RHA MA450i Noise Isolating In-Ear Headphone with Remote and Microphone - Black

I bought these earphones to use with my iPhone 5S. They fulfill all the basic functions that I need them to do: The plug fits through the Apple-brand case I bought. They don't fall out of my ears like the stock earbuds do. The microphone, volume controls, and start/stop/Siri button all work as they're supposed to. However, I'm disappointed with the sound that they produce. I'm not an audiophile, but to me the sound seems thin and "tinny". The interchangeable ear-tips do work: they stay in your ears when you've selected the correct size. However, they are nearly impossible to change. It's a long and frustrating process to change ear-tips; it takes a very rough touch to get the new tips on. And once in your ears, they produce a significant "stethoscope" effect as they rub against your clothing. The cord is wrapped in canvas; it seems durable. However, it's about 18" too long. This contributes to the stethoscope effect. All in all, I'm disappointed in the overall product. They're not awful, but I expected more from a $50 purchase.

First time to try this RHA brand, the sounds is not bad with that price.The remote control is not working properly after I use for two weeks. Maybe I am bad luck? I really have no idea.Since this headphone has 3 years warranty, I did send them an email to tell them my situation. So far, they only sent me an email about the request number. I am not sure they really care. (there is not customer service phone number to call, maybe because it is English brand.) Should I call amazon instead?UPDATED:(Before I gave RHA two stars )RHA customer service really did a great job. In fact, they do care their customers. I told them that the remote control did not working properly, so I sent an email with my purchase invoice to them.(they usually reply you back within 24 hours)they did sent me a new replacement of the MA450i. Because I couldn't find the return envelope when they sent me the replacement, they advised me to dispose the faulty one.

It has good sound quality but it just won't stay in my ear. I've tried all the buds and none of them work well. Also these have more conductive noise from the cable than any other ear buds I've tried.

I commute by mass transit for over 3 hours each day and use my ear buds the entire time.Yes, like all noise isolating ear buds, these fit tight in the ear canal and tend to amplify certain noises - footsteps, wind noise, rubbing of the cloth covered wire on clothing, but...They sound great. For the price they are awesome. The three year warranty is about 2.5 years longer than most of my ear buds last (even the really expensive ones I've tried). Recommended.

I like the sound of these puppies, and the build quality feels solid. They come with a done of sizes of rubber tips so you can find one that will fit your ears perfectly. The cord is covered in a kind of braided nylon fabric that feels really sturdy. Unfortunately it is also really slippery (unlike rubber that tends to stick to itself) so it forms knots more than any other headphones that I've had, but since it isn't sticky it's also easier to untie than any other headphones. So, that's kind of a wash I guess but it feels much sturdier than rubber.*******Edit***********The right channel stopped working after about 9 months of light use. Also I've found that these earbuds refuse to stay in my ears no matter which size earbud thingy I use. I haven't had this problem with any other earbuds in the past.I'm trying to warranty this set and will update with how that goes.Overall though, these headphones have let me down overtime after an initial good first impression.***********Edit************RHA had great customer service and quickly got me a replacement set. This set has lasted longer than the original so far.

First of all - make sure you select tips that are slightly too large rather than too small. I tried smaller tips thinking they would be more comfortable and/or would sit deeper in my ear. I was disappointed in the sound for a day or so, it was weak and tinny as mentioned by another reviewer. I was poking around in the equalizer settings trying to make it sound decent. I was very disappointed with my purchase... Then I tried the largest tips and it was a revelation! I disabled all EQ settings, and the sound is just spectacular. These earphones are worth the $50 I paid just to listen to Massive Attack's Mezzanine all over again.Good:Great sound if you use the right tips.Good selection of tips.A nice enough small fabric storage bag is supplied.Small, light, comfortable.The cable seems robust, the fabric wrap helps prevent tangling.The call answer button and microphone work on my Nexus 5. I knew it was unlikely the volume buttons would work.Not so good:The cable is noisy - microphonics from the cable rubbing on your clothes etc. is pretty bad.

I purchased these for use with a Droid 4. The buttons do not work at all and the microphone does not work very well. I am very disappointed with these. I have other sets of RHA headphones and these sound as good as they do, however I cannot use them as I intended to. I contact RHA customer support and they said that these are designed to use with iPhone and may not work with other phones or devices. Very disappointed. Had I known, I would have purchased something else.

I bought these to use while in the subways (crazy people don't talk to you if you wear head phones). They also sound fantastic, quality is very deep and full. As a few others have commented, they don't fit confidently into your ear. They don't fall out ever, but they feel like they may. There's also a good amount of cord noise, as many similar headphones experience this. The included clip helps with the cord noise and helps take the pressure your ears, so they don't fall out.

