The Video
It was time for me to retire my Blue Yeti mic after a reliable 11 years in action! The Wave 3 from Elgato was the perfect successor—from great audio quality to the new Voice Focus feature in Wave Link 2.0. Check out my unboxing and setup video that is up on YouTube! If you want to jump right into the video, here it is. If you want to dive into more detail, I've expanded upon my thoughts below.
Time For an Upgrade
I've been using the Blue Yeti mic for 11 years now and it has done me well the entire way! The audio quality has been solid, no complaints. So why am I replacing it? Well, I can break it down to two key reasons.
The first is I want a smaller mic that is more portable so I can use it with my PC setup at my desk and with my Macbook Pro on the go. I also was a fool and got rid of the stand for the Yeti after I bought a desk arm for it 😬.
The second reason is that along with the Wave 3, I would get access to Elgato's Wave Link software! I have wanted this software for quite a while to set up my audio sources for routing into OBS for streaming and recording setups. Also, with the recent release of Wave Link 2.0, the introduced a feature called Voice Focus—it's an AI noise removal tool that doesn't impede on CPU performance and keeps your voice sounding clear.
Why Stick with USB Instead of Upgrading to XLR?
Lots of people love their Shure SM7B's, and even Elgato has their own XLR mic called the Wave DX. Stepping into the world of XLR means also acquiring more gear to run the setup. There are pre-amps and mixers to consider which can make things a bit more complicated. It's a fun challenge to pick out those pieces and assemble a kit, I love that kinda stuff—one day when I've got the budget I will definitely be kitting out my desk setup with some hardcore audio gear. But it is not that time. For now, I need something simple to use that works well!
Elgato really has their market thought out—they have the Wave XLR, an audio interface for powering your XLR mic. Even though it looks simple, it's a great solution for many. It's got the phantom power you need to power even more expensive XLR mics, and you get access to their Wave Link software as well! That is super handy—I've only scratched the surface of it and I can see just how useful it is.
(Product image from the Elgato webisite)
Since we are here talking about this audio stuff, it's important to note that the Wave Link software only works with the Wave 1 & 3 mics + XLR mics, not other digital mics. The Wave 1 + 3 mics are built with specific hardware that makes the digital signal compatible with the features of Wave Link, and XLR audio signals are analog so there is room for manipulation within the Wave Link app.
So why didn't I go for this and get the Wave DX or another XLR mic? Well, part of it is the increased cost of multiple components, but the bigger factor is what I mentioned in the beginning of this post: portability. I will mainly be using the Wave 3 as part of my desk setup, but it's super easy to take off the arm and set up with my laptop on the go. All I need at the ready is the base and a USB-C cable. Going XLR would lock me in to a singular setup.
That being said, when I do go to upgrade my audio setup down the road, I can go full XLR and keep the Wave 3 at the ready as a dedicated travel mic! Until then, it'll serve as my main mic as I break out into the world of content creation.
