In this article, we’ll show you everything that you need to set up the Rode Podmic with the Rode AI-1 Audio Interface for your podcast, live stream or recording.
Quick Answer: Connect the Rode PodMic to the Rode AI-1 Audio Interface via XLR cables. Increase the gain to 75% (or until you’re getting -12dB on your computer). If the PodMic is too quiet, unplug the XLR from the audio interface and connect it to an inline preamp. Run a new XLR connection from the preamp to the audio interface.
Price & Specs
- Rode AI-1 Audio Interface: http://currentprice.io/rode_ai1
- Rode PodMic: http://currentprice.io/rode_podmic
Computer / OBS Setup
OBS Studio is a free software program that you can download. It is popular for live streaming and beginner recording if you do not have any other software.
Let’s quickly hop onto the computer and show you how to set up OBS so your computer can listen to the Rode Podmic.
From the source menu, click the + (plus) symbol and add a new source.
We want a new audio input capture, type in Rode Podmic as the name.
Under properties, select the Rode AI-1 as the device.
Now you can see the Rode PodMic has shown up underneath the audio mixer.
The computer is now ready to receive the microphone.
Rode AI-1 Setup
Make sure all the volume knobs are turned down.
There is a little light beside the P48 button that can be turned on and off by pressing the first button. You need it off when you connect all your microphones to the audio interface.
Stand & Boom Arm
For the Rode PodMic, we are going to a stand.
It comes down to two options: An inexpensive table stand or the Rode PSA 1+ Boom Arm.
The table stand
Table mic stands are inexpensive, portable and practical. They can be folded down flat. They can sit on top of the table and have a little height adjustment.
There are two downsides to a stand like this:
- Taps and shuffling on the table can come right through the stand, especially on Rode PodMic it does seem to accept all those vibrations into your microphone, and they make their way into the recording.
- They crowd the table and can run out of space if you have a laptop, interfaces, notes and any other things like your podcast, live stream or recording.
Rode PSA 1+ Boom Arm
This is a wonderful upgrade to a table stands for a couple of reasons:
- It has good sound dampening
- Really flexible
- Hold the super heavy Rode PodMic easily
- Nice cable management system
Mounting is done by screwing the Rode PodMic to the boom arm.
Rode PodMic Positioning
We want the mic to be about 2-3” away from the mouth.
We recommend positioning it slightly off to the side, so it’s not right between you and the camera.
Connect PodMic To AI-1 With XLR Cable
Rode PodMic > XLR Cable > Rode AI-1 Audio Interface
Connect the XLR cable to the back of the Rode PodMic.
Connect the XLR to the front of the Rode AI-1.
To make a connection, we use a professional XLR audio cable with a male and female connector. For this setup, we used the Canare XLR cables because of their star-quad design. They have four cables inside them which is better for a studio environment because it protects against electromagnetic interference and it gives you a better signal.
We recommend the ones with the gold pins because they are corrosion-resistant and last longer and those with the black connectors look better on camera.
We prefer using a cable that is between 6’ and 10’ for the runs. We found that with a ten-foot cable, we can get enough length to run around connections.
Gain Setup
To get a clean recording, we will turn on the volume of the preamp of the Rode AI-1 audio interface to an appropriate level.
Turn on the volume knob of the Rode AI-1.
The computer screen will show the peak is at about -20. Turn it up to -15. We are now in the yellow sweet-spot
If you turn it too much, the preamp will produce a lot of noise and hiss. However, this should not scare you from turning up the knob to the level you need to get it to.
The loudest level you can reach is 0 dB.
If you go up to 0db, you should expect to clip and distort.
We prefer to record between -12 and -8db because that leaves 12db of headroom. This acts as a safety margin that will protect us against volume spikes in case of excitement or something random that happens throughout your recording.
Plosive Protection / Windscreen
We recommend using headphones to listen to the audio quality of the microphone.
The Rode PodMic is marketed as having plosive protection. However, when you have the mic right in front of your microphone, you will probably hear the “p” and “b” sounds in your recordings.
To protect your recording from that, you need some form of foam windscreen protection.
The foam windscreen is not perfect. It will still allow some plosives in the recording, but it will give you a consistent recording.
PodMic Too Quiet?
What happens if you are soft-spoken and the volume is turned to 100, yet you’re still not getting the -18 to -12 level? Or do you need more volume?
In-Line Preamp / Cloudlifter
Rode PodMic > XLR Cable > Cloudlifter CL-1 inline preamp > XLR Cable > Rode AI-1 Audio Interface
We recommend the Cloudlifter CL-1 inline preamp if you need more volume for your Rode Podmic. It is the most popular in-line preamp. It takes 48v of phantom power from the Rode AI-1 to, and it will deliver 25 dB of clean gain to your Rode PodMic.
Disconnect the cable that runs from the Rode PodMic and plug it into the preamp and run a new cable from the Cloudlifter into the audio interface.
The red dot next to the P48 button means that we have turned on 48 v of phantom power. To use it, we need to press the volume button.
The preamp on this audio interface is now working 20% less hard than previously.
Rode AI-1 & Rode Podmic | Setup & Demo | Pricing & Specs
- Rode AI-1 Audio Interface: http://currentprice.io/rode_ai1
- Rode PodMic: http://currentprice.io/rode_podmic
- Rode PodMic Windscreen: http://currentprice.io/podmic_foam
- Rode NT-1 Condenser Mic: http://currentprice.io/rode_nt1_kit
- Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro Headphones: https://currentprice.io/beyer_dt_990
- XLR Cable: https://currentprice.io/xlr_cable
- TRS Cable: https://currentprice.io/trs_cable
- Mic Stand: https://currentprice.io/desk_stand
- Rode PSA1+ Boom Arm: http://currentprice.io/psa1_plus
- Quality Acoustic Treatment Panels: http://currentprice.io/soundpanels
Rode AI-1 & Rode PodMic | Setup & Demo | Topics
- 0:00 – Introduction
- 0:23 – Price & Specs
- 0:40 – Computer / OBS Setup
- 1:22 – Rode AI-1 Setup
- 1:45 – Stand & Boom Arm
- 3:05 – Rode PodMic Positioning
- 3:20 – Connect PodMic To AI-1 With XLR Cable
- 4:30 – Gain Setup
- 6:02 – Plosive Protection / Windscreen
- 6:52 – PodMic Too Quiet?
- 7:12 – In-Line Preamp / Cloudlifter
- 8:54 – Final Thoughts
