The well-known company Elgato has recently placed on the market its Elgato Wave: 3 , a condenser microphone designed especially for the world of streaming , thanks to various functions, but not only. In fact, aiming to please the content creators , this ends up filling the user with possibilities, while offering a really excellent audio quality, at a price – relatively – high but completely justified. We had the opportunity to try the Elgato Wave: 3 thoroughly, so let’s find out all the details about it in this review .

Solidity and versatility

The Elgato Wave: 3 comes in a not very large package, just like the product itself. This has shades mainly tending to blue, and is quite elegant, we are still talking about an article also dedicated to working environments. In a few moments the microphone arrives immediately in the hands of the user, showing a truly surprising stability . This is accompanied by a USB cable for connecting to the PC, as well as a pedestal useful for supporting the product with a rubber base, perfect for avoiding unexpected movements and providing additional solidity to the setup.

We are talking about a parallelepiped basically formed by two pieces, perfectly fitted and which do not even remotely give the impression of giving way, and are completely stable (as well as very resistant). The base that holds the microphone can be easily removed, although this allows you to easily adjust the position of the product and use it without problems, but it can be easily replaced with any other solutions. The microphone offers on the back (apart from the USB port for connection) a dedicated headphone jack, useful for hearing the real time return , especially during any tests with the Wave Link proprietary software. The shape allows more than ever a 360-degree audio, although obviously this is mainly captured from the front.

The wheel on the front allows you to adjust gain and volume at will, inverting the two parameters and controlling the one you are interacting with from the LEDs. Once you have become familiar with the software, this function is rarely useful, but it must be said that it is really immediate , and in case of sudden need it is more than convenient. On the top of the condenser microphone we find a button that can be activated by touching , which activates and deactivates the sound. Changing with the simple movement of a hand is much more functional than you can imagine, especially during livestreams, even if the feature is particularly useful for any type of communication.

The microphone allows for analog-to-digital conversion with maximum quality up to 24-bit / 96 kHz , which is perfectly good when compared to other competitor condenser microphones sold at a similar price. The communications are crystal clear, but it must be said that the device is optimized in particular to make the voice prevail by eliminating the lower frequencies automatically. In a stable position, the microphone cancels (or overshadows) any background or instrument noises, thus highlighting the user’s words; obviously this also depends on the percentage of earnings.

Ready to stream (and more)

By connecting the Elgato Wave: 3 to any computer it is already possible to take advantage of the product, using the classic plug and play technology, although obviously the uses remain relatively limited. To get the most out of the condenser microphone, it is good to have the official Elgato software, which allows you to access several important functions as regards mixing and the regulation of gain and volume. This has few functions , but on the other hand it is not confusing and dispersive. The main feature concerns the possibility of inserting up to 9 audio channels and managing them at will , but there is also talk of choosing the audio source for the real-time feedback of the headphones, allowing the increase in volumes for each.

Inside the product we find a pop filter to reduce the impact of the classic and annoying letters “P”, which works perfectly and greatly improves the final result of the audio. Among other features we also find ClipGuard , which in the event of audio peaks automatically chooses the best and cleanest frequency, making the difference in many contexts. Although potentially not very specific for uses such as music, the Elgato Wave: 3 presents itself as a perfect device for content creators , and for those who communicate often in professional-tone meetings. This manages to greatly raise the quality bar without sacrificing user comfort, and is also quite versatile thanks to its features and available functions.

Apart from the microphone (even if it is necessary to proceed with a bundle ), Elgato provides users with additional accessories to keep an eye on . We are talking specifically about an additional external pop filter to increase the quality of the audio, which, although not essential, manages to do its job, and a support for the microphone that allows you to move it freely through an extension cable. These are obviously welcome additions, especially for business use, which are however not necessary to take advantage of the excellent quality we have told you about in this review of the Elgato Wave: 3 .