RHA MA350 In-Ear Headphones Review

RHA MA350 First Impressions

One thing I try to do as much as I can when reviewing a product, is to start the review before I know the price. As you might imagine, this isn't always possible. Most times, I've gotten some sort of press release about a product and decided to ask for a review sample. Invariably, those press releases list the price of the headphones. But when you do as many headphone reviews as I do, it is easy to get mixed up - to forget which headphones cost what. That said, The RHA MA350 headphones came and I really had no idea what they cost. All I had to go on was the design and how well I thought they sounded. 

RHA (stands for Reid Heath...Audio?) is a UK company that prides themselves on audio quality. From the MA350 box:

We create unique, high specification audio products, designed and engineered at our research and development centre in Glasgow, UK. Everything we make is engineered to deliver professional grade cutting edge sound. Each feature, detail and component is the result of extensive research and our uncompromising commitment to innovations and quality.

Now, if that is not a mission statement, I don't know what is. Take out the Glasgow part and the funny spelling of center and this should be on the wall of every audio manufacturer. 

The MA350 are some of the smallest earbuds I've ever reviewed. They look like a cross between those ones you get with your iPod that are meant to be just wedged in your ear and actual earbuds. What you end up with when you put them in, is a mix of both. They sit very flush to your ear and, depending on the shape of your ear, they may actually stay put a bit better than larger earbuds. They are extremely light. The specifications list them as 11 grams but that's with the cord and everything. Each of the earbuds weigh a fraction of that - which assists in keeping them in place. 

The enclosures are machined from solid aluminum and they feature a fabric braided cable. The design is a standard black and polished aluminum which, while not all that exciting, has a sort of understated class. The only easily visible markings on the MA350s is the RHA logo on the back of the enclosure.

Taking in the weight, the design, the enclosure, the fabric cable...I made some assumptions about the price. I can say that I was very off the mark. I would have guessed by their design (and my early listening tests), that the RHA MA350s would have been priced around $100. I wouldn't have been surprised if you had told me $150. I was, however, shocked that they retail for under $40. Honestly, it made me rethink everything I thought I knew about headphones.

RHA MA350 In Use

I have funny shaped ears. I'm now convinced of that. When I review in-ear products, I often have problems keeping them into place. Even the molded ones and I haven't gotten along very well. What I really want are headphones that will stay in place when I wear my motorcycle helmet.

Alas, the search is still on.

The RHA MA350s weight gives them a huge advantage over most of the competition. Being so light, they don't pull free nearly as easily as the rest. Like many earbud options out there, the MA350s use silicone tips. They offer small, medium, and large options. I've seen smaller (and larger) tips offered by other companies. They've also forgone the inclusion of the foam tip for maximum sound isolation - an odd exclusion considering RHA bills the MA350s as "Noise isolating aluminum earphones."

From a noise isolating standpoint, the MA350s work well. Just about the same as sticking your fingers in your ears. Add in some music and you can't really hear anything that's going on outside. This isn't all that different (and nothing in the MA350 design makes me think that it should be) than any of the other in-ear earbud offerings.

The fabric-covered cable has an adjustable choke at the Y-junction. The cable is the standard 1.2 meters in length and is tipped with a 3.5mm gold-plated connector. The end is straight instead of at a right angle. While I prefer a right-angled tip to the straight option (for in-pocket use), it really isn't much of a issue of contention for me. The only other accessory is a small velvet carrying case.

Not included is any sort of in-line controls or mic for use with your smartphone. At $40, that really isn't all that surprising. What is surprising is that RHA didn't include any way of attaching or securing the cable to your clothing. I realize that the adjustable choke can be used in a similar fashion, but I appreciate some sort of clip as I'm often wearing a single headphone when out and about.

The most egregious omission of the RHA MA350s is easily visible left/right markings. I've seen manufacturers that will use different color silicone tips, some that clearly mark the cable, but I've never seen anyone put a little, raised, black L or R on a little black cable. In bright light it is hard to read. Forget about it in dim light or in the dark. With markings this indistinct, I'm surprised that RHA didn't just put them in braille. That would have be just as useful to me.

If you are familiar with in-ear headphones, you will be familiar with the comfort level of the RHA MA350s. Because they sit in your ears so tightly, you might find them initially slightly more uncomfortable than other earbuds, but that quickly fades. Because they are so light, any weight-based fatigued is all but eliminated.

