The RH-5Ma headphones offers a very pleasant listening experience. They are as comfortable, lightweight, sturdy, durable and stylish as they are easy on the ears. They produce a surprisingly well balanced, detailed, full, rich, satisfying sound. Yamaha amplifiers feature a trademarked audio profile called Natural Sound meant to provide a listening experience free from annoying distractions. By prefiltering out certain high-end ear-fatiguing frequencies and attentuating overpronounced low end anomilies the Natural Sound amp produces a rather pleasant, if slightly muted aural spectrum. If you enjoy your music to have exceptionally pronounced, blaring high end then these amps aren't for you. Death metal heads need not apply. Likewise, the RH-5Ma do not pump out the crystaline, shimmering ultra high end frequencies of crash cymbols because over time time, even a short time, those shrill sounds can degrade your listening enjoyment. But if you prefer your music to have clearly articulated midrange, solid but not thundering bass, and clear and present highs then theses are for you. They certainly won't satisfy mega bass addicts who have destroyed their capacity for more refined listening. I can listen with them at relatively high volume for hours with minimal if any discomfort.

The synthetic leather ear pad covering is extremely thin and mine tore open rather quickly, so I removed it all revealing a very nice soft cottony fabric covering the foam donuts. The plus side of this defect is that without the plastic covering they don't feel as hot as before and no longer make my ears sweaty. They might not seal outside noise as well but the sound quality is unaffected, perhaps even a bit more open, airy, and natural. The fabric is perfectly intact after more than a decade of use.

Some have claimed these headphones are capable of reference quality sound but that's overstating the case. They're fairly accurate and relatively free of distracting coloration, but to my ears they do have a subtle but noticeable tendency to buzz at certain upper midrange frequencies for an instant here and there. I tried my friend's pair of RH-5Ma's to compare and his also had the miniscule buzz. It's only noticeable at very specific moments when vocals or other sustained sounds pass through the dreaded frequency while rising or descending the scale. It's barely worth mentioning because it certainly hasn't kept me from using these trusty headphones for the past 13 years. They're just too pleasant and agreeable a pair to fault them for such a minor glitch, especially considering the budget price. For under $50 they're remarkably musical and versatile.

Cheap price, long cord, convenient to carry and wear.

Sound emphasis on low frequencies way too much.

I bought this unit based on the reviews here, and I am somewhat disappointed. These headphones slant too much towards the Bass end of the audio spectrum. There is too much emphasis on bass and not enough on highs--say above 1KHz. Plus I have a rather big head, and the headband feels tight around my head.
In the "under $100 category the Grado 60 and Sony MDR-D66 are far better headphones.

It also take s alot of power to drive these headphones. They sure aren't made for ipods or using with your computer unamplified.

Customer Service

Austinbazaar was pretty slow in getting these to me. They told me they were shipped on August 25th, and they didn't arrive until September 5th.

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Grado 60 and Sony MDR-D66

very clear sound

housing

ive owned the best headphones.
from senns to sony.to akg of all i still own the akg headphones.
but of all of then i really like yamaha rh-5mas.my sonys i paid 100$
dont/wouldint live up to these.like like these a lot!

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none

Good accuracy (for the price) Tight bass, no over-exaggeration

shorter cord than the other phones I've owned

A very accurate and crisp headphone for the price. But instead of reiterating what has already been said by others, let me stress that this pair is ultra comfortable and light. Hate to sound cliche, but I often forget that I have them on. The primary difference between the RH5MA and the other (albeit cheaper) phones that I've owned is that they hold onto my head AND softly cup the ears. Generally it has been one or the other for me. The super-flexible headband is probably a factor as well. Sound is important, but comfort equally so and the RH5MA has provided countless hours of listening without ear fatigue.

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Sennheiser HD433 Sennheiser 202 Koss UR20

Sound quality, comfort, oxygen-free cable. No volume control, yes thats a plus, those things only add noise.

Cord could be longer, but then again longer cord=more noise.

