Review on NEAT Worker Bee Cardioid Condenser Microphone - Includes Pop Filter and Shockmount - Solid State Technology by Mark Green

Coming from a regular USB condenser mic (and before this headset mic) I was looking for an improvement in tone, build and noise. Audio recording quality for video conferencing, podcasts, streaming and content creation in general. The overall sound quality is more than just a mic, but working on every aspect you can control is the way to go, and my previous mics definitely had that noticeable self-noise in many base models, apart from a not-so-pleasant sound signature. So here comes the Neat Worker Bee. I was considering switching to an XLR mic to keep the electronics, involved in analog to digital conversion, into dedicated and separate devices that eventually became the Focusrite Scarlett Solo (adequate for my needs at the moment). After perusing a few reviews, I stumbled across one from Podcastage, and it immediately put Worker Bee and maybe even King Bee on my radar. The TBH King Bee would have been overkill in many ways (particularly size) but it was out of print anyway. This Worker Bee has a very clear and consistent pickup in my opinion, the cardioid pickup works amazingly well, it handles peaks better than most condenser mics and was the best value at $90 at the time of purchase. As can be seen in the photos, I use the same boom as my previous USB mic and while the Worker Bee has quite a bit of volume it turned out to be sufficient. to support it after about 7-8 months of use with this microphone. The included pop filter works great for me and supports the Worker Bee theme. The shock mount is custom made and works great. If I had to voice concerns about this mic, it would be tied to this mount anyway, and that's because the individuality that makes it unique creates a worrying point of failure if it fails, breaks, or is otherwise damaged. . I haven't seen a replacement for it on the secondary market, maybe the maker community could 3D print something ;) I've been waiting for months to Writing this review to give me enough time to settle my first impressions and be able to compare to my previous solutions with a more aligned head. If you are looking for a very durable microphone with a great sound signature at a very affordable price,