Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware
When it comes to the physical appearance of the Neat Bumblebee II, the second revision of this microphone looks a lot more typical, at least in comparison to the first. While the first one featured a large base and a pivoting arm to hold the condenser capsule, the Bumblebee II looks quite a bit more like a standard microphone with a large body and metal construction. All of it is black in color, but the main capsule slightly resembles a bee with a slightly bulbous body and flat top and bottom. The top part has a metal mesh grille to protect the condenser capsule inside while also allowing sound to travel in. The mesh is very hard and does not flex at all. Otherwise, the body has a couple of inputs on the front with a knob and button. A Neat logo can be found on the front and back side of the unit. We have a metal stand with arms on both sides to act as a bit of a shock mount. The base is attached to this extending arm and is held quite snugly together. Overall, the product looks clean and fits quite well into a standard gaming, streaming, or voice recording environment without standing out too much.
Taking a closer look at the inputs on the Neat Bumblebee II, you can see there is one large knob with a clear plastic ring around it to allow lighting to shine through. This knob is actually a multi-function one, as it can be pressed to change what it controls. Pressing the knob also changes the illuminated color of the ring. When it is yellow, this changes the output of the headphone output underneath. When this ring glows blue, this adjusts the signal levels for your microphone gain. Finally, when this glows green, the knob adjusts the balance between the source and return signal, letting users adjust how much they want to hear the input into the Bumblebee II in relation with the rest of the output. Underneath, we have a button marked "Mute" and a small indicator light beside the label. This LED glows red when the Bumblebee II is muted. These are really handy tools to have directly on the Bumblebee II, as it means you will not need to fumble in your sound settings to make adjustments. Unfortunately, there is no way to change the pickup pattern, as it always uses a cardioid pattern.
Flipping to the underside of the main body, you can see here are the two outputs on the Neat Bumblebee II. The first is a USB Type-C connection and it is used to connect to your computer. This can be plugged into computers running Windows or Mac OS. Beside this is a headphone output for users to monitor audio live with as little latency as possible. One thing I noted from the ROCCAT Torch was the fact the headphone output on that unit was a bit fuzzy with a low buzzing being heard. However, the output on the Neat Bumblebee II is clean and does not exhibit any of this behavior, which is great to hear, no pun intended. Otherwise, you can see there are some certifications for the Bumblebee II for regulatory reasons. In this position, you can see how the microphone rotates about the two side arms to ensure you can direct the microphone to your audio source.
Taking a look at the base of the Neat Bumblebee II, you can see there is not much to the bottom. Here, we have a large circular base with the front area cut out. Interestingly, the top of the base is topped with plastic and filled with a metal internal to add more weight at the bottom here. The underside is lined with a layer of foam to keep the microphone in place and prevent it from easily moving about while resting on a desk. With this heavy base, the whole Neat Bumblebee II weighs in at around 400g, which is actually slightly lighter than the ROCCAT Torch by around 100g. When the Bumblebee II is standing upright, the unit is 203mm in height, 127mm in width, and 114mm in depth. These dimensions show the unit is slightly more compact than the aforementioned Torch, further explaining the reduction in weight.
From the above picture, you can see how the Neat Bumblebee II looks when it is attached to a third-party stand. Users can remove the bottom base of the Bumblebee II and, with the included 3/8" adapter, can mount the microphone onto most boom arms, whether they are desk mounted or floor standing. When it is plugged in and powered on, you can also see how the right around the knob glows in different colors based on the current multi-function. Internally, the Neat Bumblebee II records 24-bit audio at a 96kHz sample rate. A single 25mm polarized condenser capsule is found inside with internal shock mounting to prevent knocking sounds. This picks up sound with a cardioid pattern, but we will explore this later in our review. The microphone features a full 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response and a maximum 128dB SPL, or sound pressure level. This generally refers to the maximum volume of sound the microphone can take before any distortion. This is a higher number compared to the SPL from the Torch and Neat Skyline, which is great for louder instruments or sound sources.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Recording Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
