The Rodecaster Duo and The Rode Podmic USB

Dave Jackson [00:00:00]:

This podcast is part of the power of podcasting network. Find it@powerofpodcasting.com. Welcome to best Podcasting gear. I'm your host Dave Jackson from the schoolofpodcasting.com and today I'm giving you a quick update. I was in London a couple weeks ago and I got to see the new Pod mic that is not only XLR but USB. And these days I only recommend a microphone unless you're talking over $200 that I want them to be flexible. I want it to be USB for the person that's flying solo. It wants it easy, but I also want that XLR.

Dave Jackson [00:00:52]:

So when you're ready to upgrade but let's do a little history lesson of the RODECaster. Really did change the game in podcasting because a respected company like Road said, hey, we're going to make something just for podcasters. And even though they kind of didn't, I mean, they did. It was aimed at podcasters, but there was enough in there for gamers as well. But the RODECaster one, which by the way, is still a good product, I know people like, oh, there's a RODECaster two. No, it doesn't mean the first one's awful, but the RODECaster one you can record from any service on your computer. So like Zoom or Squadcast or whatever, you Skype if you're still using that. And then you can separate the tracks where you're on channel one and your computer is on channel two, you could have a separate person via an actual phone, like your cell phone, as well as something on Bluetooth.

Dave Jackson [00:01:51]:

And what's great about this is if you're an old schooler, we used to talk about mix minus that is built into these devices. So you could have that kind of setup. I just talked about you on channel one, somebody on the computer on channel two, somebody on a phone on channel three, and somebody on, I don't know, an iPad on channel four, and they could all hear each other. It's amazing. So that was the RODECaster one. The one thing I loved about the RODECaster one and they did away with it. And I'm like, why was you could plug your phone in hardwired via a TRRS cable? And I'm really bummed because when they came out with a RODECaster two, it had better preamps, it had better routing, and it had the ability to plug in more than one device via USB. But they got rid of the TRRS cable and I really wish they would bring that back.

Dave Jackson [00:02:50]:

But also when I say it had better preamps, again, this doesn't mean the old preamps were awful, but these were considerably better. Little less hiss. Not that the old ones are super hissy, but these have almost no hiss at all. And the other thing I loved about the RODECaster two is you could go in and say, look, I'm only using one track here, and turn the other tracks off with the RODECaster one. If you were recording solo when you pulled the recordings off the unit, you were getting 16 tracks, which took up a lot of space on your SD card. So I loved that feature. The one thing that did change from the RODECaster One to two also is they used to have a headphone jack in the front and now they're all in the back again. But the RODECaster Two is a great kind of unit for somebody who needs four inputs.

Dave Jackson [00:03:43]:

So if you're doing a panel discussion, they both have the pad so you can play sound effects. And also it's great for live streaming. They've got built in headphone amplifiers. They're both amazing. The other thing that's really great about the Road line is especially if we go back to the Road One, immediately people are like, hey, can we get it to do this? And they were updating the firmware and I've used the zoom, not the P four, but the eight track one they have. And not that it's hard, but Road just makes updating the firmware on this almost like a two click operation. It's really easy. And so for me, the one complaint I had about either one, the RODECaster Pro One or two, was it took up a large amount of your desk space.

Dave Jackson [00:04:29]:

And recently Rode announced a few new devices that address this concern. Mine is on the way. It's called the RODECaster Duo and it is the exact same unit of the RODECaster Pro Two, but there's two less inputs. Now what does that mean? Well, the original RODECaster One was 13 by roughly eleven, we can even say 14 x eleven inches. The Roadcaster two little smaller, twelve x ten and a half inches. So it's an inch shorter. I guess you could say the Roadcaster One was three and a half inches tall, three and a quarter roughly. Now the RODECaster Duo is down to nine inches by nine by nine.

Dave Jackson [00:05:20]:

Basically it's almost a square, give or take. It's three inches tall. All of them have a five and a half inch touch screen. And so why I wanted to do this because I was going to wait till it got here, but that'll be next week's episode was when I was in London, I got to play with and listen to the new RODECaster pod mic. And what's interesting about this, besides the fact that again, it's XLR and USB, the original rode pod mic, it lacked a little wow factor for me. It had a super clear upper end and some people didn't like that. It is super heavy. So it's a great like you could take somebody out with a pod mic.

Dave Jackson [00:06:06]:

But for me, I thought you could pop it a bit and for $99 it was great. But again, I like to recommend mics that are both XLR and USB just for the flexibility. And so what they've done with the Rode Pod mic Two is it's XLR and it's USB. The other thing they've done and it is so cool and this is the part that I was like, OOH, it comes with a giant windscreen that goes over the front of it that makes it look a lot like a sure SM seven B or any of those types of microphones. And it works, it works really well. But that's not the thing that I was like OOH is what if you're a solo podcaster and you're never going to have somebody in the same room with you and you don't really have a desk. So the Duo, even though it is smaller, you're like, I'm just going to use Squadcast, let's say, to do my interviews. Okay, well you could also use Hindenburg by the way, and have the person that you're interviewing come in on the second channel.

