Elgato Wave Mic Arm LP vs. Rode PSA 1: Which is the Boom for You?

Since it's release the Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile has done everything but keep a low profile. It's become insanely popular, but how does it stand up against the RØDE PSA-1?

As you might know, the RØDE PSA-1 has been my mic boom arm of choice for many, many years. Between personal and work use, I’ve purchased and used about 20 of them. They hold up to years of use/abuse from high school students, so that says just about everything you need to know about reliability. 

But sometimes a tall “traditional” boom arm isn’t super practical. What does a low profile arm get you that a regular arm doesn’t? Right off the bat and somewhat obviously, having a low profile is the biggest feature. Boom arms like the RØDE PSA-1 have been used in radio broadcasting and audio production for decades, but they have one simple goal: get the microphone as close to the speaker's face as possible.

So it doesn't matter what angle it's coming from or how high up it is. Its main job is just to position the microphone in front of your face. But as video podcasts, streams, and audio production have become more and more popular, now it's a problem if you have a microphone in front of your face the whole time.

And that's where a low profile arm can really save the day because it can position the mic where you want it but it doesn't block your face, it doesn't block the camera, and it doesn't block conversation with other people.

If you've been looking at low-profile boom arms for a while, the Elgato might look similar to some of the OC White arms, which are extremely high end, but also much more expensive. The Elgato is great, but it’s not quite at the same level as something like an OC White. 

The Elgato LP arm has two main sections and at the end there’s a ball mount, which is pretty sturdy. And what's interesting is that it has a 1/4 20 mount on it, which is unusual for mic arms. But it comes with adapter to use any regular mic with it straight out of the box.

Each joint and all of the spring tension can be easily adjusted with an allen key. If you take the ball mount off, there's a weird seemingly unique/proprietary mount underneath. This means you’re basically stuck using the Elgato ball head, but the good news is that it’s super sturdy and versatile. 

One of the other cool things about the LP arm is the cable management system. Each of the two main arm sections has a magnetic metal cover that goes over the cable channel. The problem though– and this is the biggest issue with the arm itself– is how easy these covers pop off. As soon as any tension is put on the mic cable, it’ll pull up and pop open the metal cover. Not the biggest deal in the world, but you will encounter this basically any time you move the arm to a new position and it gets frustrating quickly. 

Beyond that the only other negative, which is not related to this arm specifically but applies to all low profile arms, is the fact that they do have the potential to get in the way of things depending on how you have them set up.

If you're somebody who's going to be using your laptop, tablet, and keyboard with the arm, there’s a good chance the arm will block your view/use whereas a traditional arm can more easily be positioned to stay out of the way. 

Ultimately you can’t go wrong with either style of boom arm, it just depends on your specific workspace, use case, and preference. Good luck arming yourself with the best arm for you!

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