Performance Testing
We’ll quickly touch on the setup process and build quality before getting into the software and audio quality.
Downloading, installing and setting up the microphone to a working condition took a little longer than expected, around 15 minutes but the software has a lot of work to do, in regards to installing several audio connections to the Windows operating system and linking into the Stream Deck software if you have one.
Once you’re plugged in and have the software running, you can go about finding a comfortable location for the microphone. Sadly, this was where we found our first issue. Elgato recommends that you place the microphone parallel with your face and have it two fists, or one Shaka sign, away from your mouth. This typically means having it right at the edge of your desk in front of you, where your keyboard is. That is, at least, unless you sit really close to your PC and are able to place it behind your keyboard. The large 100mm base, with a thick rubber pad, gives the device a considerable amount of stability but it also makes it difficult to place in certain orientations. It’s a different kind of problem to a typical tripod setup though, so you could argue that this is a better way of going about things.
We opted to mount the microphone on a boom arm for testing, which thanks to the supplied lengthy cable and mounting screw, took only a few minutes to achieve some tidy cable management.
Below is a brief demo of the microphone’s ability:
Software
As part of the overall package, Elgato have developed Wave Link, a software suite that ties into your Streamdeck software and is promised to evolve and develop over time as more features are requested from the community.
Installation and setup takes a few minutes but once you’re in, everything is nicely pre-configured with up to 6 inputs in total that can be fed through your recording/streaming software, all in perfect quality. The levels can be tuned on-the-fly, both from within software or with configurable buttons on your Streamdeck.
Inputs can be named however you like, and tweaked infinitely, with tie-ins to any application on your PC that can output sound. You can do it all from the Wave Link software to bring your stream or content to life.
Overall the software is relatively basic and easy to use, but we definitely look forward to seeing what it’s capable of in the coming months and years as tweaks, improvements and adjustments are made.
We’ll quickly touch on the setup process and build quality before getting into the software and audio quality.
Downloading, installing and setting up the microphone to a working condition took a little longer than expected, around 15 minutes but the software has a lot of work to do, in regards to installing several audio connections to the Windows operating system and linking into the Stream Deck software if you have one.
Once you’re plugged in and have the software running, you can go about finding a comfortable location for the microphone. Sadly, this was where we found our first issue. Elgato recommends that you place the microphone parallel with your face and have it two fists, or one Shaka sign, away from your mouth. This typically means having it right at the edge of your desk in front of you, where your keyboard is. That is, at least, unless you sit really close to your PC and are able to place it behind your keyboard. The large 100mm base, with a thick rubber pad, gives the device a considerable amount of stability but it also makes it difficult to place in certain orientations. It’s a different kind of problem to a typical tripod setup though, so you could argue that this is a better way of going about things.
We opted to mount the microphone on a boom arm for testing, which thanks to the supplied lengthy cable and mounting screw, took only a few minutes to achieve some tidy cable management.
Below is a brief demo of the microphone’s ability:
Software
As part of the overall package, Elgato have developed Wave Link, a software suite that ties into your Streamdeck software and is promised to evolve and develop over time as more features are requested from the community.
Installation and setup takes a few minutes but once you’re in, everything is nicely pre-configured with up to 6 inputs in total that can be fed through your recording/streaming software, all in perfect quality. The levels can be tuned on-the-fly, both from within software or with configurable buttons on your Streamdeck.
Inputs can be named however you like, and tweaked infinitely, with tie-ins to any application on your PC that can output sound. You can do it all from the Wave Link software to bring your stream or content to life.
Overall the software is relatively basic and easy to use, but we definitely look forward to seeing what it’s capable of in the coming months and years as tweaks, improvements and adjustments are made.
