Elgato Wave 3 Review: a quality microphone for streaming

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Elgato Wave 3 Review A Quality Microphone For Streaming.jpg
Elgato Wave 3 Review A Quality Microphone For Streaming.jpg

The microphone produced by Elgato is a well-made product with solid performance, safety in an increasingly varied offer.

Elgato Wave 3 review Review: a quality microphone for streaming

Elgato is a well-known name in the panorama of streaming and content production. From acquisition cards to lights, up to green screens, its catalogue covers many of the needs of a streamer who wants to make quality videos or live broadcasts. But something was missing in the Elgato line-up and today we can say that this is more complete thanks to Wave 3, the first microphone made by the German company, owned by Corsair.

We are not faced with yet another low-cost microphone, as much as a higher quality solution but without going up too much with the price, of 169.99 €, which seeks its space in an offer characterized today by many microphones of unknown brands, often of poor quality.

For its realization Elgato collaborated with Lewitt, an Austrian company specialized in professional microphones, which provided its know-how to create a product that proved to be decidedly valid.

Sales pack and build quality

Elgato Wave 3 is sold in a sales pack that incorporates the classic colours seen in other products by the company. The microphone is firmly inside a cardboard cover and the bundle includes a quick user guide, a USB Type C – USB Type-A cable and an adapter for fixing to a boom arm, i.e. the supports with the arm in where to install the microphone. In its basic configuration, however, the Wave 3 has its stand to place it on a table and use it safely in this mode.

Once you pick up the microphone the build quality appears immediately very good, with the use of metal and well-made plastics. The base is wide and firmly keeps the Wave 3 stable on the table, moreover, the rubberised lower part increases the grip and reduces the vibrations, which can influence the audio quality.

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The actual microphone, on the other hand, is mostly made of black plastic of excellent quality, while the grid that covers internal components is made of metal.

At the top, there is the button to mute the audio while on the back we find the USB Type C for connection to the computer and audio output for 3.5mm headphones, in this way you can monitor the recording without latency.

On the front, illuminated with LEDs, the microphone input and headphone volume adjustment is available. You can also set the volume of the listening track, separate from the track that is actually streamed.

Technical specifications, software and user experience

Elgato Wave 3 is a condenser microphone, with all the benefits of audio quality. These microphones use a thin metal membrane inside them, which is made to vibrate by the voice and in general by the sounds present in the air. The condenser microphones offer higher sensitivity than the more traditional dynamic models, which translates into a better frequency response, in this case from 70 to 20000 Hz. The input signal reaches up to 24 bits and 96 kHz and up to 115 dB, after which a filter intervenes that reduces the volume. Elgato calls this Clipguard technology and integrated it directly into the DAC of the microphone: in this way when the input sound exceeds 115 dB it is cut, avoiding that too loud sounds are reproduced.

Condenser microphones allow high recording quality but they are also much more sensitive to environmental noise and vibrations. In this sense, the presence of Clipguard technology and the possibility of adding a pop filter and a shock mount help to maintain high recording quality. However, the two accessories are sold separately for € 29.99 for the first and € 39.99 for the second.

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To reduce the risk of catching unwanted sounds, Elgato has chosen one cardioid configuration, which captures sounds from in front of the microphone. This focuses the recording more directly on the voice.

For the management of the microphone, Elgato offers the Wave Link software, simple to use but with everything you need. From here you can create two independent tracks, one for the user the other for those listening, thus controlling the volume, or take advantage of up to 8 audio channels. The options are not many but there is everything you need to control the audio during a live broadcast, thanks to the full compatibility with Obs and the Elgato stream decks.

Our user experience is mainly based on using Wave 3 as a microphone for life on Twitch and we were pleasantly impressed. The voice is captured with excellent quality, which manages to cover the sound spectrum very well, from the lowest to the highest frequencies. This allows a warmer and fuller reproduction of the vocal inputs, decidedly superior to that of the Snowball Blue that we used as a yardstick. For most streamers, Wave 3 represents a clear step forward compared to low-cost solutions, without however going up too much with the price.

The only limitation is the absence of further polar patterns. Other models offer more choices, for example for an interview with a second person positioned behind the microphone this Wave 3 would not be suitable. Its features make it ideal for streamers who have no other interlocutors. Attention must also be paid to ambient sounds because high sensitivity can become counterproductive if you do not have an unsuitable recording environment. The installation is very simple, in fact, you just need to connect the microphone to the USB socket and you are ready to go, even if the Wave Link software has proved useful to manage it in a finer way, but no further configurations are needed: the Wave 3 works very well just out of the box.

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Elgato Wave 3 is a product designed for streamers looking for higher audio quality than low-cost models. The USB connection facilitates installation, in fact just connect the microphone to the PC to be able to use it. The quality is very good, you just have to pay attention to the environmental noises, and we have not found any problems during use. Elgato has therefore managed to create a product well integrated into the software ecosystem of the streamers and capable of levelling the audio quality upwards during a live broadcast.