Wave Link 3.5 adds a built-in soundboard and two-computer audio to our free audio mixing software for Windows and Mac. You can play sound effects from Stream Deck and send whole mixes from a gaming PC to a streaming PC over your home network. If you’re new to Wave Link, our Wave Link 3.0 overview explains how channels and mixes work.
Open Soundboard in the sidebar and drag your sound effects and clips onto the board. Your sounds play into a channel of their own, which you mix like any other source: loud on stream, quieter in your headphones.
No sounds yet? Find one on Myinstants and click Add to Wave Link on its page. The sound goes straight onto your board, ready to trim and play.
Wave Link reads MP3, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC, FLAC, and WMA files. Before a sound goes on the board, you can trim it on a waveform, add fades, and give it an emoji or your own image. Group sounds into categories, give each one a keyboard shortcut, and pick a playback mode:
Turn on Use shortcuts in the background in the board settings, and your shortcuts keep working while a game is in focus. For a full walkthrough, see how to make a free soundboard for your PC.
Drag a sound from the soundboard onto a Stream Deck key to play it without switching to Wave Link. Tap the key and the sound plays into the same channel, with the playback mode, volume, trim, and fades you set in Wave Link. When you rename or remove a sound, the key updates right away.
The soundboard action comes with the latest version of the Wave Link plugin, so update the plugin in the Stream Deck app before you start.
Wave Cast is now part of Wave Link. If you game on one computer and stream from another, you can send any mix between them over your local network, with all of its channels, volumes, and effects. Both computers can send and receive at the same time, and each can send more than one mix.
Audio from the other computer arrives as a regular channel, so you can add effects to it and route it into your stream mix. Your mic sits in a mix too, so sending that mix shares your mic and its effects with the other computer. With Remote Mixer, you can adjust the other computer’s mixes and add channels to it without switching computers.
Wave Link shows each connection’s stability and latency, and it blocks any routing that would create an audio loop.
Wave Cast requires a license from Elgato Marketplace. You activate it in Wave Link by signing in with your Elgato account or entering your license key. Both computers need to be on the same network and run the same version of Wave Link. Our guide to setting up dual-PC audio with Wave Cast in Wave Link covers it step by step.
Smart Switch moves your audio to the right device when you plug something in or unplug it. Rank your headset and speakers once, and Wave Link sends your main output to the highest-ranked device that’s connected.
Turn it on from the main output selection in the Mixer, then drag devices to set their order. A device you unplug stays on the list and takes over again when you reconnect it. Smart Switch stays off until you turn it on, and picking a device by hand switches you back to manual.
The device Smart Switch picks plays the mix you’re listening to. A device can only play one mix, so if it was the output for another mix, like your stream mix, Wave Link removes it from that one. You’ll find the full setup in how to automatically switch audio output on Windows and Mac.
When you can hear something but your stream can’t, open Audio Flow in the sidebar. It lays out your setup in four columns: inputs, channels, mixes, and outputs. Click any card to highlight the path that audio takes, and everything else dims.
Each card shows its volume, its level in every mix, and whether it’s muted. The Potential issues list points out common reasons audio goes missing, such as a muted mix or a channel that isn’t in any mix, and jumps to the one causing it.
Audio Flow is for viewing only. You make routing changes in the Mixer, and Audio Flow updates as soon as you do, including changes from Stream Deck or a knob on your device.
Wave Link now saves versions of your whole setup, including channels, mixes, device settings, and soundboard entries. Automatic backups happen whenever your setup changes and before every update, and you can save and name your own. Before you restore, a preview compares the backup with your current setup. Find it under Settings > Restore.
Some Wave Link driver updates make Windows re-detect your audio devices, which can reset the audio sources in OBS Studio. Wave Link now backs up your OBS audio setup, including each source’s device, volume, and track assignments, and offers to restore it after an update. It needs OBS Studio 28 or later with its WebSocket server turned on. Find it under Settings > OBS Studio.
Compact view now comes in a horizontal layout: a wide window with your channel faders side by side and a mix selector and master fader on the right. It fits wide secondary screens and touch displays like CORSAIR XENEON EDGE. The vertical layout is still there.
Wave Link now runs in 14 languages, the same set as Elgato Studio, up from English and Japanese in Wave Link 3.0. It follows your system language, and you can pick another in the settings.
With Wave Link 3.5, you can add sounds from Myinstants and play them without leaving your game, keep your audio on whichever headset or speakers are connected, trace missing audio in one view, and run one mix across two PCs. It’s free for Windows and Mac, with a Wave Cast license for dual-PC setups. Update from Settings > Updates in Wave Link, or download Wave Link 3.5.
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