Today we're having a look at the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2 from Elgato. It comes in a blue stylish protective cardboard box, with unfortunately an address sticker all over the front - but it shows how durable the box is as it can be shipped without extra packing which is great.

The front of the box also mentions in the top left corner that it is compatible with popular microphones, that is quite important as you don't want to be limited to unpopular microphones - of course.


Turning the box around we find some details for the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2, such as that it can rotate 360 degrees with extended reach. It should be a quiet and smooth arm with no effort needed to move it. It is adjustable in various positions and that it should be a sturdy metal construction which should handle heavy usage. Talking about heavy, it should manage microphones up to 1.2 kilograms, are there microphones weighing this much? Sure the microphone I use normally weighs in at roughly 450 grams.

The microphone arm should also have a sturdy clamp to secure it to a desk or table edges. Cable routing channels which should be great and no logos on the mic arm, which means your videos or stream don't have to scream "Elgato" - unless you want to of course. Hinge caps are also exchangable to create a custom look for your mic arm. There should also be a riser inside the box that can help lift the mic arm further above your desk, if you for example need to clear a screen or be able to position the mic arm in a different position that would be hard or impossible without the extension.

At the end of the mic arm, where the microphone mounts to, there is a ball head with 360 degree of rotation. On the ball head there is a standard 1/4 inch screw with adapters for 3/8 and 5/8 inch threads.


Flipping the box on its back we can see size and reach of the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2. The total length from first joint to the ball head is about 950mm / 37.4 inches, with each of the two arms in the long part of the arm being 375mm / 14.8 inches long. The riser/extension is 150mm / 5.9 inches and the total height from table surface up to the first joint with the riser is 227mm / 8.9 inches or as low as 77mm / 3 inches without the riser. The highest the mic arm can reach is 850mm / 33.5 inches.

Something that also is important to know with a mic arm or anything at all really that uses pistons, is that you need a minimum load or it won't work as intended. The minimum load for the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2 is 200 grams / 0.4 lbs, and again the maximum is 1200g / 2.6 lbs.

This means that when you unpack the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2, you need to be careful as you can easily get yourself almost knocked out as it doesn't have any load on it and therefore can spring away very easily. This is also mentioned in the quick start guide.


Opening up the package reveals the quick start guide and lots more cardboard packaging, showing why this can easily be shipped without extra packaging.

Unpacking the box shows us all the pieces included with the mic arm itself, riser pin, clamp, cable channel covers and additional screws/spacers to match pretty much any microphone on the market as well as an allen key for some of the adjustments that can be made on the arm.

One thing that struck me when unpacking the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2 is the quality of the pieces, everything is made out of heavy steel - except for the cable channel covers which obviously would be quite hard to work with if they were made out of metal. The channel covers are made out of plastic, but everything else is made out of heavy steel.


The clamp itself has large enough metal arm for turning the screw of the clamp. A nice feature that you normally don't see is that there is a button on the lever which you can push to reposition the arm into a position where it doesn't interfere with anything around the mounting position, if you have limited space up against a wall perhaps. Just push the button in and rotate the arm without the screw following, a nice touch. The clamping surface inside the clamp is also fitted with foam to not scratch the surface where you can the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2 to.

Elgato could have easily went the cheap route with the screw and mounting hardware where you mount your actual microphone, but they haven't. All pieces are made out of metal and it makes it easy to tighten up all the points without breaking, like plastic would have.


The pin on the actual arm slots into the clamp, as well as the riser/extension pin, are all made of metal. The mating hole on the actual clamp is however lined with plastic which certainly could wear out over time and make the mic arm a little wobbly.

Over the joints on the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2 there are plastic covers, these can be replaced with covers with colors and different designs, available from the Elgato online shop. I'm sure that you can easily design these up, or perhaps Elgato can release the design files for these so you can 3D print these yourself and making completely custom joint covers. The same goes for the plastic insert in the table clamp, you could probably 3D print a new sleeve if the original one wears out.


The quick start guide gives all necessary information in a single sheet, and of course it mentions under the warning section to be careful with the mic arm when unloaded as the arm may snap back.

Mounting up the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2 to a table with a microphone and routing the cable in the hidden cable channels was as easy as opening the box itself. There was no confusion, nothing that was hard to understand and you can easily setup the arm within a minute or two. The finished install is incredibly beautiful and looks nothing less than professional. Even though there is no writing on the arms, so it would be hard to actually see if it is true, I'm sure these will be used in radio studios around the world thanks to its great looks, feel and also great price.


At the time of writing the price of the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2 is $119.99 USD, €119.99 EUR or 1.329 SEK.

The feel of using the arm, moving it around and position it in various ways is a top premium feel. I've used a couple of different arms in the past, both built myself and bought ready made ones and none of them has so far been as good as the Wave Mic Arm Mk.2. So if you're after a good looking and well performing microphone arm, you really should not look further - you have the perfect microphone arm right here.