Amazing sound comes out of these things. Very clear throughout the spectrum, very clear and very spacious. I replaced Panasonic rp-ht355 ($30) closed headphones with these and I love them.

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Panasonic RP-HT355

incredible frequency response. they highs are clear and smooth, and where they should be. the mids are not artificial-sounding; voice characteristics and instrument resonance cut through beautifully. the lows are exactly where they should be, not overpowering at all. also--which may be one of the most important features--they are really comfortable. i've had numerous 14-16 hour sessions with these phones, and only after that do i start to realize that i have them strapped to my head. very well done, not "for the price"...but for any price.

i only have one set, but that's not any fault to Yamaha :). commendable job.

when it comes to critical listening during tracking, these phones perform exceptionally well. when i bought them back in mid 2000, my main concern was a set that reproduced the flattest, most accurate vocal sound for my studio. the salesman at Mars steered me toward a few from AKG [too flimsy, 'thin-sounding', and very uncomfortable] and Sony [a little too 'artificial' sounding for my tastes]. i accidently picked up the rh-5ma's, thinking they were a set of the Sony's he'd handed me. i thought either i didn't pay close enough attention the first time or i was hearing things, but this time around the "Sony's" sounded much better, so i thought. i looked at the label again, and to my suprise, they were not Sony...they were Yamaha. for about thirty minutes i listened to various sample CD's available in the store, and the detail in the rh's amazed me. i've been using them for about 2-3 years now, not only for tracking vocals, but for tracking EVERYTHING: every soundsource going into my DAW, my samplers, my mixdown deck goes through these beauties; i even use them for every finished master i record to CD for my clients [don't believe that you 'need' monitors to create quality masters...listen to your ears, not the hype]. excellent highs, believable mids, and tight lows. i'm also stengy; i sit my KOSS sets in the mic booth for my artists, and the Yamahas are left where they belong...with their owner ;). i'll sometimes allow the artist to compare their vocals through the two sets, and they always say "oh, ok. that's what i sound like...can i use those instead?" the quality speaks for itself...5-stars for Yamaha with the rh's. take it easy...

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Sony, AKG, Sennheiser, KOSS...ranging from $20-250. only Sennheiser's HD280Pro's come close, in my humble opinion.

incredible frequency response. they highs are clear and smooth, and where they should be. the mids are not artificial-sounding; voice characteristics and instrument resonance cut through beautifully. the lows are exactly where they should be, not overpowering at all. also--which may be one of the most important features--they are really comfortable. i've had numerous 14-16 hour sessions with these phones, and only after that do i start to realize that i have them strapped to my head. very well done, not "for the price"...but for any price.

i only have one set, but that's not any fault to Yamaha :). commendable job.

when it comes to critical listening during tracking, these phones perform exceptionally well. when i bought them back in mid 2000, my main concern was a set that reproduced the flattest, most accurate vocal sound for my studio. the salesman at Mars steered me toward a few from AKG [too flimsy, 'thin-sounding', and very uncomfortable] and Sony [a little too 'artificial' sounding for my tastes]. i accidently picked up the rh-5ma's, thinking they were a set of the Sony's he'd handed me. i thought either i didn't pay close enough attention the first time or i was hearing things, but this time around the "Sony's" sounded much better, so i thought. i looked at the label again, and to my suprise, they were not Sony...they were Yamaha. for about thirty minutes i listened to various sample CD's available in the store, and the detail in the rh's amazed me. i've been using them for about 2-3 years now, not only for tracking vocals, but for tracking EVERYTHING: every soundsource going into my DAW, my samplers, my mixdown deck goes through these beauties; i even use them for every finished master i record to CD for my clients [don't believe that you 'need' monitors to create quality masters...listen to your ears, not the hype]. excellent highs, believable mids, and tight lows. i'm also stengy; i sit my KOSS sets in the mic booth for my artists, and the Yamahas are left where they belong...with their owner ;). i'll sometimes allow the artist to compare their vocals through the two sets, and they always say "oh, ok. that's what i sound like...can i use those instead?" the quality speaks for itself...5-stars for Yamaha with the rh's. take it easy...

