Elgato Wave Mic Arm Pro
· Audio · Microphones · 7:24
In this episode, we have a look at the Elgato Wave Mic Arm Pro. This is a low-profile microphone arm that you attach to your desk for live-streaming, podcasting, online meetings, or voice over. Low-profile means that the arm is positioned close to the desk and holds the microphone below your face so you don’t have a huge microphone and arm in your video frame. We compare this to a bunch of other mic arms I’ve used and still use from OC White, Yellowtec, RODE, and even Elgato’s original LP arm.
Gear used or mentioned
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- Elgato Wave Mic Arm Pro
- OC White Ultima Gen 2 — low profile mic arm
- RODE PSA1+ — mic arm
- Elgato Wave Mic Arm LP — (original)
Read the transcript
This episode reviews the Elgato Wave Mic Arm Pro against several other microphone arms I’ve owned or used over the years for livestreaming, voiceover, and podcasting: a Heil, a Rode PSA1, a Rode PSA1+, an Elgato Wave LP (low profile), a Yellowtec Mika (a premium German arm around $300-400), and my current daily-use OC White Ultima Gen 2 low-profile arm (over $400).
What makes this the “Pro” version of Elgato’s original low-profile arm: a spring-damped upper arm supporting mics up to 6.6 lbs (3kg), adjustable via an Allen screw, that moves very smoothly with minimal handling noise even on a sensitive condenser; much stronger cable-management magnets (strong enough that this feels like more of a semi-permanent install than something you’d frequently reconfigure); the cable channel relocated to the bottom of the arm for a cleaner on-camera look; swappable colored magnetic caps (purple in this review, also available in white for the whole arm); and an included riser that extends the lower arm’s height from 6cm to 10cm. Priced at $179.
Build quality is excellent — all metal except the plastic adjustment knob on the ball joint. It has a standard 1/4-inch microphone thread plus included 3/8-inch and 5/8-inch adapters, so it should fit essentially any microphone, and it comfortably accommodates a Shure SM7B’s bulky side-XLR yoke. It includes a padded desk clamp (fits desks up to 2.4 inches / 6cm thick) with a repositionable handle, or you can buy Elgato’s separate desk-mount plate for a permanent install.
If I were buying today, having used all these arms, I’d get the Wave Mic Arm Pro over my $450 OC White Ultima Gen 2 — the construction feels every bit as good for less than half the price. One nuance some people will care about: many pro arms maintain the microphone’s aim automatically as you raise or lower a traditional vertical arm, but on a low-profile arm like this one (and my OC White), the mic stays in a fixed static aim as you adjust height, which matters if you frequently move from sitting to standing mid-recording. For my desk setup at work I still prefer the Yellowtec Mika’s shape for clearing my monitors, but for livestreaming with a low-profile arm, the Wave Mic Arm Pro would be my pick today. Get out there, make some great sound. We’ll talk to you soon.