Tons of New Podcasting & Streaming Gear from Rode

Rode recently announced a whole
bunch of new gear in what they called Their ”biggest product launch ever,”
which was a little ironic because a Lot of the products were very tiny. I normally don’t like to make videos
about gear before I’ve actually been Able to use it and work with it, but in
this case, I’ve honestly just gotten so Many questions about all this new stuff
that I thought maybe it’d be a good idea To make a video where I share some of
my thoughts and then you can do with Those thoughts what you will, keeping
in mind I haven’t used any of the new Stuff, so I definitely wouldn’t use this As a purchasing decision because so
much of it depends on how the things Actually perform once they’re released. They announced a lot of things, but
the three big pieces of hardware Were the Rodecaster Duo, the
Streamer X, and the PodMic USB. So let’s start by talking about what is
probably the biggest product and this big Product launch, which is a smaller version Of the Rodecaster Pro. So the four XLR channel, nine Track
Rodecaster Pro- there’s a smaller Version called the Rodecaster Duo. And over the years I’ve gotten so
many comments and messages from people On my videos saying that the thing
that they want is a less expensive, Smaller Rodecaster because most
people, probably myself included, Aren’t utilizing everything that
the full size Rodecaster Pro can do, But you want some of those features so
the Duo can Duo-finitely handle that Because it’s basically all of this,
just in the smaller package with two XLR- it’s Duo- two makes sense, two XLR
inputs, but all the same processing, all The same internals and functionality. And so if it is able to live up
to those expectations and work As well as the big Rodecaster, It really wouldn’t surprise me
if the Duo ended up becoming the Most popular Rodecaster because
I think it’s really practical. It has a $500 price point, or $499. Every penny counts. I’ve heard some criticism that that
price is still a little bit too high, And of course, I, I would love a
lower price too, but, If you think of

Things like the Vocaster Two is the
one that comes to mind, the Focusrite Vocaster Two, which is just
a two channel interface. It only has a fraction of the
functionality of the Rodecaster Pro. It’s an amazing interface. It’s my favorite just Interface
interface, but it’s $300. So the Rodecaster Duo is $200 more
than a really nice basic interface. That seems fair to me. I think the features are great, I think the size is great. I’ve been testing out the Boss Gigcaster8
which is Roland and Boss’, um, you Know, version of the Rodecaster Pro. And I’m still kind of working
through and testing this, but. This is an eight channel mixer, just
like the Rodecaster Pro, but it’s Really only about half the size. And one thing I’ve really
come to appreciate about this Is the smaller form factor. It’s kind of nice having this
small thing, this compact. It works well. The Duo, I think haven’t used it in
person, is even smaller than this. I feel like for so many people where
you just, you don’t want your whole Desk taken up by something like this The Duo is going to be kind
of the perfect solution. The next thing Rode announced, which
is very interesting because it goes Into a place they’ve never gone before,
which is the scary world of video, and That’s the Streamer X, which is a 4K
capture card and an audio interface Smashed into one small device. I’m really excited about this for
two very big reasons: the first being That this is something that is needed. It’s small. I mean, again, I don’t have the size
on it, but it looks like it’s probably About this big single HDMI input, single
XLR input sound pads or Smart Pads Built into it, and it’s 4K quality. The reason that’s exciting is because
how many of us, myself included, have Had the setup where you have an interface
like a Scarlet 2i2 or something, and a

