Our editors’ desk setups: Kevin the compact one

I’m a fan of small keyboards and PCs. They leave plenty of space for bits and bobs without my desk looking cluttered. See the picture above? That’s my desk. However, only one side of it is this tidy. To the right, there’s usually a chaotic scene involving a test bench, test products or my soldering station.

Computer: water-cooled in Mini-ITX form factor

As an editor writing about PC components, my workhorse is, of course, a PC I built myself. I‘ve been committed to Mini-ITX for a few years now. I like having my computer on top of the desk – first in the modded Fractal Era and now in a Meshlicious case. Equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and a Radeon RX 6800 XT, it doesn’t boast the latest generation of components, but it’s powerful enough for my needs. I cool both the CPU and GPU with water.

Monitor: Dell S3220DGF for gaming and working

My Dell S3220DGF’s a few years old. But it’s still a very good monitor for gaming and editing pictures. What more could I want? 32 inches is a good screen size, in my opinion.

Unfortunately, this exact monitor isn’t available anymore, but the Dell S3222DGM still is. It’s also supposed to offer great value for money. However, it doesn’t feature HDR10.

Keyboard and mouse: MX Master 3 custom keyboard for working and Deathadder V3 Pro for gaming

I don’t understand how people can type on an MX Keys, Magic Keyboard or any other membrane keyboard. As Keycap Kevin, I won’t tolerate anything else than a mechanical keyboard. I own over 20 of them, so I take turns. In the picture, you can see my Mode Envoy. The Macro-Pad above it is the Voice Mini by Owlab.

For work, I use Logitech’s MX Master 3. However, I have the impression Logitech’s quality has decreased in recent years. Or do I have higher standards than I used to? At least the Swiss-American manufacturer still does the best office mouse – although the Master 3S was a step backwards.

I use the Deathadder V3 Pro for gaming. It sits so well in my hand that I’d happily use it for work, too, if I didn’t have my MX Master.

Audio: Meze 99 Classic and Razer Leviathan V2

I love my Meze 99 Classic headphones. They look and sound great. I don’t like them lying around on my desk, so I place them on my Dynavox stand when they’re not in use. The headphones are connected to the FiiO New K3 DAC, even though this isn’t necessary.

The Razer soundbar doesn’t offer the best sound, but thanks to the subwoofer – which I’ve placed under the desk as a footrest – the ensemble offers a good soundscape. I mainly use the soundbar when my family’s out or in the summer when it’s 30 degrees in the office and too hot for my Meze headphones.

Microphone and webcam: RØDE NT-USB Mini and Razer Kiyo Pro

I rarely record my own podcasts, but still have quite a good microphone so the person on the other end can understand me well when I’m on a call. The NT-USB Mini does a good job and doesn’t require any additional equipment. It’s attached to the LogiLink microphone arm.

I’ve been using the Razer Kiyo Pro camera for a while now. It’s a few years old, but still works well.

Chair and desk: König & Neurath Valyou and Contini desk

I bought my office chair during the lockdown. I spent the first few weeks sitting on an antique wooden chair, which was bad for my back. That’s why I decided to buy the King & Neurath Valyou chair, assuming I’d be going to the office again soon. Therefore, I didn’t want to break the bank and went for this chair as it offered good value for money. That was three and a half years ago and I still work from home three days out of four. I’m not complaining, I really like working from home. But at some point, I want to get a Hag Capisco 8106 desk chair. I tried it out recently and fell in love. I’ll use my current chair though until it stops working.

When I’m not sitting, I like to work standing up. This is possible thanks to my Contini office desk. It’s two metres long, so I have enough space to the right of my PC for my test bench and other devices.

Bits and bobs: welcome guests on my desk

The Play Tray serves as a temporary storage space for screws and a fidget toy to calm my nervous disposition. I spin the ball around in it – like others do with a fidget spinner.

I’ve placed two small plastic plants on my desk to add some life to it. Real plants wouldn’t survive, trust me. What else? Well, my external SSD for backups is always connected and I have pens, scissors, a carpet knife and a ruler at the ready, although I rarely write by hand.

The Playstation 5 isn’t mine. It belongs to my employer. I borrowed it to test Final Fantasy 16. Due to a delayed review code, however, all I could write was an article on the demo. Now the console is waiting for the release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Fingers crossed the review code will be ready in time.

If you’ve missed an episode of our desk setups, here’s the full list:

Samuel:

David:

Flo:

Jan:

Kevin:

Domi:

Tinu:

Header image: Kevin Hofer