RØDE Microphones LLC has announced the acquisition of American pro audio leader Mackie. 

The deal will expand the range of audio products and brands owned by RØDE’s parent company, The Freedman Group, for content creation, home and studio recording, broadcast, and live sound production.

“I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Mackie to The Freedman Group’s roster of iconic audio brands,” says founder and chairman Peter Freedman AM. “They are true legends, with a pedigree of live sound expertise that is simply unmatched. Today, RØDE and Mackie are both leaders in audio, and we share the same passion for creating innovative, high-quality products with a strong customer focus. With this acquisition, The Freedman Group is now a premier audio technology company offering world-class products to an even wider range of customers, from up-and-coming content creators to professionals working in live production and everyone in-between.”

Since 1989, Mackie has been a leading designer and manufacturer of pro audio products, including mixers and loudspeakers for home, studio and stage use. An integral player in the home recording revolution in the 1990s, Mackie quickly made a name for itself as a highly innovative brand with a focus on ‘built-like-a-tank’ quality and affordability. Groundbreaking products like the 1602 and D8B mixers and SRM450 loudspeaker were instant classics and, combined with a unique approach to marketing, established Mackie as a go-to brand in the recording and live sound industries – a status they uphold today with leading products like the ProFX series of compact mixers, the Thump series of powered loudspeakers, and the popular CR series of desktop production monitors, the companies reported. 

“Mackie is one of the great success stories in pro audio and I have admired them for a long time,” added Freedman. “My background is in live sound production. It’s something I have always been passionate about, ever since I saw Tom Jones at the Chevron Hotel in Sydney as a kid back in ’69 – my father Henry installed the sound system there, as well as many other venues across the city. Live sound is where I cut my teeth in audio, so this very much feels like that part of my career coming full circle.”

“Having met Greg Mackie before I even started RØDE, I found his passion for audio and approach to business inspiring,” he continued. “Their origin story is uncannily similar to ours. Both brands helped fuel the democratization of DIY recording in their own way, Mackie with their mixers and speakers and RØDE with our microphones. We shared a similar path and today both brands are leaders in what we do, so I am incredibly excited to bring these two audio icons together.”

Speaking about the acquisition, Alex Nelson, CEO of Mackie said that “The entire Mackie team is excited to be joining forces with Peter, Damien and their incredible crew. Having worked in the audio industry for many years, I have always held RØDE in high esteem. Their manufacturing capability and technology leadership is second-to-none in pro audio and I think they are the perfect partner to help Mackie expand as we enter an exciting new chapter in our history. Also, the timing could not be better. We have an incredible product roadmap ahead of us, which we’ll be making some big announcements for leading up to NAMM ’24. This is an extremely exciting time for Mackie, and we couldn’t be happier doing all of this alongside the RØDE team.”

Greg Mackie, founder of Mackie and audio industry legend, shares a similar sentiment, saying: “I can't think of a better company for Mackie to be associated with than RØDE,” added Greg Mackie, founder of Mackie.  

“RØDE and Mackie are incredibly harmonious brands,” says Freedman Group CEO Damien Wilson. “This acquisition diversifies our product offering in a very complementary way. We now offer end-to-end audio solutions for everyone from musicians setting up a home studio to professional live sound engineers. Whilst Mackie’s brand, manufacturing and operations will remain unchanged, there are incredible opportunities to combine the complementary IP, infrastructure and resources of both brands in powerful ways. I am very excited about the potential this offers RØDE and Mackie.”

Legal counsel for RØDE was provided by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Gilbert + Tobin, with financial advisory from PwC. Funding was provided by Amicaa & Carlyle, with legal counsel from Baker McKenzie. Seller Transom Capital Group received legal counsel from Kirkland & Ellis and financial advisory from Lincoln International.

RØDE has announced a major new firmware update for its all-in-one audio production studio and interface RØDECaster Pro II that introduces advanced sub-mixing to all of the RØDECaster Pro II’s outputs and expands on the routing feature introduced in the last major update (1.0.7). 

The advanced sub-mixing feature is especially powerful for streamers who need to send different mixes to different audio destinations, such as stream and chat applications and their headphone mix, the company said and will also be useful for podcasters and other content creators. 

In the prior upgrade, with firmware version 1.0.7, users were able to customize each of the USB and Bluetooth outputs by selecting which channels would be heard on these outputs, RØDE explained. 

The new update takes this functionality to the next level, allowing users to independently adjust the level of each channel for all ten audio outputs (both digital and analog), including the headphone and monitor outputs, the Bluetooth channel, on-board recording mix, and the three USB outputs, the company said. 

From the main mixing screen, users can tap the settings cog in the top-right corner of the screen, navigate to ‘Outputs’ > ‘Routing’, and choose one of the ten outputs to configure. From here, users will notice that every output has a ‘Custom’ option at the top of the screen – tapping this will show users the new sub-mix screen for that output, RØDE said. 

The company also reported that in the sub-mix screen, users can independently set the levels of each channel by tapping the virtual fader of the channel you wish to change and turning the rotary encoder. 

RØDE noted that this feature is especially useful for streamers because it allows them to finetune the audio they hear in your headphones separately to the audio sent to their chat and stream. 

For podcasters, this means that hosts and guests can hear entirely different mixes to what’s being recorded on the RØDECaster Pro II itself or what’s being sent to the computer. This level of customization adds a new flexibility to the RØDECaster Pro II, expanding on its existing immense capabilities as an all-in-one audio production studio and interface.

In addition to the new advanced sub-mixing feature, firmware 1.1.1 introduces a number of system optimizations and workflow improvements, including the routing of voice effects, which are now applied to each individual channel in multitrack mode, allowing users to capture these effects while maintaining the post-production flexibility that multitrack recording offers.

The RØDECaster Pro II’s companion software RØDE Central has also been updated to mirror all of the configuration options now available on the RØDECaster Pro II itself, including setting up the advanced APHEX® audio processing, SMART pads and custom sub-mixes.

The firmware is available for download here.  

SILVERWATER, AUSTRALIA—Røde Microphones has named Damien Wilson as the new CEO of The Freedman Electronics Group. He has been promoted from Røde Microphones’ sales and marketing director. The Freedman Electronics Group consists of pro audio brands Røde, Aphex, Event Electronics and SoundField.

Damien Wilson

He will take over for Peter Freedman, the group’s founder and managing director, who will now have more time for “product conception and development, manufacturing innovation, brand acquisition, and personal representation for the group internationally,” according to the announcement. Freedman also plans to work as an advocate for Australian manufacturing and export.

Wilson joined the Freedman Electronics/ Røde team in 2007 as a marketing manager and was promoted to global sales and marketing director. He also worked as general manager of Røde Microphones’ U.S. presence from 2008-2013.

Prior to his time with Freedman, Wilson worked as a creative director at two boutique advertising agencies.