512 Audio Limelight Review | Musician Nerd
Updated on Mar 16, 2022
Table of Contents
The 512 Audio Limelight is the latest XLR Microphone to be reviewed by the Musician Nerd team. We recently reviewed another microphone made by this company, the 512 Audio Skylight, which ended up being one of our favorite microphones to work with, so we're very excited to see how the dynamic Limelight compares. Many household name brands have dominated the microphone space for decades; however, the audio needs are changing, and we're finding a lot of smaller brands are developing high-quality microphones at a more affordable price point.
512 Audio Limelight Dynamic Microphone
While the name might be new to you, 512 Audio has been around for some time, and used by very well-known artists such as Michael Buble & Green Day. Dedicated to creators, 512 Audio uses industry-leading expertise to build high-quality gear that streamlines audio production for creators, feasibly delivering a professional performance. This is very evident, having worked with one of their microphones so far.
I hope you're as excited as we are to try out the Limelight. Unlike the 512 Audio Skylight, the Limelight is strictly focused on vocals, and while it may be less versatile, we hope it excels at what it does. We'll kick off this review talking about what makes it a tremendous & what it's suitable for, and then dive into some of the downsides (if any). We'll then summarize the pros and cons & by then, you should know whether or not you want to take this one home with you!
Why It's Great
The first thing you will notice with the 512 Audio Limelight is the high-quality design. For many of us in the content creation space, looks are essential, as having a professional-looking broadcast microphone for your podcasts adds a level of authority. As good as it looks, it's also very durable. You can feel the cold steel on the construction with the metal grille inside each groove along with the capsule.
512 Audio Limelight Microphone Capsule
The clarity of this microphone is astounding. 512 Audio utilizes a combination of a modern circuit and professional dynamic capsule custom-tuned for exceptional clarity. I don't have a deep voice which is always my pain point when recording podcast audio; however, the vocal presence this microphone offers with the frequency span makes up for that. The limelight has a frequency response of 50Hz to 20kHz, optimized for close-range vocal frequencies, helping reduce noise.
The level of voice isolation is exactly what we look for with these microphones. If you're recording in a busy space, such as a multi-person podcasting studio or even recording in your packed office, the microphone must pick up your voice and nothing else. The 512 Audio Limelight does this perfectly.
Let's take a step back and talk about the actual audio, though. We've told you about how clear the audio is, how balanced the frequencies come out, and the powerful vocal isolation. These three factors play a massive role when talking about audio quality, as you will find your audio to sound like it was recorded in a studio.
512 Audio Limelight On Boom Stand
Have you ever used a cheaper microphone and found every time you pronounce your P's, F's, & B's, it distorts your audio? As you might know already, we use pop filters for this, and the 512 Audio Limelight has one built-in. The microphone produces such a great sound, so it's essential to prevent that audio from being compromised. I didn't find many issues with this, although adding a microphone foam cover doesn't hurt.
Some of you might be worried about outside noises when recording your audio. When I was younger, I lived next to the highway, one of my biggest obstacles. However, it could also be your refrigerator or air conditioning unit for others. Fortunately the 512 Audio Limelight has a switchable low-pass filter which helps you prevent these unwanted noises from making their way into your audio.
What It's Good For
The 512 Audio Limelight uses a hypercardioid polar pattern, which is not uncommon for dynamic vocal microphones. As you may know, cardioid patterns isolate the microphone sensitivity to the very front of the capusle, and what the hypercardioid pattern offers is even more directionality. The outcome is better vocal isolation by reducing the sensitivity significantly around the sides of mic capsule.
512 Audio Limelight Used For Podcasts
As we've mentioned, the 512 Audio Limelight is custom-tuned for voice and speech. The precision tuning focuses on the frequencies that capture the richness of your voice, allowing your audience to enjoy your content with full clarity. The highest potential the Limelight has would be as a podcast microphone, although that's hardly the limit. You'll also be able to use it for voice-overs, transcribing, streaming, and much more.
While the 512 Audio Limelight is marketed for broadcasting purposes, I did run a few tests singing into the microphone and found it worked really well. If you're only looking for a music-related microphone, it may not be my first choice, but it definitely doubles as a vocals microphone on top of broadcasting.
The Downsides
Our team at Musician Nerd works hard to stay as objective as possible. For that reason, we look for any possible flaws in any product that we review; however, there's not much we can say regarding the 512 Audio Limelight. It's built for a particular purpose, and it does that very well. We've had no issues with the sound quality, the durability of the microphone, latency or connection issues. We had a similar experience with the Skylight microphone, which speaks volumes of 512 Audio as a brand.
It's important to keep in mind that we can't speak on defects or anything like that. The product we received was in perfect condition, however if you receive a deffective product, it's best to reach out to their customer support before rushing to judgement.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- High-Quality Audio
- High Clarity
- Strong Directionality
Cons
- Moderately Priced
Best Used For
- Broadcasting / Podcasts
- Streaming / Gaming / YouTube
Summary
If you've reached this point in our review, then odds are you know whether or not the 512 Audio Limelight is right for you. In my opinion, it should come down to two questions; Are you looking for a broadcast-style microphone & is the price within your budget? If you said yes to both of those, I would jump on this opportunity. Out of all the lesser-known brands that we work with, 512 Audio seems to be the first with the only real shot of becoming yet another household name, and the Limelight shows us exactly why.
If you decide to pick one up, let us know how it's working out for you in the comments below! We rely on the feedback from our audience so that we can further help future readers by using your opinions. This is especially crucial to us for newer products like the 512 Audio Limelight. Do you have a microphone you think we should be reviewing? Feel free to shoot us an email, and we'll check it out!
Posted on Feb 28, 2022
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