The last thing I will say about using the RHA MA350s is about the cable. Fabric cables are a bit of a fad in headphones these days and I really wish they'd just go away. While I understand that they usually exhibit less drag than rubber-coated cables, I believe the downsides outweigh the up. Sure, the drag is less, especially when you are using them when you are working out, but think about it. Fabric + sweat = stink. Add to that the fact that fabric cables are much more prone to kinking and give me a rubber cable any day. But, if you disagree, or just prefer fabric, feel free to dismiss my rantings as the ravings of the lunatic fringe. You wouldn't be the first (on this issue and many others).

RHA MA350 Sound

The RHA MA350 earbuds use a 10mm Mylar driver with a specified frequency response from 16Hz to 22kHz. Many earphones brag such wide response numbers, ones that most speakers would give their bottom woofer for, but few actually live up to the hype. The MA350s have a trumpet-like shape that "naturally transfers sound from the speaker to the ear." RHA calls this an Aerophonic design. While I'm not going to debate the viability of this design, it does show that RHA is putting some thought into their design for reasons other than to make them flashy. If anything, the RHA design is too understated. With a design this low-key, the sound quality better be good. 

Usually, when I finish my listening tests, I do a quick Google search to see what others (if any, I'm often one of the first to receive samples) say about the product. I find that, most times, my thoughts are at least in line with other, professional reviewers.

Not this time.

My experience with the RHA MA350 earbuds has been completely different than others. Working from the top-end down, I find the highs of the RHA MA350s to be well-extended and not at all fatiguing. I wouldn't call them a laid-back headphone but you certainly won't find them giving you a headache after a few minutes of listening. The midrange seems mostly okay except where it rolls into the bass region.

The RHA MA350 earbuds are one of the few headphones I've used where I wish I could turn the bass down. Usually, headphones, regardless of price, suffer from poor bass. They try to hit low but, too often, they either don't have the extension or the output. The MA350s have both. In spades.

This makes me wonder what is up with the other reviewers out there. Too often, reviewers are afraid to contradict each other for fear of either being wrong, or somehow disrespecting the other professionals.

Yeah, that's not me.

The general consensus from what I read was that the RHA MA350s have decent bass but the high end is a bit fatiguing. I didn't feel that at all. If you are a lover of bass-heavy music, you are either going to love these headphones or wish to turn the bass down as I did. With well recorded tracks, the RHA MA350s easily performed many times their $40 price point. Especially if the tracks had normal to light bass. But with bass heavy tracks like "Crazy" by Seal, and just about anything mixed in the last five years, the bass was so overpowering as to be muddy, distracting, and pretty much overshadowed the earphones performance.

I love to use the track "Junior B" by Yello for analyzing bass. It is a bass run at the beginning that will quickly reveal if a subwoofer has the goods or not. With the RHA MA350s, they laughed at this near-sub-sonic run and asked for more. For the first time, I felt like a pair of earphones really lived up to their 16Hz low-point.

With more recent recordings, specifically anything designed with heavy bass in mind, the RHA MA350s didn't fare as well. Because the bass was so prominent, it blurred the entire presentation, destroying any sense of imaging or soundstage. Without the overblown bass, the imaging of the RHA MA350s wasn't stellar but it certainly justified their $40 price point.

All in all, however, RHA has redefined the $40 price point. While they aren't flat, by any means, they are easy to wear for long times, they have prodigious amounts of bass, and they aren't at all fatiguing. The only physical problems I had with the MA350s is that the braided cable will transfer and noise from anything rubbing against it into your ear. This is a physical transference of the sound and can only be eliminated by decoupling the braided cable from the earphone. Depending on how you plan on using the MA350s, this may or may not bother you.

RHA MA350 Conclusion

The RHA MA350 headphones have, for me, redefined the $40 price point. With an all aluminum construction, 10mm driver, braided fabric-covered cable, and a compact and light-weight design, RHA thought about everything. While I found them too bass-heavy for my liking, they really don't have any downsides sonically. If you are on the market for a $40 earbud, these should definitely be on your list.

RHA MA350 Noise Isolating Earphone

MSRP: $39.95

www.rha-audio.com

 

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value