Electro-Voice RE510
A handheld condenser that switches between stage and studio with one switch under the grille.
Overview
Most handheld condensers make you pick a lane. Either it's the stage mic built to survive a dropped mic stand, or it's the studio mic that wants a quiet room. The RE510 tries to be both, and the mechanism is simple: a low-frequency boost switch mounted underneath the ball screen. Flip it one way and the low end is tailored to compensate for proximity effect, giving the clear, natural upper-mid response singers expect from a live vocal mic. Flip it the other way and the low-end response is lifted, so the same microphone becomes a warmer instrument or voice mic for studio work. Because the switch sits under the grille, it can't get knocked into the wrong position mid-set. That is a common failure on switchable mics on loud stages.
Electro-Voice built the RE510 around a supercardioid condenser capsule. Supercardioid gives better feedback rejection and acoustic isolation than a plain cardioid, so a singer can stand closer to a loud monitor wedge, or share a crowded stage, without the PA howling back. The capsule is described as offering the warmth of a larger capsule without giving up off-axis performance or transient response. Every manufacturer makes that kind of claim and few deliver, but the design intent is a handheld that doesn't sound thin or beamy off-axis. Published frequency response is listed at 50Hz to 20kHz in dealer literature. That wide bandwidth plus high SPL handling is what lets the mic work on everything from a quiet acoustic guitar to a kick drum.
The physical package is built for live work. A Warm Grip handle reduces handling noise and gives the mic a comfortable feel in the hand. A multistage pop-filter knocks down breath noise, and the Memraflex grille is specified for rugged durability, which is the polite way of saying it's meant to survive the road. None of this is exotic. It's the plain stuff that separates a working mic from a fragile one.
Dealer listings of the period show the RE510 carrying a MAP of $249.00, which put it among the premium handheld condensers rather than the budget bin. This was never a cheap mic, and the feature set - supercardioid condenser, switchable low-end voicing, serious pop filtering - was the justification. It also turned up as a wireless capsule option. Telex's FMR-1000 UHF handheld system was offered with a choice of either the N/DYM767a or the RE510, so the same capsule that worked on a cable could be dropped into a frequency-agile wireless handheld transmitter. That means RE510 capsules show up in wireless-system listings as often as they do as standalone wired mics.
Electro-Voice's own copy lists a broad set of intended applications: acoustic guitar, electric guitar amplifier, cymbals, even kick drum in studio mode, alongside the obvious vocal duties. The switch is what makes that plausible. The roll-off setting handles the proximity-effect problem of a close-miked vocal, while the studio setting's lifted low end suits instruments that need body. Whether it fully delivers on all of those is a judgment call.
Contemporaneous coverage of the handheld condenser market placed the RE510 in a crowded field. That period source confirms the same feature the manual emphasizes, which helps anyone trying to date or verify a used example.
The RE510 is a condenser, so it wants phantom power. You can't just plug it into an old dynamic-friendly input and expect it to work. The supercardioid pattern means monitor placement matters more than with a cardioid, and the rear lobe of a supercardioid picks up more than a cardioid's would, so stage layout isn't trivial. The Warm Grip and Memraflex grille are wear items, since any heavily used stage mic accumulates grime and dents, but they're also the parts that protect the capsule. Original price was $249 MAP, so today's secondary market is a fraction of that. Because of the wireless-capsule connection, buyers should confirm whether they're getting a complete wired mic or a capsule pulled from a Telex system. As with any switchable condenser of this era, test the switch itself. A mic that won't toggle between vocal and studio modes has its best feature broken.
It's not a legendary microphone, and it doesn't pretend to be. It's a handheld condenser from a company that knew what live work does to gear, priced as a serious tool, with attention to switch placement, pop filtering, grip and grille.
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