter gates from DBX. That is the DBX 166XS and again, I have two of those and I'm glad I have two of those because they're also dual channel which means I can plug four microphones into those. Now the DBX 166XS, I don't think they actually make that particular piece of equipment anymore so I'm kind of glad I got two of them when I did because I can't find that particular model anymore. Now DBX makes other expanded limiter gate kinds of equipment, but that particular model I don't believe is available anymore. And below all of that, I've got some drawers. These are just rack mounted drawers that I've got like external drives, USB devices, I've got a lot of cords and cables also in those drawers. And then at the top here, of course, I have the mixing board. That is the Mackey Pro FX 12 mixer. I also have an LED light strip that is turned off at the moment because the entire server rack is powered off at the moment, but I have a LED strip at the top that typically shines a little bit of blue LED lighting across the face of the server rack when it's powered up. And other than that, you know, the Pro FX mixing board is a USB interface so USB cord runs from the mixing board to the computer and that's how all of that analog equipment, all of that analog signal gets transferred, of course, converted to a digital signal that via that USB cord in the front of the tower right there gets converted to a digital signal that the computer can recognize and that when I'm recording it, OBS, that's how I get my audio. The only other thing in this room is this shelf here. This is just a bookcase that most of these boxes here are from the equipment I have bought and I've bought a lot of equipment and I've thrown away a lot of boxes but I kept some just as decorations for things, just to have something in the background on this bookcase. So some of the DBX equipment that I just talked about like the EQ, the 231S, I've got both of those boxes there. I've got boxes for various camera equipment, camera lenses. As you can see, some of the Panasonic Lumix lenses that I have, I've got a 14mm, I've got a 30mm, I also have a 25mm Panasonic Lumix lens. All of those lenses, by the way, those three lenses that I use, they are not the cheapest things. I want to say I paid about $200 to $300 for each of those three lenses so it's not just the cameras that are expensive. Once you start buying lenses for your cameras, those lenses can really cost you a ton of money. I've got various coffee mugs. I've also got boxes of coffee. I've got some extra microphones. I've got a blue Yeti down there. I've also got a blue Ember as well. I've got a box for the Elgato Cam Link. The Cam Link is basically an interface for basically my cameras. So what I do to record my cameras, to capture the signal from my cameras, I use the Elgato Cam Link 4K. I actually have two of those devices because sometimes I record two cameras at the same time at different angles so it's nice to have two of those. Those headphones you guys see me sometimes wear in live streams. Those headphones are Audio Technica ATH-1000X. That particular model, 1000X, Audio Technica does not make those anymore. I want to say at the time I purchased those particular headphones. I paid about $350 for them. They're fantastic headphones. Now, the good thing with Audio Technica is they have a very big catalog of headphones, very similar to that and very similar price ranges. You can find several Audio Technica headphones very similar to that. But again, that particular model, if you do a quick search on Amazon for them, you're not going to find them. They've been discontinued. And finally, the last pieces of equipment I want to talk about are my Keurig cups. So that is Joe's brand coffee, so my favorite brand of coffee. If you've never tried Joe's brand coffee, really cool coffee, really nice flavorable coffee. I've also got a lot of Elgato arms. You can see I've got Elgato solid arms. I've got boxes of Elgato flex arms. I've got enough various arms by Elgato and Manfrotto to do anything I need to do as far as mounting audio and video equipment. And then in that case there, that is a Amaran light. Now, the Amaran light is actually this LED light here. Now, this one is actually a very strong LED light. It is powered off right now, but it can put off a wide variety of colors. It does red, blue, green, orange, yellow, and it's actually a very strong light unlike these really cheap lights sitting on the desk over here. This thing is a much higher quality LED strip light. I want to say I paid $150 to $200 for that particular light, but honestly I'm pretty happy with that purchase. Now I have that mounted to another one of these cheap tripods. It's the same kind of tripod that that umbrella lamp was mounted on. The good thing with the Amaran LED light is it also mounts to standard tripods as well as far as your standard screw thingy that a camera would mount to, for example. So that is what I'm doing for that. So there you have an updated office tour here for November 2023. For those of you that had asked about this, I hope I answered all of your questions. Obviously I couldn't cover every minor minutia and detail of everything that I used to make my videos, but hopefully you get the general idea. Alright guys, peace.