The RODECaster Pro II will let you effortlessly record and live-stream all kinds of content, with minimal experience required.

The RØDECaster Pro II is much more than a tool for podcasting. It's more than capable of helping you record and livestream all kinds of content with minimal experience required. This is definitely an investment, but again, when you consider how many products it helps replace, it becomes a no-brainer if your production warrants it.

The Pro II is more customizable than its predecessor and as such allows you to be bolder and more creative in the process. It's now one of the most important parts of my entire production setup and I can't see myself going back to anything else.

The RØDECaster Pro II is one of the most powerful all-in-one audio production tools you can buy today. RØDE has an already feature-rich device—the RØDECaster Pro—and added several impressive upgrades, which make the Pro II more capable in a wider range of recording applications. Beyond Podcasting, the RØDECaster Pro II is great for adding to any audio or streaming setup.

Reliably recording high-quality audio has always been a struggle of mine, and this truly was a game-changer. For the past few months, I've been using the RØDECaster Pro II to help me produce a medical-horror-themed podcast with two hosts called Diagnosing Horror, play live music sessions with drums, bass, and a guitar, as well as record high-quality audio for all my videos.

This has instantly become a must-have tool that has made the entire recording process easier, faster, and even more fun. For those strictly looking for a recording solution for their podcast, the new Pro II may not offer enough to justify the $200 difference over its predecessor. However, there's a lot more it can do this time around. The RØDECaster Pro II is marketed as "an integrated audio production studio".

While somewhat pricey at $699, the Pro II is much more than a digital mixer. It's an audio interface, recorder, and midi controller. If you were to price out individual solutions with similar features, you could easily spend over twice as much for a less streamlined and less compact setup.

At first glance, the Pro II might not look like a significant upgrade from its predecessor, but once you dig into its new settings and modes, you'll quickly discover that's not the case. Internally, the Pro II now has a faster high-performance quad-core audio engine and studio-grade APHEX audio processing to handle low latency and real-time effects.

These effects are more customizable as they now support granular adjustments rather than just being on or off. A wider range of microphones and inputs are supported as the max preamp gain increases from 55dB to 76dB. As such, RØDE claims that the Pro II can actually eliminate the need for line boosters like Cloudlifters, and deliver cleaner audio altogether.

Previously, each fader was fixed, but can now be assigned however you wish. Using its dual USB-C ports, two devices can be connected at the same time to capture and output audio.

If you plan on using the Pro II as a standalone device, it can be connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet for easier firmware updates without needing a computer.

As the Pro II can be used for so much more than just Podcasting with user-created “Show” settings, you can save your custom sounds, presets, and SMART Pads—enabling you to quickly switch between these different setups. The Pro II is now powered via USB-C, which makes it easier to power using third-party adapters as well as even power banks if they support 15V 2A.

When powered on you're greeted with colorful lights and a bright 5.5-inch haptic HD touchscreen that acts as the brain for the unit. This year brings a larger rotary dial which can be pushed or turned to change certain settings. The Pro II is actually quite a bit smaller than the original Pro, weighing 1960g and measuring 305mm (L) x 270mm (D) x 60mm (W). In turn, the Pro II can more easily fit on my editing desk next to my laptop and monitors without taking up too much space or looking out of place.

The tradeoff is that they've removed two faders from the original, giving you "just" six physical faders now. The input count hasn’t dropped, with nine channels in total. Six can be assigned to the physical faders while the other three can be adjusted virtually by tapping the channel on the display and using the dial.

Below each channel, you'll find the same listen and mute buttons to quickly toggle between without needing to adjust the actual fader.

Above each channel is a colored button that can be coordinated to match your line inputs for easy identification. This is something RODE has been pushing hard with their recent product releases with their Colors sets. These might just be colored plastic rings, but when you're quickly trying to make adjustments, especially live, they really do make a difference.

At its rear, the Pro II still has 4 microphone inputs, however, a big change from its predecessor is that these are now combo XLR/TRS jacks, allowing you to connect 1/4" devices such as musical instruments, without needing additional adapters.

You also have the same four 1/4" headphone outputs on the back, as well as left and right 1/4" balanced line outputs. Each headphone output has its own level control while the balanced output is controlled via the Rotary Encoder from the Pro II's main screen.

Just as with the original Pro, you can wirelessly stream audio sources to the Pro II via Bluetooth, however, it's dropped its 1/8" TRRS input. Considering most modern phones and tablets lack a 1/8" jack, it's not a huge loss. Replacing it, we now have an additional USB-C port, bringing us to two total.

