- [Pete] This is the Wave DX,
a new XLR microphone designed by Elgato.
It uses a dynamic capsule
with a wide cardioid pickup pattern,
and it's priced at just $100.
But as it's Elgato's first XLR microphone,
have you El-gat-to get one?
Or should you just Wave the DX goodbye?
(speaker smirks)
(caption thuds) (caption buzzes)
So let's get this unboxed and mounted
so we can hear exactly how it sounds,
and compare it
to some already established dynamic microphones
around the same price point,
like the RODE PodMic and GoXLR Mic.
(upbeat music)
So for the remainder of this video,
I'm going to be speaking directly into the Elgato Wave DX,
so you get a nice long example of exactly how it sounds.
For full context, I've got it running
directly into the Elgato Wave XLR as my interface,
but all voice and post-processing effects have been disabled
so you can hear exactly how it sounds out of the box.
I've got the gain set to around 42 decibels,
which has me hitting around -12dB in OBS.
Speaking of out of the box,
what you get included with the microphone
is a removable swivel mount,
two thread adapters in both 3/8" and 5/8"
for mounting to pretty much any microphone stand,
as well as a quick start guide.
It's worth noting that as with most XLR microphones,
this doesn't come with any kind of XLR cable
or desk mount included.
Elgato did send me like a branded XLR cable,
which I imagine you'll probably be able to purchase
separately on their website,
but any kind XLR cable is going to work.
The microphone enclosure and swivel mount
both feel like they're made out of a robust metal.
There are a couple of small areas of plastic too,
but this certainly feels like a step up in build quality
when compared with the Wave 1 and Wave 3 USB microphones.
There's no give when applying pressure
to the outer meshed pop filter,
and there's absolutely no looseness
in the XLR connection either.
The swivel mount can also be moved
to either side of the microphone.
So this Elgato logo simply pops off
to reveal another mounting point,
and then you can unscrew the swivel mount,
attach it to the other side,
and then attach the logo pin to cover up the mounting point.
So this should allow you to mount the Wave DX
in pretty much any orientation
from either below with a low-profile arm,
or above with a traditional mic arm.
The Wave DX is advertised
as having a wide and forgiving acceptance angle
for its cardioid pickup pattern,
so it should be good for your voice
even if your microphone technique isn't perfect.
To test this, I'm going to speak into the microphone
at various different angles.
This is me speaking directly into the end of the Wave DX.
Now speaking at roughly 30 degrees to the Wave DX.
Now speaking at roughly 60 degrees to the Wave DX.
And finally, now speaking at 90 degrees to the Wave DX.
The Wave DX is also advertises
having a dual layered pop filter.
So let's do our plosive tests to see how well that performs.
Katie likes cookies that she tells Ted to try.
Peter has a puppy that he should keep washed and dry.
Sophie looks sassy with her crazy zigzag dye.
Katie likes cookies that she tells Ted to try.
Peter has a puppy that he should keep washed and dry.
Sophie looks sassy with her crazy zigzag dye.
Right, so time for some comparisons
with some similarly priced dynamic XLR microphones.
And for that, I've chosen to compare it
with the TC-Helicon GoXLR Mic,
which we recently reviewed on the channel,
which retails for about $150.
As well as the old beast, I forget how heavy this thing is,
the RODE PodMic, which retails for $100,
so the exact same price as the Wave DX.
This is the Wave DX from Elgato,
a Dynamic XLR Microphone that retails for $100.
This is the GoXLR Mic from TC-Helicon,
a Dynamic XLR Microphone that retails for $150.
And finally, this is the PodMic from RODE,
a Dynamic XLR microphone that retails for $100.
All right, let's whack cans on
and see how they compare. (headphones whacks)
This is the Wave DX from Elgato,
This is the GoXLR Mic from TC-Helicon.
This is the PodMic from RODE.
All right, I think we can all agree
that all of three microphones sound pretty good
straight out of the box and they're pretty comparable.
I would say the Wave DX and the PodMic
sound the most similar.
They're both well-balanced, smooth low-end,
and decent presence on the high-end.
When comparing them with the GoXLR Mic,
I feel like the GoXLR Mic almost sounds a little bit muddy,
certainly nothing that you couldn't change
with a little bit of EQ,
but certainly hearing them back to back,
I think the Wave DX and the PodMic stand out to me.
But in all honesty,
you could make any of these microphones flourish
just by playing around with a bit of EQ,
which of course you can do through OBS Studio,
or through some software like Wave Link,
or through some hardware EQ
like on the GoXLR or Broadcaster Pro.
Usually, when I review Elgato products on this channel,
I feel like the hardware is good,
but it's the software that takes things to the next level.
If you think about how good Wave Link is
for the USB Wave microphones
or the number of different plugins
that you can get from the plugin store for stream deck,
those are the bits that really take that hardware
to the next level.
This is just a very good and well-priced XLR microphone.
It doesn't do anything through software.
It doesn't have any controls on it at all.
It's just a very good XLR microphone,
and I think for $100, you can't really go too wrong.
It's been a good few years now
that I've been recommending the RODE PodMic
as my favorite dynamic microphone at that $100 price range.
So it's really nice now
that there is a comparable microphone.
And as silly as it sounds,
I honestly think it probably comes down
to which one you'd prefer to have in your webcam frame.
What do you like the look of more,
because they're so comparable in sound,
and as I said,
you can really make either of them flourish
just by playing around with EQ
no matter what your voice sounds like.
If you want to make your microphone sound better
and you're using Wave Link,
I'd highly recommend checking out my video here
on VST plugins for the Wave Link software.
If you don't use an Elgato microphone
but you still want to make your microphone sound better,
I've, of course, got another tutorial
that covers adding those filters in OBS Studio,
which you can check out here.
Thanks as always for watching.
Now, catch you in the next one.
Peace.
(upbeat music)