Turtle Beach unveils Neat Microphones’ King Bee II analog XLR microphone

Neat Microphones is unveiling its King Bee II analog XLR microphone for gamers and streamers who require the greatest-high-quality gear for livestreaming or other personal computer communications tasks.

The solution is most likely to attain a considerably wider audience than Neat Microphones specialty merchandise have reached in the previous, as large peripheral maker Turtle Beach acquired Neat Microphones back in January. Turtle Beach is one of the largest makers of headphones and other accessories, and this is a bit like taking a craft beer into all of the nation’s supermarkets.

Neat Microphones’ King Bee II launches at participating retailers in North America and Europe on July 1 for $170. That’s a lot significantly less revenue than it used to expense to get custom microphone technologies. These new microphones are arriving just in time, as microphone technologies has been place to the test as communicating from home more than the web has been a necessity in the course of the pandemic.

“There has been a growing demand for these kinds of products, and in the last 16 months or so it has been about being able to work from home,” mentioned Skipper Wise, founder of Neat Microphones and vice president of microphones at Turtle Beach, in an interview with GamesBeat.

A extended journey

The King Bee II is the extended-awaited successor to Neat Microphones’ original award-winning King Bee. It presents higher-finish microphone functionality for recording, voiceovers, broadcast, and streaming use. It came about for the reason that of the deal that occurred earlier this year.

With the acquisition, Turtle Beach has gained the founders of Blue Microphones, a pioneering audio firm began in 1995. Wise and his crew have been the inventors of the very first higher-functionality USB microphone, and they have been pioneers behind other award-winning microphones that have revolutionized how pros and customers capture their voice, music, and more.

“Skipper had a musical career and I was the tech guy for San Francisco bands in the 1960s,” mentioned David Angress, who is element of the Neat Microphones group, in an interview with GamesBeat. “We’ve been together for a very long time. We’ve used microphones, design microphones, sold microphones. We live and breathe microphones. We’re absolutely delighted to have a home at Turtle Beach.”

Neat has just 5 folks, and they have all been about for a extended time, Angress mentioned. The other members integrated engineer Martins Sulespurens, creaetive director Ken Niles, and solution director Clay Harrison.

“When we started Blue, none of us knew how to deal with the commerce aspect of it,” mentioned Wise, founder of Neat Microphones and vice president of microphones at Turtle Beach, mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat. “David was there to guide us via all this stuff.

Back when they have been at Blue Microphones, they made microphones that could expense $10,000. They grew that enterprise and sold Blue Microphones in 2013 to Gibson Brands, which made Gibson Guitars. But they left on their personal right after a handful of years and Gibson sooner or later filed for bankruptcy protection in 2018. Then the original founders purchased back the Neat Microphones enterprise. They rebooted the brand and had great good results till they did the deal with Turtle Beach.

“The key thing for us is that we have something to say. And what was so expensive when we first started to build these high-end microphones has now changed,” Wise mentioned. “What we were always trying to learn is how to make the best sound and then, with technology changing and manufacturing growing, to offer it at an affordable price. With Turtle Beach behind us, it’s like having a major studio behind your movie. And it’s exciting for us because we’ve always been sitting on a soapbox and shouting as loud as we can. Now we get to concentrate on our craft.”

They have been acquiring prepared to unveil the all-new King Bee II ever given that the acquisition. Juergen Stark, CEO of Turtle Beach, mentioned in a statement that Neat is currently really effectively recognized amongst musicians and recording artists, so the debut of King Bee II has fans really excited. He mentioned the solution represents Turtle Beach’s entry into the $2.3 billion microphone industry and it is good to do so with a group that excels in microphone high-quality.

Neat’s King Bee II is the very first of 5 all-new analog and digital USB microphone merchandise launching this year, Stark mentioned.

Wise mentioned the launches will start out out with “our superstar product.”

A microphone for all seasons

The King Bee II is versatile sufficient to target musicians, podcasters, streamers, and other individuals, Wise mentioned.  Vocals, drums, electric guitar, piano, and acoustic instruments shine with the King Bee II, and spoken word applications, from voiceovers to podcasting to streaming content, can be captured with crystal-clear clarity and depth, he mentioned.

The microphones have customized Class-A discrete electronics, the most up-to-date industrial style, and a precision, gold-sputtered condenser microphone capsule so that what you hear at the output is what the King Bee II hears at its input, Wise mentioned. It has a cardioid polar pattern, so it picks up on audio straight in front of the mic and minimizes undesirable area reflections.

Up till the time when USB connectors came into becoming, microphones have been a temperamental lot that in some cases worked and in some cases didn’t. The very first two merchandise coming out will have a connector on the output dubbed XLR, which is applied on stage or in recording studios. Later on, the Neat Microphones group will launch more USB-based devices. The merchandise will have distinct cost points and features.

“We want people to take the next step up,” Wise mentioned.

Angress added, “We want to take the category forward. We want to show what people can get if they invest in microphones. For this kind of pricing, you can get a very high-quality instrument.”

Besides Neat Microphones, Turtle Beach has brands such as the Roccat keyboards, mice, headsets, mousepads, and other Computer accessories, as effectively as Turtle Beach headsets.

Wise mentioned the King Bee II excels with features such as its substantial-diaphragm correct condenser capsule form, its 16Hz to 20 kHz frequency response, its 89dB S/N ratio, 134 dB dynamic variety, its 140dB Max SPL, and its XLR output connector. Audiophiles will appreciate these features compared to other greater-priced microphones from rivals like Audio Technica, Blue, Rode, and AKG.

Wise got into microphone style as he used to personal a recording studio and had a profession in music.

As for working with Turtle Beach, Wise mentioned it is working out effectively.

“We found a company that could support us financially, and in terms of infrastructure, we also found a great team,” Wise mentioned. “It’s important to be working with the right team of people. We have been furiously finishing up products that we’ve been working on for well over a year. These are our second generation of products to follow on the successful first generation. And we’re just launching the very first one of those now.”

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz