RHA MA750 In-Ear Headphones Review

RHA MA750 Introduction

If you want to get me talking, other than plying me full of beer, you could ask about one of two things - subwoofers or headphones. Sure, I can talk about displays but do you know who at a party asks me about my TV recommendations? Everyone. Literally. It's so boring. I usually ask what they just bought and then tell them that it is a good one. Even if it isn't. Because, frankly, I don't care. You want someone to validate your purchase? Go to the manufacturer's forum and post. Believe me, you'll find all the validation you'll ever want.

But subwoofers and headphones? Those are things I can get passionate about. Subs are something most people don't get because they really have never heard one. Oh, they've heard them at the movie theaters but that's a magical place where bass is born. You can't possibly experience that amount of bass at home, right?

As far as they are concerned, the movie theaters are the Hogwarts of bass.

Headphones, on the other hand, are things that people have experienced. You'd be hard pressed to find someone that hasn't used an earbud or an on-ear headphone in their lifetime. If you are my age, you've experienced them since walkmans. No, not discmans - walkmans. Cassettes baby. Kicking it old school. I remember how awful those headphones were. Nothing but a thin layer of foam over a plastic frame. The driver sounded like it had an aluminum cone. Aluminum Foil cone that is. All hiss and distortion.

But, back then, it was all we had. We didn't know any better. Plus I was I kid and barely had money for my Sonic Youth cassettes. I certainly wasn't considering upgrading my headphones.

Now we have iDevices. And most of them come with some sort of earbud. As much as I love to bag on them for being terrible (because they really, really are), the fact is that people are using them. If the people I see running or at the grocery store are indication, they are using them in vast numbers. While that makes me sad, at least we have a point of commonality. When I talk about subs with people, they look at me like I had lapsed into Klingon. 

RHA MA750 First Impressions

People believe that you can only use in-ear headphones for exercise. Of course, that isn't true. In my interview with V-MODA's Val Kolton, he revealed that he regularly wore his Crossfade M-100s when running. But I'm not going to argue the point. In-ear monitors are great for exercising. There are many things people might want in an in-ear monitor and those features are mutually exclusive. If they are running outside, they may want something that lets in a lot of external noise. If they are using them for critical listening, they will want a tight fit so that they can get the highest sound quality. Those two people are buying completely different headphones.

The RHA MA750s come in two flavors- the MA750 and the MA750i. The 'i' indicates in-line controls. I was sent the straight 750s and, honestly, I was glad. I'm a bit sick of in-line controls but I know many that prefer them. For those that do, the MA750i are a $10 premium over the straight MA750. Not a bad deal in my opinion.

RHA has upped the ante with the 750 line. They are still sticking with their signature inverted trumpet bell design but they've upgraded the construction to 303F grade stainless steel. They've also included their brand new and handmade RHA 560.1 driver. This driver is unique to the MA750s and boasts (if their measurements on their page can be believed) the flattest response out of all their drivers. RHA headphone construction, especially their in-ear monitors, has always been top-notch but they've really taken it to the next level with the MA750s.

The most unique change to the RHA line is the new tip holder. This looks like a leather cigarette case. Inside there is a small pocket on one side and a couple of straps on the other. What are the straps for? To hold the stainless steel tip holder of course. RHA stressed that while the case can be used for the tips, it was really intended for the headphones. Being the same shape as the tip carrier, I'm sure I'm not the only one that thought it was for the tips.

No More Complaining About Fit

If I had to make a bet, I'd put money that there was a discussion at RHA about silicone tips. People are always complaining about fit with in-ear headphones and someone at RHA posed the question, "But how much to these tips really cost?" The answer was probably close to nothing so they decided to make sure people had all the tips they needed. And then they built a special case and holder for them. Does it have a point? Not really. How many people actively change out their tips on a regular basis? Not many. Most people figure out what works for them and promptly lose the rest. Cases are usually for the headphones. While there is a pocket for the headphones (or you can just shove them in there), it doesn't feel like it was designed to hold the MA750s. While the carrying case is nice for the tips, it really doesn't make much sense for the headphones. I would have preferred a second case designed specifically for the headphones.

RHA wanted to make sure you had all the tip options you'd ever need. They included two pairs of small, medium, and large silicone tips along with two pairs of universal memory foam tips. They also included a single pair of double flanged tips in small and medium. Overkill? It sure is. But guess what? I finally, after reviewing dozens of headphones, found a pair that actually fit me.

