Key Takeaways
- The Wave Neo offers superior audio quality and noise rejection.
- Elgato’s Wave Link software setup adds depth with helpful effects.
- The microphone suffers from wobbly assembly and a sensitive mute button.
The Elgato Wave Neo is a high-quality entry-level mic for beginner creators and working professionals alike. It features easy setup, great audio quality, and access to Elgato’s superior Wave Link software, but its simplicity may also hold it back for more advanced users.
Elgato Wave Neo
The Elgato Wave Neo is an entry-level cardioid condenser USB microphone. It offers superior audio quality, a simple setup with its Wave Link software, and a sleek build, with its only flaws being a relatively flimsy build and an overly sensitive mute button.
- Superb audio quality
- Great noise rejection
- Wave Link software is easy to set up and adds great depth
- Sustainable design and recyclable packaging
- Relatively affordable price, giving great value
- Flimsy connectivity between accessories
- Capacitive mute button is too sensitive and easy to accidentally toggle
Price and Availability
The Elgato Wave Neo retails for $89.99 and is available on Amazon, Target, and Elgato. If you purchase from Elgato directly, you can customize the color of your pop filter for free.
Build Quality Borders Between Flimsy and Premium
Elgato generally makes products that feel premium, both in terms of appearance and operation. The Wave Neo does feel premium, with a sturdy base, a custom USB-C to USB-A cable that sits flush in its port, a cable guide on its base extender, and an obvious light indicator that you can tap to toggle the device’s mute. The completely recyclable packaging is also intuitive to sort through, well-packed, and stylish.
Aspects of the Wave Neo’s physical build feel slightly subpar to the typical Elgato experience. For example, the Wave 1, which was $99 for most of its release and even dropped as low as $50 on sale, seems to have similar features but with mostly superior build quality. It has a metal pop filter rather than foam, as well as a volume knob for on-the-fly adjustments.
Similarly, the Neo’s capacitive mute toggle is too easy to switch. I found myself gently bumping the mic and unintentionally muting it while testing and during calls. You don’t even need to touch the mute button to toggle it, as it seems to respond to conductivity—my hand, my phone, and a metal object could toggle it, but a plastic pen couldn’t. This is a minor complaint; you will likely unintentionally bump it less over time.
For a $90 mic, the Wave Neo is a bit more flimsy than I’d like. Every component feels premium, but it’s just a bit too loose on its base to match Elgato’s usual premium feel, as it is a bit wobbly. However, a mic is for recording audio, not to be looked at. Even then, the Wave Neo does look good in its simplicity and white color, but be warned that the foam pop filter is a magnet for loose pet fur.
Elgato Makes Setup a Breeze
Elgato creates extremely user-friendly products: out-of-the-box settings are generally just right, and any other setup is fairly self-explanatory. The Wave Neo is just the same, with good plug-and-play functionality by default and intuitive setup out of the box.
To use the mic, you can either plug it in and use the device’s raw audio or download the Wave Link software from Elgato’s website (available for Windows and Mac) to add effects such as noise cancelation. Even without Wave Link, the mic’s raw audio is impressive.
Raw Audio Quality Is Great for the Price
For a $90 microphone, the Wave Neo’s audio quality is incredibly good. If you remove the pop filter, you’ll find that the mic’s diaphragm is far larger than you’d expect, which is generally a good sign. You can hear a sample of the out-of-box audio below.
I found the default audio quiet, so I increased the mic’s gain in Wave Link to +8 for the remaining clips to make them more audible without post-processing. Next, I’ll compare how it sounds from different distances: 6 inches, 12 inches, 24 inches, and across my room.
Overall, the raw audio is far beyond what I’d expect from a $90 mic, and any complaints I had about the somewhat flimsy build have been more than made up for.
The Wave Neo Handles Noise Surprisingly Well
As a condenser mic, the Wave Neo is a bit noise-sensitive, but you don’t need a studio setup to make it work well—just good mic technique and gain control. In fact, it rejects noise far better than I expected.
You can hear how little noise impacts raw audio below, with my fan on high, as well as some handling noise tests.
Next, with no filters or effects, you can see how well it rejects sound not coming from the front as I rotate the mic around.
Overall, the Wave Neo does a surprisingly good job at rejecting noise, and it fares especially well with rejecting taps and handling noise for a mic with no dedicated shock mount.
Wave Link Adds Layers of Depth
Elgato’s software Wave Link provides extreme depth to all of its microphones, with functions that even work on non-Elgato mics if you have an Elgato mic or Stream Deck+ plugged in. It is a simple yet deep audio mixing software that allows for adding audio effects via software, some degree of audio mixing, and then using the mic with effects and mixed audio as new audio input sources, labeled as Wave Link MicrophoneFX and Wave Link Stream, respectively.
Elgato provides some free, home-cooked effects on this front through the Elgato Marketplace on both Windows and Mac, including AI noise reduction, compression, and equalization. Here is how the mic sounds with these three effects, tailored to my voice and with no background noise.
Next, I’ll do a similar background noise test with these effects in place. You’ll hear even less noise all around.
Wave Link also provides a myriad of downloadable community-made plugins for additional filters and effects.
Should You Buy the Elgato Wave Neo Mic?
Elgato is clearly tailoring the Neo series of products to entry-level creators and working professionals who need to upgrade their setups. For most creators, audio is among the most important things to get right, and the Wave Neo offers incredible value for $90.
I strongly recommend the Elgato Wave Neo if $100 is your absolute maximum budget for a microphone. However, if it’s your very first dedicated microphone, the simplicity of setup might make it right for you, especially if it’s on sale. For working professionals, the simplicity of using this mic makes it a compelling option, with great out-of-the-box quality, easy placement near your mouth, a clear mute indicator and toggle, and relatively simple-to-use software with great audio effects.
That said, I generally agree with the idea of “buy it nice or buy it twice.” The Wave Neo is great but not amazing. It may be one of the best entry-level options for beginners on a budget, but more experienced or tech-savvy users might want a more advanced option. I also believe in making the most of your tech, and the Elgato Wave Neo will provide you with premium quality and depth at a low price.
Elgato Wave Neo
The Elgato Wave Neo is an entry-level cardioid condenser USB microphone. It offers superior audio quality, a simple setup with its Wave Link software, and a sleek build, with its only flaws being a relatively flimsy build and an overly sensitive mute button.
