When the JOBY Wavo POD Microphone and Wavo Boom Arm were delivered to me I was surprised by the weight of the box. It had a fair amount of heft to it and it was solid.
Unpacking it I put the POD microphone to one side to examine the Boom Arm. Here was the weight I felt. I’m not usually one to praise the build quality of an item purely by weight, but you can tell at first glance that this Boom Arm is made from high-quality materials.
To be fair, the same can be said of the microphone, too. The base plate of which would easily break a bone if you were to drop it on your foot. The two combined make for an attractive pair, in the signature black and red, and they’re a match made in heaven.
The JOBY Wavo Boom Arm Review
Let’s start with the Boom Arm. I was pleasantly surprised by the overall feel. The weighty metal allows for solid positioning without any worries that the arm will suddenly drop out of place or stray from position while making small adjustments. There is a universal adapter which means it can hold several microphones, as well as cameras, making it perfect for a streaming setup.
The wires from your hardware can be neatly packed away inside a groove within the Boom Arm, covered by the black or red trim, which makes everything look super clean. The clamp which fixes to your desk or furniture is trimmed with red rubber to further accent and also protects your surfaces from the clamp squeeze.
The Boom Arm also comes with a cup holder, below which is a small shelf for your headphones. Personally, this was a little cumbersome and added too much weight to my desk. Thankfully, this can be easily removed to save space or make for a more streamlined look.
JOBY Wavo POD Microphone Review
Now to the mic. The JOBY Wavo POD microphone is sold as a simple plug-and-play microphone, ideal for podcasters and streamers. It certainly lives up to this, as setting up the hardware was a breeze.
Now, this is where I wear my shame on my sleeve and admit I’m not overly familiar with advanced tech. I know good quality and good sound, but if I had to run this mic through different ports or separate hardware I would have been lost.
I popped the mic into the USB port and jumped onto OBS to test out the sound, giving it a ‘check one two’ to test the mic briefly. The sound was crisp and there was a warmth to my voice when I listened back. Over the following days, I put the mic through several tests, including a D&D game, a Discord catch-up call, a ‘mock podcast’ and a voiceover for a future video.
In all of these scenarios, my sound quality was noticed by other participants – the warmth of the voice stayed, and consonants came through nice and clean. The built-in pop filter does a great job of clearing out those pesky hard speech sounds.
It must be made clear, though, this isn’t an XLR mic, you aren’t going to sound like your favorite streamer who is using a setup worth several times the cost of this mic.
Having said that, the JOBY Wavo POD microphone is a brilliant mic for its cost. There’s potential for recording group conversations using the omnidirectional direction capture, while it can also be used for solo voice recording in the next moment. In the former situation, it might pick up some background noise as the POD struggles a little to keep everything clear. And if you have a strong baritone voice, the POD lacks the bass to carry the character through to a recording.
Where the POD comes into its own is in its hardware features; the volume knob can be used to manage standard volume, or switched quickly over to controlling the mic gain, though it’s a little fiddly. The headphone port has zero lag and the extra button you can see will switch between cardioid and omnidirectional modes. Overall, the JOBY Wavo POD mic is a neat and compact microphone with a few bells and whistles that will elevate it above several other microphones on the market.
Verdict
The JOBY Wavo POD mic positions itself nicely for streamers, YouTubers, and podcasters who want something clean and simple without breaking the bank. Add in the Wavo Boom Arm and you have a professional feel for under $200. Both of these JOBY products are as versatile as they are easy to use; with plenty of knobs and dials to change positions, the tension in the Boom Arm, or angles at which the mic will sit.
As someone who is just venturing into creating more video content, this microphone and Boom Arm is a dream combo. If you look past the small niggles in the atmospheric pickup and the lack of bass, you have a great-looking setup with superior build quality, that will elevate a beginner’s setup a great deal.
Photos and words by Daniel Lipscombe. Review units provided by JOBY.
