Lewitt Ray: XLR microphone with audio focus tested

At first glance, the Lewitt Ray looks like the LCT 440 PURE studio condenser microphone from the same manufacturer. At second glance, instead of the company logo on the front, you see two buttons labeled Aura and Mute, with a row of LEDs above them.

Aura is the name of a technology developed by Lewitt that uses a ToF (Time of Flight) distance sensor to measure the distance between the microphone and the speaker from 5 to 100 centimeters. Knowing this distance, the microphone can adjust both the level and the sound so that you can move freely in front of the microphone without changing the recorded sound.

The frequency curve of a microphone is measured at a distance of one meter. If you get much closer to the microphone, this frequency curve changes. It then records low tones more strongly. This leads to the proximity effect that podcasters like to use to create a "radio voice". If you move away from the microphone, on the other hand, the voice becomes thinner. In addition, the level drops rapidly and the speaker can then be heard much more quietly.

Experienced speakers are familiar with these effects and try to maintain the same distance as far as possible. Less experienced speakers need either a sound engineer to adjust the channel or an automatic level control.

The Ray, on the other hand, already knows the distance through the ToF sensor before it records the sound. As Lewitt has already determined the frequency curves in advance with varying distances, the microphone can not only adjust the level, but also the sound. 30 centimeters is the normal distance at which you won't notice any difference when switching Aura on and off. If you switch it on at a shorter distance, you can hear the level being reduced in the monitor. The Aura corrections make it easier to achieve the desired gain.

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This technology enables a mute function in the analog path of the condenser microphone. At the touch of a button, the microphone mutes itself and raises the level to zero or back up again via a steep ramp. This is not magic for USB microphones because the signal is already available in digital form.

Lewitt uses the distance sensor and this mute function to perform another trick. If you hold down the mute button for a few seconds, the microphone measures the current distance and sets it as the maximum speaking distance in one of five stages.

If the microphone detects an object at a distance of 15, 30, 45, 60 or 80 centimeters, the microphone opens. If you leave these ranges by leaning back, moving to the side or even leaving the room, it mutes itself. This works more reliably than a noise gate, which closes at a low input level.

Features and opinion

The author tested the Lewitt Ray for a few days and is quite enthusiastic about Aura. "This is a useful innovation for me." The Ray is fully equipped with a stand mount and microphone voice, a windscreen, a magnetically held pop shield and a carrying case. You can even improvise a microphone stand from the shipping box by putting the lid on upside down. This then opens two holes through which you can pull the XLR cable.

The functionality of Aura, mute button and auto-mute is well visualized. You can see whether Aura is active, whether mute is off, on or on auto and six LED bars show the distance at which the microphone recognizes the speaker and where the auto-mute limit is. The microphone is very sensitive to touch, so it is best not to touch it during recording. This also makes the clearly latching buttons unusable.

The author always relied on Auto-Mute and moved back a little when he had to clear his throat. As the XLR cable is inserted into the microphone from below, it could be hung upside down on a boom. This meant that there was no cable lying on the table and the grip area remained free.

The recommended price of the Lewitt Ray ist 349 euros.

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