RØDE Microphones Reviews 44

Never received the product I bought, never received an email follow-up, tracking, and their customer support won't help, even though I was charged. They keep saying they "sent the emails on their end" but I never got anything. Have to go to my bank. Real bummer

Shady marketing scheme. When you search for rode wireless microphone, first link comes to wireless transmitter, so I went ahead and purchased it, when I got it it says it requires receiver to work, like what kind of scheme is this. Imagine buying a car, and then they tell you actually need to buy engine separately. But this is not whole thing, so i write to and the guy there tells me there is no receivers sold separately and he recommends me to buy whole kit on top of what I bought. And what am I to do with transmitter that I have? Request#637328
How is beginner supposed to know this information, I have no clue, I had microphones bought before, and they never required anything extra, including Rode microphones.

Update

Rode by arrangement over email, phoned me from their UK office and gave me tailored advice as to equipment and since then I have purchased items ready to get going with my work again.

The technical hitch hasn't been explained yet, though that wasn't what the call was about, and so Rode could still do with following up the matter with their head-office in Australia.

Old Review

I bought a Rode mic - an NT1 5th Gen - via GAK and it sounded as nice I could have wished for and looked cool, too (I bought the black version), only the USB-plug-in aspect which omits the requirement of an audio-interface as the mic plugs straight into the PC, requires latency settings, because otherwise, due to the lack of audio-interface, you can hear your own voice (delayed by a few seconds, like an echo) while recording, and these settings rely on a specific driver which wasn't allowing for the use of headphones.

GAK didn't know the answer and I was running out of the duration given for returns, and so I was forced to send it back without being sure that there was not some setting somewhere I had missed.

During this time and after, I had contacted Rode with the same question and despite having been given ideas as to what the problem might be and instructions on how to go about making those changes, was never actually provided with the solution and meaning that I never found out what the problem is. The last email from Rode consisted of being told that the driver for said-function doesn't work on all PCs...

This doesn't make much sense. I own a Lenovo six-core twelve-thread modern workhorse running Win 11 Pro - the latest operating-system.

Don't get me wrong, I love Rode equipment - everything about their microphones and presentation is deluxe and for the price-range there is nothing better out there - and yet there is sometimes a lack of information presented when products (across all industries) are advertised (I found this when researching which computer to buy) and am concerned that this dream-mic, which I like because I actually sound like me in the recordings rather than an assimilated version, has not been fully developed for modern PCs running the latest Windows operating-system. That can be the only answer.

Being left with a remaining question-mark is precisely why I have only given three-stars - customers shouldn't be left wondering why Rode's equipment doesn't work in some instances! While it has to be said, maybe the problem is Windows (after all, Affinity Suite crashes all the time when run on this OS). There seem to be innumerable incompatibility issues between modern equipment and software, and Windows. My hurdle, is that the whole saga is costing both time and money.

These are great WHEN THEY WORK which is rare. The app with the phone is terrible and it’s constantly disappointing. I wish I had gotten a $40 pair on Amazon.

Had a set of Rode Headphones recently that developed a fault.
Customer Services bent over backwards to help and sorted my problem FAST.
Many thanks to all staff at Rode who sorted this.
Happy Once Again!!! Many thanks guys.

I would say terrible customer support if there where one at all. No responses to any messages and this is from a customer who has two Rode products. What a mistake this was.

Incredible company - clear communication - great warranty and repair service - fantastic products.

I have had my USB microphone for around three years and I haven’t used it very much until recently – I’m now experiencing a hardware fault – and I noticed a lot of people online are experiencing the same issues as myself – I wrote to the head office who then put me in touch with another division who have told me there is nothing they can do – again I wrote to head office and no response – needless to say I won’t be dealing with this company ever again and will select a different make of microphone for my recording work – very disappointing

I just wanted to take the time to thank RODE for their service. I got a brand new RODE mic in the mail yesterday which I was not expecting at all after 2 years of (ab)use of the old one.

I didn't even request a new mic. I was just hoping to get it repaired! But you guys just replaced it! THAT's service.

Thanks again

Customer service consists of phone tag with call backs lagging by 2 days in response time.
You have to leave a vmail and they call you back at a random time days later. Never spoke with a person. Got what I needed on my own on youtube.

I am a profesional Utuber. I live in Coquitlam BC CANADA. After almost a year using Wireless GO ||, I got some problem with the product. I contacted RODE customer service, They gave me the contact information for RODE team in Canada. I received Replacement products, at no charge, in 4 days. This is called excellent customer service. I've never had such an excellent customer service. I appreciate RODE team and recommend their products to everybody.

I bought a Rode USB mic - great product, but there was a slight defect to a part of the mount. I emailed their customer services and they replied incredibly quickly, made the UK team aware of the issue, checked back in with me and got a replacement part posted through my door within 48 hours. Really impressive stuff - thanks, Rode!

