This $60 live streaming mixer tries to imitate a $499 audio powerhouse, and I'm not sure it succeeds

There's a very particular niche of technology I really enjoy testing. When there's a popular, well-known, or even dominant device in a market, sometimes you see imitators pop up at a lesser price point to scoop up the budget end. That's exactly what the OneOdio Solocaster is trying to do, because it could very easily take the fall for any crime the RodeCaster Duo commits. It's about time the best streaming mixer had some budget competition, but I'm not sure OneOdio has stuck the landing.

Priced at just $59.99 / £49.99 compared to Rode's $499 powerhouse, it wouldn't need to do all that much to impress me. As it turns out, the Solocaster works, and when it's this cheap in comparison, I find it hard not to count the bare minimum as a win. The difficulty is saying objectively that it's not worth buying, because if you can't afford the best gear for streaming out there, you don't have many other options. Budget streaming mixers don't really exist, but that doesn't mean you should be okay with lacklustre gear.

There are some really bad bits about the OneOdio Solocaster, but there are also some pretty decent things here for the money you pay for it. Maybe part of the problem is that its natural comparison is one of my favorite bits of technology I've ever used. The RodeCaster Duo this is not, but it certainly deserves a closer look.

Design

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the Solocaster's aesthetic, design language, and SMART pad lookalikes are all the spitting image of the RodeCaster Duo. The OneOdio Solocaster's name is even a play on Rode's nomenclature.

The Solocaster is about one-third of the size of the RodeCaster Duo, dumbing things down to three physical faders but providing a total of nine square pad buttons, with additional mute and feature pads as well. For the most part, these pads feel pretty identical to the RodeCaster Duo I've had sat on my desk for years now. I wish I could say the same for the physical faders and dials, however. These work, but they don't glide half as smoothly as Rode's.

Overall, there's just a really cheap feeling to the Solocaster. It's thankfully got enough weight to it that routing cables into its rear won't hoist it up on one end (XLR cables can be pretty heavy, so this is a common problem), but it's hollow where the RodeCaster is solid. Thankfully, lighting all over it will fool you into thinking you got a more professional-grade device.

I think there's something to be said for OneOdio's attempts to make a premium audio interface's design language a bit more intelligible. Unlike the RodeCasters, there are some text labels on a lot of the function pads that try to show you what it is you're pressing. This is ideal for those buying budget tech as entry-level users. The RodeCaster Duo certainly has a steep learning curve to it.

Unfortunately, some of these labels aren't clear at all. In fact, they opt not to use terminology like "ducking", which forces you to consult the manual to find out what "Side Chain" means. Funnily enough, it'll straight up tell you that it means ducking - so why not just say that to begin with??

Elsewhere, "mute" and "voice changer" are a bit more self-explanatory, but I do feel like execution on labelling language overall could have been better.

For all its imitation, the design of the Solocaster misses the point a bit. It's dubbed as an audio interface for podcasting, and while that's certainly a strength of the RodeCaster Duo, it's just one piece of a very versatile puzzle. The Duo is so good because it can record natively, manage multiple audio sources with ease, add loads of effects, bend to your will with those customizable SMART pads, call your podcast hosts thanks to Rode CallMe, and filter all of your audio sources to streamline echoes and mixes. It can podcast, but it's a live streaming mixer too, and an audiophile's dream desk companion all in one.

The Solocaster might be keen to help you podcast, but it doesn't stay in that lane long enough to really be good at it. It's got native USB support for PC and consoles, which suggests it'd be a strong live streaming tool, but not enough thought has gone into live mixing audio for that to be true. There are a few ways to make it your own, but there's no dedicated software or onboard screen so you can customize fully.

There's a bit of connection power, but the faders and volume knobs are pre-assigned and can't be changed, and that feels like a total waste. One fader controls your mic gain, the second your USB audio, and the third, your headphone volume. There's then a separate dial for speaker audio, but that's not tied to your headphone volume for some reason? Your mic will also come through your speakers during live monitoring if you don't turn that down, so there's a lack of synergy going on.

The other two dials control an echo sound effect on your mic, which is a total waste of a physical control. Then the X-volume dial controls the volume of the customizable pads. Again, a total waste when these could have been custom dials for you to assign to different audio sources in something similar to BEACN's software, or even Windows 11's built-in mixer.

My favorite ability of the RodeCaster Duo is its dual-USB connection, which lets me split my USB PC audio into two halves. That lets me dim music from applications like Spotify or Pretzel when I'm streaming, and not lose game audio. The Solocaster feels like it should be able to do that, but it cares more about silly echo effects and sound pads.

Features

The Solocaster features a single XLR connection and 48V Phantom Power, so it's a solid budget pick if you're looking for something to connect with a premium microphone. The same isn't true of USB mics. There's a single USB-C port on the back of the Solocaster that helpfully powers and delivers latency-free audio. The downside of that is that if you want to plug in a USB mic, you're not going to be able to power the mixer.

There are four audio jack ports on the back: one for Line in, one for Line out, one for headphones, and one for a headset.

In theory, that would mean you can put audio into the Solocaster through Line in, but with no fader to control it, or software to set it to something, you're going to lose it in the mix of your other USB-C noise. The existence of a dedicated 3.5mm jack for headsets would, again, suggest that it could detect audio from a headset's microphone, but I couldn't get that to work, and from my testing, it does the exact same thing as the regular headphone port. Feels to me like you could take one of these out and throw another USB-C slot in. Why would you even need two 3.5mm jacks if you're only able to plug in one microphone?

There's also a Bluetooth connection, but again, that's really foiled by the lack of a physical control to fade it in and out with. I get that might be the way some podcasts are recorded, but it just feels like a waste of a connection when there's no dedicated control.