It was the double flanged tip that made the difference.

Because I'm a rational human and try to be logical at all times, whenever I'd try on different in-ear headphones, I'd switch both tips out at the same time. Small not working? Bump up to medium. But with so many tips available, I realized that I could mix and match them. Why this hadn't occurred to me before is a mystery. So I found that my right ear was definitely a small but the left ear wasn't fitting properly. So I bumped up to a medium that that wasn't working either. I then tried the small double flange tip and it fit like a dream. I then switched the right tip to the double flange but that didn't fit as well in that ear. So I've got double flange on the left, single on the right. And for the first time, I'm not having to re-insert my headphones every few minutes.

But I still don't have a use for that carrying case full of tips.

RHA MA750 In-Ear Headphones Ergonomics, Use, Comfort

The RHA MA750s are a strange mix of features that on one hand excite me and the other confuse me. First, they have the top of the line driver from RHA. The 560.1 (the number sounds like they are leaving some room for improvements in the future) is handmade and reserved solely for this headphone. But it is paired with an ear loop and a reinforced connection at the tip which are features we usually see in headphones designed with active use in mind. The ear loops in  particular are associated with active use. The "spring" at the plug end are often found on headphones for use in a studio or DJ'ing where there might be a chance that the headphone would be pulled free or at least tugged on during use.

These two things seems sort of mutually exclusive.

Ergonomically, however, the earloops seem to be more about keeping the earphones in place during regular rather than active use.The active use earloops are generally pretty rigid and pinch behind the ear. These are much softer. Many people, regardless of headphone design, wrap the cord around their ears when using in-ear monitors. It seems like RHA has recognized this practice with the MA750 line and accommodated with a soft earloop.

Earloops generally receive little love from people that wear glasses. The MA750 earloop is no different. I don't wear glasses but I have a vampire-like aversion to the sun. I don't care if it is raining in sheets: if the sun is out, I'm wearing sunglasses. If you wear the Oakley-type straight arm glasses the 1990's called and they want their glasses back. But if you do, you may have fewer problems. The earloops are more a gentle guide for the cable around the ear and easily pushes out of the way. The same is true with glasses that hook behind your ear but the effect is more dramatic. Often I would find the loop completely on the outside of my ear.

They stayed in place, mind you, but the loop was no longer in the correct place.

Using the RHA MA750 Headphones

Since I didn't have the MA750i headphones with the in-line controls, the "use" was plugging them in and pressing play. My experiences with previous models of RHA headphones with in-line controls, however, suggest that they'll work just fine. One thing that RHA touts is the noise isolation. Just about any in-ear monitor will give you a semblance of noise isolation. Heck, just about any headphone will. But RHA has included the memory foam tips for additional isolation. These are the same as the safety ear plugs they give out on job sites.

Frankly, I didn't use those.

They are such a pain to use. You have to squish them and shove them in your ear as quickly as you can. If you have a wife or, God forbid, children, inserting headphones is some sort of subsonic call to ask dad a question. My kids could have avoided me all day but the minute I put in my headphones, suddenly they want to talk about why the sky is blue or why squirrels have long tails or why I call my subwoofer Janice.

Because I do. That's why. Shut up and do your homework.

The standard silicone tips have very good noise isolation. While it really depends on fit more than anything else, when I got the RHA MA750 tips properly sized, I really found that outside noise was kept at bay. This meant I didn't have to pretend to ignore my children, I actually couldn't hear them! Which is way better.

I've used in-ear headphones that are ported. It is an interesting design choice and works out well if you are looking for a bit more bass. The problem that crops up is when you go outside. Any wind will whistle past the port. The RHA MA750s are sealed so I experienced none of this.

There were a few nice aesthetic touches to the MA750s that need to be pointed out. The tip and the point where the cable splits has a cylindrical case that feels and looks very sturdy and hi-end. The tip is etched with the logo (just the RHA initials) and letting you know it is constructed of stainless steel. The cylinder at the cable split has "designed by Les Heath". It was written in cursive and very faint so I had to contact RHA about the name. This is Lewis Heath and he's their head of design. Oddly, I couldn't find that name anywhere on their website. In fact, if you spend some time there, you'll see that it seems very sterile and impersonal. They aren't trying to sell you headphones based on personality - they are selling them on the strength of their performance.