Dave Jackson [00:07:17]:

So if you wanted to back up. But the thing I thought was really cool about the new Rode Pod Mic USB is it comes with that software from Road and they've really gotten into software. They have a new app. So if you want to record video and you want to use their wireless go system that's built in, that's another thing that's interesting about the RODECaster. We'll get to that in a second. But sticking with the Pod Mic for now, all the Apex processing, the big bottom, the compressor, the noise gate, everything that is in the RODECaster is now in this software. Which means when you buy the rode Pod Mic you basically have a single channel RODECaster. So if you have no desk, Basque Road Pod Mic USB, if you've got some desk, bass RODECaster Duo, if you've got a panel, you've got to record RODECaster Pro Two.

Dave Jackson [00:08:16]:

And I was like, that's pretty interesting and it sounded really good. Now I was in the middle of about 6000 people at the podcasting show in London but I was impressed with it to where I went ahead and ordered both the Duo and the Pod Mic from Sweetwater. And the reason I always order from Sweetwater, if you're new to the show, A, they tack on another year of warranty and if you need a little help, they can actually help you over the phone. And if that's not enough, they give you candy. They give you candy in your box. And Billy is my rep and he let me know, I said, hey, let me know when those things are available. And so Mixer is shipping, I believe this week. So I should have it shortly.

Dave Jackson [00:09:02]:

But I just want to let you know because some people are like running out to buy the Duo and that's not a bad choice. But if you're a person that's like, I don't really need, I don't have people in the same room with me, then maybe the Pod Mic USB would work for you and save you a couple hundred dollars. And that's the next thing we need to talk about. If you're a person that's on a budget, you could do something like a Samsung q Two U and the Zoom Podtrack P Four. Now you're not going to get that apex processing, but the Zoom Pod Track P Four is still one of my most recommended products. It does everything the RODECaster line does. It just doesn't have that built in processing and the preamps aren't quite as good. The Samsung Q Two U is a great microphone.

Dave Jackson [00:09:54]:

It's again XLR and USB. And when you figure that one's, around $70. And the rode pod mic is 199. But again, the Rode Pod Mic comes with the ability to add that affects processing. And for me, I think that's probably worth the price if you've got the budget for it. Now if we go up the Roadcaster or the Road Duo, actually your name is the Road RODECaster Duo. That is 499. So when you look at the Zoom Podtrack P Four around 200, you're more than doubling the price for the RODECaster.

Dave Jackson [00:10:34]:

But especially if you're doing live streams, you're going to really love those built in effects and the fact that you have a little easier to navigate and set up the sound pads. The Podtrack P Four S sound pads is just a little more robust and a little maybe better user interface for that. But if you need the RODECaster Pro Two, that is $700. So we're looking at two, five and seven. But I got to tell you, I bought the DGAI Mic, the wireless ones. And one of the things I'm looking into is getting the Road wireless system because it ties into the rodecasters except for the first one. And that's when I was talking to the rep in London. I said, wait a minute.

Dave Jackson [00:11:28]:

I said, this RODECaster Pro Two has been out for a while and now you're announcing that your wireless systems can basically the receivers in the RODECaster. And he said, oh, you have no idea what that box pointing at. A RODECaster. Pro two or duo? Take your pick. Can do. It actually runs on Linux and I guess they have a whole bunch of things in there. And that's one I talked about updating the firmware and all. It's a very versatile system.

Dave Jackson [00:11:58]:

And so the thing that really has grabbed my attention and I am a big rode fan, is the fact that they understand, I think the market. There are other companies getting into it. I know Mackie just released a multi channel mixer recorder kind of thing that I might be looking at. But I'm really impressed with Road and when I talk to their reps they always seem to really get podcasting. I'm kind of wondering sometimes where Audio Technica is one of my favorite places. That's actually right here in Ohio and they're just now getting into podcasting and I'm like, where have you been? I've been recognizing or I've been recommending your microphone, the ATR 2100 for years. But Road seems to really be embracing and listening. That's I think the key thing, listening because when the RODECaster one first came out, they got an onslaught of like, hey, can you get it to do this? And within a couple of weeks, they were updating the firmware.

Dave Jackson [00:12:54]:

So that's the other thing, is it's one thing to hear your customers, it's another thing to put those into action. So today I wanted to put this out because I just got the announcement, hey, the RODECaster duo is now available for order. And I was like, well, wait a minute. Before everybody goes out and spends an extra $300. If you're a solo podcaster, you might consider just getting the Rode Pod Mic USB, because it's basically a single channel RODECaster. And then if you're doing something like using Squadcast to do remote interviews, or if you're using Libs and Connect, that's another way to do remote interviews. That one's just audio only. You could use something like Hindenburg and have the guest be on channel two, and you could be on channel one and still get your separate tracks.

Dave Jackson [00:13:50]:

And then have the separate tracks as always in Squadcast. So, as always with podcasting, it's based on your budget, based on your needs. You can usually come up with some sort of configuration that will work for you and your budget. If you have more questions, the website bestpodcastinggear.com. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Dave Jackson from theschoolofpodcasting.com I Help podcasters. It's what I do.