Joby Wafo Pod: Specifications
Contact: USB
Ports: USB-C, 3.5 mm jack
Capacitors: electret
trend patterns: My heart, multi-directional
Size: 3.9 x 3.9 x 9.4 inches
Weight: 1.58 lbs (with stand)
This is one of Joby’s latest projects (called Joe-bee) in the world of microphones. Perhaps best known for its range of flexible tripods like the Joby GripTight One GP Stand & Mount in our Best iPhone Stand Guide.
Expanding its reach by moving into the world of streaming mics, the new Joby Wavo Pod is an all-in-one mic aimed at beginners. It has a few interesting tricks up its sleeve, but be sure to really write down your requirements if you’re considering this mic.
Podcasting is something Joby says the Wavo mic is also great at, but a new mic that’s beginner-friendly and universally flexible for broadcast and podcast tasks? I do not think so. Sure, the Joby Wavo Pod sells itself very well, but we rarely find a mic under $100 and it truly is the Swiss army knife of the home recording studio.
Read this full Joby Wavo Pod review to see if the skill set is right for your needs.
Joby Wavo Pod Review: Price and Availability
- attractive price
- Black and red may not be to everyone’s liking
Joby Wavo Pod is priced at $99 and available on Joby official website (Opens in a new tab)best buy (Opens in a new tab) And the Amazon (Opens in a new tab). It is only available in black and comes with a red pop filter.
Joby Wavo Pod: Accessories
- Equipped with a pop filter
- 2 USB cables
The Wavo Pod comes with a red metal “pop” filter and a stand that feels heavy well but at the same time isn’t the most durable. It is also worth noting that when Gopi was taken out of its case, some of the pillow-like pads fell into the stand. This wasn’t a huge problem, but having this out of the box makes me question the build quality of the product overall.
USB-C-to-USB-C and USB-C-to-USB-A cables are provided, making it practical to use on the go with phones and tablets, as well as on laptops and desktops, and is pretty easy to set up and use Immediately.
Joby Wavo Pod Review: Design
- Versatile connection
- Chunky design
Joby obviously wants to stick with the brand’s familiar black and red color path, and here the main body of the microphone is a nice matte black, while the accompanying pop filter accessory has a bright red color. Whether this is a good fit for your broadcast setup depends on the look and feel you want to present on camera, and the color palette can either make an elegant statement or appear like a sore thumb.
The Wavo Pod is about 9.5 inches high, and comes up to a comfortable height to be level with my mouth on the included stand sitting on my desktop, but this obviously will depend on the height of the table or desk it is placed on. For best mobility, you may prefer to place it in a desk arm. Despite its large dimensions and weight at 1.58 pounds, it works well in my setup, but this may be something to consider for your particular setup.
The stand itself has two hook holes to enable Joby add-ons and accessories, providing an extra degree of flexibility for any new streaming device or podcaster.
Joby Wavo Pod Review: Features
- Cardioid and multi-directional selection patterns
- Microphone gain and headphone volume control
- Some minor usability issues
The Wavo Pod has many welcome features on the microphone itself, and you can select cardioid or omnidirectional patterns via a small button on the front, below the main function dial. The main control with the blue outer ring provides microphone gain adjustment, as well as output level control for a pair of headphones plugged into the 3.5mm jack jack at the base of the microphone. To switch between these two modes, users simply long press on the main control. Finally, one short press completely mutes the microphone input.
While some of these features are useful, when pressing the mute button I found that it produced a clicking sound, which was a bit annoying while recording. Also, the dial is not clear. There is no mark or indentation on the dial itself to indicate the position it is set to, and it can be flipped continuously without stopping, making it somewhat impractical.
Joby Wavo Pod Review: Sound Quality
For comparison, I tested the Joby Wavo Pod against two cheaper USB mics: the Razer Seiren Mini ($50) and the Neewer NW-800 (about $22).
In general, Joby’s voice output was just fine. Its features bring it closer to the asking price, rather than the more affordable models mentioned above.
In terms of performance, though, I felt Joby was doing Razer for half the price. The Wavo Pod’s sound is located a lot in the front of the stage and doesn’t seem to pick up nearly as low frequencies as the Razer, and Joby’s output has the sound characteristic of a walky-talky. This may be okay for broadcasting, but for voice work or anything accompanying music, the Joby Wavo Pod doesn’t sound like the best mic for the job.
For podcasts, things don’t work very well either. Joby advertises the microphone for single use where the microphone sits between two people thanks to the omnidirectional pickup pattern. This is rarely a good idea – for this podcast situation the best idea is to use two separate microphones – and Joby doesn’t do well here either. During my tests, I picked up a lot more than the two subjects talked about, which wasn’t satisfactory if you thought you could get two of the above mics I chose for comparison at a lower or the same price and get better results.
The cardioid mode is definitely more useful than the two pickup styles, and much better at capturing everything right in front of the mic without being affected by ambient noise in the room or off-mic conversations. The difference makes Wavo Pod a more professional audio streaming setup.
Unfortunately, the supplied metallic pop filter doesn’t really add any value. This net-like grille is mounted on the front of the microphone, and during my tests I couldn’t hear any difference in the microphone’s sound performance. I regularly use a pop filter for voiceover recordings, but the Joby extension didn’t prevent pops or beeps from appearing and entering into the recording.
Joby Wavo Pod Review: Verdict
At around $100, it’s hard to recommend the Joby microphone as an entry-level model. There are a lot of top performing contenders that have the same kind of features at a lower price than Joby is asking.
If I had to recommend the Wavo Pod, it would be to rookie streamers as it performed better in my test. But if you’re a podcaster or a voiceover person, I’d recommend looking at the likes of the Rode PodMic or the Blue Yeti. Both are $99, and are some of the best podcast mics in our buying guide.
[ad_2]
