Faisal Ghaffar 
Overview
Rode’s RodeCaster Pro II is the Australian audio brand’s second all-in-one audio workstation, and in my opinion, an absolutely necessary addition to any high-end streaming setup. The company, perhaps best famous for manufacturing some of the best mics on the industry, has packed thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment into a competitively priced and user-friendly package.
On the surface, the RodeCaster Pro II is a sleek piece of equipment that is comprehensive yet understandable. On the right-hand side, you’ll find a 5.5-inch HD touchscreen with haptic feedback, six stream fading sliders with provider shall buttons above them (with devoted mute and monitoring buttons below), a rotor position dial, dedicated recording button, and eight physical smart pads. Suffice it to say, you’re getting the full exhibition experience here, with this setup instantly recognisable to anyone who’s ever been inside a music studio or radio desk.
Turning the RodeCaster Pro II around reveals all of the connectivity options you’d expect to find in a high-end mixing desk/interface combo like this. Power is delivered via USB-C, and there are two additional USB-C ports for connecting the devices such as your pc, phone, iPad, or other gaming tablets.
For those who prefer a wired connection, there is also an Ethernet port. With 4x 1/4-inch outputs for headset tracking and left and right outputs for speaker systems or external devices, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to outputs. You can even record to Micro SD directly.
The RodeCaster Pro II lives up to its billing as the “world’s most powerful all-in-one audio production solution,” and you won’t be surprised to learn that it’s packed with features for just about any application you can think of. The quad-core audio engine, which includes 4GB of internal flash memory, drives the Studio-grade Aphex audio computation and Resolution preamps for low noise to high gain pickup, which I’ll go over in more detail later.
The Rodecaster Pro II’s integration with the Rode Central desktop application, which can be used to tweak your settings, customise the RGB lighting, save your presets, and download firmware updates, is one of its most useful features. New features are constantly being added, with a big update being released during my testing of the unit, so you’ll want to be interconnected, if at all possible, to get the most up-to-date software. The device is also MFi certificated for iOS devices and can connect via Bluetooth for maximum compatibility.
Throughout my extensive testing of the RodeCaster Pro II, I’ve been consistently impressed by what this all-in-one manufacturing interface is capable of. While the device’s primary purpose is aimed at podcasters, I’ve used it for everything from streaming on Twitch and YouTube to recording music and as my primary setup for voice calls alongside the Rode NTH 100 and Rode PodMic. If you’re already a part of the Rode ecosystem for any of the Australian company’s gear, this interface will serve you well.
