New RØDE 2026 releases.

[Allan Black]

Years ago I used to be involved with blind listening tests at RØDE mics. HQ in Sydney. Before we got there they’d record a single sound, eg: voice, guitar, violin etc. with a number of carefully positioned pro mics, including their latest RØDE mic. 3 or 4 of us had to listen to each separate unidentified mic sample from a speaker, then take a break to write comments. Of course RØDE was very interested in the audio comparison we got with their new mic. They paid us including with new mics., I’ve still got some of mine, see below.

I remember when their brand new NTG-3 shotgun was included, we all agreed it demolished the others, especially RØDEs’ biggest selling competitor the Sennheiser MKH-416, which was much more expensive and still is.

Recently RØDE announced their NT1 5th Generation is the world's first microphone to feature a 32-bit float digital output - in 6 colours. Obviously this is a ground breaking achievement so why didn’t they patent it? Their innovation is in creating compact, affordable implementations of 32-bit recording in mics and wireless microphones, rather than inventing the 32-bit float format itself.

Before I could write an article about the RØDE 32-bit ground breaker, along comes the Las Vegas 2026 NAB with more of their announcements …

YouTube (Short URL)

[John Nantz]

Wow! All I can say is, .... that SYSTEM is totally impressive!

And, the whole system released all at one time.
Also, liked the "Made in Australia".

[Allan Black]

Hi John, made in Australia is good, RØDE has a few Export Achievement awards now.

Here’s how RØDE mics. got its name. Many years ago I knew owner Peter Freedman’s dad Henry. He was an English-migrant who ran Freedman Electronics an audio repair and electronics shop in Summer Hill, Sydney, he established in 1967. Peter was still at college.

One day a client bought in a broken Chinese mic. and asked Henry could he repair it. Later when Henry looked at it he thought he could upgrade the circuitry too, so he did and gave the mic. back to his client. A few days later this guy rings Henry and says ….

“What did you do to my mic. Henry, it sounds even better now.”

So Henry figured he could make a mic. that sounded much better than the Chinese mic. So he did and passed his prototype around to be tested by the local audio fraternity. When one guy gave this mic back to Henry he says …

“It’s great Henry for the price it’ll sell like a rat up a drainpipe.” So rat rodent, Rode NT 1. And that’s how RØDE got its name.

It’s a great Oz style story I’ve dined out on over the years. Cheers.

[Andrew Smith]

Well, FWIW, I'm proud to be able to share that it was I that suggested to them having the ability to do the remote conections between the Rodecaster Pro unit itself (natively) and anywhere else that connects via the internet (including via web browsers). They have called their product RØDE CallMe and it works with the later announced Rodecaster II and Duo products.

The point being (aside from an opportunity for a humble brag) that not only do Rode really look after their customers, but they also listen to them as well. I still have somewhere their very thankful reply to my email where I suggested the feature and outlined how it would work.

I don't think you would get that from any other manufacturer.

Andrew

[Allan Black]

Andrew it’d be interesting to read what is actually in your RØDE letter, how they worded it and who at RØDE signed it ..?
Because RØDE along with other companies in this same position, are very conscious of unscrupulous people who’ll endeavour to make money from the use of an idea similar to yours.

There are cases when soon after, a cohort contacts the company saying he’s the registered/copyrighted owner of this ‘tool’ they’re now using, and he wants them to sign for a payment or royalty. Mostly the companies legal departments get in the act and the criminals soon slink away.

Cheers.

[Andrew Smith]

I've just had a search through my archives and found that I sent the email in June and receied a reply back in July 2021. The announcement email for the RØDE CallMe product went out on 30th July 2025.

So that's a four year time frame from feature suggestion to delivery, and I fully expect it would have been easiest and best to build the ability to support the functionality into the technical design of the coming Rodecaster II which would have been in development at the time and was later announced and launched in May 2022.

I won't copy/paste the reply here as I don't want to be inapproproate to Rode in any way, but the person who replied to me was a service rep who readily agreed and promised to forward my email through to their dev people. This is as good as you can expect, and there was enough in the email I originally sent that it will be sufficiently explanatory to get the job done. It does take time to write a really good letter/email, but it's more than worth it for its standalone effectiveness.

This isn't really something where a particular person can patent or otherwise own the idea. I did, however, mention the existing technology provider whom I was using to attain a computer based connecticity version of this rather than straight out of a Rodecaster Pro hardware unit. They've gone with a technology provider who is UK based, and this makes sense as the coders / devs for the Rode products are also in the UK. Both my suggested and the chosen provider are using the Opus codec for the comms link component.

The suggestion of mine would boil down to "here's what I am doing with an externally connected computer in conjunction with the Rodecaster, this is my workflow and what we are able to subsequently achieve with it, and it would be so cool to be able to do it direct from the Rode hardware itself".

I'm just glad to see it emerge as a product and know that it was worthwhile to start it off. Kinda makes me smile when no one is looking. :-P Rode is so good as a company that it's enjoyable enough just to see them go from strength to strength.

Andrew