Warm Audio WA-14 Microphone Review: Incredible sound at an affordable price

The review

As a consumer tech reviewer, I spend a lot of time considering what the average person thinks about a pair of headphones, speakers, or mobile accessories. But, because my background is actually in music and audio production, I’ve got plenty of uses for studio microphones. In my Warm Audio WA-14 Microphone review, I’m going to try to give you an honest opinion on how I think this mic sounds—from someone who doesn’t own a small fortune’s worth of high-end studio microphones.

One fun thing: I actually got this microphone in Warm Audio’s mystery box promotion. I’d never actually owned a Warm microphone, but have heard them in a bunch of friends’ studios. Recently, Warm Audio launched a fun little promotion where you pay $250 to get a mystery box containing at least one of any microphone in their line. And, seeing as the cheapest microphone in their lineup is $299, it felt like a fun, gamified way for me to try out the brand for myself. The WA-14 comes in at around $400 new, so I definitely got a pretty good deal. But how do I like it? Read on, my friend.

Sound quality

The sound quality of a microphone is so maddeningly subjective that I find it really hard to review them. With headphones, you can use phrases like “powerful bass” or “detailed treble”, and people will generally know what you’re saying. But with a studio microphone, the stakes are higher. If I say that a microphone is clear and crisp, and you try to use it in your studio, it better bring that detail and sparkle! If not, then it’s a pretty useless tool for you—if that’s the sound you want. But all that is to say… I’m going to try to just honestly tell you whether I like the sound of this microphone, for my imperfectly subjective purposes.

Okay, enough preamble. The WA-14 is a pretty good microphone! I’ve never tried the AKG 414 microphone that it’s based on (Warm Audio basically only releases clones of other microphones), but I can say that what I’ve seen written about 414 microphones confirms that it seems to do the job it’s aiming for. It’s a really even-sounding microphone, and it delivers a level of detail in the highs and upper mids that I don’t actually have in my other studio tools. 

But if I really want a lot of detail, I typically go for my sE7 smaller condenser microphones. What I need with the WA-14 is warmth, too. This type of microphone is known as a “workhorse” microphone because it’ll work adequately for lots of sources. For my Gibson J-45, it captures a nice amount of creamy mids, without boxing things out with too much low end. Score. For vocals, it feels a little more sterile than I was hoping, but that could be because I’m used to recording with cheaper condenser microphones that really color my sound. What I do like is that this microphone sounds nice for post-processing, giving me a lot of control on the back end with EQ and compression to mold it to what I want. If you want something that is more than a one-trick pony, this is great, but it may not elevate your specific use-case as much as you may want. 

Here’s how it sounds on my J-45 (mixed with a little of the sE7 on the neck):

I hear a lot of reviews that talk about “cheap-looking” or “cheap-feeling” microphones. Perhaps it’s because the last time I really bought a cheap microphone was when I was in high school (shout out MXL), but I can’t remember the last time I pulled a microphone out of the box and thought “man, this thing is cheap”. But still, it’s worth noting that the WA-14 feels weighty and solid. It has premium metal grills on the front and back that don’t appear to have any weird build idiosyncrasies. 

And this consistency carries through to the design as well. Everything looks clean and streamlined. The size of the chassis itself is bigger than smaller 414-style microphones which may not be ideal if you want something unassuming for a podcast video shoot or something. But overall, the rectangular design and XLR-sheath mount all make for a familiar look and feel. One minor gripe is that the switches to toggle polar patterns and pads (more on those in a minute) feel somewhat unrefined. They don’t line up exactly with the labels, so I found myself questioning which pattern the mic was in until I actually felt where the switch was sitting with my fingers. Not the biggest deal, but worth noting.

The price and value offering I unearthed in my Warm Audio WA-14 review was perhaps most surprising to me. First off, at the full $400 list price, this microphone is… fine. It’s a harder sell, because you can get an AKG 214 (the 414’s little brother) for close to that price and ostensibly get a more honest recreation of the sound. Obviously for the $250 price point, ordered new directly from Warm Audio via their mystery box promotion is a good deal. And if you can find one used for around $200-250, then it’ll definitely feel like a good value. 

Some of that value comes from the interesting functionality on display. 414-style microphones are known for their switchable polar patterns, and that’s available here. It’s a really useful feature, unlocking the more expected cardioid pattern for front-address use-cases, while also including omnidirectional recording for room micing, and even figure eight recording if you have a duet application. If the WA-14 was just a cardioid microphone, it certainly wouldn’t feel as well well-valued, but with these added features it’s a nice offering.

In my review of the Warm Audio WA-14 I really enjoyed the accessory offering that the package came with. Because there was both a standard clip and a high-quality, size-matched shockmount, I was able to test a few different scenarios in my workflow. I was able to record some live performances of acoustic and singing without fear of vibrations, but I also used the standard clip when quickly swapping the microphone around the room for amp micing.

It’s important to note that Warm Audio sells the WA-14 in a stereo pair package that comes with a few more things, such as a stereo mounting bar and a high-quality hard case. My kit didn’t come with this, and instead had a simple bag. I will say that the box ships with a high-density foam insert for transit safety, and I could see slotting that directly into a flight case and having a makeshift case for it. But that’s, perhaps, not necessary. Overall, there’s nothing super inspiring about the package, but there are some microphones especially at this price point that don’t ship with any shockmount so it was nice to see.