by Warm Audio Skylight Large Diaphragm Studio Condenser XLR Microphone + Shock Mount + Bag for Recording and Podcasting

You should know that Warm Audio (the parent company of 512 Audio) are legends in the recording space. Their microphones regularly give Shure a run for their money. 512 is apparently no different in this capacity. My previous Beta58 killer mic, the sE V7, was a trooper. Solid little dynamic hyper-cardioid pattern broadcast mic with good side rejection and awesome tonality. However... I bought this on a whim since it was $50 and I've been itching to have a good condenser in my life again. I do NOT regret my purchase one bit. This mic out of the box with no equalization, no compression, and expander knocks it out of the park. I've even had people ask me if I'm using an SM7dB while speaking in voice calls. Side rejection isn't the best but you bought a condenser after all. It's part of the territory. The included pop filter really seals the deal on looks and is really effective at blocking out plosives. The shock mount is a heavy duty one, and it took me ratcheting the tension dials on my mic arm to beyond wrist tight to hold this behemoth up. Handling noise rejection is top tier, and even punches beyond it's weight class. I can bang my desk pretty heavily and you wouldn't be able to hear it. I've currently got my mic mounted upside down as well and the shock mount shows no signs of breaking or giving out. Everything about this microphone is well engineered, and you need it in your arsenal.

I stumbled across this microphone looking for more vintage designs. I was considering the Stellar X2 vintage and then say this, and at only $50 at the time. The art deco design caught my eye, and the low price, so I decided to hunt down some reviews. A majority were good, I I pulled the trigger. Well, the build quality is fantastic. All metal, including the shock mount. This has some heft. Fit and finish is excellent as well. I hooked it up (phantom power required) and it is what I came to expect from the reviews. Smooth, maybe a touch dark. Very listenable and not fatiguing. If you want something that is more “exciting” up top (IE more treble), this may not be the mic for you. But if you like a smoother tone, this is the guy. The output is solid, being a condenser mic, so no cloudlifter or separate preamp required. Your audio interface will work just fine. I can’t help but sing the praises of this thing. For $200, I would have been happy. On sale for $50, I’m ecstatic. I cannot understand how it can go for this low. I hope they keep making these. This is a fantastic deal. All you need is an interface, and XLR cable, and a stand of some kind and you have a killer setup.

This mic is better than I expected! It is a nice Mic addition to any studio, This mic has really good quality. I have it in a sound proof booth and the clarity is crisp. I use it more for low end deep vocals where i feel it shines. I have a few mics in my studio including other Warm mics and Neumann as well and this mic is right there with them. Plug and play means you have an easy to set up system with a nice pop filter for controlling unwanted popping sounds and volume control. I really like the price to performance here making it perfect for professional studios use, home studios, and podcasting. Pros: Great Value Sound & Clarity Nice Pop Filter Build Quality Cons: None! Gear Score: 10/10

This thing is a crazy great value. I would have paid as much for a shock mount and a decent pop filter, TBH. The box, the presentation, the packaging, all scream "serious tool" and on unboxing, I was shocked at the sheer heft of this microphone. It's heavier than common broadcast mics like the Shure SM7 and Electro-Voice RE20, heavier (though smaller) than my U47FET clone, and it feels extremely solid. The fit and finish are outstanding and the look is sleek, modern and substantial. I was hoping the slim shock mount would accommodate some of my other, more expensive mics. It does not and while it's adequate to the task of supporting the weighty Skylight, the range of motion doesn't allow for the mic to be mounted perfectly perpendicular on a straight stand, unless I mount it upside-down, Sinatra-style. On a boom stand, it's not an issue, but be advised whatever you mount it on, it needs to be VERY sturdy. That said, the shockmount is very effective at isolating the mic from bumps to the stand and floor rumble. The pop shield is likewise effective and super easy to use and allows for the talent to work VERY close to the mic, and that's a good thing; judging from the flavor profile, this mic is IDEAL for voiceover work. I haven't done a lot of testing as of yet, but so far, it displays NONE of the typical 'cheap Chinese mic syndrome' artifacts when applying compression, and off-axis rejection is excellent. Is it missing anything? The package doesn't include a frequency graph plot, max db SPL, or any specs at all, really. There is no pad or lo-cut switch and it is cardioid-only. Compared to my U87 clones, maybe it's missing a little air, on top, but it will certainly see duty on guitars, close vocals, bass cabs and kick drum. This is a whole lotta mic, for not a lotta money ***EDIT*** The specs are found in the manual, my bad. MAX 144dB SPL; you could mic an F14 with this thing.

