Hey there! One small problem with the story you gave on Neat Microphone's history. The King Bee originally was over $300, and it wasn't that Neat faded into obscurity. What happened was that they bought themselves out from Gibson. They didn't tell Gibson to keep selling them and disappear. They were very much there, instead, relisting the prices of their products for MUCH cheaper. The King Bee in 2020 was relisted at $99.99 now that they owned their company outright. They were always working on new products, and prior to the King Bee II's launch, they were acquired by Turtle Beach, but still are part of the company. The King Bee II's design was influenced by a lot of feed back from Partners and members of multiple communities. I myself have been Partnered with them since early 2020. Thanks for covering the mic, I just wanted to correct that bit there as this idea that they disappeared with no intentions of making more products isn't accurate. Thanks again!
Holy crap you won't beeeeelieve what causes the grounding issue. Overspray of paint where the seams of the body connect. Super easy fix, it turns out. Unscrew the base, pull off the body sleeve, and clean up those internal areas where they screw together. Silly Bee people.
It's a year later. I"m back and I now own the King Bee II. I've gone through a journey of microphones and have now ditched the whole adding air to my voice belief that I posted about last time. What I now want is the most consistent and forgiving mic I can pair with my voice. For streaming in my sound treated studio I don't have to eat this mic. I can bounce my head back and forth without any loss of consistency. The recordings sound amazing and level. My deep voice will overpower other mics and I can hear distortion even before there is clipping. I have yet to lose any sound quality with the King Bee II. No ground problem for me. I wish I had bought this mic first.
I tried one out but I just couldn’t seem to get it to sound the way I wanted it to sound. I’ve since replaced it with a Blue Ember and I’m much happier with its performance right out of the box. I did not have any issues with the ground on my copy. Great review! New sub here.
@@creatorsvillage I'm actually in the process of creating a YT video about it for my other channel. When that drops, I'll shoot you an email so you can check it out. Only thing left to do is spray paint the Blue Ember to Matte Black so it matches my RE20 🤣
I owned a King Bee and Worker Bee OG. I love them for the price. However here in Canada the King Bee is $400 CAD and thats Lewitt territory. Its in a bad price bracket. If it comes down in price certainly but currently not on many radar.
The King Bee II is better than the original. No risk. For 100 bucks a guite mic with a flat response. For me, it sounds very good. For all I need a big bass, I take the kingbee2. Great for acoustic bass. Great for some voices. I got two of them and I like them, and I‘m only working with high-class-mics like the Gefell M930.
Hi and thanks for your review and nice explanations ! I've been recording with this NEAT King Bee II for two weeks now,, I'm quite happy of it. Still, gain must absolutely be on "0" with my Avermedia Stream Deck, if not, it saturates... I guess it is normal... ? I'm not an expert in MIC ahahah
Great revue and the end of my interest in the King Bee 2. My voice is like yours, maybe a little deeper. I also like to have that air and high mids. For that reason for a stage mic I use the Shure Beta 58a which adds silk and presence instead of the standard SM58. When I wanted a broadcast mic I bought a $99 PodMic which I can EQ nicely for my voice. I stay away from dark or bassy mics. My voice has enough of that. I did find a bargain USB mic with secret sauce when I picked up an M-Audio Uber for $40 on a deal of the day. It's probably the second heaviest boat anchor mic compared to your King Bee 2.
I also had a grounding issue. Slightly different than yours but still a problem. Sometimes it was fine, but touching the mic would bring it back. Then holding the mic for a bit can dissipate the charge on the body and make it ok again, for awhile. I think static electricity is being stored on the body of the mic. So far, neat customer support has been responsive and willing to replace it. They said they would send a new one out asap, but no tracking number yet. Mine was also Amazon
You (un)plug a mic while it’s connected to phantom power and all? Isn’t that dangerous, for the mic? Other than that, Amazon gets it mostly right. But, sometimes (a lot) they sell the stuff that got returned as “NEW”. I don’t have anything against “B-Stock”, but please tell me that and take some Euros / Dollars off it. Great video!
If only they just crammed the internals of the original king bee into the king bee 2. Definitely sounds like a downgrade. It sounds a lot closer to the worker bee which was originally their budget mic at 199$ but eventually went for 90$ when the king bee was 100-130$ instead of 300$. I'm not suprised since this mic is still a bit cheaper than the original price of the worker bee
I agree, I have also the King Bee, and tested it one beside the second, and it sounds with more bass the first one. So, from my point of view, it was a step backwards. By the way, the first one is 10Hz-20KHz in response, so it has a better response in bass frequencies.
Hello, mine has the same strong paint smell when opened. By the way, I purchased mine from Amazon MX too, and when tested it, I got the same noise like a losen cable or lack of ground, but opened it and a cable was between the circuitboard and the chasis, so I moved from it and the noise dissapeared. (I’ll be testing it for more time, and if noise gets back I’ll return it). If you are a little curious, open it, and you will see that the Electronic components are very tiny and the manufacturing seems to be very simple, but it sounds good enough. The heavy is due to the body, not because transistors, resistors and capacitors. I can’t say components are cheap, but if you compare with the ones that are inside a Neumann, they look very small components.
