Activating USB Mix Minus On Your Rode RodeCaster Pro For Squadcast.fm
Updated: Sep 25, 2020
Update 8/28/20: This post had been updated to include instructions for firmware version 2.1.0 of the Rode Rodecaster Pro.
The Rode Rodecaster Pro is a wonderful device, and adds a ton of functionality that is packed into a sleek device.
I use my RodeCaster Pro for my podcast, The Mike Cassidy Photography Podcast, where much of my work is doing remote interviews with great photographers from around the world.
I use the podcast service SquadCast.fm for my remote interviews. I ran into one issue using my Rodecaster Pro with Squadcast.fm which took a bit of figuring out, and wasn't super evident at first, but it became an issue for my guests.
What happened was my guests were reporting a latency in their headphones/headsets. They were hearing themselves in their own headsets on a delay. Additionally, they were reporting my volume levels (as the host) were quite low and often they had difficulty hearing me.
My audio and video, as the host were fine. Likewise, I heard and saw my guests very clearly with any audio or video issues.
Setup: My setup is a Rode PodMic, which connects via XLR to the Rode RodeCaster Pro, which in turn is connected via USB C connection to my Windows 10 PC.
Technology issues can be frustrating for podcast guests. Their time is valuable, and no one wants to put their guests in the position of troubleshooting tech issues. After experiencing this problem I was able to reach out to Vince at SquadCast.fm and we managed to do a bit of troubleshooting to identify the issue.
First, we narrowed down the issue to the RodeCaster Pro by removing it from the equation all together. We plugged in a USB mic, and did a quick test. All the audio latency issues had vanished.
The solution was simple, but not so super obvious to me-- I'm hardly a super audio engineer. In the advanced settings of the Rodecaster Pro there is a setting for the USB channel mix minus which is off by default. Once this setting was manually activated *BOOM* we were in business. I was in a test session with Vince from SquadCast, and I toggled the setting off and on during the session and he could clearly hear the difference. The guest headset latency issue stopped with the USB "Enable Mix-Minus" toggle switched on, and he was able to hear me clearly through the headset. Great! On with the show!
Note to Rode Rodecaster Pro users on SquadCast: Be sure to activate the USB mix minus setting-- which is turned off by default! Here's how.
If you are experiencing a similar issue you can find the setting via the following menu options (firmware 2.0):
How To Fix:
1) Hit the settings button (gear) on the upper left from the main screen.
2) Click Advanced in the settings screen.
3) Click Audio in the Advanced menu.
4) Click Processing in the Audio options.
5) Toggle on "Enable Mix-Minus" under the Processing options on top.
That's it! You'll be interviewing away on SquadCast with no issues.
Important note from Rode: Enabling the USB mix minus can affect your mix in some situations. Rode states:
An important note to remember: if you activate mix-minus mode on the USB output, the main USB output no longer represents the full podcast mix. This means if you want to record the stereo mix to your computer as well as use the USB input for a phone call or similar, you will need to activate multitrack mode. Make sure you allocate the main USB device to your communications app, and Source 1 and 2 of the multitrack USB device to your recording software.
Be sure to make that change in your settings before going live with your guest, and happy podcasting.