Electro-Voice RE27N/D
Electro-Voice took the RE20 - the announcer's mic that became a broadcast standard - and gave it a neodymium magnet, 6 dB more output, and a switchable filter section.
Overview
The RE27N/D is Electro-Voice's attempt to make its most famous microphone hotter and brighter without losing what made it famous. The company's own manual calls it a high-performance, neodymium-equipped, industry-standard broadcast microphone. That makes it a broadcast tool first, and a studio and live-sound tool second. The company's literature credits it with superb resolution and depth for voice and instruments, and says that versatility made it a favorite of recording studios and live sound engineers, not just the radio booth crowd. That is manufacturer copy, but it fits the mic: a Variable-D dynamic with a neodymium element, built on the same acoustic architecture as the RE20.
That architecture is the story. Variable-D is Electro-Voice's patented answer to proximity effect, the low-end buildup you get when you work a normal cardioid close. The manual explains the mechanism plainly: on the rear side of the diaphragm sits a perforated pipe, an interference duct with precise sonic slots at set distances. It provides maximum damping that stays uncolored and undistorted even at 180 degrees off-axis. In practice, frequency response stays balanced and uniform as the source moves around the mic. An announcer who leans in and out, or a vocalist who never stands still, doesn't get the tonal shift a conventional cardioid would give. The manual goes further. It claims Variable-D microphones produce a tight low-end unmatched by any other microphone technology, and that this is why the RE20 and RE27N/D are revered not only as announcer's mics but also for kick drums, low-frequency instruments, and guitar amplifiers.
The N/D in the model name is the other half. The neodymium element gives 6 dB more sensitivity than the ferrite-magnet RE20. That means less preamp gain, which helps with long cable runs in a broadcast facility or a dynamic mic pushed across a loud stage. The manual pairs this with "studio condenser-like performance," a phrase every dynamic mic maker reaches for. The spec sheet does back up part of it: the RE27N/D is rated at 45-20,000 Hz, against the RE20's 45-18,000 Hz. That extended top end is a real difference between the two mics. Open-circuit voltage is listed at 2.5 mV/Pascal, against 1.5 mV/Pascal for the RE20, which is the 6 dB gain in concrete terms. Impedance is 150 ohms and the connector is a standard three-pin XLR. The mic is passive, so no phantom power is needed.
The filter section is where the RE27N/D separates itself most clearly from the RE20. Three selectable filters are built in: a -6 dB rolloff from 250 Hz down to 100 Hz, a steeper -12 dB rolloff from 1000 Hz down to 100 Hz, and a -3 dB high-frequency roll-off. That puts tonal shaping at the mic instead of at the console. The gentle low-cut is the classic broadcast setting for reducing room rumble and handling noise without gutting the voice. The steeper one thins out a boomy source or a close-miked instrument. The high-frequency roll-off tames sibilance or suits a source that's already bright. Integral wind and blast filters handle the practical problems of close-miking: plosives, breath noise, and wind in field work.
The case is steel with a satin nickel finish, a step up in looks from the fawn beige of the RE20 and the RE16. The company's literature describes its broadcast mics as able to withstand high humidity, temperature extremes, and corrosive environments like salt air, and refers to its "Buchanan Hammer" durability. The manual groups the RE27N/D with the RE16 and RE20 as the Variable-D microphones that have been the chosen industry standard for broadcast show hosts, vocal booths, voice-over studios, and professional touring or rental companies for decades.
Period coverage of the RE27N/D is limited, and it's mostly manufacturer advertising rather than independent lab testing. Recording-Engineer (August 1990, p.2) ran Electro-Voice advertising introducing the RE27N/D. It framed the mic as the combination of N/DYM neodymium-aligned technology with the Variable-D design, and explicitly referenced the RE20, introduced twenty years earlier, as the legendary predecessor that had become an industry standard. The same campaign appeared in EQ-Magazine (April 1991, p.5), again positioning the new mic as the marriage of neodymium technology and Variable-D. Mix-Magazine (October 1990, p.242) carried the introduction with a note that the mic's response characteristics made it equally suited to film sound stage recording, home recording, production broadcast recording, sophisticated studio recording, and onstage sound reinforcement. These are manufacturer advertisements, not independent reviews, so the performance language is the company's claims rather than measured verdicts.
The RE27N/D is not a radical departure from the RE20. It's the same acoustic concept with a hotter magnet and a filter section. The manual's lineup table shows the overlap: the RE20 and RE27N/D share the same cardioid pattern, the same 150-ohm impedance, the same passive operation, the same three-pin XLR connector, and the same steel case construction. The differences are the frequency response extension to 20 kHz, the 2.5 mV/Pascal sensitivity, the satin nickel finish, and the three-position filter. For a broadcaster or studio already invested in the RE20 sound, the RE27N/D has more output and more tonal options. For a first serious broadcast dynamic, the choice comes down to whether the extra top end and filter flexibility is worth the premium. In the used market, the RE27N/D typically commands more than its older sibling.
Collectors and working engineers note that the RE27N/D shows up in the same places as the RE20: radio studios, podcast setups, voice-over booths, and kick drum positions. Used examples are common and often fully functional, though the foam windscreens inside the head can degrade over decades and are worth inspecting on any used purchase. Electro-Voice's accessory documentation lists the WSPL-3 windscreen as the fit for the RE27N/D, along with the RE20 and N/D868. The same stand adapters that fit the RE20 also fit the RE27N/D, so the two mics share mounting hardware. Replacement windscreens and mounts remain available.
In the Electro-Voice line, the RE27N/D isn't the original - that's the RE20, and the company's own advertising says so. It isn't the budget option either - that's the RE10, which Electro-Voice marketed as the economy version of the RE15. It's the modernized flagship broadcast dynamic, with the neodymium magnet and the filter switches.
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