Sometimes you just slap your head and think “why didn’t we do that” – yep, that’s the feeling right now at every single company even remotely close to the audio mixer world as Aussie company RODE announce their latest product – the RODECaster Pro.

Having produced hundreds and hundreds of podcasts over eight years or more, I can tell you right now, this is the be all and end all of podcast studios.  The RODECaster Pro is a mixing desk and recording studio in one – with two stand out features; Phone recording, and Hotkeys.

Hotkeys for the uninitiated are buttons you push to play a “sting” or “jingle”.  Your Podcast intro for example, or a little bit of music to play between segments.  Most podcasters put these in after the recording in editing, some have an app or other solution to play them while recording.

Then there’s the Bluetooth module, when paired with your smartphone, you can now simply dial a guest for your show on your phone, and have them on your podcast.  Easy.

Oh, and the whole thing is recorded onto an onboard Micro SD Card so you’re ready to go.

There are four microphone channels, plus the phone fader, and a USB input.

It’s designed for four guests, as there are also four headphone outputs on the rear, controlled by four separate headphone levels for individual listening levels.

A touch screen allows you to navigate all the settings including EQ presets, and RODE say it has “Live streaming capability”, perhaps due to the capability to automatically output to USB and record or stream on your computer.

RODE company founder Peter Freedman said “We released our first podcast product, the Podcaster USB microphone, in 2004. since then, our broadcast microphones, especially the Procaster and RØDE NT-USB mics, have become the microphones of choice for the growing podcasting and vlogging world.

“The RØDECaster™ Pro Podcast Studio is a real passion project for us here at RØDE, and the natural next step in our mission to democratise the tools of creativity.

“The RØDECaster™ Pro puts a professional level studio in the hands of everyone – whether they are just starting out or are a seasoned professional. There is nothing like this in the world!”

It looks like an absolute cracker.  Goes on Sale in December, pricing is not yet known.