The Rodecaster Pro is the ideal piece of kit if you’re considering joining the podcast revolution
Rodecaster Pro
£599, rode.com
Like many middle-aged men, I have occasional thoughts that my piercing insights into technology or life in general should be released as a wildly popular podcast.
But then I remember the well-worn online joke: ‘What do you call a group of three or more straight white men? A podcast,’ and I realise my insights might not be quite as unique as I imagine.
The Rodecaster Pro does a fairly passable impression of an actual radio studio, complete with faders which you can push up while mouthing jargon like ‘Mic up in five seconds’
But if you are thinking of subjecting the world to half an hour of your opinions on, say, Mongolian throat singing, the Rodecaster Pro does a fairly passable impression of an actual radio studio, complete with faders which you can push up while mouthing jargon like ‘Mic up in five seconds’ to your bemused co-hosts.
It’s got four XLR microphone inputs (although you’ll need to supply your own mics), and pads for playing jingles and sound effects. It all looks a little Fisher Price, but feels exhilaratingly professional. The results aren’t quite what you’d get using pro audio gear – but most pro audio gear seems designed to baffle and terrify the uninformed. The Rodecaster is a cinch to use.
The results aren’t quite what you’d get using pro audio gear – but most pro audio gear seems designed to baffle and terrify the uninformed
Where the Rodecaster excels is that it’s portable, recording to a built-in memory card (you can access the audio from your PC via the gizmo, or just via a card reader). Most podcasters, of course, probably don’t need something this highly specced: you can do perfectly well with a couple of USB mics plugged into a PC. Especially if you’re doing something destined to be really unpopular (which, let’s face it, most podcasts are).