Get the Elgato Wave:1 for £49.99 (was £89.99)
I reviewed the Wave:1 when it came out in 2020, and I was really impressed by the quality that this diminutive USB mic was able to capture. The included stand is a little low, but the built-in pop filter and cardioid condenser mic combine to produce surprisingly clear and rich audio.
The best feature here is called ‘ClipGuard’, and basically it makes it much harder to stuff up a recording. Here’s how it works: at all times, the microphone is recording at two sensitivity levels. If if detects that the audio has become so loud that it starts cutting out (clipping), then it automatically switches to the less sensitive setting, thereby capturing usable audio where other microphones would capture nothing. It’s a fantastic system and worked super well in my testing; any sound engineer can tell you that it doesn’t take much to clip, so having a feature that protects against this is a godsend, particularly if you’re recording audio in a professional capacity.
The other strength of the Wave: 1 is the software, called Wave. This app lets you reroute audio through various virtual pipes, allowing you to hear, record and stream just what you’re interested in. For example, you can create different mixes for your audio and your stream’s audio, so you can listen to copyrighted music while streaming games online with completely different music. That’s only one example of course, and there’s a ton of useful stuff that you can do here.
Alternatively, you can more or less just plug it in, set up your levels, and then leave it alone, and you’ll get a great mic for recording voiceover, doing a podcast, creating videos or talking with your friends or stream viewers.
At £49.99, the Wave:1 is almost in impulse-buy territory for anyone that streams or records audio regularly, and I’d definitely encourage you to check out some reviews if this seems like a category that might include you too. Thanks for checking out this deal and stay tuned for more later!