I think you must be crazy for considering this pos when you have the KSM32. I have both an unused worker bee and an unused King Bee in original packaging but would trade both for the ksm32 without a thought.
I have the original... not only do I like the looks BETTER than the new one, but, from a longtime (quarter century) broadcaster, voiceover artist/actor and broadcast and music producer and engineer, I'd just like to say "WHO CARES what it looks like?!?!" Do you have an audience in your booth?! Incidentally, Turtle Beach has a LONG history (back to the late 80's) of making extremely high-end sound cards... they are NOT just some gaming audio company!
Hey there! One small problem with the story you gave on Neat Microphone's history. The King Bee originally was over $300, and it wasn't that Neat faded into obscurity. What happened was that they bought themselves out from Gibson. They didn't tell Gibson to keep selling them and disappear. They were very much there, instead, relisting the prices of their products for MUCH cheaper. The King Bee in 2020 was relisted at $99.99 now that they owned their company outright. They were always working on new products, and prior to the King Bee II's launch, they were acquired by Turtle Beach, but still are part of the company. The King Bee II's design was influenced by a lot of feed back from Partners and members of multiple communities. I myself have been Partnered with them since early 2020. Thanks for covering the mic, I just wanted to correct that bit there as this idea that they disappeared with no intentions of making more products isn't accurate. Thanks again!
Thanks! My story comes from several articles that I had read. But a direct connection is totally much better! Thanks for the info!
Holy crap you won't beeeeelieve what causes the grounding issue. Overspray of paint where the seams of the body connect. Super easy fix, it turns out. Unscrew the base, pull off the body sleeve, and clean up those internal areas where they screw together. Silly Bee people.
WHATTTT??? Wow!
It's a year later. I"m back and I now own the King Bee II. I've gone through a journey of microphones and have now ditched the whole adding air to my voice belief that I posted about last time. What I now want is the most consistent and forgiving mic I can pair with my voice. For streaming in my sound treated studio I don't have to eat this mic. I can bounce my head back and forth without any loss of consistency. The recordings sound amazing and level. My deep voice will overpower other mics and I can hear distortion even before there is clipping. I have yet to lose any sound quality with the King Bee II. No ground problem for me. I wish I had bought this mic first.
Congrats. Yeah, they seem to have solved the gounding problem from the first releases.
My King Bee 2 also hummed when I first got it and Sweetwater got me a new one and this one has no problems, and I really enjoy it!
Awesome.
I tried one out but I just couldn’t seem to get it to sound the way I wanted it to sound. I’ve since replaced it with a Blue Ember and I’m much happier with its performance right out of the box. I did not have any issues with the ground on my copy. Great review! New sub here.
Thanks Brian, Glad you found a mic that works for you!
@@creatorsvillage I'm actually in the process of creating a YT video about it for my other channel. When that drops, I'll shoot you an email so you can check it out. Only thing left to do is spray paint the Blue Ember to Matte Black so it matches my RE20 🤣
Looking forward to seeing the results!
I like the off axis plosive test, more realistic. however pizza is not perfect with pinapple on top
Never! :)
Oh, thems fightin words!
I owned a King Bee and Worker Bee OG.
I love them for the price.
However here in Canada the King Bee is $400 CAD and thats Lewitt territory.
Its in a bad price bracket.
If it comes down in price certainly but currently not on many radar.
I'm enjoying my v2 but I need more testing!
You and me both!
I have two KB1s $99 and a KSM32 so I use the bees for AG
Cool
The King Bee II is better than the original. No risk. For 100 bucks a guite mic with a flat response. For me, it sounds very good. For all I need a big bass, I take the kingbee2. Great for acoustic bass. Great for some voices. I got two of them and I like them, and I‘m only working with high-class-mics like the Gefell M930.
Mine had the grounding issue as well….
I told you bro!
Seems like a common issue.
Hi and thanks for your review and nice explanations ! I've been recording with this NEAT King Bee II for two weeks now,, I'm quite happy of it. Still, gain must absolutely be on "0" with my Avermedia Stream Deck, if not, it saturates... I guess it is normal... ? I'm not an expert in MIC ahahah
Glad it's working for you. It's a great mic when it doesn't hummmm.
Great revue and the end of my interest in the King Bee 2. My voice is like yours, maybe a little deeper. I also like to have that air and high mids. For that reason for a stage mic I use the Shure Beta 58a which adds silk and presence instead of the standard SM58. When I wanted a broadcast mic I bought a $99 PodMic which I can EQ nicely for my voice. I stay away from dark or bassy mics. My voice has enough of that. I did find a bargain USB mic with secret sauce when I picked up an M-Audio Uber for $40 on a deal of the day. It's probably the second heaviest boat anchor mic compared to your King Bee 2.
Thanks for watching and the comment! Glad it was helpful.
