What is Elgato Wave Link?

If you were wondering what Elgato Wave Link is, in this article I explain what it is, how it works and how to get it for FREE.

what is elgato wave link

Juanma Aranda

Have you heard of Elgato Wave Link? If you are a content creator, you are probably familiar with the brand "Elgato" and have a tremendous mess between the names of their products, because many of them carry the name Elgato Wave.

In this post, I explain what Elgato Wave Link is and how to get it for FREE.

Why Elgato Wave?

Elgato Wave is the name that the company Corsair has assigned to all the products that they have on the market and that are related to soundsuch as microphones, audio interface, software, microphone stands, etc.

However, although the product name starts out the same, it includes the differentiator at the end:

What is Elgato Wave Link?

Elgato Wave Link is the name given by the brand to this proprietary software, available for both Windows and Mac.

Basically, it is a digital mixer, multichannel, in which you can add different audio sources, connected to your equipment, and output everything together in a single channel. The beauty of this software is that it allows you to control the volume level of each source individually.

Keep in mind that many of today's streaming platforms (StreamYard, Restream, Melon, evmux...) only allow you to choose one audio input source for live, so Elgato Wave Link allows you to overcome this shortcoming.

This way, for example, you can get the mix of your microphone + Spotify background music, each at the volume level you want.

what is elgato wave link
Image credit: elgato

How does Elgato Wave Link work?

The operation of Elgato Wave Link is quite simple.

Audio inputs

When you install the software on your computer, it will automatically add a number of fictitious audio channels (virtual).

Then you will have to go to the advanced audio settings of your operating system and tell it to which Wave Link virtual channel you want to send the sound of each program.

For example, the sound from the Spotify application should send it to the virtual channel called "Wave Link Music". Or in your browser's sound, it should send it to the virtual channel called "Wave Link Browser".

Each virtual channel corresponds to a column of the previous image and in each one of them you have two independent volume levelersOne for your monitoring mix, and one for your streaming mix.

Mix output

The resulting mix will be output on two new channels simultaneously:

  • Monitor Mix where you must select the device through which you want to listen to the monitoring mix (speakers, headphones, etc.).

  • Stream Mix which is the result that will be output live. Remember to select it as the input source in your Streaming platform.

In addition to all of the above, each virtual channel allows you to add to it sound effectsboth those who Elgato offers you as well as third parties.

This is ideal, for example, for adding noise suppressors or equalizers to your microphone channel, which will greatly improve the final result.

It is a software freewhich is available to everyone and you can download it from the Elgato official website.

However, please note that even if you install it, the software will only work if your computer recognizes that you have an Elgato audio input device connected.

That is, you will currently need to have one of these:

Please note that the software does not work with Elgato Wave DXThis microphone does not connect directly to your computer via USB, but you need to connect it with an XLR cable to an audio interface (of any brand), so your computer is not able to recognize which microphone is the one you have connected to that audio interface.

Once the installer has been executed, all you have to do is follow all the steps that the software tells you (including disconnecting the device and reconnecting it when you are prompted).

In a few minutes you will have your Elgato Wave Link ready to mix your audio and enjoy an unparalleled experience.

Conclusion

Elgato Wave Link is a software for high value, very intuitive and easy to useThis is especially intended for content creators who need to obtain a single audio source with several channels mixed together.

If you want to multiply the experience, you can use the knobs on Elgato StreamDeck + to adjust the volume level of each virtual channel individually, or switch the sound coming into your headphones between monitoring and streaming, etc.

In short, if you have one of the items I mentioned above, don't stop using it now that you know what Elgato Wave Link is.

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