Neat King Bee II - Cardioid Large Diaphragm True Condenser Microphone Includes Shock Mount and Pop Filter, for Vocal Recording, Podcasting, and Streaming, XLR Output - Black

The Neat King Bee II is probably one of the best XLR condenser microphones for the money with few drawbacks. The sound quality you get for this price ($112 at my time of purchase) in particular is just *chef's kiss*. Nothing fancy like switches for high-pass filters or pads but it excels at just sounding good as-is. I'd recommend watching reviews about it first if you're on the fence on buying it or not. The Podcastage channel over at YouTube has an excellent review that made me consider one initially and ultimately convinced me to get one so definitely check that out first. Some people apparently had issues with the earlier units buzzing but mine had no problems. If you do though there's also a YouTube video on how to fix it so I risked it and I'm quite happy with what I got. Keep in mind that this is one Chonky bee at something like 2.47 lb with the shockmount. That means a regular bargain-bin mic arm probably won't be able to hold it up properly. Make sure where you're mounting it is up to the task. I used an Elgato Wave Mic Arm LP with mine and it's great. There's a removable pop filter already attached that's not super great at plosive protection but you can just angle the mic so you're not directly speaking into it to prevent that. You can remove the pop filter too and it makes it sound even better to my ears. All in all I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking into investing in a no-frills microphone with great sound quality. I honestly like the looks of it too being all black but I think I prefer the splashes of yellow the OG King Bee had.

We had to return and get a second unit but the new mic perfection. Doubt I will ever need to replace it. The prior unit had a distinct hum when we first tried it. Upon researching it was a known issue with the first run of these. Second mic is crisp and had no issue. Highly recommend.

I'm a vocalist in LA. This mic rivals my Neuman U87 which I have used in my studio for years. I don't think you'll regret purchasing it.

Mic came in great packaging, shock mount and all included, looks good, very heavy mic body however but my Neewer desk clamp arm is able to hold it up well enough and desk tripod stand can hold it if I angle it right to not tip over, I like how it sounds more when the provided honeycomb pop filter is removed

Got time for this gamble? Mics at half price? Shipped free from the other side of the world, where someone is sitting on a bunch of them? First-run stuff, it's rumored, before the bugs were worked-out? Not so unusual. I bought one before I did the research. Certainly, it came boxed up and labeled as genuine Neat. Not too visibly beat-up either, for the journey. Shipped in an unpadded, brown paper bag. Dented corners of the box. Took forever to show up. A lot of rough DSL handling of a fragile mic. Not properly labeled by Amazon.uk as Fragile in any way for the Carrier to know better. An international sale of goods with me as Importer; and special terms and assumption of risks apply to the transaction. That's each and all together a reason to avoid this Luxembourg sold mic. Not-so-good quality control at the factory. You are to listen for an incessant Hum. Pass/ fail. Also, best go to the web at amazon.co.uk, from which these are sold, to see reviews hindering their local sales. Built in China. Sennheisers are too, by the way. Neumanns, not so it seems. Best to pay the full price locally for your Neat mic, if you were to ask me now.

This mic is such a good bargain at this price! I had zero problems with mine and have checked it against my OG King Bee and they both sound fantastic! I haven’t worked with it much yet, but I am looking forward to using it for voice acting.

Do not buy this mic. It's cheap because it's defective. Mine made a loud buzzing sound. I got a return label and exchanged the package, but then the seller cancelled the exchange, AFTER I had sent the mic back. So, Amazon didn't register the exchange, and didn't refund me. Now I have no refund and no mic. I have to get Amazon to resolve the issue because seller is ignoring me. Do not waste your time and money. I will update my review if I get my refund.

Very good full range. Picks up my bass and subharmonics better than anything else I have tried. Very clean and high quality vocals.