RØDE X is a new brand created by RØDE for gamers and streamers. The real heart of the system is the Unify virtual mixer which allows the use of USB microphones and virtual sources, as never happened before.
Of the family RØDE we have two types of microphones, XDM-100 e XCM50 which redefine what was previously thought impossible to achieve from USB microphones.
Il Gaming and streaming In fact, they represent a unique audio challenge that most commercially available audio interfaces or USB microphones cannot solve.
The audio interfaces currently on the market are partially able to cater to gamers or streamers. With gaming and streaming, it's not just about getting audio in and out of a computer, it's about creating a audio routing inside. It seems like a simple problem to solve, but only when you try to create custom audio routing configurations within a software environment do you realize that it's anything but simple. Some traditional audio interfaces partially solve this problem by adding a pair of Loopback channels to the virtual mixer, but this may be insufficient for a more complete streaming or gaming setup.
RØDE XDM 100
Cardioid dynamic USB microphone. The unboxing itself is an emotion, the microphone comes equipped with pop shield, microphone stand, USB C cable, Headphone cable. Designed for gaming sessions or streaming, for Work video calls or perfect for simple videos or podcasts, it is best suited for different needs. It makes the voice pleasant to the listener without changing its timbre, it will be able to cancel out background noise such as: the keyboard, the mouse, or perhaps noisy neighbors. It also has a mute button (by clicking on the volume knob). It is easily installed on the computer via UNIFY, an integrated software included in the purchase of the product.
RØDE XCM 50
It comes with a sturdy tripod mount that screws into the bottom of the XCM-50 on a maneuverable ball mount. The connection to the PC is via USB-C and a 3,5 mm output transmits audio to headphones or speakers. A long USB-C cable is included along with a 3,5mm headphone extension. Like the NT-USB Mini, the XCM-50 microphone has a wide-cardioid condenser capsule. Speech reproduction is natural and extensive with negligible ambient noise even at about thirty centimeters away. But the real heart of both microphones remains Unify, the integrated software, currently only available on the Windows platform and in beta for MacOS.
With Unify it is possible to have a mix of the voice, in an intuitive and simple way, in fact it is possible to change the various parameters of the voice to your liking, but in reality this is the minimum, in fact the possibility of being able to mix multiple internal sources on your PC makes it one of a kind. Let's take an example, we want to mix multiple sources, coming for example from a DAW, from a streaming software and from our video game, well with Unify all this is possible, which as already said with a sound card can happen but not in this way immediate.
We can say that the brand RØDE X, starting from the two microphones currently available on the market, through the Unify software, stands as the only brand that is currently designed to be the nerve center of audio management for gaming or streaming. It has never been easier to transport and manage audio sources between different software applications and the possibilities for use are immeasurable.
Following this article, you will find my video review regarding the two products and the potential of the Unify software.
Alessandra Ragone
Useful Information
Sito: Rode.com/it/microphones
Italian distributor: midi music
