[IEMsearcher]

Here's my story: the Sennheiser CX300 II precision that I had broke (again) and so I decided that it was time for an upgrade which would have approximately the same sound as my Sennheiser G4me Zero headset (which is based off the HD 380 with slightly reduced lows).

After doing lots of research I proceeded to buy a pair of Shure se215's. They're comfortable, crisp, accurate and vocals are very clear, but they lack sub-bass, the mid-bass which bleeds into the mids a bit makes them slightly muddy and the highs are too much rolled off. All these traits makes them a bit picky about what music they like to play. Apart from my perceived negative sides, they do really excel in clarity and putting vocals up front.

After doing more research, I found the RHA MA750i's which are often referred to as a direct replacement and improvement over the Shure se215's, so I bought them. So far I have used them for 1 day and gave them some burn in overnight, and so far I can say that I like them, but a the same time I also don't like them at all. The sub-bass is amazing, it's not too much, but high quality, clear and crisp which I really like, but at the same time they lack mid-bass and the mids seem rather recessed, making vocals seem distant and lacking punch, male vocals in particular. Apart from that, the highs seem quite harsh and sibilant at times which made me equalise them down quite a bit, while equalising the mids up seems rather difficult without making them sound bad...

I've seen loads of people say that the MA750's need quite a bit of burn-in time (200 hours, some even say 400 hours) and now I'm wondering if the mid-bass and mids will really become significantly better, and if the harsh highs will settle down? If that's really the case, I'll stick with burning them in properly and giving them another chance, but if not I'll have to return them and continue looking for something else...

What I'm looking for, which I hope the MA750's will be able to deliver after proper burn-in, is basically a balance between the Shure se215's and how the MA750's are right now:
The sub bass of the MA750's, the mid-bass and mids of the se215's and for the highs a mix between the se215's and the MA750's: not too rolled off and not too harsh. Am I asking for the impossible? I hope not...

I'm looking forward to what you guys have to say about this. Thanks in advance!
 

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I happen to own the ma750 and I can confirm that overnight burn-in is not nearly enough. I did not believe in burn in when I purchased them, so I used them straight out of the box, and I can say for a fact that they sounded just as you described (nonexistent mid-bass, harsh highs) until I used them daily for 3 weeks. after that the sound had improved dramatically, with the mid-bass being present and clear (a bit recessed still, to me at least, but only by a hair) and the highs having settled down to sound clear, crisp, and detailed. I read somewhere that they need almost a week solid of burn-in, and I can believe it. But after burn in they are exactly what you described, somewhere between where they are now and the se215.

 

[Deftone]

iv had the MA750 for almost a year, the sound didnt change but i still like them.
 
out of all the iems i have heard id say the IE80 is best for you (great sub bass great mids and smooth clear highs) it would be a good idea to buy them used as the price is a little too high for what they offer in sound quality. 

 

 

[IEMsearcher]

  I happen to own the ma750 and I can confirm that overnight burn-in is not nearly enough. I did not believe in burn in when I purchased them, so I used them straight out of the box, and I can say for a fact that they sounded just as you described (nonexistent mid-bass, harsh highs) until I used them daily for 3 weeks. after that the sound had improved dramatically.

I read somewhere that they need almost a week solid of burn-in, and I can believe it.

I guess I found the review that states that they had to burn them in for more than a week and that it changed them for the better dramatically:
http://www.whathifi.com/rha/ma750i/review

Since every single review states that they need a seriously extended burn-in period which changes their characteristics to a whole new level, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a full week of continuous burn in before trying them again like the reviewers from what-hifi did. If someone has better recommendations for burning them in, please let me know!

 

  iv had the MA750 for almost a year, the sound didnt change but i still like them.
out of all the iems i have heard id say the IE80 is best for you (great sub bass great mids and smooth clear highs) it would be a good
idea to buy them used as the price is a little too high for what they offer in sound quality. 

 

Thanks for the advice, but they are indeed well over my budget and there are no used ones available. Besides that, I read that their bass could be a bit too much for me. Let's just hope that the MA750's will burn in nicely and turn out to become the way I would like them to.

 

[IEMsearcher]

Here's a little update of what I've observed so far during the burn-in process.

As of now the MA750's have been burned in with pink noise and playing music for 45 hours and I can say...... Wow, what a difference already!
 
When I first used them, they were so harsh, vocals could barely be heard because they were so recessed and they literally made me feel unwell after listening to them for a while, but now after playing them in a bit they have smoothed out ridiculously well. Like PL4Y3R 0N3 said, the mid-bass and mids have come forward a bit, vocals are coming through better, the sub-bass has smoothed out a little bit and the highs don't sound as "metallic" and harsh anymore.

They sound a lot better already up to the point that I decided that I will keep them, and I hope that they will keep improving over the next 100 - 150 hours of burn-in!

With that said, so far the highs are still a bit on the high side, but when looking at the frequency response charts this seems to be the nature of the beast. Therefore I've EQ'ed the high frequencies that peak out down a bit, making them sound just fine.

https://s14.postimg.org/dpv1gsgz5/FRC.png

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I think that the 16kh peak is what makes or breaks them. After a while the sibilance completely disappeared. They get better with age, that is for sure. Hope you enjoy!

 

[ecwl]

I rarely do dedicated burn in for speakers or headphones. I usually just keep listening to the new gear until they're burned in. With MA750, I made an exception so I played stereophile's burn-in track on a loop and ran the MA750 overnight and that made a big enough difference that I was able to listen to it as with other gear afterwards and let the IEM complete it's burn in over time.

