Neat Microphones has the King Bee II condenser microphone designed for studio recording. King Bee II is a side-address, cardioid-only condenser mic with notable professional features making it a good choice for recording vocal and acoustic instruments. It measures 9-inches tall including shock mount, phantom powered, and looks impressive on a mic stand. It has an integrated pop windscreen that snaps on/off the capsule chamber.
King Bee II uses a 34-mm center-terminated capsule with a gold-sputtered 6-micron thick Mylar diaphragm; discrete solid-state components in a Class-A circuit are used.
I set up for a lead vocal session using the King Bee II into my Retro Instruments PowerStrip all tube channel strip with passive EQ and variable-mu compressor. But I only used the mic pre-amp section to record my singer and liked the way the mic kept his sound as natural as possible. The King Bee II delivered a warm tone with good high frequency brilliance and with an even and balanced pickup. I liked that the mic's sensitivity and low noise produced a professional sound instantly.
The windscreen worked great to make p-pops a thing of the past and the shock mount took care of occasional bumps to the mic stand. I tried the King Bee II on an acoustic guitar recording placing it about 7-inches out from fretboard and away from the sound hole for fingerpicking. Using much less mic gain and a high pass filter, I positioned it over the sound hole out about 12-inches for a loud strumming rhythm part. I got a full and clean sound.
Neat Microphones King Bee II is a winner—a wonderful all-purpose utility condenser microphone that can be used for any recording. Big thumbs up! It sells for $169.99 MSRP.