With supported devices, this is the easiest way to connect to the Pro II. Using just one USB-C cable connected to my MacBook Pro, I am able to capture my computer's audio and simultaneously record from the Pro II directly to my preferred editing program with the RØDECaster as an input source. Just as easily, you could connect a second computer and do the same. This is great for streamers who have a dedicated computer for gaming and another to handle the stream.

The Pro II has replaced its sound pads with eight "Smart" pads, which are more programmable and can now be used to trigger similar functions as an Elgato Stream Deck. In addition to activating the Pro II's built-in voice effects like reverb, echo, pitch, and robot FX, you can also send MIDI commands to external software, and activate automated mixer actions like fade-ins and fade-outs.

There are back/forward buttons below the pads which allow you to access even more presets. The Pro II has 4GB of onboard storage that you can load up with custom sound effects, music beds, samples, or jingles. From the main screen, you can see a color-matched icon to the pads letting you know at a quick glance what each pad is currently assigned to. Clicking them on the pad triggers them while selecting them on the screen allows you to tweak or switch them out.

These features are especially useful when hosting a live show or baking in your effects and sounds straight into the recording so that there is less need for editing later. More importantly, though, I found that activating these effects in real-time gives the production a more organic feel and maybe is something that at that moment feels just right.

Similarly, while the original Pro was best suited for audio recording, the Smart pads can be better integrated into video productions and streaming to quickly activate your transitions, camera angles, lighting, and more.

For additional storage and on-device recording, the Pro II has a MicroSD slot on the back. RØDE has gone with a smaller record button which is now found on the front top right side. Press it once to start a recording, press again to pause a recording, and press and hold to end a recording.

As someone who has frequently "recorded" an entire project only to realize I didn't either because I forget to hit record (or some other weird fluke occurred), I love being able to record directly to the Pro II as well as to my computer at the same time.

When connected to a computer or compatible device, you can view and transfer recordings directly through the RØDE Connect program over USB-C. If you'd prefer separate track recordings, compatible DAWs are able to identify the different tracks and arm them.

You can easily spend hours playing around and tweaking the different effects, SMART pads, and other assigned functions. As RODE states "no matter what kind of content you’re creating, the RØDECaster Pro II can be customized to suit your recording setup, your ideal workflow, and your unique sound".

With all its available customization, it may feel overwhelming initially, but I found its controls and setup process to be very intuitive for the most part.

For my main setup, I have two RØDE PodMics for my podcast hosts, a RØDE NTG5 boomed above my desk for my voiceovers, and usually a guitar for when I want to play along with backing tracks on my Mac.

After plugging everything in, there is a small red power button on the rear of the Pro II. This is probably my only complaint overall as I frequently found it difficult to reach and fully press the button and turn the unit on. I would have preferred a switch or button on the front of the Pro II instead.

Once turned on, you're greeted with a very easy-to-follow on-screen tutorial for your first setup. After connecting to your Wi-Fi and checking for updates, you are shown to create and customize your inputs. Categories are provided to quickly choose between different presets for RØDE mics, generic mics, instruments, and mobile devices.

With their newer mics like the PodMic, you can simply choose the default preset and be ready to record. Other brands might require a little more tweaking, but choosing a similar generic option puts you in a good spot to start.

You can then really adjust your sound using its effects like compressor, noise gates, high-pass filter, de-esser, and EQ for each channel. Additionally, phantom power for your condenser microphone is available if you need it.

The room I record in is far from sound-treated and is especially susceptible to outside noise like cars, birds, and chatter. It's usually challenging to record clean audio with these sensitive microphones without capturing some of those unwanted noises. With the Pro II, this was one of the first times that I didn't feel like I needed to add any additional noise reduction or EQ tweaks to get a sound I was happy with.

The Pro II was immediately identified by my MacBook Pro and within a few clicks, I had it set as a digital track. While all of its settings can of course be adjusted on-screen, I actually preferred using the RØDECaster Central app on my Mac to customize the Smart pads. From here you can also add additional sound banks by importing files straight from your computer. The Pro II is one of the few audio interfaces that I've tested that felt so effortless to set up and use.

The RØDECaster Pro II is much more than a tool for podcasting. It's more than capable of helping you record and livestream all kinds of content with minimal experience required. This is definitely an investment, but again, when you consider how many products it helps replace, it becomes a no-brainer if your production warrants it.

The Pro II is more customizable than its predecessor and as such allows you to be bolder and more creative in the process. It's now one of the most important parts of my entire production setup and I can't see myself going back to anything else.

Tech reviewer, YouTuber & video producer that specializes in pro camera & audio gear. When he's not out filming or editing, he's usually thinking of creative ideas for his next project. Reach out to say hello or discuss future opportunities!

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