Reviews for RHA MA450i Noise Isolating In-ear Headphones with Mic

These are
really great headphones for the money. RHA have included a lot
of good features into a pretty cheap set of headphones including
fabric cable, a unique, funky design and of course, an
iPhone/iPod remote and mic.

They’re made
out of aluminum, so they feel cool and like they won’t break
easily. They sound great, much better than the earpods could
ever hope to sound, and so far have proven to stay comfy
throughout long listening sessions.

Finally, the noise isolating properties of the headphone are outstanding, as
someone who travels a lot, being able to shut off the outside
world is excellent and these headphones do it well.

Great
headphones, can’t get better for the price

197 of 204 people found this useful

I normally don't write reviews. But I was blown away by these earphones.

My Apple In-ear headphones finally gave out on me after 3 years of good service so I was looking for something new. I had read the various audio magazine reviews raving about the sound quality. It's $50 so not a huge investment to see what they were all talking about.

Listening to my Radiohead collection to Bach solo violin, the sound quality is amazing. Deep rich bass, and clear highs. Definitely a huge improvement over the Apple headphones and the Sennheisers I have before that.

Also glad it didn't break the bank.

Another plus - it comes with extra earbuds. Extra Apple's earbuds for my Apple and Sennheiser headphones were really hard to find. The only downside is that the jack casing looks a little flimsy and the chrome on the volume control looks a little cheap. But for the price and quality, these I can live with.

119 of 124 people found this useful

Purchased these based upon reviews read on several sites.

The sound produced is very appealing, but the amount of "noise" that gets generated to the earpiece from the wires rubbing on my shirt collar or jacket gets pretty annoying. Not sure if this is a design flaw (i.e.the earpiece not being "sound insulated" from the wires) or due to the cloth wrapped wires providing a surface that may produce subtle "noise".

Didn't experience that problem with my original iPhone earbuds.

Should have tried before purchase.

114 of 122 people found this useful

There was nothing at all I liked about these earphones. They sounded like tin. No range, terrible base, and they distorted if you turned them up too loud. Also the plastic pieces did not fit on nicely and kept falling off either in my ear or on the floor. Huge disappointment.

113 of 133 people found this useful

These are the best earbuds I have ever purchased. The sound is really good, the buttons on the mic are sufficiently differentiated (I hate to try to push "play" and hit "volume" because all the buttons feel totally the same) and best of all, they are actually comfortable!!! I have very small ear canals and the headphones come with numerous silicone buds that make these a great fit for most any size. Only complaint (and it is minor) is that the cord is much longer than normal (from tip to tip, almost 5 feet long) so it's more likely to get tangled.

9 of 9 people found this useful

I was excited to find these in-ear headphones as the price is right. I live in a noisy city and need headphones that block out noise when I walk outside. Unfortunately I just haven't enjoyed this pair due to an annoying cord. The cord is wrapped in fabric and is extra-long. Both of these are negatives to me. The biggest problem is that the cloth cord picks up every vibration as you walk and amplifies the noise due to the in-ear seal. Every step I take is loudly played back in my ears. If I hold the cord so that it doesn't touch any part of my body they're fine, but that gets old fast. Plus the cord is super long, so long that I had to wrap part of it up with a velcro tie. That makes it hard to put in your pocket.

Too bad. The sound is good. The volume/call control is the best one I've used. It's easy to press and rounded so it doesn't catch on shirt collars. All in all these can be great headphones, but only if you stand still.

I needed to replace my Apple in-ear headphones. I'd get another pair if they would update the volume control like on the new Apple earpods. In the mean time I'll just keep waiting.

15 of 21 people found this useful

Earbuds hang in your ears and let you stay connected to the outside world. These in-ear headphones shut you right out. Which can be a good thing.

The headphones come with extra rubber covers, and the size makes all the difference. Too small and the earphones were really uncomfortable -- like someone was stabbing my eardrum. Too big and they wouldn't sit right and sounded weird. I liked the middle ones. Also, when they fit the scratching noise from the cord is less an issue. Sound is definitely better than the ipod buds, but they're a different animal.

The mic for the phone works pretty good too.

7 of 7 people found this useful

Picked it up in Barcelona last summer to replace other noise-isolating earphones, whose plastic cable tore off after about a year of fairly careful use. An Apple store employee recommended these (MA450) because the cable is fabric woven. The quality of sound is quite impressive, comes with a variety of ear tips to ensure good fit, the mic and controls work fine. After about 7 months of use, people started telling me that there is heavy echo when speaking with me, and it turned out to only be the case when I was using these earphones. Emailed RHA support, sent a copy of the Apple store receipt and received a brand new retail packaged replacement within days - no questions asked. Truly a great product at the right price backed by impressive customer service.

6 of 6 people found this useful

I bought this not ever having even heard of RHA, so I was a bit wary. I must say it exceeded all of my expectations in terms of sound, usability, build quality, cord length, reliability, abundance of earpieces for all shapes and sizes, and overall design. I like it much better than the Apple in-ear that it replaced. There is a great deal less sub-sonic interference from the cloth cord than from the Apple's plastic cords (you're much less likely to hear the wires rubbing against your clothes).

The part where this fell a little bit short was the packaging. The "carrying case" is an amorphous little pouch that is not useful, and the generous supply of earpieces came in a flimsy box that becomes useless upon opening it. These are small insignificant inconveniences in the context of the overall quality, and I would definitely recommend this product for the price.

9 of 12 people found this useful

Love these bad boys, great sound, excellent on the move- not sure about the cord comments, sure there's a bit of a rustle but once the music gets going all you can hear is the song! Class act!

4 of 4 people found this useful