RØDE has long been a leader in audio interfaces for content creators, with their RØDECaster Pro series and the smaller RØDECaster Duo. But now, RØDE has gone bigger by going even smaller and adding a major feature that hasn’t existed in a RØDE device before, giving you the RØDE Streamer X.
What makes the RØDE Streamer X so special is the fact that, while small, it maintains most of the functionality of their previous RØDECasters in a device that fits in your hand and the fact that it is not just an audio interface. It is also a capture card. That’s right, RØDE has entered the video capture game.
In the box, you get the RØDE Streamer X, a power adapter and a high-speed USB-C to USB-C cable. On the Streamer X itself, you’ll find two knobs, one to control your audio input, be it your microphone, headset or compatible RØDE wireless microphone, and the other to control your headphone volume. Below that, you have a mute button for your microphone and a button to deactivate the video going into the capture card.
This one seems a bit weird to me, as I don’t see a specific reason why you would need to deactivate your video. You are either using it, or you are likely on another scene in your stream. I would have loved to see this be a programmable button where you could mute your chat or audience, similar to the functionality in the BEACN Mix Create.
“The RØDE Streamer X has an unbelievable amount of I/O, accommodating various inputs and outputs for comprehensive connectivity.”
On the right of the RØDE Streamer X, you’ll see RØDE’s classic pads, allowing you to activate sound effects (either pre-loaded or loaded by you), voice mods and MIDI controls. There are only four pads on the Streamer X, compared to six on the RØDECaster Duo and eight on the RØDECaster Pro, but the page buttons give you multiple banks, totalling 64 pads, which should be plenty for the average streamer.
The RØDE Streamer X has an unbelievable amount of I/O. It has a single Combo XLR jack, allowing you to plug in a traditional XLR cable or a 1/4“ cable for an instrument. The mic plugged into this input can also be fed 48V phantom power if needed via the button next to the jack. It has a 1/4“ headphone jack, a 3.5mm jack for a headset, an HDMI input and output for passthrough to your monitor, two USB-C ports, one for your primary PC for both your audio and video and a second port to connect to a secondary audio source, be it a second PC, Mac, Game Console or Android Device (iOS is not supported).
The last spot is a USB-C port for powering the RØDE Streamer X, but your PC will power it directly if you are plugged into the first USB-C, making the need for a power source essentially useless. I checked all features when only the USB0C was plugged into port 1, and no power supply was in, and there appears to be no difference. I expected perhaps that phantom power or HDMI wouldn’t work as a result, but no, everything worked. A use case where one would not be connecting via the first USB port but utilizing the mic, HDMI and secondary PC seems to be very unlikely, so why put this here rather than perhaps another input?
You have a few options when it comes to connecting your Streamer X to your PC. You can take any source through OBS. You would select the microphone (which includes pads) as the audio source and the HDMI audio that comes in separately from the video, which I don’t like because it invites sync problems. I didn’t experience this with the units I tested, and even if I did, the sync could be adjusted, so it’s not a showstopper, but I’d much prefer a one-stop shop for video and audio from my capture card.
Your other option is the reason for the X at the end of the RØDE Streamer X. You can connect to RØDE’s UNIFY software, the software solution for all RØDEX products. When you connect the Streamer X and turn on UNIFY, the device will appear in the mixer with the pads replacing the software’s virtual pads, allowing you to load the sounds/functions you want through the software. From there, you can send the mic and HDMI audio, along with the full complement of UNIFY sources, to OBS or whatever platform you choose as a single audio source. The HDMI video still needs to be implemented independently.
If you aren’t looking for the mixing solution of UNIFY, you can connect the RØDE Streamer X via RØDE Central, allowing you to configure your mics using all of the same processing as UNIFY. You can also configure your pads, set up the device and create submixes, sending different audio to your stream than your headphones.
“You can take any source through OBS, selecting the microphone and HDMI audio as separate sources, which I don’t like because it invites sync problems.”
There were some challenges with the setup because when you connect to UNIFY, the audio sources you need don’t show up in OBS, but OBS’ instructions don’t tell you that. Once I figured that out, everything worked fine. It’s not a real problem since you would never need both the UNIFY sources and the direct Streamer X sources at the same time, but it would have been nice to know to speed up the setup a bit.
The audio quality of the RØDE Streamer X, like any interface with the RØDE name on it, is fantastic. Pairing it with your favourite XLR mic is a home run every time, and the ability to use a headset or wireless mic is also fantastic. It has access to all of RØDE’s signature features, such as the Revolution preamp and APHEX processing via the UNIFY software. The whole experience feels and, more importantly, sounds just like using one of the larger RØDE interfaces.
The capture card aspect of the RØDE Streamer X is not, by any means, a game changer, but its specs are enough that any streamer should be sufficiently satisfied. You can capture up to 4K/30 FPS and pass through up to 1080/240 FPS, 1440/144 FPS and 4K 60 FPS with HDR, so unless you need insane passthrough specs to match up with a beefy monitor, this should be more than enough. I, personally, game on a 1440p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate, so the Streamer X had my needs covered.
What’s more, is the convenience of the RØDE Streamer X. The device takes up a far smaller footprint on your desk than virtually any other audio interface. While the average external capture card doesn’t take up much space itself, the ability to remove it from the equation completely saves you not only space but USB port real estate on your PC, with the Audio Interface and capture card being delivered via only one USB-C cable.
The RØDE Streamer X costs $399 USD, which is certainly a much cheaper option than their previous offerings, but the price can still be a bit deceiving since it is actually two devices. The best price comparison I could give is by comparing two AVerMedia products that give you all the functionality of the Streamer X.
For an interface, we can look at the AVerMedia AX310 and the AVerMedia Live Gamer Extreme 3, which is a capture card with a similar capabilities. These two items, purchased together, would cost you $449.98, and the two would take up a lot more space, not to mention that the overall performance of the AVerMedia audio interface and software is a bit more problematic.
The bottom line is that RØDE, in their tradition of listening to what people want from their gear, have done it again. This time with a smaller and much more versatile device than they have ever offered before. The RØDE Streamer X has a few quirks, but nothing that detracts from the overall quality of the device. It is a powerful and complete tool that would help any streamer.
- Compact and fully integrated audio interface and 4K video capture card for streaming with cameras, computers and consoles
- Record video up to 4K/30fps or 1440p/60fps via HDMI, or monitor video in real time up to 4K/60fps with HDMI passthrough