There are a couple of features that surprised me at this price point, which I really commend OneOdio for including. Sidechain is a Ducking feature that intuitively dips your game or music volume when input into the mic channel is detected. That's a really professional feature, and it isn't always the easiest to find, especially for streamers. Similarly, there's a loopback button that cancels all the audio from other sources for your listeners besides your microphone. Again, useful to have, especially if you're mid-stream and you need to block out some copyrighted sounds or your friends are being noisy in the Discord chat.

Additionally, there's a Direct Monitor button that lets you listen to your own mic input in real time, but it will come through your speakers if you don't turn them all the way down first, so that could cause some echoes or discomfort if you're not careful.

Perhaps the best features here are two that are completely useless as far as most gaming-centric content creators go, but work really well. There's a voice changer with multiple modes to it. This is so funny to mess around with, and I'm sure that more creative streamers than me, or even V-tubers, could make use of it, but it feels a bit silly when more basic broadcasting features are missing.

There's also a Denoise Karaoke button. This dims the vocal track of the music you're listening to so you essentially get a free karaoke backing track to sing along to. I super didn't expect it to work, but it actually does. Vocals won't be cut out completely; instead, they're dimmed and then echoed slightly, but the fact the Solocaster can detect vocals in the first place and apply this setting is actually pretty impressive. If nothing else, this could be a really nifty little audio interface for budding musical theatre performers who want to try and record higher-budget showreels to send to agents and casting teams.

Performance

If you come at the king, you best not miss. In this context, that means that if you're going to impersonate the best streaming mixer on the market in order to show that it's possible to sell the same features for much cheaper, you best back it up with doing the basics well.

The Solocaster is certainly capable of a fairly simplistic XLR streaming setup. It can take audio from a USB-C connection, capture it alongside an XLR microphone, and I suppose it could technically take line-in from a secondary PC as well, and what the audience hears is pretty darn good. I did plenty of test sample recordings to see what different configurations sounded like, and all of them were great.

The problems start to arise when you want to do anything more than that. I can't really do much with the few faders and dials that are present because of a very irritating feedback buzzing. I tried everything I could to ensure this wasn't human error. No cables were touching, no wires were crossed, no connections were loose or dodgy, and it didn't make a difference. There's feedback whatever I do, which I put down to cheaper connection ports or parts inside. Thankfully, this wasn't picked up in any recordings I did, and it disappeared entirely when I had either the headphone or background noise fader up at full volume.

But this is why I say anything more than basic content creation isn't going to be a strength with the Solocaster. The microphone gain was also pretty darn quiet when I didn't have it up at full blast, and that's generally not where you want to leave these mics because they're prone to damage from that kind of sensitivity level. To make matters worse, the Direct Monitor volume is really weak, and that makes it hard to tell if your audio is peaking or not. If you want to dim volumes like a radio host, you're going to struggle because the second things aren't at full, problems appear.

While you can certainly say that these aren't major issues if they aren't showing up on the audience side, I'd argue the opposite. The top streaming mixers cater to both creator and audience. It's about ease of control, it's about knowing what your audience is hearing, and it's definitely not about a creator sacrificing their own audio for the sake of clean audience mixes.

For the money, this thing is certainly capable if you don't care about background music in between your games. The Ducking feature sounds great and works really well balancing multiple sources of audio you might want to talk over. It's $60, so that's a really nice feature for your investment, but creators who actually want a RodeCaster Duo-like experience are going to need to keep shopping, because this thing ain't it.

And that's just what I mean by "if you come at the king, you best not miss". Comparing yourself to the very best in the market is ambitious on its own, but to sort of miss the best points and biggest appeals of a device you're imitating is much harder to defend.

Should you buy the OneOdio Solocaster?

The Hyperkin Competitor, the Razer Stream Controller X, and the Maono PD200W are all examples of times brands have successfully imitated a dominant device in their tech markets. But in all of those examples, the brands shooting for their respective kings haven't missed. They've given people a bit extra despite the budget price, they've corrected wrongs of the thing they're imitating, or they at least offer the exact same kind of experience for a more reasonable price.

It feels to me like OneOdio has tried to be a little too ambitious with the Solocaster. The RodeCaster Duo costs $499; it's objectively way too expensive for most people. If you're making a cheaper alternative, you do not need to be shooting for as low as $60 to make it appealing. I would happily have recommended a $150 Solocaster if it meant it had more faders, a bit of customization depth, or a secondary USB-C slot. As it stands, there's a functional device here that will fulfil basic needs for some creators, but its extremely budget parts let it down. Moreover, its waste of the physical faders and dials it does have makes me think OneOdio had no idea what sort of creator to go after. The novel features and effects are fun, but they're taking up space that could have been used to take the fight to Rode.

If you are looking for a dedicated XLR streaming mixer on a tight budget, then the OneOdio Solocaster will fulfil a few requirements. But you're likely going to need to spend more on a conclusive mixer down the line. If I were you, and you were taking content creation seriously enough to buy a streaming mixer, I'd think about saving a bit more and looking at a mid-range option, because those do exist.

How I tested the OneOdio Solocaster

I integrated the OneOdio Solocaster into my setup for a few days before writing this review. In that time, I tested its various features and audio mixing powers with different configurations and settings applied. I swapped out a few pieces of gear to ensure it had solid compatibility with accompanying audio peripherals. I compared it to the RodeCaster Duo since it's obviously taking a lot of design cues from it, but also used my experiences of testing other audio mixers to evaluate how it performs.

For more on our testing methods, check out the GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

For more on content creation, brush up on the best capture cards, the best ring lights for streaming, and the best microphones for streaming and gaming.