The spring protector at the end is just the right stiffness to keep the cable from bending to much and damaging the end. The cable itself is very thick and shield. It is coated in rubber which I tend to prefer. For those that exercise, RHA has included a clip. It isn't attached to the cable but can be slid on with a little dedication. It almost feels too hard to get on though you can, with a fair bit of pressure, slide the clip up and down the cable. I'm referring to the cable that leads to a single headphone. I didn't think it would fit on the wider, central cable. There is a slider that you can pull up the split cable. I used this to cinch it behind my head. I then used the clip to attach the cable to the back of my shirt with a bit of slack between my head and the clip. This allowed for movement. If not, the weight of the cylinder on the cable paired with the rubber-wrapped cable grabbing onto your skin will pull the headphones loose.

I took the RHA MA750s into the climbing gym and, for the first time, I experienced an in-ear monitor that stayed in place. The clip was a big part of this. Second, I took the MA750s to an even more demanding environment - my kitchen. You know what irritates me? No, not everything though it often seems that way. What irritates me is using in-ear headphones while cooking and having them start to slowly pull out while my hands are covered in goo. I've very active in the kitchen. I have shelves near the floor, those I have to stand on chairs to reach, and everything in between. I rarely use a mixer preferring to kneed my dough by hand (which always works up a sweat) and whisk my sauces. Sure, I'll cut corners occasionally but with three young boys, I'm always practically running in the kitchen. Again, the MA750s were the only headphones I could wear for long periods of time without having to adjust them.

Comfort

There seem to be two types of people in the world: Those that don't mind having things shoved in their ears and those that apparently have nerve endings. I'm of the second type. I've had earphones that are injection molded to my ear. I've had tips of every type (many of them proprietary for the headphone brand and claiming to be the "most comfortable"). In the end, the best I can hope for is that they don't bother me too much. Generally, I'll forget they are in though it doesn't take much to remind me. When I remove them, of course, I'm always relieved.

The RHA MA750s were little different. If anything, they were slightly more uncomfortable. But I'm guessing that it is because they actually fit properly. Other headphones were constantly sliding out indicating a looser and likely more comfortable fit. With the MA750s they stayed in. They didn't hurt but there was always a pressure there. But this is par for the course with in-ear monitors.

RHA MA750 In-Ear Headphones Sound Quality Tests

I've a bit of history with RHA. I've reviewed their SA950i on-ear headphones and their MA350 in-ear headphones ($60 and $40 respectively). I've liked them both (especially at the price points) but have lamented that they weren't very linear. Mostly, they were bass-heavy. This is not a phenomenon specific to lower-cost headphones. The trend these days, regardless of price, is for a bass bump. This might be because of compressed music but I believe it is because of market research. People who didn't know that subs could exist outside of a movie theater are super impressed when they hear a lot of bass coming from their headphones. In one way this is good because maybe it will lead them down the path where they'll start wanting bass from their own home system. In every other way this is bad because I'm forced to review headphone after headphone with a bass hump so large that it has its own weather pattern.

When RHA increased the price of their top-tier headphones from $60 to $120, I was prepared to not like what I heard. Frankly, even though I challenged RHA to make a more expensive headphones at the end of the SA950i review, I didn't think they'd actually succeed. Specifically I said, "If this is what RHA can do for $60, I want to see what they can do with a $200 headphone."

RHA in their measurements of the 560.1 driver shows it to be very flat all the way down to 16Hz. Gene has promised that he's going to try to secure me some measurement equipment for my headphone reviews. Yep, one of those manikin heads where you can stick in the earbuds and everything. When that becomes a reality, I'll be testing this 16Hz claim right away. Because these headphones play low!

At first I did a lot of casual listening with the MA750s. This was mostly to find the right tips but also to test long-term comfort (and to have a reason to ignore my children). My first impressions of the MA750s was of bass - there is lots of it with a ton of extension. Using everything from sweeps to the Yello track Junior B, I heard bass not only low but very smooth. No apparent bumps anywhere. The next thing to do is take a hard listen to the midrange. With a bass boost, you'll notice a lack of distinction in the midrange. I heard very little of this though the midrange was not as clear as I thought it could be. The top end was rarely fatiguing while maintaining the kind of clarity I expect from quality headphones. The next step after my initial impressions was to do a few comparisons.

