About AccessCaster

AccessCaster lets you use your RODECaster (Pro 2 or Duo) audio desk without the RODE software, and to a large degree without ever touching the desk's touchscreen.

As a blind screen reader user, I found the official RODE software was not usable enough for me: I needed help every time I wanted to set the desk up or change a setting.

With AccessCaster I can control and adjust almost all of the desk's features, including processing, routing, recording, SMART pad management, and device settings such as wifi and Bluetooth connections, all of it accessible with a screen reader. I have also added features the desk does not give you at all: spoken announcements for every button on the desk, fader positions read out as you move them, and keyboard shortcuts you can put on over 100 of the app's commands, such as starting a recording or loading a mic processing preset.

The app was built with Claude Code, and took many months of capturing the USB traffic between the RODE app and my own RODECaster Pro 2 to work out how the desk communicates. I run regular code audits in order to keep it as clean and efficient as possible, and I now use this app exclusively to run my desk. Even if you are not a screen reader user and have no interest in accessibility, I think you'll find the app's UI and design far easier and quicker to use.

What you can do from the app:

• Mute, solo and set the level of every channel, including muting a RODE wireless mic at the transmitter.
• Set each channel's gain, phantom power and input settings, or let the app set a mic's gain while you talk.
• All of the desk's processing on every channel, with presets, plus voice effects and the master output's processing.
• Fader assignment, output routing and monitor mixes, with presets you can save and recall.
• What the desk and this computer send each other over USB, including four separate channels from this computer.
• The recorder: start, pause, stop and markers, what gets recorded and in what format, and deleting, ejecting or erasing.
• SMART pads: sounds, voice effects, mixer and MIDI pads, with trimming, fades and your own custom voice effects.
• CallMe: host, answer, make and end calls, with the call's quality and your plan's minutes.
• Backups, restores, and a factory reset without the touchscreen setup.
• The desk's own settings, wifi, Bluetooth and firmware updates.

And extra features AccessCaster has added:

• Spoken announcements for every button, bank, encoder turn and fader move on the desk, and for changes made on the touchscreen or in RODE's app.
• Keyboard shortcuts that work in any program, from over 100 commands.
• Playing SMART pads from the keyboard.
• Level meters in words, telling you when something clips or goes silent.
• A summary of the whole desk's current state in one place.

Some things still need the desk's touchscreen, for now:

• Searching for Bluetooth devices. Make the desk discoverable on the Device page and pair from your phone instead.
• Pairing a RODE wireless mic, or changing its settings such as Gain Assist.
• Setting the time zone or daylight saving. The desk sets its own clock over the internet.
• Changing the desk's language.
• Playing back, trimming or fading a recording on the desk.
• Recording straight onto a pad.

Worth knowing:

• Recordings can't be copied off over the USB cable yet. Take the card or drive out and plug it into your computer.
• A backup doesn't hold your Bluetooth pairings, wifi networks or wireless mic pairing, so after a factory reset you'll need to set those up again.
• After a reset or a restore, the desk can sometimes stop responding. Unplugging the USB cable and plugging it back in usually brings it back; if it doesn't, switch the desk off and on again. Nothing is lost. Troubleshooting has the details.

AccessCaster is not endorsed by, associated with, or supported by RODE. It is an independent project, and RODE have had no hand in it. I have taken every precaution I can to make sure the code is safe and that nothing it does to the desk cannot be undone, but it talks directly to your hardware, so you use it at your own risk.

Have fun, and I hope it helps.
Shaun.