For once a new piece of gear WAS the answer. I hated how my voice sounds through a hand-me-down SM58. Its sound with my soft alto performance is so warm that it's difficult to fix with EQ. It is extremely sensitive to proximity effect. Getting enough gain for quiet vocals was very difficult thru any consumer interface I've had over the years. Despite the acclaimed built-in pop filter and my aftermarket windscreen, avoiding plosives was always a huge pain and I never stopped concentrating on my address position. This solved all my problems, like night and day. The response or EQ or the sound or whatever is perfect for me. Crisp and airy but not even remotely sibilant. It is very sensitive, and not only is getting enough gain easy on the same interfaces (now using phantom power), but the pop filter is incredible. I can put my face directly against the filter and just sing, even a breathy whisper, and it sounds perfect. Proper address is trivial; I have to spit my plosives hard to get a pop now. The ambient sound of my untreated home studio with the 512 is also so much lower that I noticed it before thinking to check; deliberate testing also confirms this clearly. I can't even think of anything to improve. The sound isn't only sufficient, but just plain great; I'm free to focus on my own technique. The mic even pretty to look at. I'm done thinking about vocal mics for the foreseeable future. I thought my struggles were just the art of recording. Nah, I just had the wrong gear this time lol It's very heavy, like a laptop, so make sure your mount is up for it. It is built very well, but this is not the invincible workhorse I'm used to in the SM58. I could throw the SM58 across the room, like actually. This is more studio oriented, precise and delicate, and I'm afraid to knock it over.

512 Audio is associated with Warm Audio, but this is a 512 Audio model. It's a nice solid build, stylish, and most importantly sounds much better than a $50 should! Nice stiff shock mount, which I have yet to test for isolation. Buy it for your mic locker! This mic looks to be the same (except for color) as the Chinese Alctron CK6 I found elsewhere, and since the 512 PCBs each bear a CK6 marking, I'd say that is likely the case. Both have the rather unusual head basket grill. I was told (or read) there may have been some tweaks to components to meet 512's performance goals. Sadly 512 Audio doesn't publish any real specs on this mic -- no polar plots, no response curves, and no noise figure. Seems odd when the parent WA makes a big deal out of specs. The Alctron CK6 states 22 dB, so if that hasn't improved, it's not what I'd consider to be a low noise mic. Both show -42B for sensitivty, so not as high out put as I've come to expect in an LDC. One other small thing: the description says it weighs 1 kg (2.2 pounds), whcih is not technically correct. The mic and mount _together_ weigh in at 0.96 kG, but the mic itself weighs 0.6 kg. Anyway, a good purchase.

The mic itself is a pleasure to look at and sounds even better with the response tailored to speaking/singing. I have numerous dynamic mics and I have been using an MXLV63M in my home studio for several years. The Skylight is exponentially better than my MXL (to my ears anyway... and tech specs I can't explain LOL). After using the Skylight for several days I bought a second one... and Amazon's price of $49.99 is unbeatable. $199.00 everywhere else. UPDATE: 4/22/24 - I have a small home studio for demos. I purchased 1 mic last Nov, then a 2nd in Dec and a 3rd one in Feb. That I purchased 3 of these should tell you what I think of them. I also have an Avantone CK Pro 7+, a Rode NT1 a pair of MXL 990s , an MXL V63M and the usual assortment of 57s and 58s. As an involuntary bargain shopper all of my mics are sub-$300.00 list. The Skylight more than holds its own against my other condenser mics and is tuned for the human voice though it performs other roles as well... these mics are a steal at $49.99. Get a couple before they become unavailable. Circumstantially, a friend who owns a studio, his treasured mic a U-87, listened to my SkyLights and bought one the next day.

Amazing microphone for the price. I didn’t expect sound quality equal to top end professional microphones, and it isn’t. However, it’s very good combined with a good quality Mike preamp like an Aphex 307D for example. I prefer this type of analog condenser Mike over some of the USB digital mics because you’re not stuck with a cheap ass internal preamp and A/D converter. You get to use a fully qualified professional Mike preamp instead.