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Reviews For: Rode Procaster

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : Rode Procaster
Reviews: 9MSRP: 149 euro
Description:
The RØDE Procaster is a professional broadcast quality dynamic microphone, specifically designed to offer no-comprimise performance for voice applications in the broadcast
Product is in production
More Info: http://uk.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=procaster
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0094.8
M3AMD Rating: 2019-01-03
Full rich warm audio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Been using a Rode procaster with my modified Ts870 now for around 3 months first just radio and mic now with outboard audio gear 9/10 contacts i have always comment on the audio and want mic i'm using the build quality of this mic is outstanding and very good with background noise ie my 2 year old son im yet to try the procaster on other radio like the 950sdx and ts850 will keep you guys update can also hear my audio on youtube type in my call sign
G4MJA Rating: 2015-07-08
Superb Audio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Over 35 yrs of HF operating I have had many mics, too many to list,including several Heils, Electrovoice RE20, etc, etc. The audio I wanted always eluded me until I recently bought a Rode Procaster to try. This mic produces a great rounded audio, a very balanced bass, mid range & top with clarity & no 'muddiness'. This is a quality mic, heavy at 1.53 lbs & is beautifully constructed. All the other mics I have had required external EQ, not this one. I have it plugged directly into my Kenwood TS870S & regularly receive unsolicited excellent audio reports. I've finally found the mic I have been searching for. If you are an audio enthusiast looking for a great mic this fits the bill.
W4ACW Rating: 2012-11-27
Great Microphone Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am currently using this microphone on my Icom 775DSP. It has a clear rich warm sound very much like a EV. RE20 without the high price! KEEPER
PA3GVQ Rating: 2012-10-22
Quality product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Some days ago I upgraded my microphone from a heavy used Heil goldline pro (PR-20) to the procester after hearing some of them on air at other stations using it and after reading the comments here in e-ham.

At home it sounds good on my Kenwood TS-850/DSP-100, but I have a quiet room, so it can't pick-up much noises.

Last weekend I have been using the Rode Procaster microphone during the Jamboree on The Air in Holland in combo with a old Kenwood TS-850/DSP-100 and the Rode shockmount.

Just like Dan YO3IBW wrote before, I used it directly into the TS-850 with high boost on, little compression (5dB or so) and about 25% of mic gain setting of the transmitter.

I noticed that it sounds very balanced and quiet when listening with the monitoring function of the TS-850 and a 2nd receiver in the scouthut.

We received a lot of good to great comments from JOTA and non-JOTA stations on the transmitted sound quality and that the scouts where so easy to understand on air, even at weak signals.

And I used it in a less of ideal sounding location with a lot of scouts and visitors talking/screaming/playing in the background. I really like the way it could cope at this location.

With the childrens voices, it worked great. Even when a scout came very close to it and started talking very loud into it, it was still sounding good. Even girl voices sounded very nice and not sharp sounding at all.

I think for this price (around 160 euro's here in NL) you get a very good value microphone that sounds just good/great on a TS-850/DSP-100 combo.
VK7HDS Rating: 2012-07-22
Fantastic Mic! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used the Rode Procaster for over 2 years now. Paired with my W2IHY 8 bander and the audio reports I get are fantastic!
YO3IBW Rating: 2011-05-25
Great Microphone Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The new addition to my shack is the Rode Procaster Studio Dynamic Microphone. I'm using this directly plugged into the Kenwood TS850s and is just sounding great.

The settings on the radio are PROC no more than 5-10db on peaks compression, high boost button pushed and a deviation of ALC no more than 25% of the red bar. The filters combination that I'm using is 6khz on 8.83 and 2.7khz on 455, that will provide a 2.9Khz bandwidth.

I just love the proximity effect of the Dynamic. If you talk closer to the mike, you will have a nice low frequency boost and it will sound great.

If you see the frequency response graph on this mike between 100hz and 2.9Khz you will notice a few deb of gain on the bottom and on top, this will provide great audio without external processing.

73 de Dan YO3IBW
http://www.buz.ro
DF2DD Rating: 2011-01-15
There are better Microphones Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
yesterday the postman rang the door and delivered a parcel withe the rode procaster. i was very enthusiastik because of the good videos on youtube and the nice reviews here at eham. up to now i use a heil pr-781 and i thought that the procaster might be the better choice but it is NOT. combines with the pr-781 the procaster does not sound as goog as the heil. the 781 has a more balanced modulation on my ts-480. i would like to have my station upgraded but the procaster will not do the job. so i will stay with my 781.
ON5AVM Rating: 2009-01-17
Very good qualitiy Time Owned: N.A.
Have this mike tested on a yaesu 1000MP Mark-V en i must say,it,s sounding very warm en natural.Not like some condensators of cheap qualitiy who,s sound is sometimes a bit too high en agressive.
Well build and good finish.Very good for a dynamic microphone.A real broadcast micro.Also very good on the IC-746.
G7VKX Rating: 2008-12-03
So far so good & built like a missile! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

This is a 'first experiences' review of the Rode Procaster so I'll follow-up with a more detailed review in six months or so.

Obviously, being a dynamic mic it doesn't need a phantom power supply unlike the condenser type (which are really intended for studio use) so for me that's a real plus.

On taking the mic from the packaging, the first thing I noticed was the weight of this thing - it's a heavy beast & the materials & finish were of very high quality, therefore I presumed the interior would follow the same quality theme given the weight.

Ok so it looks & feels the part - how does it perform?

I ran it into the W2IHY EQplus & 8 Band EQ then finally into the TS-870S. Receiving stations commented that it sounded 'brighter' than my Heil Pro 40 (using the same EQ settings)

I then fed the mic's directly into the TS-870S & made comparisons - well, I was pleasantly surprised by the Procaster which seemed to give the audio a bit more 'life' than the Pro-40

Both mics are end-address microphones & both worked well at rejecting unwanted noise from other sources in the shack meaning the cardiod patterns were working as advertised, although I think the Pro-40 had the edge in this respect.

Maybe someone with a very wide receiver (like the TS-870S) may be able to hear the subtle differences between the two mic's but your average radio probably won't.

Given the price (I paid £120) & the ten year parts warranty (yes - you read that correctly, that's 10 years!!!) then it's worth considering as an alternative to the Pro-40 (about £180 & only a one year warranty)