Similar Products Used:

Sony, AKG, Sennheiser, KOSS...ranging from $20-250. only Sennheiser's HD280Pro's come close, in my humble opinion.

Natural and cristal sound. Comfortables Great value

None

Sorry, my english is few bad but: This headphones sound wonderfull, i have about ten or twelve headpones in my projet studio of many brands (Senheinser, Sony, AKG, Koss, Pioneer, etc), but my yamaha sound more like cristal, transparent, manage well all spectrum( 20-20000), and are the most comfortable that some pro-headphones.

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AKG 240S Sony Senheiser, etc...

Very good value, quite light-weight and excellent articulation of a wide variety of music styles. Classical music, where fine detail is critical, is handled with great ease.

Construction is not as solid as the older models, and somewhat "plastic" looking (ie. on the cheap side), but for the price the RH-5MA phones are remarkable (at any price even!). Cord looks rather thin, but does not seem to hamper sound levels.

This is the third set of Yamaha headphones I''''ve bought (YH-100 c.1981, YHL-005 c.1982 RH-5MA 2002) and all have proven outstanding. The best ones without a doubt are the now "ancient" YH-100 studio phones ($250 in 1981!), but the recently aquired RH-5MA phones are very impressive, and definately a better value! I am impressed how well they articulate pipe-organ music all the way from delicate flute stops to thundering pedal-work. I have a MCR-E100 system in my study I use them with, and as outstanding as the system is (with a YST-105 sub) the headphones blow it away. (I realize the sub is not "outstanding" as subs go, but it fills in the bass quite well in this application) The RH-5MA phones are very comfortable, and considerably lighter than the YH-100 set! Although they do not create the amazing sound-field of the 100''''s they do capture the minutest of detail and I can wear them for extended periods without my head sagging! I checked out about 20 different headphones before deciding on these (all excellent models from excellent companies) and the Yamaha''''s were by far the best for the money, and compared very favorably with models costing 4 to 10 times as much! I have always been impressed with Yamaha''''s quality and attention to detail---they know sound!---and these new phones are very much in the long tradition of excellence. I particularly like the very natural sounding "sound-stage." Music does not sound forced. Some phones are quite bright and hard on the eardrums; these are not. Neither are the lower frequencies pounding or booming like some I tried. These headphones have been in production a few years now, and Yamaha would have a tough act to follow if they decided to "improve" them, especially for the price!

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Tested variety of higher end models, most costing considerably more, before deciding on these.

Great sound, great value, extremely comfortable.

Slightly thinner cord than I''m used to, although I don''t anticipate it will be a problem.

This is my second set of semi-closed headphones. I own a pair of Sony MDR-V250''s. Even after only a few hours of use, the Yamaha''s are far out-performing the Sony''s. The sound is full, rich, and clear. The lows are deep but not overpowering. The highs are well-defined and not tinny. The mid''s are well-represented. I listen to jazz, classical, house, techno, rock, ambient, and oldies. I use them on my PC, MP3 player, portable CD player, and stereo receiver. All sound great on these headphones. Duke Ellington said, "If it sounds good, it is good." Well, these Yamaha''s sound good right out of the package. Like the reviewer before me, I find these to be quite comfortable. I''ve worn them for 5-6 hours straight without noticing they were on--a far cry from the vise-grip of the Sony''s. They block outside noise well, although I''ve only used them in a relatively quiet environment. The construction is what you would expect for $30 headphones. The cans are padded with pleather and felt. There is a pleather pad on the headband which adds to comfort. Otherwise, the headband is made of plastic and metal. They should hold up as well as the Sony''s have. I did a lot of research and relied heavily on reviews of other users. I found I would pay significantly more for a comparable sound and comfort.

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Sony MDR-V250