Sounds so smooth
Yeah, it's good.
What mic you have used in the first Minutes?
Thats the AT2040. Large diaphram dynamic mic. I use it almost everyday. I made a review vid about it.
Well, that first one certainly buzzes like a bee.
I see what you did there. Nice.
I also had a grounding issue. Slightly different than yours but still a problem.
Sometimes it was fine, but touching the mic would bring it back. Then holding the mic for a bit can dissipate the charge on the body and make it ok again, for awhile. I think static electricity is being stored on the body of the mic.
So far, neat customer support has been responsive and willing to replace it. They said they would send a new one out asap, but no tracking number yet.
Mine was also Amazon
Thanks for the feedback (No pun intended).
Wow, it really seems to be a problem with the mic.
Seems they didn’t tested it enough or quality control is… not.
I figured out the problem and made a video about the fix. The body was painted incorrectly so it wasn't grounding to itself properly
OMG! Did you just unplug and then plug the mics back in with the phantom power on?!? 😲
That's honestly not that big of a deal ^^
What mic do you use at 4:20? KSM32?
What is in the chain?
I'm using my KSM 32. My interface is the apollo twin. Nothing in the chain when I compare mics. But I normally use a Manley Vox Box.
@@creatorsvillage Thanks, do you have a bass-baritone voice?
I do and I think this setup would fit me better, thank the SM7B.
@@gkiss2030 I have elements of bass in my voice, but I use the full vocal range. It depends on the job.
@@creatorsvillage Thank you, I mean the general voice range. :)
Ordered from Amazon. No issues. No smell. Seems like people have different experiences. I’ve heard other people having issues.
Thanks for watching!
i know this video is post long time ago but Does the shock mount come with 5/8" Male to 3/8" & 1/4"-20 Female ?
It has the standard adaptor, ⅝ to ⅜. But not the ¼ 20.
@@creatorsvillage thanks a lot
You (un)plug a mic while it’s connected to phantom power and all?
Isn’t that dangerous, for the mic?
Other than that, Amazon gets it mostly right.
But, sometimes (a lot) they sell the stuff that got returned as “NEW”.
I don’t have anything against “B-Stock”, but please tell me that and take some Euros / Dollars off it.
Great video!
I edit it out, but i shut off the phantom before I change mics.
Has anyone ever told you, you sound EXACTLY like Markplier?
Ha! No, that's a first. Thanks!
If amazon is not a good place to buy gear, like a microphone, which place would be a good source?
Sweetwater.
If only they just crammed the internals of the original king bee into the king bee 2. Definitely sounds like a downgrade. It sounds a lot closer to the worker bee which was originally their budget mic at 199$ but eventually went for 90$ when the king bee was 100-130$ instead of 300$. I'm not suprised since this mic is still a bit cheaper than the original price of the worker bee
Good point!
I think it sounds and controls better
I agree, I have also the King Bee, and tested it one beside the second, and it sounds with more bass the first one. So, from my point of view, it was a step backwards. By the way, the first one is 10Hz-20KHz in response, so it has a better response in bass frequencies.
@@franciscoaguilar9323 for my voice, I think the 2nd suits me more. The 1st was a bit too nasally
Kind of a big risk, especially if buying straight from the US with no clear return policies
Yeah, be careful.
Hello, mine has the same strong paint smell when opened. By the way, I purchased mine from Amazon MX too, and when tested it, I got the same noise like a losen cable or lack of ground, but opened it and a cable was between the circuitboard and the chasis, so I moved from it and the noise dissapeared. (I’ll be testing it for more time, and if noise gets back I’ll return it).
If you are a little curious, open it, and you will see that the Electronic components are very tiny and the manufacturing seems to be very simple, but it sounds good enough. The heavy is due to the body, not because transistors, resistors and capacitors. I can’t say components are cheap, but if you compare with the ones that are inside a Neumann, they look very small components.
Wow! Thanks for the feedback! I don't usually open my mics, but if it starts acting up I'll look into it.
Wow.
Then, why would they do such a huge mic, that barely holds UP?
Thanks for the insight.
The mid is a bit of a mess, very strange flangey/harshness ??? KSM-32 is far superior on my headphones
Interesting, thanks for sharing. I do like my KSM 32.
I prefered the king bee mics when it actually looked like a bee nkw the mics look a little too generic
Good point. They were very unique.
The smell fades
Good to know.
I think you must be crazy for considering this pos when you have the KSM32. I have both an unused worker bee and an unused King Bee in original packaging but would trade both for the ksm32 without a thought.
True, I do love my KSM 32. But hey, who doesn't love new gear!
I have the original... not only do I like the looks BETTER than the new one, but, from a longtime (quarter century) broadcaster, voiceover artist/actor and broadcast and music producer and engineer, I'd just like to say "WHO CARES what it looks like?!?!" Do you have an audience in your booth?! Incidentally, Turtle Beach has a LONG history (back to the late 80's) of making extremely high-end sound cards... they are NOT just some gaming audio company!
Fair