Like many others I had read numerous reviews of these and other headphones and getting to what they were really like seemed quite difficult as parts of one review would contradict what someone else had written and ultimately there is a fair amount of subjectivty relating to what makes a good sound.So for what it's worth here's my assessment of the earphones i've had for just over a week - so too early for any comment on how reliable they are. They sound good, noticably better in terms of range and power than my Sony phones that I purchased for about the £15-20 mark.The sound isolation on the MA450i is very good - the seven different sizes of bud should mean you find one that suits - it cuts out a large proportion of the ambient noise, really noticable while on a flight as my old Sony earphones would require almost max volume - with the RHA's I was able to listen comfortably at low volume, yet still have the range over the ambient noise.The cord is fine, but like many other reviewers it can be a little noisy, but to be clear I only found this to be an issue at really low volume - so not an issue really. Tangle free - well not really, but no worse than my previous Sony's that have a standard soft plastic cable.Use on a call - I used them a few times now and they are very good on a conference call, talking at normal levels and without moving the mic there were no complaints from callers that I was unclear or too quiet/loud, so am assuming it came through ok. I use Android and Blackberry phones so I have not been able to get any joy from the control functions (they don't work with my iPOD Classic either, but the product doesn't claim to), but if you can reach the control on the phones I guess you can probably reach the volume on the phone or the iPOD - so not really an issue.Delivery, packaging and description were fine, so overall I think they're worth paying £39.95.

First of all, the packaging is sturdy and well presented and I like the selection of replacement ear buds too (there is 7 in total of varying sizes). The chord is 1.5mtr long, covered in braid to help prevent damage and the ear pieces are truly stunning. As the box states, they are based on a trumpets bell, crafted from aircraft grade aluminum, make no mistake these are of a very high build quality. The in line remote is situated on the RH and sits just inline with the mouth to allow use of the mic for making phone calls.So far so good then. On first listen I used the buds that were already on, but these were not right for me. After some time experimenting with the various sized buds, I found the ones that suited me personally. It is worth mentioning here that changing the buds is quite tricky due to the tight fit but after several attempts I found it got easier. I recommend experimenting with the different buds as the effort of finding the ones for you to get the best form the RHA 450i is well rewarded.The 3.5mm jack plug is gold plated and has a quality feel, it inserted easily into the devices. Playing my wide ranging music through my Blackberry 9780 Bold on random I have to say on first listen I was gob smacked at the detail these little aluminum speakers delivered. The first song I listened to was from Led Zeppelin, Gallows Pole, a very familiar song but through the RHA450i, it sounded brand new. You could hear every strum of Paige's guitar, hear his fingers slide up and down the neck with Bonham's drums driving the tempo of the song. Then Plant's voice, it sounded so very clear the space these little marvels created is amazing. You are in the studio with these guys, right there with them. Next up, Tina Dico (from Zero 7) Warm Sand, the warmth and tone of Tina's voice reproduced impeccably. The sound stage image these headphones creates is truly amazing, you hear things never heard before, like on Tool's The Pot, hearing not just drums, heavy bass and guitars, suddenly I could hear more percussion, the individual notes from each instrument and some disturbing voices (typical Tool!) that were new to me. Rudimental ft John Newman Feel The Love came next and I was again surprised at how good the music sounded. The bass was deep, not as low as some headphones I have owned but it was detailed and went low enough for me personally. Again the sound image that these little earphones creates is truly breath taking, I sat listening for several hours without any discomfort and a big smile on my face. Happy knowing that I had only to part with £40 for these little marvels. The RHA450i's would in my opinion, give much more expensive models a run for the money, they are that good. My last earphones, Sennheiser CX880 and Shure SE115 are both more expensive yet the RHA's perform equally for a lot less with a 3year guarantee.In conclusion, the RHA 450i's give an amazingly detailed open sound that will have you revisiting your MP3 collection. However, if you want brain shaking bass, the RHA's wont be for you, but if you want to hear every single note played out vividly, openly and in stunning clarity. the beautifully made and bargain priced RHA450i's are highly recommended.

