This is a review and detailed measurements of the Yamaha RH5Ma supra aural (on-ear) headphones. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $158 from Amazon including free shipping.
I have the black version and is a reasonable looking headphone for the class:
It comes with a rather long and flexible cord as you kind of see in the picture.
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
Being an on ear headphone, mounting this on the fixture's artificial ear is a challenge. Exactly where do you position this on the ear? I made a guess, performed a set of measurements. Then I listened. It sounded nothing like the measurements! During listening tests I realized that there is a sweet spot for tonality and bass as you shift the headphones forward and back on your ear. So I went back to the fixtured and optimized it the same way. This time objective and subjective correlation was much better but still, be on guard that what you see is approximate. And that you may wear them differently than I did for both measurements/listening tests.
Yamaha RH-5Ma ohm Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:
Step back and take off your glasses if you are wearing them and you see that the overall compliance to our preference curve is actually pretty good. Between 60 Hz and 4 kHz, we are very close considering the accuracy of measurements. Past that all the peaks exceed our curve so likely the sound is accentuated in the highs. Bass is good and only sub-bass may need a boost:
We have somewhat problematic distortion in the middle of the important audible band:
Fortunately we need to pull down the response some in that region so maybe we can improve on this.
Group delay is not very revealing other than pointing out the kink in response around 410 Hz is real:
Impedance is flat and low:
Sensitivity is high though so you should be able to use just about anything to drive these headphones:
Yamaha RH-5Ma Listening Tests and Equalization
As I noted in the preface, my first impression of this headphone was, "hey, these sound correct!" Yes, there was a hint of brightness but otherwise, I didn't even feel like applying equalization to them. Still, I thought I fix a few things in the response and this is what I got:
The sound now is delightful! I don't know how it manages it but there are also spatial qualities. There is plenty of bass response and dynamic range is excellent. I am able to almost vibrate my ear lobes at max volume for the second or two I pushed it there!
Conclusions
Here I go again, misjudging a headphone by just looking at it. I read that it was a "studio headphone" and chuckled thinking I will find a ton of response problem. Not so. Compliance is very good despite our challenges in measuring this class of headphones. If you can tolerate a bit of brightness, it works fine out of the box. With equalization, the sound goes to the next level, definitely satisfying your audiophile desires.
I am going to recommend the Yamaha RH-5Ma. It is much better than it looks especially with equalization.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I have the black version and is a reasonable looking headphone for the class:
It comes with a rather long and flexible cord as you kind of see in the picture.
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
Being an on ear headphone, mounting this on the fixture's artificial ear is a challenge. Exactly where do you position this on the ear? I made a guess, performed a set of measurements. Then I listened. It sounded nothing like the measurements! During listening tests I realized that there is a sweet spot for tonality and bass as you shift the headphones forward and back on your ear. So I went back to the fixtured and optimized it the same way. This time objective and subjective correlation was much better but still, be on guard that what you see is approximate. And that you may wear them differently than I did for both measurements/listening tests.
Yamaha RH-5Ma ohm Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:
Step back and take off your glasses if you are wearing them and you see that the overall compliance to our preference curve is actually pretty good. Between 60 Hz and 4 kHz, we are very close considering the accuracy of measurements. Past that all the peaks exceed our curve so likely the sound is accentuated in the highs. Bass is good and only sub-bass may need a boost:
We have somewhat problematic distortion in the middle of the important audible band:
Fortunately we need to pull down the response some in that region so maybe we can improve on this.
Group delay is not very revealing other than pointing out the kink in response around 410 Hz is real:
Impedance is flat and low:
Sensitivity is high though so you should be able to use just about anything to drive these headphones:
Yamaha RH-5Ma Listening Tests and Equalization
As I noted in the preface, my first impression of this headphone was, "hey, these sound correct!" Yes, there was a hint of brightness but otherwise, I didn't even feel like applying equalization to them. Still, I thought I fix a few things in the response and this is what I got:
The sound now is delightful! I don't know how it manages it but there are also spatial qualities. There is plenty of bass response and dynamic range is excellent. I am able to almost vibrate my ear lobes at max volume for the second or two I pushed it there!
Conclusions
Here I go again, misjudging a headphone by just looking at it. I read that it was a "studio headphone" and chuckled thinking I will find a ton of response problem. Not so. Compliance is very good despite our challenges in measuring this class of headphones. If you can tolerate a bit of brightness, it works fine out of the box. With equalization, the sound goes to the next level, definitely satisfying your audiophile desires.
I am going to recommend the Yamaha RH-5Ma. It is much better than it looks especially with equalization.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
