Can the Elgato Wave 3 USB microphone power a pair of 250 Ohm headphones? We plugged in our Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro headphones to find out.
Quick Answer: Yes! We were shocked, but the Elgato Wave 3 does a pretty good job powering 250 Ohm headphones. For the best results, we generally had the microphone level set to 4 out of 7 and the headphone volume set to 6 out of 7.
Listening To Music
Listening to music from your collection or a streaming service like Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Music, you will be playing finished, normalized compressed audio.
The Elgato Wave 3 did a great job of delivering enough power to create an immersive listening experience through our 250 Ohm headphones. Setting the music audio channel level in Elgato Wave Link to 50%-55% was just about right for our preferences.
Audio & Video Editing
When editing audio and video, you’re working with raw audio files that haven’t been normalized, compressed, or brought up to the required loudness of the finished product.
The Elgato Wave 3 didn’t struggle and delivered sufficient power to our DT 990s at an output channel setting of around 65%-70%. We were really happy with how this USB microphone performed.
Vocal Monitoring
Whether you’re live streaming, recording a talking head, or making a YouTube tutorial video, you’re speaking directly into the microphone and monitoring it live through your headphones.
It wasn’t a flawless experience, but with the headphone volume set to 6 out 7 on the microphone and levels raised to 100% in Elgato Wave Link, we were pretty happy with the output from our 250 Ohm headphones. We noticed a little bit of hiss, but then this is pushing the headphone amp pretty hard.
Elgato Wave 3 & 250 Ohm Headphones Pricing & Specs
- Elgato Wave 3 USB Microphone: https://currentprice.io/elgato_wave3
- Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250 Ohm Headphones: https://currentprice.io/beyer_dt_990
- Mic Stand: https://currentprice.io/desk_stand
- Rode PSA1 Boom Arm: https://currentprice.io/boom_arm