 

[IEMsearcher]

I think that the 16kh peak is what makes or breaks them.

Yup, and if you look at the frequency response chart you'll see that there's also a peak between the 3kHz and the 6kHz. Slightly EQing this range down also helps.

 

After a while the sibilance completely disappeared. They get better with age, that is for sure.

I rarely do dedicated burn in for speakers or headphones. I usually just keep listening to the new gear until they're burned in. With MA750, I made an exception so I played stereophile's burn-in track on a loop and ran the MA750 overnight and that made a big enough difference that I was able to listen to it as with other gear afterwards and let the IEM complete it's burn in over time.

I really don't understand how the judge can still be out about burn-in and it's still being called a "myth". I first noticed that burn-in actually makes quite a difference with my Sennheiser G4me Zero headset. At first it lacked depth and bass but over time they developed quite nicely, making them perform great now.

Especially now with the MA750's it has become absolute fact to me that burn-in really does make a world of a difference because we're not talking about slight changes in sound signature, but rather night and day difference between them being almost unbearable to listen to and making them great performing IEM's. On top of that almost everyone seems to observe the same changes with this IEM in particular.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I really don't understand how the judge can still be out about burn-in and it's still being called a "myth".

I can understand it. Some headphones just don't benefit from burn in at all. I happen to own a pair of beats studio wireless (don't laugh) and the sound hasn't really changed at all with probably close to 500 hours on them, most likely more. To me, burn-in absolutely occurs, but I think that it's effects vary greatly between headphones. The ma750 is the first headphone I've seen where burn in makes such an astounding night and day difference. I guess burn in just depends on the headphones.

 

[Deftone]

I think that the 16kh peak is what makes or breaks them. After a while the sibilance completely disappeared. They get better with age, that is for sure. Hope you enjoy!

 
iv had mine for almost a year, over 600 hours on them and nothing changed so just recently i put foam in the nozzles and now the harshness has gone.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

iv had mine for almost a year, over 600 hours on them and nothing changed so just recently i put foam in the nozzles and now the harshness has gone.

I guess YMMV. I can't speak for everyone who owns them, that's just my experience. I'm not sure why yours would still sound harsh after 600 hours, but it's great that the foam nozzles worked for you. I could never get them to fit right.

 

[Deftone]

I guess YMMV. I can't speak for everyone who owns them, that's just my experience. I'm not sure why yours would still sound harsh after 600 hours, but it's great that the foam nozzles worked for you. I could never get them to fit right.

 
in regards to the nozzles i dont mean foam tips like comply i meant i physically removed the mesh guard on the nozzle and put a small peace of foam in there.
 
"I'm not sure why yours would still sound harsh after 600 hours" i contacted RHA and they told me that they intentionally tuned the sound to be bright and lively.
 
maybe there was a very subtle burn in but it wasnt noticeable to me. as you say YMMV

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

in regards to the nozzles i dont mean foam tips like comply i meant i physically removed the mesh guard on the nozzle and put a small peace of foam in there.

"I'm not sure why yours would still sound harsh after 600 hours" i contacted RHA and they told me that they intentionally tuned the sound to be bright and lively.

maybe there was a very subtle burn in but it wasnt noticeable to me. as you say YMMV

Ah, that never even occurred to me, replacing the mesh with foam.
Yes, the ma750 is bright at times, but I like that personally. I guess that's why there are so many sound signatures.

 

[IEMsearcher]

I wanted to hold off before updating again for a few days, but since the conversation has picked up regarding the highs I would like to share something with you guys.

But before going into that, I'm happy to report that after 80 hours of burn-in and usage, the mids have come forward even more. I notice this because vocals have become more forward and Besides that, the highs appear to have improved slightly too by becoming slightly less prominent.
 
So... Now to the interesting bit. Today I decided to try the Comply tips again (they actually ship with original Comply tips nowadays) to see how they perform and honestly, I'm amazed. Before when the ma750i came fresh out of the box and tried the comply tips, they managed to reduce some of the highs but the sound was still horrible overall.

Now? Well, it's a whole different story. Not only do the Comply tips reduce the highs, they even made me completely turn off EQ all together because they reduced the highs too much. Without any EQ they now sound great and I'm very satisfied with them.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

  I wanted to hold off before updating again for a few days, but since the conversation has picked up regarding the highs I would like to share something with you guys.

But before going into that, I'm happy to report that after 80 hours of burn-in and usage, the mids have come forward even more. I notice this because vocals have become more more forward and Besides that, the highs appear to have improved slightly too by becoming slightly less prominent.
 
So... Now to the interesting bit. Today I decided to try the Comply tips again (they actually ship with original Comply tips nowadays) to see how they perform and honestly, I'm amazed. Before when the ma750i came fresh out of the box and tried the comply tips, they managed to reduce some of the highs but the sound was still horrible overall.

Now? Well, it's a whole different story. Not only do the Comply tips reduce the highs, they even made me completely turn off EQ all together because they reduced the highs too much. Without any EQ they now sound great and I'm very satisfied with them.



 

 
Good to hear! The pair I got came with really hard foam tips that were ever so slightly too big for my ears, so I ended up using the medium bi-flange tips, but they were a pain to get in (though they would get an outstanding seal once they were in correctly) so I switched to the medium single flange tips and have been using them for a while. The highs can be a bit much at times, but most of the time they are really good.