greetings earthlings today i'm back with a review of another brand new microphone designed for
streaming podcasting and gaming says so right on the box that microphone being the 512 or 512 audio
skylight studio condenser microphone if you are interested in this mic it will cost you around 200
like always i'll throw some links in the description down below also in the sake of
full disclosure i do need to let you know that 512 audio sent me this microphone free of charge
for the sake of making this review but with that out of the way for this video i will have
the mic connected directly to the focusrite 18i20 second gen bit 48 kilohertz gain at around 12 15
and i will not do any kind of post processing but i may have to boost it a little bit in post
so check the dooblydoo to see what i diddly did now let's talk about what comes in the box
sheesh what a big surprise you are going to get the microphone you'll also get a zippered storage
pouch for the microphone a really nice feeling shock mount which does come with a 5 8 to 3 8
inch microphone stand adapter a pop filter that fits right onto the microphone and a little bit of
documentation then as far as the build quality the microphone actually feels really well put together
it has an all metal body and then behind the grill there is this metal mesh which you're actually
able to see from the top of the microphone and then the actual grille it looks like plastic
it feels like plastic but it is way sturdier than plastic ought to be so perhaps it is metal coated
in plastic i'm not 100 sure as we move around the microphone there are no buttons or switches
very basic xlr microphone on the bottom of the mic you will find the xlr port and if it matters to
you this microphone is made in china then as far as the specs this microphone has a cardioid polar
pattern a frequency response of 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz a sensitivity of around negative 42 db
a max spl of 144 db and an impedance of 200 ohms now we are spinning around the microphone to 90
degrees so you can hear the off axis rejection and coloration we'll continue around the microphone
to 180 degrees here's what the rear sounds like continuing around the microphone to the second
90 degree angle there we go and then we will rotate and end at the front of the microphone
there you are now let's see how well this microphone does at rejecting plosives
please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto please bring
pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto now i'm right on top of the
microphone to demonstrate the proximity effect on this thing now i'm about three inches off of the
mic with it pointed at the corner of my mouth and here's how it's sounding now we're about
one foot away from the microphone here we are about two feet away from the mic and now we're
about four feet away from the 512 audio skylight now i am typing on a keyboard with gatoron blue
switches to see how much of my voice versus how much of the keyboard it picks up
and for the game and folk i am now typing on the sad w and spacebar key
next here is how the microphone sounds in a well-treated room
and here is how the microphone sounds in a completely untreated room
now i want to demonstrate how well the provided shock mount performs
so i will start by bumping on my desk to see how much of that noise it can reject
and then i will tap on the boom arm
and now because i like giving all of you a reason to hate me
i'm going to tap on the body of the microphone to see if there are any kind of resonant frequencies
now to be incredibly pedantic i'm going to include a quick comparison between the microphone
with and without the provided pop filter to see if the pop filter affects the tone of the recording
we'll start on the microphone without any kind of wind protection installed i'm about four to
five inches away from the mic and here is how it's sounding and now i've installed the provided pop
filter i'm at the same distance same gain setting nothing has changed and do you hear a difference
in the tone of the recording you tell me in the comments down below does the pop filter affect it
at all you let me know and now like we always do we're going to do a quick spoken word comparison
between the mic that we're reviewing and a bunch of other microphones on the market
although i am trying to rein it back in and not do 15 mics in every video so this is gonna be
an abridged version as dogs bark outside we'll start on the mic that we're reviewing this is
the skylight i'm about six inches away my gain is set at 12 15 and here's how the mic sounds
let's jump to the first one first up we are on the neewer nw 700 i'm about six inches off my gain is
still set at 12 15 and this costs 20 dollars there you go let's jump back to the 512 audio
and do more comparison things back on the skylight here's how it's sounding nothing has changed
let's jump to the second mic next we are on one of the most popular mics out there this is the
audio technica at2020 this costs around 100 i'm about 6 inches off my gain is still at 12 15.
