Reviewing Everything on my Desk! (2026)
In a Nutshell
KHC reviews his long-used desk setup, praising the rock-solid Next Desk Air Pro (9/10), Herman Miller Embody chair (10/10), Groveade shelf (10/10), Yamaha HS8 speakers (9/10), Sennheiser HD 650 headphones (8/10), Rainy 75 keyboard (8/10), and Logitech MX Master 4 mouse (9/10) for reliability and familiarity in daily editing work. Lower-rated items include the aging M2 Ultra Mac Pro (4/10), pricey Pro Display XDR monitors (8/10), buggy audio interface (4/10), and Belelcon 3-in-1 charger (6/10), with plans to upgrade the computer soon. Familiarity with tools trumps perfection, and similar setups can be built cheaper than one monitor's cost.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
KHC reviews everything on his desk, items used for days, weeks, months, or years, some over a decade. Tools are just tools; an artist using the same chisel for 10 years knows it well. The sculpture isn't great because of the chisel, but familiarity matters.
Next Desk Air Pro sit-stand desk with four legs, surface 96 inches across by 38 inches deep (8 feet by 3 feet), quarter-inch thick aluminum top. Doesn't bend, rock, or shake under weight; rock solid. Company specializes in this desk, bought nearly a decade ago when called Next Desk, now Xesk. Controller still says Next Desk (OG). Complaint: must hold button to raise/lower height, unlike preset buttons on other desks. 9/10, forever desk.
Herman Miller Embody chair, highly rated and famous. Best investment for comfort and back. Ton of adjustability, now molded to back, no adjustments needed. Had one in college, will have forever. 10/10.
M2 Ultra Tower Mac Pro, bought 6 years ago for $12-13,000. Apple's most powerful at time: M2 Ultra, 24 cores, 76-core GPU, 192 GB RAM, 8 TB storage. Aging with M3, M4, M5 chips; M3 Ultra in new Mac Studio is top Mac. Still powerful. Has OWC 64 TB SSD PCI card for live backups of everything made. Sits on desk for cable management with sit-stand desk; can't go underneath. Will replace soon with M5 Ultra Mac Studio and Thunderbolt OWC SSD. 4/10.
Two Pro Display XDR monitors, dual setup forever. 60 Hz, 32-inch LED-backlit LCD, 16:9, no webcam/speakers, $5,000 each. Stand $1,000, nano-texture finish $1,000; total $7,000 per monitor. Could buy entire similar setup for that price (see new studio video). Niche product; full review from couple years ago. Nano-texture effective in brightly lit studio with wall of windows, but hard to clean. Used by color team for matching. Daily use wishes for higher refresh rate, more features. Opal C1 webcam in back port (invested in company, no review). 8/10.
Groveade shelf for storage: cables, SIM card tools, pens, flash drives, Sharpie. Pricey, different colors (black), supports monitor weight but monitors not on it. Replicate cheaper. Does job, looks good. 10/10.
External Thunderbolt DAC/audio interface, giant volume knob. Plugs to speakers/headphones. Includes software/plugins (unused, buggy, needs resets/firmware). Pain but works after years. 4/10.
Yamaha HS8 active near-field studio monitors. Iconic to desk look. Good for reference listening, video/audio editing, music. 8-inch woofer to 40 Hz (no sub needed), 1-inch tweeter. Imperfect shielding: RF interference buzz from phone nearby, signals before calls/texts. Performs great, known sound. Better monitors exist but knows these well. 9/10.
Sennheiser HD 650 headphones on Kanto stand (any stand works). Worn a lot, light, comfortable, open-back (hear people talking without removing). Great for reference editing, music. Wired to DAC. Technically better exist but knows well. Wireless nice but adds battery/weight. 8/10.
Belelcon 3-in-1 charger: magnetic phone, non-magnetic phone (two Qi wireless), Apple Watch. Apple Watch Ultra; hot swap watches picks up where left off. Not super fast. 6/10.
OPPO Airvooc fast wireless charger (old), OnePlus cable, power under desk. Works with any phone size, aligns coils. Too close to monitor but fine. 8/10.
Mouse and USB-C Magic Trackpad used together for Final Cut Pro editing (blame FCP): trackpad for side-scrolling timeline, scrolling, pinching/zooming; mouse for rest. Trackpad battery dies every couple weeks.
Rainy 75 Light mechanical keyboard (newest; had Keychron before). Mac-compatible, common keys, no numpad, wireless. Heavy, rock solid. Artisan MKBHD keycap, custom Keychron/Dolch caps. Andrew recommends. Battery couple weeks (backlight down). Good price. 8/10.
MX Master 4 mouse, newest, name engraved. Silent, good software, haptics. Not gamer/high-refresh; fine for 60 Hz editing. Better aging than prior (no rubber wear). 9/10.
Artisan Ninja FX mouse pad (5-6+ years). Likes color, shape, texture, firmness. Hard to replace; imported from Amazon Japan for $75. Links below. Second soft pad for phones testing, table tennis paddle (Adam Barro), car keys, Ridge wallet, hand sanitizer, keys (metal desk). Wears every 2 years. 9/10.
Daily use items after long time. Peek at choices, what's working, what's going. Similar setup for less than one display price in studio video.
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