In recent years, podcasts and live broadcasting can be said to be booming, in this kind of application environment, the microphone is a very important part of the hardware equipment, the quality of the microphone will directly affect the quality of the recording, clear recording quality can make the listener can easily listen. This time, I would like to introduce a studio-level integrated audio solution microphone, the Wave:3 condenser microphone introduced by Elgato. With high resolution quality of 96KHz/24bit, the directivity is cardioid, and the cardioid design minimizes background noise. A built-in low-cut filter handles low-frequency noise, while anti-clipping distortion prevents blasting. At the same time, the microphone has a built-in zero-delay headphone monitoring jack and a one-button mute button, while the microphone is receiving, the user can also hear his own speech through the headset, which is more convenient to control the volume when speaking. The transmission interface is USB, and the USB interface is free of driver plug and play. With a built-in sound card and a Wave Link mixing app, you can enrich the functionality of your hardware. Wave:3 is available with brackets, can also be mounted on 1/4 " and 3/8" brackets, the application level is quite extensive, let's see the radio performance of the Elgato Wave:3 condenser microphone today!
- 24bit 96000hz, plug-and-play condenser microphone captures rich vocal detail.
- Built-in sound card and Wave Link mixing app.
- Built-in low-cut filter prevents low-frequency noise
- Unique Clipguard anti-blast technology, farewell to fried wheat distortion.
- One-touch mute button, knob to adjust the microphone volume, headphone volume and back-of-ear volume.
Companion Wave Link mixing software:
- Create up to 9 independent channels and mix in real time.
- Dual track control to monitor and adjust the listening volume for yourself and your audience at any time.
- It can be added as the main audio source to the push streaming software such as OBS, and all the audio sources can be managed in one stop.
- Deep integration with Stream Deck provides studio-level audio control.
- Support VST sound effect plug-in function, add all kinds of third-party VST plug-ins, such as equalizer, compressor, noise gate, reverberation, etc.
So back to the theme, let's take a look at the product itself. The overall shape is the flat design common to microphones, and the black color scheme is very hard. The Elgato Wave:3 condenser microphone consists of three parts: the microphone body, the U-shaped bracket, and the base.
The Elgato Wave:3 microphone comes with a U-shaped base that supports 360° rotation from left to right. The hinge is very flexible and the damping can also be adjusted via screws on the side.
The upper part of the Elgato Wave:3 is a grid guard with the Elgato logo and a 17mm condenser capsule. The lower half is the indicator light and the multi-function knob, the rotary knob adjusts the volume, and the touch knob mutes. And in terms of hardware specifications, Elgato Wave:3 has a built-in pop canceller, high-performance condenser, support for cardioid pointing mode, it is designed for capturing human voice, the basic size is 152x66x40mm, with a bit rate of 24-bit and a sample rate of 96kHz (Wave: 1 is only 48kHz), the corresponding frequency from 70Hz to 20kHz, sensitivity -25dBFS to 15dBFS, The maximum sound pressure level and dynamic range are 120dB and 95dB, respectively, but can be increased to 140dB and 115dB, respectively, when Clippguard is enabled.
The operating logic of the microphone is still very straightforward, and with the knob, we can switch between microphone gain, monitor headphone volume, and microphone/PC volume monitor ratio. The seven indicators above the knob are also adjusted according to the display size.
At the top of the Elgato Wave:3 there is a MUTE touch mute button that turns off the recording mode of the Elgato Wave:3 with one click, at which point the front knob turns red and can be reset by touching it again.
The microphone's I/O interface is designed in the rear, with USB responsible for power and data transmission, and the headphone jack providing audio output and monitor output.
The microphone itself is equipped with a base, and there is also a large anti-slip pad on the bottom, which can also be placed on the table top to ensure its stability.
The Elgato Wave:3 microphone can be freely disassembled and combined, and with a 1/4 rpm larger screw adapter, it can be used to connect the microphone stand and is widely used.
The official accessories of the Elgato Wave:3 also include spray shields and shock mounts, but require users to purchase separately. Here I also have a spray shield at the same time, which is more professional to install.
After looking at the appearance and design, let's talk about its use in detail. Condenser microphones are plug-and-play, and after being connected to a computer via USB, they can be used like a normal USB microphone. After connecting the computer, remember to set the recording format to 96KHz/24bit, so as to achieve the best recording effect.
Acts as a high-performance condenser microphone that captures sound in a cardioid mode and is suitable for most close-up oral and singing performances. It provides some very clean circuitry for 24-bit, 96KHz analog-to-digital filters. When I used it, there was no interference or buzzing. Arguably, the Elgato Wave:3 does a great job of sound and minimizes any background noise from the environment.
Elgato Wave:3 has its own official companion software, Wave Link, adding two great sound features to the software, which are very useful and must be tried. The first is a low-cut filter, which can be used to eliminate some background room sound or fan noise from the recording, and turning on this function can more or less make the processed sound source more pure. The second is an excellent hardware-based anti-clipping top distortion feature called Clipguard. When the peak sound exceeds a certain threshold, the microphone immediately switches to a separate hardware signal path in the analog-to-digital converter, which is 20dB quiet. This effectively scales the 95dB dynamic range to 115dB. Clipguard is exactly what content creators need.
In addition to Wave Link's sound optimization features, the software also provides convenient mixing capabilities. In the input section, different sound sources can be added according to the application scenario, such as games, music and other channels, integrated mix management, supporting up to nine mix channels, and can also be dual track monitoring, and the different mix tracks heard by the creator and the audience can be adjusted separately during live broadcasting.
In Wave Link we can manage different sources for the entire PC, and we can also push these sources out at different volumes, which is very useful for live streamers. And it supports VST sound plug-in function, Elgato official website also provides a variety of third-party VST plug-ins, such as equalizers, compressors, noise gates, reverbs, etc., practicality is also very rich.
The way to use these plugins is also very simple. First, we download the VST plug-in and install it directly (the installation path is the system automatic directory), then scan the installed VST plug-in in the preferences of the Wave Link software, and finally add sound effects to the audio effect of Wave Link.
For example, the LV-60 EQ equalizer, which has its own 10 filter bands, is equipped with analog saturation circuitry, and can adjust negative and positive gains of 12dB.
Then there's the Glorian 2 plug-in for this vocal effect, which changes the sound up and down based on pitch tracking and is optimized for the sound. Emits an octave, which in turn enriches the characteristics of the sound. This plugin is very interesting and recommended for you.
Overall, the Specifications of the Elgato Wave:3 microphone are really great, using a studio-grade microphone, providing 96KHz/24bit high resolution quality, very simple and easy to operate, with fast mute, and headphone monitoring, which can be used in many environments. The radio directivity is cardioid, which filters out ambient noise for better radio quality. Combined with the supporting software Wave Link, more diversified adjustments to the sound, explosion-proof sound system, etc. Peripheral accessories, spray shields and shock mounts are also available separately. Users who have a professional bracket can also install it on their own bracket. For a studio-grade microphone that rivals studio-quality sound, the Elgato Wave:3 condenser is a great choice.