Page 3 - Recording Performance Tests
While a typical user may not always need a dedicated microphone, there are definite use cases for one, especially as working from home becomes more of a norm across industries. In addition, dedicated studio-grade microphones are often the audio input of choice for content creators, streamers, and gaming enthusiasts. We have tested microphones in various contexts in the past, and the result has ranged from barely usable to surprisingly clear. While we could just sit and say, "Yep, it picked up my voice loud and clear, 10/10", there are some audio tests we can do to see how it actually performs. Furthermore, we can also test various use cases for a microphone, whether it means speaking for recording podcasts or instruments and singing for music recording. A single product may not work for every situation, but this will be a demonstration of the Neat Bumblebee II's capabilities.
As you may have already read in previously, the Neat Bumblebee II captures sounds with a polar cardioid pattern. This means the sound picked up is the most natural from the front and captures audio here at the loudest amplitude. Moving from left to right, you will not hear any stereo effect, since it captures the same amplitude and feeds it into both channels. However, you can hear the off-axis pickup. Off-axis pickup shows how the microphone deals with sounds that are not directly facing the diaphragm and shows if there is any distortion or change in quality of the captured sound. Generally, the recorded audio from the front is clear and natural, but the side and back sounds are a bit more distant or shielded. This is not surprising whatsoever, and is very typical of a cardioid pickup pattern. As we mentioned, there are no other polar patterns available with the Bumblebee II.
As for the more technical tests, you can hear how the Neat Bumblebee II handles plosive and background noises. Plosive sounds traditionally refer to a speech sound where the vocal tract is blocked and airflow stops right before the pronunciation of these sounds. If you try making sounds like p, k, t, d, b, or g, you will notice right before you say these letters, your airflow will have stopped. Afterwards, this produces a "puff" or immediate contrast in air pressure. When it comes to microphones, this air pressure change can result in an unpleasant sound. As for background noises, this is affected by the pickup pattern of the microphone as well as the off-axis capturing behavior.
In terms of plosives, the Neat Bumblebee II was capable at reducing plosive noises, with p-words coming through without being too distracting. There was still a noticeable air pressure noise recorded, especially on the second "pepperoni", but l was a bit more intentional with this test. The integrated membrane behind the microphone did an adequate job at filtering these, but you can always purchase a third-party pop filter to further reduce this. As for background noises, the Bumblebee II did pick up my keyboard and mouse clicks. This is a condenser microphone, so it is performing as expected, although it does sound like the Bumblebee II was hearing more of the vibrations from the table when I was typing rather than the switch sound itself. While the internal shock mount is doing its job, it could be improved, whether on the stand or inside to prevent as much vibration noise. During my gaming sessions on Discord, my friends did not hear my keyboard or mouse noise much in the background, but you can still hear it slightly if you are listening for it.
As with all recordings, a good microphone should capture the source in a natural way. I first recorded a reading of the Neat Bumblebee II's retail box description. The second and third recordings were of me strumming on an acoustic guitar, then overlaying the recording with me singing into the Neat Bumblebee II. If you are unaware of the parody song, it is from my colleague Jonathan Kwan's review of the QNAP TS-419P II. For the spoken word test, you could hear all of my different speaking articulations while reading the box information. While I got a bit more into my announcer mode of reading, the sound was natural and clean with no distortion or noise artifacts. Due to the slightly lower frequency range of my speaking voice, I have found some microphones to cut off my voice at the bottom due to its limited frequency capturing range. Thankfully, this was not the case of the Neat Bumblebee II, as my voice sounded natural and full-range. It also captured me without any nasally qualities you may hear from some gaming headsets.
With respect to the music and singing recordings, I placed the microphone about 10cm near the 14th fret on my guitar, away from the sound hole. These natural qualities heard in the spoken word test translated to a clean pick up of my acoustic guitar. While I could have mounted it on a boom arm for a closer placement, the tilting mechanism let me easily direct the microphone down to where my guitar was without needing to use extra equipment. The recorded guitar sound was pretty clean without too much muddiness and a good amount of resonance. There was a decent amount of brightness captured, while also balancing it with bottom end in the lower strings. As for my own singing, other than my own lacking abilities, the Bumblebee II did not get overwhelmed at all. It was easily able to capture me, flaws and all, and accurately record what I was singing. There were no signs of distortion while doing these recordings, which is great to see. From these tests, you can see that the Bumblebee II is very usable for different use cases, making it a versatile recording option.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Recording Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