Capture card, like a Camlink or an ATEM. I’ve been running the Rodecaster and the
ATEM as my audio video set up for, you Know, streaming and podcasting and stuff
for years at this point, and being able To get a lot of that same functionality
in one small thing, it’s pretty cool. Instead of telling someone you need
to go buy a capture card, you need To go buy an audio interface- just
get this one thing and you’re all Set is absolutely awesome, especially
because they didn’t limit it to 1080. That’s my only complaint with the
ATEM Mini that I have and love is That it’s limited to 1080, which
as time goes on and 4K becomes more Popular, it becomes more limiting
to be stuck in a 1080 workflow. So just purely as the idea of one
device that handles both of these super Common needs, that can really work for
probably the majority of people who Want to get a good camera signal and a
good audio signal into their computer. I think the Streamer X is probably the
thing that’s going to work for most People because you still have the
audio processing in the Rode apps, so You can still go in and do a lot of
tweaking with your sound and your audio, You just don’t have the physical
offboard mixer that can handle it. The other reason I’m really excited
about the Streamer X is purely Speculative, but it’s very interesting
to see Rode go down the road of video. It would be pretty neat at some
point in the future to see a Rodecaster like device that has
like four HDMI and four XLR inputs, Essentially a Rodecaster
ATEM hybrid 4K capture card. Super great audio, you can switch between
your sources and handle all your audio In one device, and it works really well. That, that would be kind of a
dream device to me, honestly. And my hope, again, pure speculation,
my hope is that the Streamer X is almost Like dipping a toe into that water
to see how it works, and maybe that’s Something that could happen in the future. My only criticism of the
Streamer X is I do think that The price is a little bit high. It’s $399. If you think of getting something
like a basic audio interface, Maybe like a Focusrite Scarlett
it’s probably about $150, maybe $200 that you would spend on that.

And then a 4K capture card, like a
Camlink is about $120 or $100 sometimes. Those two separate devices are
significantly less expensive Than this one combo device. But of course this is a combo
device and it does have a lot Of really cool functionality. So maybe that’s what you’re paying for? I don’t know how developing products works
exactly, but I’m sure that there has to Be some sort of cost coverage for the R&D
that goes into adding a video component To traditionally audio only products, So maybe that is an
explanation of the price. But if it works in the way that it’s
supposed to and it does everything it’s Supposed to do, I think the Streamer X
is going to be really, really exciting. And also things that are exciting, the
one that started it all, the old PodMic. For me and for a lot of
people, the PodMic was Our first ”real” microphone. When you wanted to go into something
that’s an XLR mic to use for podcasting, Streaming, anything like that, a
lot of us went with the PodMic. It was released with the original
Rodecaster, so it was super cool to Be able to spend a hundred dollars,
get this really nice microphone. The PodMic USB B-lieve it or not. Is a USB version of the PodMic, and
I think that is incredibly smart. I like the design of it. It’s kind of like a
more blacked out design. You have all the ports on the
back, XLR and USB and a headphone Output for zero latency monitoring. And of course you have a
volume control as well. All things that should be on a good
USB mic, and it’s really cool that It’s also then a really good XLR mic. It also looks like Rode has released,
and I can’t find info if this comes With it or not yet, but they’ve done
an updated windscreen for the PodMic. So instead of the big poofy windscreen,
they kind of have this streamlined one That almost looks still like the PodMic. You kind of do need a
windscreen with the PodMic. It’s supposed to have one built in,
but it’s still pretty susceptible

To plosives, so it’s really cool
that they’ve addressed that. The yoke on the PodMic USB is the
same as the original, which is no Yoke kind of the best one there is. Rode does this thing that very
few, if any other companies do. The PodMic has it. Their shock mounts have it. And basically the mount has a
5/8 and 3/8 just built into it. So you don’t need to use adapters. You can put these on mic stands,
you can put them on boom arms. You never need to worry about
installing or taking out adapters. Of course, as a new Rode USB microphone, It can also work with
all of Rode’s software. Rode also mentioned, very interesting,
that it can work with one of the USB Ports on the Rodecaster Pro, so it you
could add then a fifth microphone into The Rodecaster with the PodMic USB. They didn’t really mention
specifically, it has 32 bit float Audio and this is where things I
think do get a little bit weird. I’m using the NT-1 5th Generation
right now, which is very similar To the PodMic USB in that it’s
an updated version of an existing Microphone with USB functionality. I think Rode did a better job with the
PodMic USB because of the controls and The outputs on the back, if nothing
else, than zero latency headphone Output monitoring. The NT-1 5th Generation doesn’t have that. It has a USB connector, but that’s it. You have no controls on it. You have no headphone monitoring. A USB microphone kind of needs
headphone monitoring, but the USB Functionality on this is great
and includes one of the coolest Features, which is 32 bit float audio. So it means if you’re using this
as USB microphone, it’s very, very, Very difficult to make it clip or
to have your audio be too quiet. It doesn’t make sense to me that
that feature would just float Away from a new release like this.

