If you were thinking on investing in a piece of hardware for podcasting in 2019, the RODECaster Pro may just be what you’re after.
To be honest, if this had been around a year ago, I think I would have splashed for it instead of the UFX1604 (overkill for multiple guests and calls, but it has its uses).
It’s a pricey bit of kit as well, coming in at €649 on Thomann and £571 on Amazon.
Edit: As of March 2020, its price has dropped significantly, now weighing in around the €529 mark on Thomann.
But for bells, whistles and functionality, I may well be adding it to the mix this year.
RODECaster Pro: What’s it got?
First off, this is brand new from Rode and billed as “the world’s first fully integrated podcast production studio.”
Over 2018 I was getting great use for multiple guest recordings with my Zoom H6 kit but this goes way further.
Think about these…
- It takes four microphones, and outputs for four headphones
- You can preload it with stings/jingles/music to fire from pads
- Bluetooth connectivity lets you bring in phone calls with automatic mix-minus (or use TRS connection)
- You can multi-track over USB or just record straight to SD
- The mic channels provide phantom power too for condenser mics
Ryan does it better here…
While you can use a computer to record with the RODECaster, it’s a standalone device.
Pop it out on the table, plug in your mics and headphones, power up and record away.
Are there any downsides?
While they say you can be podcasting out of the box in a matter of minutes, this is going a little beyond your entry level setup.
It’s a super portable piece of kit, however, you will need to run it off the mains as there’s no battery option in this edition.
You’ll also need to invest in Micro SD cards (as opposed to straight SD cards) – but no biggie.
Outside of that, and without having had a hands on trial yet, I’d say the pros outweigh the cons by a mile here.
It’s been on the go since November and this month has seen a firmware upgrade to cater for full multi-track recording.