Page 4 - Conclusion
As we finish our look at the Neat Worker Bee II, you can see that Neat has provided another excellent experience as they have with their other microphones, which is great to see. The Worker Bee II looks and feels as solidly built as the rest, despite its smaller size and lighter mass. Its included mounting hardware is minimal but sufficient in keeping the microphone held in place. Unlike the King Bee II, the Worker Bee II is clearly more focused on midrange instruments with its intention for covering acoustic guitars, bright brass sounds, and vocals. As such, in our performance tests, the Worker Bee II captured more in the midrange and the resulting sound was as you might expect. Acoustic guitars sounded a bit brighter, while vocals were easily audible. In addition, it showed a tighter pickup pattern to capture more direct sounds. For gaming purposes, the Worker Bee II may still pick up background noises, but it is generally reduced. However, there are still some things that content creators and streamers will need to keep in mind. For one, I would have liked to see an external shock mount to reduce vibrations, as the Worker Bee II easily picked up vibrations from typing or clicking. In addition, it would have been nice to have an included pop filter to reduce plosive noises. Finally, there is only one polar pattern with the Worker Bee II, and this is something users should keep in mind. All in all, the Worker Bee II is a capable microphone for what it is made to do. At a price of $100 USD, this XLR microphone is a smaller but solid microphone for vocal and instrument recording. If you are looking for capturing sources that occupy this midrange region, then the Worker Bee II is an admirable option.
Neat Microphones provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.7/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The Neat Worker Bee II microphone excels in capturing vocals and instruments while keeping it all in a compact package.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Recording Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