I have a ton of headphones to use for comparison. To start with, I grabbed the SA950i offering from RHA. This was their top-of-the-line when I reviewed them and the new RHA MA750 headphones should be able to crush them considering the price difference. Next, I chose the Audio Technica ATH-M50S over-ear headphones. These are my reference headphones and I use them for everything from critical listening to podcasting. Lastly, I chose the V-MODA Crossfade M-100s. These are the most expensive headphones I've reviewed to date. They sound great (if a bit bass heavy) and fit even better. These are my go-to headphones for "fun" listening, travel (they have a killer case), and I often use them for podcasting as well with their BoomPro mic add-on.

You'll notice that my comparison headphones are either on or over ear models. That's because quickly switching between in-ear models is nearly impossible (tried with the Moshi Audio Vortex Pro but I couldn't switch them fast enough). For my critical listening, I use a combination of the V-MODA splitter cable (comes with the M-100s) and a physical splitter and the Yamaha CX-A5000 processor. I was able to plug in up to three headphones at the same time. I had to manually level match the headphones with the volume control but it was the best I could do.

I used a variety of music for this comparison. Most notably, I used the same disc we used for our 2009 Floorstanding Loudspeaker Shootout. This is a compilation of music that I'm very familiar with. You can follow the link to the shootout for the specific songs if you are interested. It tends toward country and folk with an emphasis on well-recorded vocalists. I augmented this playlist with a few additional recordings from Yello, Morcheeba, Blue Man Group, Diana Krall, and more.

In the end, the RHA MA750s performed very well. The Audio-Technica were the most linear of all the headphones and, as such, seemed to be lacking bass in direct comparisons. But I know from long experience that they have enough bass, it just didn't seem so when quickly switching. While the 560.1 driver measurement provided by RHA looked very flat, in subjective performance, there was an emphasis there. But, unlike the SA950i headphones where I thought they were bass heavy, the MA750 headphones sounded punchy. What really impressed me was the extension. They were playing notes lower even than the V-MODA Crossfade M-100s.

With the midrange, there seemed to be a slightly recessed quality in relation to the Audio-Technica and V-MODA offerings. It wasn't dramatic or pronounced but with quick switching, I often thought that the lower midrange sounded a bit muddy in comparison. The upper midrange, on the other hand, was perfectly clear and crisp. The high end, however, was where the RHA MA750s had the most problems. When comparing with the Audio-Technica, they sounded much more defined but sometimes harsh. The harshness was even more prevalent when comparing to the M-100s. 

Oh, I guess I should have mentioned price. The Audio-Technica have an MSRP of $200 and the V-MODA cost over $300. To suggest that the $120 RHA are even in the same ballpark is a huge accomplishment on RHA's part.

In casual listening, when I was really paying attention, the bass was a little overdone and obscured the lower midrange but I never really found the top end fatiguing. If I had to describe the top end it would be mostly laid back with occasional outbursts of harshness. Sort of like dating a hippy - totally mellow until you say you listen to Rush Limbaugh and then they freak completely out.

Or so I've heard.

I could make the case that the harshness I heard was as much a function of the comparison as it was the particular track because it was by no means universal. Most of the time the top end was very enjoyable and I would generally categorize the high end as "laid back". During the critical listening tests, the very lowest notes were much better represented by the RHA than any of the other headphones. The bass extension with the RHA MA750 headphones was absolutely unreal. When paired with Crazy by Seal, I heard bass notes that were usually reserved for reference subs. The kicker was that they were never flabby or distorted. The notes were always crisp and clean.

I was also impressed with the soundstage and the dynamic range of the MA750 headphones. While it is hard to compare over-ear to in-ear on soundstage as the in-ear tend to have that "coming from inside your head" sound, I was impressed with the stereo separation and the MA750's ability to put sounds not only between my ears but in front and behind my head. The dynamic range was also very good. While you lost detail at lower volumes, that punchy bass was still present. Other headphones had to be turned up considerably louder to hear those same bass notes.

Conclusion

While the RHA MA750 headphones might look like they are designed for use while exercising, I assure you they are not. While they may have had a bit of a bass emphasis, it was completely forgivable considering they had better bass extension than headphones nearly 3x's their price. Once again RHA has exceeded my expectations at their price point. One of these days they will send me a pair of headphones I don't like. Today is not that day.

RHA MA750 In-Ear Headphones

MSRP: $119.95

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