Gaming peripheral company Turtle Beach is acquiring Neat Microphones, makers of eclectic-looking desktop USB microphones that stray from the industry standard. Neat’s leadership has plenty of experience in the market. They were the original founders of popular brand Blue Microphones, now owned by Logitech. Turtle Beach declined to share financial terms of the acquisition. In a press release shared with, Turtle Beach CEO Juergen Stark says Neat’s technology will “further enhance our future industry-leading Turtle Beach and Roccat products.” Though, the deal also represents Turtle Beach’s expansion beyond gaming with “[Neat’s] broader assortment of consumer and prosumer audio products.” You may disagree, but I hope Neat gets to keep their unique design ID under Turtle Beach ownership. Neat’s microphones have an almost Teenage Engineering-esque aesthetic, yet they’re usually fairly affordable. A few models have been tested in the quest to find the best microphones for beginner podcasting and found quite a lot to like about them.