Roland RH-300 Stereo Headphones

cadences

New Head-Fier
Gets just about everything right
Pros: Non-fatiguing, musical sound
Wide soundstage for closed back
Comfortable fit
Easy to drive
Generally good separation and imaging
Cons: Separation can struggle on classical tracks
Unforgiving to poor recordings
Not that great at movies and calls (due to the large soundscape)
These were purchased for SGD 150 (on sale). I believe the retail price is around USD 200. I have no incentive to say anything good about these besides soothing my conscience for spending the money that I did.

Background

The background to the purchase was that I have been going around on a quest to find a good closed back headphone that would satisfy the following requirements: non-fatiguing while sounding good, be easy to drive (from my Mac/phone), be portable, not cost an exorbitant amount of money. The trouble with the closed back headphones that I had tried was that they always seemed to fail on one of those counts:

- ATH-M50X (some claim the RH-300 was cloned from this) - treble was unbearable, and the sound would often be a little bit unnatural/tinny
- Sundara closed back - although it had a nice and tall soundstage, sound was strangely muddy and bass overwhelmed the other parts of the mix
- DT 770 Pro - unpleasant treble, heavy
- Shure SRH840A - thin notes
- Meze 99 Classics - struggled with electric instruments, particularly electric guitar (sounded very unnatural)
- Mackie-350 - tinny, metallic timble to vocals

The closest that I came to something that fit the criteria was the ATH MSR7B, but there was something about the sound that still felt a little thin and unsatisfying to me.

While I was trying out these headphones, the RH-300 finally arrived in the mail. I had pulled the trigger after reading online that these had a "neutral" sound, and that the highs were non-fatiguing, which was really important to me. However, I had not expected it to be my "end game" headphones. However, after a few weeks of use, I think I'm fairly happy with these and won't feel the need to go out to search for an upgrade.

Pros and Cons

Some thoughts on the sound:

- There is a very natural timbre to it. I've never felt a sense of confusion or discomfort at the way songs have been rendered. In particular, the vocals can sound really lovely when they are the star of the show. I don't feel the need to mention a playlist of songs because other than the two weaknesses that I've mentioned below, songs of most genres sound lovely and musical through these cans.
- Everything is in its place. I never find myself starting to focus on a particular band despite (before listening) having the impression that the vocals would be pushed a bit too far forward.
- Fairly versatile - it can handle acoustic, rock, choir, electronic with no issues.
- Treble is never harsh (can be a con for some, but it is very pleasing for long listening sessions)
- I also want to give a shout out to the drums and electric guitar on these cans, which just sound so sweet and exactly how they should. In particular, I just put on When Finally Set Free by Copeland and the drums are rendered so cleanly and clearly.

- The only two weaknesses: hip hop and classical.
-- For hip hop, the RH-300 starts to struggle with the bass - while quality is good, quantity can be limited where the song is meant to ride on the bass (How to Love by Lil Wayne, Is It You by Cassie). I wouldn't recommend this to people who listen to lots of bass-heavy songs. Otherwise, it will be a perfectly capable headphone. In particular, I had often found on other IEMs/headphones that the bass on Is It You would be too strong and start to overpower the rest of the synths, while the RH-300 balances it quite well. Depends on what you're looking for.
-- For classical music, the RH-300 doesn't perform badly or sound poor, but there is a noticeable lack of separation that is present on higher-end open backs. You will not be able to place each instrument in the orchestra, but the sound will be coherent and more of a "wall of sound" when the instruments come together.

Conclusion

Despite their age, the Roland RH-300 hold up really well, and I do think that what they offer is more than worth the price, particular with how durable they seem. Recommended with little reservation.
Last edited:

Mink

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: A natural and even tonality, an upfront and engaging character, very dynamic and comfortable
Cons: A bit bass light and a serious big treble roll-off
Audio Purists steer clear of them, because they need to be EQ-ed to get the best out of them, because one thing you will immediately notice is the sheer lack of treble. This is great with harsh recordings but even than it just sounds unnatural to me, give me sibilance over a huge treble roll-off anytime.
The lack of highs is a real shame because overall the tonality is spot-on, instruments, vocals all sound very natural and real, they have enough warmth and body to be called musical.
Luckily EQ-ing is very easy, iTunes preset "more highs" simply does the trick and with it the sound opens up and is just excellent.
 
Their soundstage is not very big, but it is cohessive and intimate. There's just enough sense of the space and the (room/hall) acoustics in recordings, not exactly 3D, but definitely not flat, like the Audio Technica M40Fs I had, their sound was very upfront and wide but extremely flat (in the sense of space and room acoustics)
I like Rolands forward presentation without sacrificing spacial information, it is very engaging with rock, but with some classical music, say Baroque music as-well.
 
I never heard the Audio Technica M50's which supposedly are very similar, but I certainly prefer the Rolands over the Shure SRH-840s, which sound distant and compressed in my opinion, maybe because they are very mid-centric.
In comparison with my D5000s they are no match, the Denons are better at everyting (well except isolating external noise) but their easy nature is very likeable and I could easily live with them if my Denons would break or would be stolen or something else out of the ordinary.
 
They sit very comfortable on my head, the clamping force is just right for these kind of phones. They don't need to be placed in a certain angle on my head or anyting to get a better (or different) sound.
 
Last word about their looks: aren't they lookers?!
 
EDIT:
Just to add something that's worth noting. These headphones are extremely sensitive, this means they actually need a proper amp, because otherwise you may hear static noise or some hum. And be careful with the volume level, they need very little current to sound loud, and because of their easy going nature you are bound to play way louder than is necessary.
 
EDIT:
Added half a star.
They are getting better and better or maybe I am beginning to like them better and better.
I never heard Trail of Deads' Lost Words and Source Tags & Codes this big and exciting sounding!
They get way more air time than my Denons right now.
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