I ordered these earphones and decided to cancel the order in favour of some Sony DREX300IPB as the Sony's have a right angled jack (this is where all my previous headphones with straight jacks seem to fail). Long story short I decided to keep the RHAs and I'm glad I did.Pros: They sound great straight out of the box. No burning in required.The treble is slightly intense sometimes, especially with compressed signals (BBC iPlayer for instance) but apart from this, when listening to high quality music the sound is well rounded. It's very easy to find a size of silicone tip suitable for your size of ear given there are seven sizes supplied. Other people have complained that they are very difficult to change. I had a little trouble at first but the trick is to ensure the tip is seated evenly and perfectly flat before attempting to push them onto the headphone.The straight mini-jack is surprisingly small, protruding much less from my iphone than previous earphones I've owned. It also seems to be very flexible and well protected - hopefully it should not be a failure point.The remote is a little bulky but not too much of a cause for concern, especially as the microphone is very, very good. My partner says these give the clearest sound from any headphones I've ever used to call her. I don't have to hold it to my mouth either as it is situated near mouth level on the cable.Cons: The braided cable was a massive cause for concern when I first used them. Noise transfer from it rubbing against my clothes was very distracting when using them out walking for the first time. I've pulled the cable joiner up near my chin to cure this, so much so that I don't notice the noise any more. Also, I have a feeling that this noise transfer will fade with use, as the cable becomes more flexible and the braiding frays slightly.The cable is a bit long for me resulting in a bit of excess which could catch on other people's bags etc whilst taking the tube etc. This is not a major issue and I'm sure is of benefit to some people.Overall these are some of the best earphones I've ever owned. I would say they are comparable to the Klipsch S4i, but with a better microphone and better quality feel. They are certainly better than the Sony DREX300IPB that I also bought, with a more natural sound and a better quality feel about them (thicker braided cable, machined aluminium earphones). Only time will tell whether they have the inbuilt redundancy of most earphones these days and last longer than a few months!EDIT: After a couple of months use, I have realised that exterior noise isn't massively reduced by the silicone earbuds. Even though I've got a very good seal, they just seem to let a lot of noise in. Taking the tube for instance makes it particularly obvious. I think this could be improved.

Can't understand why What Hi-Fi gave the 350's 5 stars and these 4 stars as the only difference is the controls on the 450's. Anyway enough of that, these headphones are in a different league from the ones provided with you phone/mp3 player. I use mine with a Galaxy S2 after ditching the original headphones and a cheaper pair of Denon headphones that i originally purchased for around £15 - just too cheap.Give them a few hours to bed in and they will reward you with a rich sound, excellent clarity and separation. the fit is brilliant although i do find the volume control weight can pull a little on the right one - easily fixed, just wrap the cord around a shirt/jacket button and the wont move at all. The build quality is awesome from the one piece aluminium earpiece to the braided cord cables - they just ooze quality and are very discrete to look at. That might put some people off but to me the sound quality was the most important thing i wanted, and i got it in spades.As for the passive noise isolation, find the right size buds (of which there are 7 pairs included)and once you're playing music you will hardly notice any traffic noise - great for your lunch time walk - just watch the traffic. For me the pair that came fitted were the best fit. You will need patience to change the buds as they are very tight (hence the good isolation) but worth the effort.Regarding the source of the music, i used an old Galaxy Ace for a couple of weeks whilst my S2 was being repaired and the music didn't sound particularly good. I almost forgot how good the 450's were until i got the S2 back then again i was blown away. You can get good sound from a poor source whatever you use but give these a good output and they will amaze you.The 450's are made for the Apple clan so even though they work with Android, the only button that works on mine is the pause/play one. If you don't have an i-phone you may consider the 350's which are £10 cheaper but either way you will not go wrong. Mind you, the button is handy to pause and you can also answer any incoming calls with it so i'm still happy to have these over the 350s.Lastly i purchased these through Amazon from the manufacturers, RHA and they have been nothing short of superb with their after service - i thought one of my ear buds supplied was the wrong size and without any issue they posted me another set of seven, even though i only asked for one large replacement - can't fault that for service.All in all 5 very easily deserved stars!!

I like there headphones a LOT. I use them every day for commuting and I travel a lot on the train for hours at a time so I needed something that worked well. Was a bit overwhelmed by the choices so landed on these ones as they are designed in Glasgow of all places. Build quality is very good and sound is pleasant without being harsh. Some points to note.1. Cloth cord is nice and while it does tangle, it UN-tangles much easier than a plastic one. It does absorb moisture though.2. These headphones go a LONG way into your ear canal - if you don't like things poking in your ears don't buy these.3. You pretty much HAVE to wear the cables up OVER your ears and down the back to get rid of any cable noise. I like wearing headphones this way anyway so it suits me fine, but if you prefer cables dangling downwards you're going to get a lot of noise when you move the cables.4. Mic quality seems good - I've used them for conferencecalls and no-one comments.5. Cable is LONG - like really quite long. Might annoy some folk. I like running the cable down inside my jacket then still having enough spare to pull the phone out of my pocket and read stuff so It's OK, but if you were small, or don't like lots of spare cable then might not go down well.6. buttons work exactly as they should and are easy to find by touch alone.Overall very happy with these headphones and glad to support local industry as it were!!