The worst customer service I've dealt with. I was sent a faulty product that barely worked since I opened it. It was under warranty and sent in requests since march. It is now may and i finally got my replacement part.... Only for it to be the wrong part. Now I will probably have to wait another 2 months for a replacement knowing how terrible customer service is.

I have been using various Rode products over the years, some better and some worse but always usable and often innovative. Whenever there was a problem, Rode's direct support would not just be easily accessible, but would also truly try to engage with the problem instead of stock copy/paste solutions offered by most other companies that often doesn't even seem to have read the question. Knowledgeable and responsible, I have always had my issues solved and that includes swift warranty replacements. I cannot recommend Rode enough both for its high quality products and the outstanding customer service.

Please try to find another company before wasting your money, but mainly time.

I ordered rode wireless ii for my iPhone only to find that they did not bother to include all the cables in the package. Nowadays, people use iPhone or Android, and this should have been included.

It was not so easy to find that I need some special cable and once I found it out I just came to realize that it is impossible to get... Another reason why it should have been included in the package.

So now I have to wait a month or to buy it from overseas with additional shipping and taxes ...

They have very bad support and description on how to use the product.

I contacted Rode in order to enquire about a replacement part for my Rode NT-USB. It was a very small and simple part and I had no luck finding a broken NT-USB mic I could strip the part from.

Got no response via their website, so I went to Twitter to respond to an advertisement about their new NT-USB+. I got a response and was told who to contact about the spare part.

Unfortunately, Rode doesn't supply the part I need. They state that they usually just replace the whole mic and that if I want an attempted repair, it will cost about £120 which is nearenough what I paid for the mic in 2017 when I purchaed it brand new. After this experience, I heard nothing back from them.

This has been disappointing. If I had known that the life of my mic depended on the USB port functioning properly, I wouldn't have invested in the product. Fair enough, my warranty has finished, but not being able to supply the part, even for a small fee is ridiculous.

I really don't want to buy another Rode NT-USB. I purchased this mic hoping it would be a long-term investment. I use it for Zoom and Skype calls weekly and it is the heart of my home setup. I have had to use my screen's built-in mic since my Rode mic broke and the experience is not the same.

Due to this experience, I have lost faith in Rode as a company and will not purchase another one of their products. I now have to research some alternatives, or just buy a proper xlr mic.

All this because Rode doesn't want to send or sell me a small USB port that plugs into the mic's main PCB. It's such a simple fix.

(Update 01-10-2024) The folks here did eventually follow up and made things right, including the return of the Chip I had left inside, so my rating is upped to a 4).

(From 08/04/2022): The Rode Support went from impressive to disappointment. To date, I've been involved in the purchase of 7 Rodecaster Pro Boards, including the new Procaster II and also do online reviews and recommendations. Recently I made the mistake of accidently leaving the micro memory card in one of my Rodecaster Pro's that I sent into Rode Repair. My father passed away and I didn't realize I had left several of our final phone conversations that I had with him on that memory card. I realized this a few hours after the package was shipped and called Rode Support. It sounded hopeful when the gentleman said he would look for the box to arrive, retrieve and send the memory card back to me. Since support originally said they would most likely just replace a chip, I felt confident I would receive the Procaster back fixed with the micro memory card where I left it, even if he could not locate it. Today I was told by Rode Support that they dispose of the Rodecaster Pros sent in for repair and just send back new replacements. So at the point of this writing, it is very doubtful that the memory card will ever be found and sent back to me. If I would of been informed that Rodecasters are replaced and not fixed, I would of attempted to contact Fedex about my concern to see if they could reverse the shipment. This is my own fault, but It would be helpful if Rode's Return Policies clearly reminded users to remove memory cards when returning for repair. I am absolutely devastated.

I started using RØDE Microphones with the NTG2 and now I have an assorted range of microphones from RØDE. RØDE is currently my go to brand should I need a microphone for my filmmaking needs. I have considered other brands through research, but the tonal quality that RØDE offers with their microphone range is exactly the type of sound quality I am looking for that doesn't cost the Earth.

The company stands by their products and the customer service team is a pleasure to deal with and are extremely knowledgeable, and offer great advise even though the query is unrelated to their products.

RØDE tends to innovate with every product they diversify into and I can honestly say that they've gone out of their way the one or two times that I have had problems with a couple of RØDE products I owned.

What's more is that new features are added every time an earlier version of a product is updated and released, which makes it even more streamlined for the end user.

RØDE are pretty much the Apple of microphones even though they were late to the game.

I have the Rode NT-USB which has been great since I bought it, though I do find the popshield it comes with to be rather useless. A few days ago (17th November 2021), the mount ring snapped as I was screwing in the mic to its tripod. I contacted Rode to see about getting a replacement, and the very next day, a new one arrived in the post as it was still under warranty.

This is in regards to their Australian service team.
I had a DOA mic I purchased and the gent from Rode service was great, minimal fuss and easy to deal with.
Thanks Patrick \m/