check the lower third to see how much i boosted in post and let's jump back to the skylight and
do some more test thing comparisons that's what they're called again we're back on the skylight
nothing has changed get a good feel for it and let's jump to the third mic now we are
on the blue ember this also costs around 100 and like the other ones this is a cardioid only xlr
condenser microphone six inches off again at 12 15. here's how it sounds get it listen to it and
check the lower third and then let's jump back to the mic that we're reviewing and do more of these
back again on the skylight for a fourth time here's how this microphone sounds i am sure you
are shocked by it let's jump to the fourth mic so you can hear how it compares to that now we
are on the road nt1 six inches off again at 12 15. this costs around 270 dollars if i'm not mistaken
and there you go one of my all-time favorites very easy to listen to microphone 70 dollars
more expensive than the skylight which one do you like more let's jump back to the skylight and
do one more comparison and we are only doing five today so this is the last time i will switch back
to the skylight here's how this sounds let's jump to the final mic in this comparison and lastly we
are on the neumann u87ai cardioid mode six inches off gain at 11 o'clock because this is a hot boy
and this runs 3 600 not a fair comparison but it gives you some kind of consistency from
video to video that's why we do it i know we're abridging this and shortening these up but not
every week can we do 15 comparisons is just not feasible okay let us jump to the music test now
i've got this song i'm gonna write so i can sing it on this mic
i hope that you will like it cause i cannot write a good one
so why don't you all just deal with it you're not gonna be getting any kind
of i hey jude's out of me you're just gonna get self-deprecating silly songs about nothing
so why don't you come to terms with that all come to terms and deal with my
my internal issues and let's go to the conclusion because this is getting very weird
okay i'm quite impressed by this microphone from 512 audio and first up in terms of pros the main
thing that stood out to me was the overall smooth tone that is something that i'm always looking
for in a microphone and i'm always thrilled to find secondly the build quality of the mic feels
really outstanding and the accessories that come with it are all really well built and they seem to
be pretty effective but then as far as cons the background noise rejection on this thing really
isn't that impressive and if you're a streamer or podcaster that's really going to start to
come into play and then as far as my thoughts and opinions on this microphone and my air conditioner
turning on on the electric guitar i kind of liked it the main thing that stood out to me was the
smooth midsection it just sounds really appealing a little bit gooey if you want a hyper detailed
sound maybe not going to be the best pick but the reason i'm only saying kind of is when i got to
the upper register of the guitar it did start to get a little bit unpleasant and a little bit
piercing to listen to it's really still a quite usable tone though then on the acoustic guitar
i think you're getting a darker tone than the majority of other condensers but you are still
getting a bit of airiness and liveliness the lows and low mids do come across a little bit boxy but
overall the general midsection is really sweet and i did like that next up for singing i did find the
lows and low mids to be a little bit overpowering on this mic if you put a little bit more distance
between yourself and the mic that could resolve it or if you eq a bit that could resolve it you
are also getting much more of a mid forward sound which some folks will like some folks will hate
and the top end a little bit more attenuated than a lot of other condenser microphones it
doesn't have that hyper detailed sound it is a much more smooth and easy to listen to microphone
and lastly for spoken word as i just mentioned i find the lows and low mids to be quite full and
dominant the mids in general are very smooth and it is more of a mid forward microphone if you like
that i do start to hear a little bit of nasality nasalness to it if you're not the biggest fan of
mids or if you have an overly nasally voice this microphone may not be too flattering on you but
overall you're getting that smooth mid-forward sound which some folks will love others will hate
and to wrap up would i recommend the 512 audio skylight kind of yes i'll start by saying that
i really enjoy the sound of this microphone but it's no secret that i like smoother mics that's my
cup of tea if you like smoother more mid-forward microphones and you're looking for a condenser
microphone at this price point i think this is a very compelling option but the reason that i'm
saying that yes i would kind of recommend it is because this microphone is advertised for gaming
podcasting and streaming and as far as background noise rejection it really isn't that impressive
and when you're gaming and streaming chances are you're going to have a keyboard a lot of gamers
and streamers are opting for very loud switches that's going to come into play if you're in an
untreated space that's going to come into play you're going to get a lot of room tone back into
the microphone and if you're in the room with other podcasters that's going to be picked up
by the microphone and this polar pattern is not really going to be doing you any favors
so just take that into consideration when you're looking at this mic all right i think that's
going to wrap up for today but i would love to hear from you in the comments down below
what did you think of this microphone and which of the mics in the comparison section
was your favorite if you found this video fun interesting or helpful going to give me a thumbs
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next time thank you so much for watching thank you so much for listening i'll talk to you later bye