Our favourite USB mic for streaming is down to £50 at Amazon
The Elgato Wave:1 sounds incredible at this price point, with excellent software and controls to boot.
Perhaps the most important part of a streaming or content creation setup is your microphone, given that without it, people won't be able to hear what you're saying - and no, headset mics don't cut it. With this deal on the Elgato Wave:1 on Amazon pushing it down to under 50 big ones, getting a great mic doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg either.
Admittedly, the Wave:1 may not be the biggest of microphones, but don't let its diminuitive size fool you. It's a minimalistic looking microphone with a built-in pop filter and a sleek, classy design. Its audio is rich and full-bodied too, with good levels of clarity that should definitely be able to take your audio game up a notch, and therefore the production value of your streams or videos.
The Wave:1 also features clever trickery in the form of its 'ClipGuard' feature, which makes it especially difficult for you to fudge up a recording. It works by recording audio at two sensitivity levels at all times - one at a level you choose, the other at 20dB lower. If the recorded audio gets too loud on the standard track because someone's shouted or gotten too close to the mic, the Wave:1 will seamlessly switch to using the less sensitive setting while the clipping occurs. That means in situations where you'd otherwise have ununsable audio, you get a result that sounds as if you never clipped at all.
Unlike a lot of other USB mics, the Wave:1 also comes with some handy additional software, called Wave Link. This app works similarly to apps like Virtual Audio Cable, letting you have separate mixes for what is recorded, what is streamed and what you hear, for example. It's also super straightforward to change mic settings and is plumbed into the likes of the Elgato Stream Deck, so you can adjust settings with the touch of the button.
For a touch under £50, the Wave:1 is a solid USB microphone that's certainly punching above its weight, not least with regards to its sleek design, quality feature set and audio, as well as the clever software trickery it's capable of, too. The £150 Wave 3 is our 'best USB mic' pick, but its little brother is even more impressive at this reduced price point.