512 Audio Limelight: Dynamic XLR Microphone That Handles Noisy Rooms Well

The Limelight is a great choice for getting natural and rich-sounding audio for your streams and other voice recordings.

The Limelight is a Dynamic XLR microphone with a hyper-cardioid pattern from the relatively new 512 Audio brand. This is the same team behind Warm Audio which makes "exceptional gear at a low cost to customers". If you're either looking to start or upgrade your audio recording setup, the Limelight is a relatively affordable choice that can make a huge difference for many users. We'll also share our review using the Limelight with the 512-BBA boom arm for getting the perfect placement.

What You Can Expect

Be sure to follow along with our video review so that you can hear the microphone's performance tested under various conditions including proximity, vibrations, and handling background noise.

While I wouldn't necessarily consider myself an audio expert, I own and have used several microphones for a variety of projects. I'll share my experience using the 512 Audio Limelight in a podcast-like setup for recording rich and clear audio.

I will also explain the pros and cons of using Limelight for this kind of setup and how it compares to some competing podcast/streaming microphones with different features. I will be focusing these comparisons to the Rode NT-USB-Mini, a directional cardioid condenser capsule, which connects via USB-C, as well as the Rode Wireless Go II, which is an all-in-one wireless microphone and recorder that can easily attach to your collar.

Included in the box is an adjustable 360-degree swivel mount and a protective carry bag.

Notably missing is any kind of foam cover or pop-filter to further minimize unwanted sibilance. As I'll share, the Limelight does a good job on its own here, however, if you want the best possible audio out of this mic, you'll want to pick up a pop filter too.

Why Choose Limelight?

Even with a decent microphone, it can be very difficult to get high-quality audio, especially when dealing with untreated rooms with lots of echo and background noise. Typically you would have to eliminate or minimize your background noise either at the source (which isn't always possible, practical, or affordable) or digitally with some assortment of interfaces or software enhancements if you wanted clean audio. But what if you wanted a simpler and more streamlined solution?

Because of its hyper-cardioid pattern, Limelight can focus on your voice when speaking directly into it and pick up less of the external noises all around you. While this is not a magic solution that will eliminate all unwanted noise, it does a great job and stands out from many big-name competing microphones at this price point. The low-cut filter is an additional feature the Limelight offers which helps minimize low-end, extra boomy, audio without the need to make adjustments in post.

Appearance & Build Quality

The Limelight has an all-metal build with a very retro look which helps it stand out from many of the popular podcast mics with their all-black designs. If you want a microphone with some character and that will look great on camera, this gets it done.

Build quality feels very decent. It's by no means very heavy compared to some other podcast mics, but it still feels durable and well constructed. The microphone took a couple of minor bumps and falls to my carpeted floor while I was rearranging my desk. Everything still looks and feels solid.

Choosing a High-Quality Boom Arm | Using the 512-BBA

If you're thinking of getting your first dedicated microphone like the Limelight, you'll probably also need a boom arm to get the mic in place and off your table or surface so it doesn't pick up any unwanted vibrations and noise.

I've been using and testing the Limelight with their 512-BBA adjustable microphone boom arm which supports payloads up to 3 lbs and is available as a separate purchase for $79.99. Compared to cheaper and smaller boom arms (which are typically included in generic microphone kits on Amazon and should be avoided with larger microphones like this), this has a higher build quality with plenty of length and articulation to get your mic in the right place. I have an identical arm which I purchased years ago off Amazon by a different brand.

It has a horizontal reach of 31.5 inches and a vertical of 32 inches. Its sturdy metal C-clamp has a protective pad on each side that can open up to two inches. You also get five decently long Velcro wraps for cable management. Its attachment piece at the end is 5/8-inch, and the package includes a 3/8-inch adaptor.

Assuming that this 512-BBA boom is the same as the one I already had, I would expect it to be just as durable for a very long time. To give you an idea of how well these arms work, I have been using my original one to hold a Sokani x60, a 7lb LED light that I use for my product shots. If it can handle bigger lights like mine, I do not doubt that this arm can handle any microphone you throw at it.

Test Setup & External Noise Variables

I'm running the Limelight via an XLR cable through a Scarlett Focusrite 4i4 USB interface, connected to a PC via USB-C. Levels are set to about 9-o'clock on the Focusrite for all my tests. No additional edits or tweaks have been made to the audio files unless noted in the video, to provide an accurate representation of what you can expect out of the box.

All recordings were made in my home office studio which doesn't have any special noise treatment. It has carpet floors and 9-foot ceilings. I have a mix of furniture filling up the room and preventing too much echo. I created a podcast set up with a couch that I would sit on and a side table that had the 512 Audio boom arm attached to it.

