Here's a Neumann mic from 1952 that could be set remotely. http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Neumann/M-49
Today it is increasingly common to put the analog stuff as close to the source as possible and remote control it.
This is the 1992 document that finally standardized "pin 2 hot" among other minutiae: http://www.aes.org/publications/standards/search.cfm?docID=1...
Here's a Neumann mic from 1952 that could be set remotely. http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Neumann/M-49
Today it is increasingly common to put the analog stuff as close to the source as possible and remote control it.