Fantastic earbuds

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Just had to replace my old Etymotics as one of the drivers died and after much shopping around went with a new brand to me - RHA-Audio MA750i - but am glad I did. Apart from my Sennheiser 650's (which I wouldn't dream of taking outside) these are the best headphones I've owned and certainly the best earbuds. They wipe the floor with my old ones and I compared them to similarly priced sets like the Sennheiser Momentum earbuds and they are far better than those too.

https://www.rha-audio.com/ca/ma750i.html

Really great sounding, very clear, open and detailed and well balanced (not bass hyped like BEATS). 3 year warranty too but as they are built with metal casings and no cheap plastic anywhere they seem built to last. Anyone looking for new earbuds I can highly recommend these.

They did have some more expensive ones that probably sound even better but I went with these because I want them for jogging (amongst other things), these were a lot lighter and have a clever wrap around design for the ears to hold them in place.

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they seem pretty nice...but $130 (on amazon) is WAY more than id personally ever spend on earbuds. if im using earbuds instead of real cans...then i must be in an environment already sub optimal for listening to anything. it seems silly (to me) to waste money on "high quality" earbuds when the environment you use them in wont let you take advantage of the higher quality. as you say...youre gonna use them for jogging (amongst other things)...just about the worst listening environment imaginable...no need for anything better than $10 crap earbuds for that.

not to mention the remote only works with apple products.

again...this is just my personal opinion on earbuds in general. as i said...these do look pretty nice, im glad you like them.

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Yeah well I don't just use them for jogging, just for when I'm outside generally, more often walking, which I spend a lot more time doing than inside listening to music with my 650's, so I'd prefer the best sound quality I can get traded off against usability features like lightness and not slipping off when I am running. I listen to far more music outside than inside (inside I'm usually making my own) and in a quiet place outside with no distractions good sound quality can really shine. Also many of the cheap ones sound so dreadful I'd rather not listen to anything at all so to me it's a false economy to get the cheapest ones.

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On a hunch, I removed the "i" from the model number.

The good news is, they have a version without the remote and mic. The bad news is that they're still $120 on Amazon.

They'd need to sound pretty damn good for me to spend that on earbuds (and maybe they do).

Would you trust them for *mixing* over, say, KRK KNS-8400 headphones? That's what I used to have, and am thinking of getting again.
Blue Phase Music

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aMUSEd wrote:Yeah well I don't just use them for jogging, just for when I'm outside generally, more often walking, which I spend a lot more time doing than inside listening to music with my 650's, so I'd prefer the best sound quality I can get traded off against usability features like lightness and not slipping off when I am running. I listen to far more music outside than inside (inside I'm usually making my own) and in a quiet place outside with no distractions good sound quality can really shine. Also many of the cheap ones sound so dreadful I'd rather not listen to anything at all so to me it's a false economy to get the cheapest ones.
fair enough...im personally never ever in an environment where wearing earbuds doesnt mean i already cant hear what im listening to. if im somewhere i would wear earbuds, that means im on the train/subway, walking down a noisy busy street in mahattan, or jogging/bicycle riding....all scenarios in which high audio quality would be pointless because you cant hear it anyway.

80% of my music listening is at home...another 12-13% in the car. the majority of my home listening is on headphones (akg q701's...which i love).

also...im kind of biased against earbuds in general...i kind of dont believe they can ever really sound that good....and yes...i understand thats my own personal thing...but so far...ive never heard a decent pair. ive tried $200+ earbuds before (a few different brands)...they were no better than $30 phillips on ear headphones.

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They are well balanced but I have no idea how flat they are overall - they are made for music listening not mixing - personally I would prefer headphones to earbuds for mixing, which is why I have my 650's. If you do want earbuds for mixing I would probably choose some of the higher end ones from Shure tbh - although those would be even more costly.

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aMUSEd wrote:They are well balanced but I have no idea how flat they are overall - they are made for music listening not mixing - personally I would prefer headphones to earbuds for mixing, which is why I have my 650's. If you do want earbuds for mixing I would probably choose some of the higher end ones from Shure tbh - although those would be even more costly.
Looks like they're pretty flat, by the chart on the product page, though the do have some drop-off in the higher frequencies.

I was looking at the Shures. Not sure I'd ever spend a grand for their highest-end pair. ;)
Blue Phase Music

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Yes very expensive but they sound good. That being said I'm impressed by RHA, I think these are the best for their immediate price range, but I chose them also for running etc, if I wanted a better sound for use indoors it might be worth checking out one of their t models like this:

https://www.rha-audio.com/ca/headphones/t10.html

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Eh, not too keen on their shape. And judging by what I'm reading here, I wouldn't pay anywhere near $130 for measly earbuds - at best, maybe $40.
My solo projects:
Hekkräiser (experimental) | MFG38 (electronic/soundtrack) | The Santtu Pesonen Project (metal/prog)

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I personally like quality earbuds.

The difference between these and some of the Shures is that the Shures have more than one driver, similar to true monitors. I'm not sure if they're meant for monitoring mixes or just monitoring while on stage (I doubt that, for the price).

Still, I'd consider these.
Blue Phase Music

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Honestly, I'm a fan of the ridiculously cheap QY7 (and now QY8) Bluetooth earbuds that are all over Amazon and everywhere else. They are not perfect of course, but they sound better than anything else in their price range. I keep a pair at work, and one at home for walking, watching movies on my tablet, etc.

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Those QY8s look good, and not too expensive. I haven't tried bluetooth phones yet but have been thinking about it lately.

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thanks very much for the tip, aMused - these look terrific and, if they sound as good as you state; it's really not a bad price for quality earphones

peace
expert only on what it feels like to be me

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Do they come with different replaceable eartips like the etymotics? I need to buy new in ear monitors because I yanked the cord out of my hf5s when I was playing, and I really liked the foam eartips they made.

I need decent sound and isolation, but sturdiness is every bit as important, because I use them when playing live, which can be kind of...well...rough.

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Those rhas look really uncomfortable to wear for extended periods. When I work out I like my good ol' pair of Bose IE2. Not audiophile quality by any sense of the word but sound decent and more importantly the soft gel buds are extraordinarily comfy.

Most earbuds are uncomfortable for me though. It seems like they're designed to be wedged in there hard to maintain grip as opposed to more contoured earbuds, that rest in your ears instead.
Last edited by masterhiggins on Mon Aug 08, 2016 9:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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