RODE Connect: free software turns the USD 99 NT-USB Mini mic into a beast
· Source: RODE
RODE Connect supports up to 4 NT-USB microphones at once. · Source: RODE
Manufacturer RODE has cooked up a serious upgrade for its NT-USB Mini microphone’s capabilities in the form of RODE Connect. The free Windows and macOS software offers the ability to connect up to four of the USD 99 NT-USB Mini microphones to a single computer for recording, podcasting, and streaming.
RODE Connect software for NT-USB Mini
RODE Connect combines recording, routing, mixing, and streaming in a way that pretty much recreates the experience from the manufacturer’s RODECaster Pro hardware unit. The user interface is streamlined and reasonably intuitive, made to simplify what used to be the daunting tasks of routing and mixing audio between several apps and input devices to record or stream without issues like latency and echo.
RODE Connect screenshot · Source: RODE
Notably, RODE Connect lets you tap into the NT-USB microphone’s previously unannounced signal processing abilities, including noise gate, compressor, and APHEX Aural Exciter and Big Bottom effects emulations for that radio announcer sound. RODE somehow kept these a secret from the microphone’s last-year announcement until now.
A virtual device channel lets you setup chat and video calls applications like Zoom to get audio input from the microphone and route their audio output back into RODE Connect. Mix-minus is automatically applied to the virtual channels to remove echo and feedback. No more figuring out signal routing! Additionally, advanced settings in RODE Connect make it possible to send the application audio to external devices like speakers, interfaces, and recorders. So you won’t be tied to the microphone’s headphone output for monitoring.
Recording
While the app doesn’t offer audio editing, it does facilitate single and multi-track recording. The results can be exported in .mp3 and .wav formats at sample rates up to 48kHz. Plenty enough to take the recordings into a DAW for post-processing. Additionally, the app supports exports optimized for individual streaming platforms. The optimization includes file format and appropriate loudness in LuFS, so you might be able to get by without doing mastering for loudness at all.
Likewise, streamers will benefit from dedicated output controls for streaming apps like OBS and Xsplit. I’m really impressed with how well RODE learned its target customers and catered to their needs! With the software, the unassuming USD 99 NT-USB mic becomes a content creation powerhouse.
Availability
RODE Connect is free and available now as a standalone app for computers running macOS 10.13 or later and Windows 10 1803 or later. The software is only compatible with the RODE NT-USB Mini microphone. You can buy the microphone from RODE dealers worldwide, such as Thomann.de (affiliate link).
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