However, this was solved with another cable and another USB port, so I suspect it wasn’t a fault of the unit itself and I soon had Logic set up with the RØDECaster Pro as an interface. The only problem I ran into was USB connectivity which was a bit hit and miss at first. The sound is clear and crisp, as you’d want from a podcast – all very Radio 4.Ĭonnecting a phone is just as easy. It is, apparently, designed to partner with RØDECaster Pro and the two do make a nice couple. I tried a couple of mics, including RØDE’s own PodMic (sold separately for £99) which is a chunky and very solid dynamic mic. Testing with a microphone as a source and it is clean and bright, easy to monitor and great quality, probably as you’d expect given the RØDE name and the Class A mic pre claims. Other than that, it really is a case of connecting up your sources, adjusting levels and casting off! There’s a blindingly obvious Record button that will feed everything you put into RØDECaster Pro through to the SD Card or computer and, really, operation couldn’t be any simpler. Instead, you get several large cards that show typical uses and connectivity. There are no instructions as such, probably because operation is so simple. Everything is there that you need, it’s obvious what does what and you’re up and running in no time. ![]() USB, power and Micro SD slots complete the back panel and, all in all, you wonder why all interfaces couldn’t be laid out this simply. There’s a lovely touchscreen, eight reasonably solid faders (four for mic, one each for phone, USB and Bluetooth sources, plus a master), the sampling pads (all multicoloured), plus headphone and output-level controls.Īround the back you get four mic ins, one phone in, four useful headphone outs (so each user can monitor their feed and adjust via a front-panel rotary), plus main outputs. RØDECaster Pro has clearly been designed with ease of use in mind. That all sounds pretty good so far, so how does the unit square up in practice? ![]() Finally, for podcasting, you can connect your phone to the unit and it automatically provides ‘mix minus’ audio to prevent echo being heard by the caller, so you can easily draft in guests remotely by phone. You can also use the unit standalone and record the results to a micro SD card or stream it live.Īt the time of writing, this is just to a stereo file although new v1.1 software is imminent, and that allows you to record to separate multi-tracks, which is great for when one of your famous guests messes up so you can correct them later. You can drag and drop audio files onto these using the supplied software or record direct into them via the mic ins. ![]() First there are the eight trigger pads which can be programmed with different sound effects and jingles – it’s basically a pad sampler under another name, but a very neat addition. That’s pretty decent so far, and specs not completely out of sync with those found on a regular fully fledged audio interface, but RØDECaster Pro has some other neat features up its sleeve, all dedicated to the ‘cast. You can connect up both dynamic and condenser mics, and there are also a load of effects to choose from including Aphex’s Aural Exciter and Big Bottom, not to mention compression, limiting, de-essing and noise gating. You get four Class A preamps, which RØDE claims are the same ‘as found in broadcast consoles that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars’. RØDECaster Pro can act as a USB interface and mixer, the thinking being that you can send your cast straight out via your computer or into your DAW to edit it before you broadcast it. ![]() However, the simple design, aimed at less technical podcasters rather than more technical producers, might well tick a lot of boxes, and the spec seems pretty decent for both podding and producing. We’ll get one thing straight from the off, mind: this unit is designed more from the podcasting side of things than the audio side. It’s possibly one box to do it all… Casting the line Well, RØDE’s new RØDECaster Pro might well handle all of your audio interfacing, mixing and podcasting needs. If you’re David Tennant, get some of your famous mates in, why don’t you? The chances are you might already be podcasting, in which case you might well be using your studio gear to do it, or have a right old mish-mash of different, mixed up gear on your desktop to do everything. Anyone with anything to say can do it – just get a microphone, talk, upload, publicise. Podcasting has been with us for many a year, and after what seemed like a lull in popularity, it now seems to be here to stay, with many a pod being cast by the famous and not so famous.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |