New Gear from Rode: Lots-o-Thoughts!
/You might have seen all of the new product announcements from Rode at NAB recently, and I've been getting a ton of questions about all the new gear! I don't really like to make videos about equipment before I've been able to actually use it, but I thought this would be a good chance to share a few initial thoughts, which might be helpful if you're thinking of getting any of the new stuff:
RODECASTER DUO
I've made a lot of videos about the Rodecaster Pro over the years, and let me tell you, I've also gotten a lot of comments and messages from people saying they want a "mini Rodecaster." I've even had people send me design mockups! Well, Rode finally did it. The Rodecaster Duo essentially has all of the features of the full size Rodecaster Pro II but in a smaller package. Based on what I've heard so far, I think the Duo is going to be insanely popular.
Most of us don't really need all of the features of the RCP2, but so many competing products fall short, so you end up spending more money than you need on more features than you need to get the core capabilities that you DO need. It wouldn't surprise me if the Duo becomes the most popular RCP yet.
The $499 price is still a pretty hefty financial commitment, but considering much simpler interfaces like the Focusrite Vocaster Two go for $299, it seems fairly fair overall.
With the announcement of the Duo Rode also released a firmware update that enables direct wireless connections to the Rodecaster Pro II and the Rodecaster Duo, so if you've got the Wireless Go II or the Wireless Me, you can link the transmitter directly to either RCP. I've tried it and it works GREAT. But it also raised an eyebrow. This means that the RCP2 has had a wireless reciever built into it from the very beginning. The Wireless Go system has been around for the entire lifespan of the RCP2...so why wasn't this enabled earlier? Why did Rode wait almost a year to add that functionality?
My semi-controversial opinion: It's definitely a cool update, but holding back features for the sake of a splashy announcement is a marketing-first approach and not a customer-first approach. Rode has a pretty stellar reputation for great customer service, and I hope they don't lose sight of that.
STREAMER X
I think a lot of us were surprised by this one the most. Rode has never released a product with video capabilities before, and now they suddenly dropped a 4K capture card? With the same preamps and basic audio processing as the RCP?! The Streamer X combines an audio interface and capture card into a small $399 box that can consolidate and take the place of the super popular CamLink/Scarlett setup that many people use.
I'm VERY interested to see how well the video functionality works on the Streamer X. My hope is that this helps Rode test the waters for future gear with video-integration. Can you imagine a Rodecaster that's also a capture card? Like an ATEM/RCP hybrid? That would be unreal, and it doesn't seem too far out of the realm of possibility now...
PODMIC USB
The other main announcement was an update to the classic PodMic. The PodMic USB is essentially the same core but with (you guessed it) USB functionality. This is honestly pretty awesome. The PodMic is a solid choice, and for a lot of us it was our first "real" mic purchase, and now being able to use it as a USB mic without an interface just makes it all that much more accessible. A good quality combo mic can be such a versatile tool, and it's something you can grow with if you start as a USB-user and then upgrade to an XLR setup in the future.
The $199 price point seems a little steep to me since the mic competition in that price range is very intense. At $150 or $170 it'd be a no-brainer, but $199 might cause people to think twice or do a bit more comparison shopping. All that being said, I really like the updated design, built in headphone monitoring, and the inclusion of a pretty sleek windscreen to cut down on plosives.
Rode didn't specifically mention if the PodMic USB has the same 32 bit float functionality as the updated NT-1 5th Generation, but I'm hoping that it does. I'm also curious if the sound profile has changed at all. According to Rode it's "exactly the same as the original," but in the samples I saw from NAB videos I think the USB version sounded a bit more rich and full (like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas). Honestly, I hope they did update the soudn quality a bit since the PodMic does tend to emphasize higher frequencies in a way that can make some voices sound thin and unplesant. You can always fix that with a bit of EQ, but it'd be nice not to have to do that.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Rode also announced a bunch of nifty accessories like a Wireless Go charging case and a Rodecaster backpack, all of which seem pretty fun and awesome. While I'm super excited for all of this because I've been a huge Rode fan for many years (going back way before ever starting a YouTube channel), I do have a bit of mild hesitation. Rode isn't the biggest company in the world and they've made a lot of pretty big promises with this new stuff. I'm hoping that they haven't spread themselved too thin and that they're able to deliver on everything that was announced.
The Rodecaster Pro II launch last year was a bit of a mess. I've used my RCP2 almost daily since then and it's been nothing but fantastic, but Rode definitely hyped it up through marketing to a point that I don't think it could've ever met expecations, and then it took a number of firmware updates to satisfy some pretty upset customers.
I think they've done an awesome job with recent released like the NT-1 5th Gen, so hopefully they've learned from the past and are ready to kick all the butts with this new stuff!