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There isn't quite the same hard rejection of sound as there is with more expensive studio-quality mics, but there is a noticeable difference between the Pod's two patterns, which should be fine for most streaming situations. Similarly, recording musical sources can enjoy the same flexibility. The omni and cardioid options are intended to enable the user to switch from a two-way conversation in a podcast to just the presenter's voice, for example. With the polar pattern switch, you also have two 'flavours' of signal pickup to choose from. You'll never have sounded so good to your colleagues. Equally, we can't ignore Zoom and Teams calls in 2023 for all those delightful online presentations and meetings. You can just as readily use the Pod with, say, Garageband on an iPad to record vocals, acoustic instruments, guitar amps, percussion and the like. We say singing, because this is a microphone just like any other. There's also a 3.5mm headphone port on the mic itself, so you can soundcheck your own levels and tone, along with that bright red pop filter to dampen plosives in speech or singing. It's easy enough to get the hang of this in short time. headphone volume is blue, gain is purple, mute is red.

The various levels are accessed via a multifunction knob with a colour-coded indicator system, e.g. Having that degree of hands-on physical interaction can really elevate a product in an era of apps and digital control panels.

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Physical volume, mute and gain controls are all built into the Pod's body, so it's easy to make fine adjustments to levels without having to revert to fiddly software interface. Unless you're really screaming into it from close range, you shouldn't have any problems with overloading this mic to distortion – unless you're deliberately going for that in-your-face Howard Stern aesthetic. Pod's frequency response is stated as being the ubiquitous 20Hz-20kHz, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 80dB, around 40dB of gain and capable of handling a maximum SPL (sound pressure level) of 110dB. It is USB only, no XLR, so you can't plug this mic into your audio interface: effectively, it is its own interface. The Wavo Pod (Pod by name, podcast by nature) is a good-looking, good-quality, large-diaphragm, condenser electret microphone, with omnidirectional or cardioid polar patterns, 24bit/48kHz audio conversion and a bus-powered USB-C connection for most laptops, tablets and smartphones. Decked out in the vivid signature Wavo black and red livery, these are products with a visual as well as a sonic impact. Joby's Wavo Pod streamer kit bundles together two essential tools of the streaming trade, with the Wavo Pod microphone and the Wavo Boom Arm.

If that mic could also be neatly paired with a professional, adjustable boom arm – personal radio station-stylee (hey, there's another potentially money-spinning idea) – you'd have all the makings of a future streaming star. With your voice as the primary vessel through which your message will be delivered unto the world, it makes sense to have a decent microphone picking up your pearls of wisdom. As a main gig, a potentially lucrative side hustle or simply as a personal forum through which to get a few things off your chest, streaming, vlogging and podcasting could be the way to go, as many an enterprising soul has already demonstrated.

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