It makes sense that it would
have the have it in there. And then the other thing about the
PodMic USB is Rode has said that the Sound quality hasn’t changed at all. It’s the same PodMic sound but
just with some added functionality. They said the same thing about
the NT-1, 5th Generation. As much as I love the previous
NT-1, the XLR only one, and I Think that it sounds amazing. I do think that this one sounds
a little bit different and Honestly a little bit better. It could just be my ears. I need to do more direct comparisons. I kind of hope that the PodMic USB does
sound a little different than the original Because the thing with the original PodMic
is it doesn’t sound great on every voice. If you go from having no microphone
to the PodMic, it’s amazing. You know, it’s night and day difference. But as you start using it for a while,
this is what happened to me, this Is what happened to a lot of people. It is a good functional microphone,
but you start to realize, it really Emphasizes some of the higher end
frequencies of the spectrum, and it Can sometimes sound pretty harsh. It doesn’t necessarily work well on
every voice, which is kind of true For every microphone to be fair. If you have a voice that works well
on the PodMic, it sounds incredible. If you want to spend a little bit of
time EQ’ing your sound and dialing Things in, it can sound incredible. But it’s not something like even this
NT-1 or an SM7B or an Earthworks ETHOS Where you can just put that microphone
in front of almost anybody and it’s Going to sound pretty decent right away. The PodMic takes a
little bit more finesse. I wouldn’t mind it if they did readjust, I
dunno, the frequency response or whatever You want to call it, where then the PodMic
USB does sound maybe a little more full. De-emphasize some of those high-end
frequencies- a little more neutral, I guess is what I’m asking for. The only criticism that I have with
the PodMic USB is the same one as a

Streamer X, and that’s the price point. It is $199. The original PodMic is $99, so for twice
the price you get that USB functionality. A good USB XLR combo
mic is super valuable. It’s such a versatile, awesome tool
to have, but twice the price and the Thing is, in the realm of $100 to $200
microphones, there are so many options. Even as a combo mic, the PodMic
USB is going to be competing Against some pretty tough stuff. And I feel like the PodMic will still
be very popular because it’s a good Mic and it has brand name recognition. But if it were $180, $150 would
be an absolute no-brainer. $180 would be really competitive. I think $200 is definitely something
where people are going to start looking More at other options before deciding. If it were a little bit cheaper, I
think it would just be the go-to choice. So the last thing I want to talk
about here, as much as I am a huge Fan of Rode, which you might know
that if you’re watching this part of This video, you probably know that. I do have a few hesitations and I think
it’s probably important to address those. But I am very hopeful, very
optimistic, and very excited overall. My hesitations come with making
sure that Rode can deliver on The promises that they’ve made. And what I mean by that is last year when
the Rodecaster Pro II was released- at This point with it’s had a lot of updates. I installed an update right now
before I started recording this video. At this point, the Rodecaster Pro
II is just so good and honestly in Using competing devices, even when
they have strengths and things that They’re really good at, more than
anything, it just confirms to me this Is so far ahead of anything else. But when this was announced,
there was a lot of excitement and A lot of hype and Rode kind of
promised, you know, the heavens With the Rodecaster Pro II and there was
a lot of pushback after it was released Because in a lot of ways it didn’t
immediately meet all of those needs. And in some ways it still doesn’t.