My setup should be a good representation of an average room. While it is relatively quiet, I still have lots of outdoor noises seep in from outside. I frequently hear planes flying overhead and a train passing by from across the street. Those don't usually last as long but do require me to pause until they pass by. What I usually struggle with, however, are consistent noises from my video lights which have very loud fans running all the time.

Performance & Sound Profile

To understand why Limelight performs so well at capturing speech, we need to take a closer look at its specs.

Dynamic Capsule

To start, the microphone has a dynamic capsule that gives clean audio when speaking close or directly into it. Per 512's manual, they recommend placing the microphone 6-8 inches away from the audio source. Generally, keeping your audio source closer to the microphone prevents other audio from being picked up as easily. Even speaking a few centimeters away from the microphone, I was able to achieve a very soothing ASMR-like audio experience without any issues.

Audio Levels & Gain

That said, I did notice that this microphone does need a good amount of gain to get decent levels. I nearly maxed out the Focusrite gain knob at 9-o'clock. You need a strong pre-amp or something to the effect of a Cloudlifter. To achieve a target audio output of about -3db, I did have to boost my audio levels by about 12db in post. This wasn't a bad thing as I usually aim for -12db in my raw recordings to avoid unwanted audio clipping.

Even with the audio levels on the pre-amp being relatively high and then doing the additional 12db boost in the post, the audio remained very clean and had minimal background noise. I was very impressed.

Hypercardioid Pattern

Compared to popular condenser microphones like my Rode NT-USB Mini, the hyper-cardioid pick-up pattern causes the Limelight to focus on audio sources directly in front of it and ignore everything else. In my video comparison, I snap my fingers around the Rode NT-USB to demonstrate how much of that audio is still picked up, unlike with the Limelight which excels at minimizing it.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't have a very good sound-treated room. Not the worst, but still lots of background noise for sure. The main things I wanted to test and listen for are how well the microphone handled the various unwanted noise I frequently run into while recording audio. My studio lights have relatively loud cooling fans running all the time. These lights are placed right above my studio desk and give off a noticeable hum. Typically I do some minor noise reduction when editing my audio in Adobe Audition to help reduce it. Compared to the Rode NT-USB Mini and the Rode Wireless Go II, the Limelight did the best job at minimizing the amount of fan noise picked up.

I enjoyed the sound of the Limelight. Compared to my Rode NT-USB Mini and the Rode Wireless Go II, it sounded more natural and warm. It lacked the dynamic “crunch” and compression that’s common to broadcast mics. If you like that broadcaster sound profile, you'll love this.

With that said, I do provide a few examples on the Rode Wireless Go II and the NT-USB-Mini where I add a slight EQ preset to make the audio sound a little more rich, and in my opinion very similar to the Limelight. While the sound profile was close, those other two mics still lack the benefits of being hyper-cardioid and dynamic and so they will continue to struggle with background noise and the proximity effect.

Low-Cut Filter

The low-cut filter is effective at smoothing out your audio and removing much of the low end. If you have an exceptionally deep voice or are struggling with very boomy audio, this can help reduce that. I wouldn't use the low-cut filter for my voice unless I was planning on tweaking the audio in the post. In my opinion, it took away much of that rich broadcaster sound that this microphone is intended to provide you with.

I equate the filter to using a flat picture profile when recording video. It gives you a little more flexibility at times if you plan on doing some post-edit tweaks to fine-tune how you want the audio to sound without it being baked right into the raw file. If you want this flexibility, the filter can be a good choice.

Handling Plosives & Needing an Additional Pop Filter

The Limelight also features a built-in pop-filter to help minimize plosives. Its performance seemed on par with the Rode NT-USB-Mini. While it did not eliminate all plosives, it did a good job at about 6-8 inches away. If you like to use the microphone at closer distances, it does tend to struggle more than I would like. This is expected with the proximity effect, but I would highly recommend using a separate pop filter to help out.

Sensitive to Bumps & Touches

The Limelight unfortunately is also very sensitive to taps on and around it. Even lighter taps further away on the boom arm could be picked up easily. I would highly suggest avoiding making any adjustments to the mic's placement while recording audio as it is very noticeable. The low-cut filter helps a bit, but it's not an ideal solution. If you're like me and tend to move all-around, be very careful and delicate if you must reposition.

Final Thoughts

The Limelight is a great choice for getting natural and rich-sounding audio for your streams and other voice recordings. Provided you can stop yourself from touching this microphone much and don't mind adding a pop filter, you'll get great results with a very minimal setup.

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