# Industry News: RØDE announces the next-generation Wireless GO II



## Canon Rumors Guy (Feb 23, 2021)

> RØDE today announced the RØDE Wireless GO II system, the world’s smallest wireless microphone system.  The new system offers 2.4GHz digital transmission with 128-bit encryption which delivers up to 200m of extra range over the previous iteration. The Wireless GO II system also offers more than 24 hours of onboard recording in each transmitter. This can save you from dropouts and other audio recording failures.
> The new Wireless GO II system retails for $299 USD and should begin shipping worldwide very soon.
> KEY FEATURES OF THE WIRELESS GO II:
> 
> ...



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## jvillain (Feb 23, 2021)

Wow. That is a huge upgrade. Onboard record makes it worth picking up alone. It's better than the Tentacle in that you can monitor and have onboard record. Though I would still rather have 32 bit float than a minus 20db saftey track but this is a very compelling product.


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## fasterquieter (Feb 23, 2021)

"...three furry windshields, which incorporate an innovative new twist-to-lock design..." Innovative as in they stay on? I'll upgrade for this reason alone.


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## ToddK (Feb 23, 2021)

What a nice upgrade


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## Rendil (Feb 24, 2021)

This thing is pretty sweet, once i have the need for dual person recording i'll definitely be picking one up.


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## stochasticmotions (Feb 24, 2021)

Love the original and it really looks like they have made this worth getting the version 2


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## peters (Feb 24, 2021)

Wow, looks realy tempting. I got the RODELink Filmmaker - so no real reason to upgrade for me :-D But it still looks tempting, given the tiny size


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## -pekr- (Feb 24, 2021)

Having the original Wireless GO makes me envy  I always wanted it to support 2 channels and was considering getting Comica. Now the upgrade to the W GO II is a given


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## RunAndGun (Feb 24, 2021)

For everyone in the US, I’d take the recording while transmitting with a grain of salt, since Zaxcom holds a patent on that. Everyone is trying to figure out and is speculating how or if they got around the patent(is there some loophole in their design like non-removable media or 2.4GHz transmission)that gets them around it or did they come to a licensing agreement with Zax?). Or since they are such a much larger company with deeper pockets, are they just going to fight it out in court?

Also, I do not believe they will ship with the ability to record and transmit simultaneously. That will come with a later firmware update. Which may also be what is allowing them to legally be sold right now in the US, if they haven’t already come to an agreement with Zaxcom or have some design loophole that gets around the patent or it provides them an easy way out if Zax does sue, then they can just never activate the feature on US models(*conspiracy theory* but nothing will stop anyone from downloading firmware for other (non-US)regions).


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## jvillain (Feb 24, 2021)

RunAndGun said:


> For everyone in the US, I’d take the recording while transmitting with a grain of salt, since Zaxcom holds a patent on that. Everyone is trying to figure out and is speculating how or if they got around the patent(is there some loophole in their design like non-removable media or 2.4GHz transmission)that gets them around it or did they come to a licensing agreement with Zax?). Or since they are such a much larger company with deeper pockets, are they just going to fight it out in court?
> 
> Also, I do not believe they will ship with the ability to record and transmit simultaneously. That will come with a later firmware update. Which may also be what is allowing them to legally be sold right now in the US, if they haven’t already come to an agreement with Zaxcom or have some design loophole that gets around the patent or it provides them an easy way out if Zax does sue, then they can just never activate the feature on US models(*conspiracy theory* but nothing will stop anyone from downloading firmware for other (non-US)regions).


There is no way in the world that Zax or any company holds a patent on record and transmit at the same time in 2021 even with the US patent system being as completely F'd as it is. There would be prior art going back decades. Now a specific implementation on a specific technology that is incorporated within the realm of record and transmit maybe. But it would be so specific as to not be an issue to get around. Zax may be a patent troll company suing every thing that moves hoping some thing sticks. I don't know I haven't dug into it. But I have a really tough time seeing them enforcing a patent on record and transit writ large

Is this supposedly a hardware paent or a software patent? If software then good. I like to see Americans getting bit in the ass by their own greedy money grubbing get rich quick schemes.


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## RunAndGun (Feb 25, 2021)

jvillain said:


> There is no way in the world that Zax or any company holds a patent on record and transmit at the same time in 2021 even with the US patent system being as completely F'd as it is. There would be prior art going back decades. Now a specific implementation on a specific technology that is incorporated within the realm of record and transmit maybe. But it would be so specific as to not be an issue to get around. Zax may be a patent troll company suing every thing that moves hoping some thing sticks. I don't know I haven't dug into it. But I have a really tough time seeing them enforcing a patent on record and transit writ large
> 
> Is this supposedly a hardware paent or a software patent? If software then good. I like to see Americans getting bit in the ass by their own greedy money grubbing get rich quick schemes.



I’m guessing by your reply, you don’t work in the industry, because as crazy as it sounds, yes they do(Google it. And there are numerous threads in other professional production and audio boards on the topic). Most of us have been amazed and dumbfounded for YEARS by this. And yes, it has stood up to repeated challenges. Yes, there is prior art and should never have been granted a patent for the basic recording while transmitting idea(telling that this patent is only for the US and was never attempted or granted in any other country), but still the US patent system/judges have allowed it to stand. It was almost/temporarily brought down last year, at least part of it, but upon “appeal” or re-application or whatever it’s called in the patent world when they amend or add information/change their argument, it was upheld, again. And even crazier, they have been able to force other companies to disable the headphone/audio output jacks on their standalone “mini”recorders(not wireless transmitters)(US models) when they are recording.

I’m not a fan of Zaxcom for this very reason, but they are not a patent troll. They are an actual practicing, product producing company serving the high-end/upper echelon of audio in TV/movie production.

Now on to the interesting part of this concerning Rode. Some of the speculation/theory(some claim to have spoken to Rode and had it confirmed) is that because the system operates at 2.4GHz(not in the UHF spectrum as most professional wireless systems currently do), it gets around Zaxcom’s patent. Other theories speculate on the internal non-removable memory/media. And yet another theory is that Rode and Zax came to a licensing agreement(Zax is on the record as willing to license their patent) and Rode is not a competitor to Zaxcom(yes they both make audio products, but for vastly different markets. Think Honda Civic vs. Ferrari). I don’t buy any part of the argument that they aren’t competitors, because they have enforced it on other “down market” companies. Also interesting is that I do not believe the Rode system will ship with the ability to simultaneously record and transmit. It will supposedly be added in a future firmware update. I think that is a key piece to this all...


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## RunAndGun (Feb 26, 2021)

A user on another forum that I’m on, posted that he received his GO II system on Thursday and has confirmed that the transmitters do record while transmitting. But you can only stop the recording by turning the transmitters OFF. When they are turned ON, they automatically start recording(if you enable the option with Rode’s computer app). And it’s just a continuous loop, meaning that when the memory is full, it begins overwriting the oldest portion of the recording. There are separate tracks created every time the transmitter is turned ON/OFF, but being a continuous loop recording system, you could lose your back-up or at least a portion there of, if not careful/mindful of how long it’s been on.


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