Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsI wanted it to be a one stop solution and it has that potential. (UPDATE 4-15-20)
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2019
I had high hopes for the the RODECaster Pro. It seemed like the Tricaster of audio. What I love: multi track w/polyewav files, one button Bluetooth, presets, USB in/out w/mixminus, 4x headphone amplifier, onboard SD record, soundFX banks...
And while it clearly has the onboard ability to process audio, it falls short on a critical function that would take it to the next level: EQ. I assume in an attempt to make it very user friendly, deep, medium, high voice or soft, medium, strong tone/strength settings are a good first start, but not having the basic three frequency (12kHz, 2.5kHz, 80Hz), even as an advanced menu, is disappointing. They have such a beautiful touch screen to implement it on.
I don’t use a rode mic (had an existing supply of heil PR40s that sound phenomenal with a mackie mixer) and so I’ll be forced to address it in post. Most might do that anyway, but this could be a great on the run solution and good enough with some simple advanced tweaks. I’d like to try a Rode mic at some point as I assume their presets are fine tuned. I suspect the voice strength relates to initial level or perhaps noise gate, but not sure. The noise gate is a little harsh, but I can understand why they don’t have a release setting. I hope they add it.
Would I recommend getting this? Yes. I think it has an amazing potential and I’m not sure why this feature set isn’t built into more entry level mixers. They nailed it and sold me. I just need to figure out how to navigate the mic and it may mean more time in Logic/post, which I hoped I could skip most of the time. As budget and time allows, I may test with Rode microphone and report an update and give more stars. I’m hoping some of these features are added the way they added multitrack before I purchased. It was the higher priority and at least gives a workaround.
UPDATE: 4-15-20 - 5 stars
After 7 months using the Rodecaster Pro I am updating to 5 stars with the release of Version 2.1 Public Beta. We have produced 26 episodes of Science and Saucery podcast now along with many other audio programs and I kept an open mind the entire time. It's really been easy to use and post processing in logic has be easy once the show template project was tweaked and finished. We've used all the channels and from phone integration to multitrack input, this thing has been a workhorse with no downtime.
After just an hour on the new software, which addressed all the issues I had by adding controls for the onboard compressor, noise gate, de-esser, aphex processors (aural exciter/Big bottom), and low pass filter. They also added reverb, which I don't need, but perhaps they will continue to add other audio features in the future. The new dBFS with peak hold monitors are also really nice. There is an overdub mode for existing recordings, but this isn't something I need. I expect some will like it. The record now allows select pre/post fader record. I wish it would record both of these at the same time as all my workflow is set up for pre fader record.
Hope to update again after some solid working time. It's beta, so I expect some bugs, but I am willing to accept that and extremely happy that Rode has continued to improve this product.