NEAT MicrophonesNeat Worker Bee II - Cardioid Medium Diaphragm Condenser Microphone with Internal Capsule Shock Mount, for Recording, Podcasting, Streaming, and Gaming, XLR Output - Black

This is an outstanding condenser microphone. I want to say "for the money" but that suggests it's far from perfect, but for a cheap price it does pretty well. This is not the case with the lowly worker bee. This mic produces great sound no matter what the cost. I recently bought a Rode Signature NT1 mic, and this worker bee is so close to the Rode in audio quality, any differences are not worth talking about. Both mics provide great sound, fairly flat but with a pleasing low end. But the Rode Signature costs $159, and this mic is currently selling for $59. How Neat can make a mic this good and sell it this cheap is beyond me. I do spoken word Bible devos, so I can't speak about how it would be for instruments, but for podcasts, this should be great. BTW, many feel a condenser mic is worthless unless you are in a perfectly treated room. Not true, this mic performs beautifully in a less than ideal room, as long as you keep it about 4-5 inches away from your mouth. And not having a windscreen is no issue at all as long as you keep the mic at a 45 degree angle to your face. I use quite a few mics. Most of them require an EQ to create a sound that pleases me. Some require a severe EQ, and there are some mics I have tried that could never please me no matter how much I EQ'd them. But with this mic (and the Rode NT1 and Signature) I do not need to EQ at all - just some compression and noise removal.

Tengo muchos micros, y este no le pide nada a los más caros, excelente opción para comenzar sin romper el cochinito. No te va a decepcionar!

Did a years worth looking at on line reviews and watching YouTube reviews on this mic. I sold me Rode NT1a and bought this. People may say Rode is the gold standard but that doesn't been it's the best suited for your voice. With no eq this mic meets all my VO needs. *****WARNING **** the King Bee 2 is a very heavy microphone. Be sure you have a robust mic stand and boom arm for this mic. I have mine on a Neewer heavy duty desk boom arm works great. See my review for the boom arm .

Excelente micrófono, con sonido plano y nivel de ruido bajo.

I've been using microphones for three decades now. I've used plenty of condensers, from the cheap and nasty import all the way up to the Shure KSM9HS condenser capsule on my Shure UHF-R wireless set. When compared directly to the KSM9HS—which retails for over $700 and is a direct competitor to the Neumann KK105—the King Bee II is so much better that I wish they'd find a way to engineer a cartridge with the sound profile of the King Bee II for my wireless handheld.Most of the time I'm using my King Bee II, I'm on the air doing live streaming broadcasts. Running flat EQ through my Yamaha MG12XU mixing console (with 48V phantom power enabled, which this microphone requires to operate correctly), I almost sound authoritative enough to know what I'm supposed to be doing. Self-noise is incredibly low as advertised, and the sound I get from the mic is clear and full. I'd describe the lows as fat but not muddy. Unlike a lot of cheaper condensers, the highs on the King Bee II are balanced and avoid the shrillness in the mid-high area.To eliminate background noise, I opt to run my signal chain through a DBX 286s microphone processor. I do add a little compression and frequency enhancement, but it doesn't take much because the King Bee already sounds great on its own.So the gate on the DBX doesn't have to be cranked as hard, I usually stay about 3" or so off the mic. I was initially using the included pop filter—which is great quality and attaches firmly to the grille of the microphone—but the slight coloration the Neat pop filter adds to the sound led me to clip my old reliable gooseneck pop filter to my boom arm instead. That way, I'm not losing the excellent sound quality that draws me into the King Bee in the first place. The shock mount is solid and securely locks the mic into place so you can let it hang at any angle without worrying it will come crashing down to the ground.When it comes to boom arms, the King Bee is every bit as heavy as advertised, and the cheapy $20 arms just aren't going to cut it. You may as well go ahead and plan to buy a Rode PSA-1 or something similar. It's going to cost you a bit of money, but it's a solid mounting system that isn't going to buckle in on itself under the King Bee's weight. It will also protect your microphone for many years to come.The King Bee II might lack the flashiness of the old King Bee. It might not come with the same accessories or something to store it in when you're finished with it. It might only retail for $180—but holy cow, am I ever impressed with this microphone. I expected it to be a little better than the Audio-Technica AT2020 and the sE X1A, but I never expected it to sound that much better than a $400 Shure SM7B or a $700 Shure KSM9. However, Neat has shattered my expectations of what I should expect from microphones that are three times as expensive. What they have given us is broadcast-grade quality at a steal of a price.In short, would I recommend the King Bee II? Absolutely! Unless you can find me a better $180 microphone, this one will have my permanent recommendation.P.S.: I'm completely serious when I say I'd love Neat to try their hand at a King Bee-sounding capsule compatible with a Shure wireless handheld microphone. Right now, the sE V7 MC1 is the one to beat. With as excellent as the King Bee sounds for the price, I'd put my money on Neat to make the next SM58 (or even KSM9) killer if they were to do it. Come on guys...please?