Neat King Bee II - A Budget Friendly Monster!! (Microphone Review)

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Today we check out a mic many have been asking for! The Neat King Bee II! This thing is massive, and brings up an interesting topic about the value of microphone design and aesthetics, is a microphone just a tool? Or is it more than that? Not to mention, for under $200, this thing may just be the best option out there for voiceover! Let me know what you guys thing of the review in the comments :)

Oh and even though this isn't a full on comparison vid, I through in some tests against the NT1!

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These are amazon affiliate links, so I get a percentage of the sale if you buy from these links, it's a nice way to support the channel! If you hate me definitely don't use these links.

[AudioHaze]

Howdy friends! If this vid helped you make up your mind, this affiliate link helps me out a ton :)

[tjzuppe]

The KB2 literally just arrived at my door an hour ago. Great timing.

[wtulin]

A couple thoughts on this thing. The NT1 has been my VO workhorse for about 4 years now. Always liked it, never loved it. Tried the TLM103, not right for my space or my voice and a bit too crispy for me. Bought and returned a Rode K2. Wanted to love it, but another that just didn't fit. Getting to the point here, I had to send the NT1 in for service, and found that the Bezos Behemoth is currently selling the King Bee II for $119. Ok, might make a good back-up mic. Nope, love it. It is now the primary, and the Rode is the backup. Some thoughts: Damn thing really is a chunk of chunkiness. Unnecessarily heavy. Even my PSA-1 is bitching about it. The included pop filter is near worthless, as I expected. A tiny pop filter right against the capsule is just bad physics, and these manufacturers know it. (Looking at you, Lewitt) Also, I now see how completely unreliable a frequency response graph is on its own. This mic shows the exact graph as the original (which is also the exact copy graph of the cardioid response of Blue's discontinued "Reactor" mic) Compared to the original King Bee, which I also owned at one time, this one is darker and much tamer on the high end. She is a big old weird-looking unwieldy chunk that happens to sound great in my booth. One more item on these bees. A lot of folks mention that this one is more expensive than the original was. Well, sure, if you got an original King Bee for a hundred bucks after Gibson's bankruptcy, but some people don't know that the OG was a $350 dollar mic. In design, the KB2 is a less expensive build than the original, partially due to the biggest difference between the two. The OG is a transformer-coupled mic. Pretty sure the KB2 is not. I talk too much. Bye.

[Unlucky_Vampire]

Considering how many microphones look a like, disliking the bee aesthetic or not, this is most unique mic I’ve ever seen

[thomasjmcclure]

i actually recently picked up the og worker bee mic, sounds awesome and i actually love the aesthetics of it, i realise lots of people dont, but it mathes my setup so well!

[Rod-Wheeler]

Great Review! Igot the original for $99. I love it. I've got about 40 mics from An sm 57 to a TLM 103 and the original king bee is in the top 10!

[chrisk.]

I have a pair of the gen 1 Worker Bees (which I love!), and am seriously considering picking up one of these, as well. Thank you for this excellent review! Also, on the acoustic, I bet the King Bee II blended with an SDC for a little top-end detail would be amazing.

[NebulonRanger]

Of note, the King Bee I was the mic that MasakoX used to voice the Son family in DBZ Abridged.

[Sarsour_]

Love this stuff, though really enjoy your new content of reports about artists and history of how the u47 changed the music industry was also very cool!

[ZacharyHS]

Ethan's singing absolutely blew me away, my god.

[LetsGoHelio]

I already have this but I really wanted to hear your opinion on this mic. I’m glad you like it because I value your reviews. Great video as always.

[curseleisure]

Great review! I have the original King Bee and it’s a fantastic mic. I’ve found that it sounds better if you use a regular third party pop filter instead of the pop filter that comes with it (which is the same design as on the new KB2).

[joegraziano]

Holy shit! That guy singing at around the 8 minute mark has an incredible voice. Also, that’s a great song. 🤙🏽

[asterisms_]

I was really tempted to get this mic but I ended up with a 3U Audio Teal CM1 which surprisingly has almost no reviews on Youtube even though it seems like discussion forums seem to like it and I've been enjoying my CM1 a lot. I appreciate your bit about how microphone aesthestics do matter to some people and that it isn't a bad thing for them to look different from the usual black/silver tube of metal. I understand why a lot of people don't care but for video content creators it does matter.

[milesian]

I don't have a great space in terms of outside noise and room treatment, and know that I would probably be best served by a dynamic mic. But I got the KBII and just love the way this mic sounds and handles, if that's an audio term. I have a new podcast and have recorded my first episodes with an SM57 and XM8500 with great results. But since I love what this company is doing I used your affiliate link to order a King Bee II for my main mic and Worker Bee II for my podcast guests. Now all we need is more buzz about the podcast ; )

[andream]

Awesome review! Right away, I preferred “mic 1” 😊 I’m looking to buy a mic for audio work and I’m sold

[alisongaze]

loved the original neat king and worker bee except for the fact that the og models had bad rfi rejection. great review as always

[Schwabtastic]

You review really made me think why I am so attracted to this mic. It stands out. Nobody uses it. its a statement. The punk side of me can't stay away.

[maxistrange]

I prefer that mic over the NT1 on your voice samples. Very good match for the singer. BTW he sings really nice! Thank you!

[prasanna]

Please compare it against AT2025 and RODE NT1, especially for the room noise rejection for a untreated room scenario for vocal signings. *Which is better at room noise rejection, AT2035 or Neat King Bee II ?*