There hasn’t been in the past year
really any updates for musicians, even Though it being geared as something
for podcaster streamers and musicians, Those three categories was something that
was heavily promoted when it was released. That part has kind of been not
really acknowledged, which is why The Gigcaster has a place because it
has virtual amp modeling, it’s geared More towards musicians than anything. So it’s stronger in that area
and weaker in the other areas. But other than that, this thing has
just gotten better and better and more And more powerful with every update,
especially with the customization options And the routing for both headphones
and outputs and different USB sources. But this is just one product. So launching three new products that
all have big promises attached to them, I just really hope that Rode has
not spread themselves too thin And that they’re able to meet
all of the expectations and sort Of live up to those expectations
that they’ve set for themselves. But I am hopeful because despite those
issues with other more recent releases Like this one, the NT-1 5th Generation I
think Rode’s done an excellent job of this Is what it is, this is what it does, it
does everything we say it’s going to do. Here you go. So I’m very hopeful that maybe
they’ve kind of turned the corner On that and things will go really,
really well with future releases. But again, only time will tell. And the other criticism I have is,
part of me sometimes is a little Bit worried that Rode is leaning
towards a marketing first approach And not a customer first approach. And what I mean by that is the
thing that drew me to Rode prior To having YouTube channel was
their amazing customer service. I ordered hundreds and hundreds of
Rode products for the high school Media programs that I was teaching
and developing and stuff at the time. And not only did the products work
well, not only did they fit within our Budget, but anytime something went wrong,
which was usually not the product’s Fault, but more likely the fault of a
high school student using the product, Rode was always there. And I could just reach out to Rode
and they would take care of us and

Repair something or replace something. And it really completely saved my butt
so many times, which is why when it Came to buying my own gear, if there
was a Rode option for something I Needed, that was just the one that
I went with because I trusted it. And the price was right, the
quality was good, and the company Was behind it, backing it up. Super customer first, and they’ve
always had that reputation. And that’s a very hard
reputation to build up. Over the past year though, there have been
a few times where that’s sort of stumbled. One of the other updates in the
Rodecaster Pro two is that it has A wireless receiver built into it. So you can take the Wireless GO II
or the Wireless Me, you can take The transmitter and just now pair it
directly with the Rodecaster Pro II. And you can do that with the Rodecaster
Duo as well, because there’s a Wireless receiver built in here. That is awesome. The number of times I’ve had to help
people figure out how to connect their Wireless GO’s to a Rodecaster, and it’s
always a little bit janky and frustrating. You can just do it directly
with just the transmitter right Now, that is unbelievable. However, that also means that that
wireless receiver was in here for Almost a year before it was activated. Why not enable that really
cool feature immediately? And it’s hard to think that that’s
not for any other reason than to have Something really cool to announce in
a future firmware update like, ”We Built in this feature, we kept quiet
about it, now we’re going to announce It to build more excitement at this
other product launch or something.” Which makes sense from a
marketing point of view, But from a customer point of view, all
of those people who have been trying for The past year to connect their wireless
units and dealing with adapter cables and Poor signals and stuff like that, they
have the thing that they need built in! Which they paid for and got,
but they didn’t have access to. That’s kind of a small detail, but
to me that is a marketing first And not a customer first approach.

And so my big hope is that Rode will
lean back more towards the customer first Approach because that is, despite making
really great gear and really cool stuff And understanding their users’ needs,
that’s to me the biggest selling point. When you buy something and you know
that if you have trouble with it or Something goes wrong, you’re going to
have the support that you need with That device, and you’re going to get the
best possible version of a device for Your money at the time that you get it. That’s what Rode has traditionally
been known for and really what I Hope they continue to be known for. Those are my thoughts about
the new Rode products. Very excited whenever they’re released
to try them out and let you know how They work and how they compare to things. And I’m super excited about them and hope
that they will be absolutely awesome. And speaking of things that are
absolutely awesome, thank you to everyone Who helps support my channel through
Patreon and YouTube Channel Memberships. And I do have an entire playlist all
about the Rodecaster Pro II if you want To know a little bit more specifically
about this awesome thing right here.