Customer Reviews

Rode Procaster Broadcast Dynamic Vocal Microphone

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Like many podcasters out there I've been using the AT2020 Condenser microphone, complete with a shockmount and pop filter for over a year now. I've had great success with it, however the environmental noise has always been a constant battle, even echo from my own voice within the environment.

Looking at the Rode Procaster I was concerned that because it wasn't a mic that required phantom power that it wouldn't be able to pick up all the intricateness of vocals during a session. I was wrong. The Rode Procaster sounds amazing, even without a tube preamp or compression being utilized.

The first test I performed on the Procaster was simple. I kept it in the same recording environment as my AT2020, but I made sure the dryer was running in the laundry room and my surround sound in the living room was playing as well. My Procaster, thanks to the tight cardoid pickup pattern, couldn't pick up the noise from the other rooms. I would have those turned off and my AT2020 would still pickup noise from the air conditioning or even the fridge running. Don't be alarmed when switching from a condenser to the Rode Procaster, or any dynamic mic for that matter. You will have to crank the gain up a lot more than what you have before.

If you are constantly battling poor acoustics or environmental noise and you want a professional broadcast quality sound, this mic is the one you want.

Pros:
-Solid Construction. It's built like a tank.
-Comes with a 1 year warranty, free upgrade to 10 Year warranty through rodemic.com
-Mic Stand clip is also solid.
-Sound quality is amazing.
-Noise reduction is unmatched.
-Very Low self-noise (less than any other mic I've used yet, including the MXL 007 USB, AT2020 USB, AT2020 XLR).
-Looks professional.
-Nice pouch included for transport.

Con:
-No bundles yet available to include a shockmount

Oh and one last thing, when was the last time you bought a mic and saw a handwritten quality checklist in the box? Amazing attention to detail and quality from Rode Microphones. Highly recommended.

Granted comparing this microphone to the Heil PR40 is apples and oranges. There are hordes of Heil fans out there (myself, being one of them) that will attest to the PR40's podcasting greatness.

The Procaster has it's own sound, but can be compared, somewhat, to the venerable Electro-Voice RE20.

I just did a mic shoot-out at my blog, ProPodder.com where I compared the two mics (Procaster vs. Heil PR40) on my voice. To say I was shocked at the outcome would be an understatement.

The Procaster is punchy on the bottom end and smooth and creamy on the top. I don't get that fizzly sound, like on the Heil, when it's pushed hard through a preamp. Plosives are almost non-existent. Heavy and durable. You know that feeling you get when you pick up an instrument and the heft of it gives you an idea of the quality? This ain't no cheap, plastic toy.

If you want a clean, smooth radio-sound quality to your voice, the Procaster is an outstanding choice.

Honestly, for the price of an RE20 you can get two of these mics and feel damn proud about your purchase.

Highly recommended!

I've had the privilege of using some of the best radio studio mics, from the RCA 77's to the EV RE 20, Shure SM7, Nuemanns, Sennheisers and others. This Rode stands right up there with all of the great mics. I've used it for both live and voice over work, using it "straight" and tweeking the sound with some processing. Either way, it's a great mic for the speaking voice, in all vocal ranges - male and female. It has a nice tight pattern, so if the studio is a bit noisy, all you hear is the person speaking into it. One of my computer fans got real noisy once during a live show, but you couldn't hear it, even though the fan was 3 feet away from the mic!