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RHA Audio

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Origin North Ltd.[1]
Company typePrivate
IndustryAudio electronics
Founded2011; 13 years ago (2011)
FounderAndrew Reid and Thomas Lewis Heath
HeadquartersGlasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
ProductsAudio electronics
Websiterha-audio.com

Origin North Ltd., formerly RHA Technologies Ltd., is a British independently owned audio company specialising in the design and production of in-ear headphones.

History

[edit]

Origin North Ltd. (formerly RHA Technologies Ltd.) is an independent audio company based in Glasgow. The company was founded in 2011 by Thomas Heath and Andrew Reid. RHA being an acronym for Reid and Heath Acoustics.[citation needed] Before 2011 Reid and Heath operated another audio company called Audio Chi[2] which was liquidated and they went on to start RHA (Reid and Heath Acoustics).[3]

In 2016, designer and co-founder Thomas Heath left the company to found Scottish watchmaker anOrdain.[4]

The company was listed on the Sunday Times Fast Track 100[5] which ranks the UK's fastest-growing privately held companies by sales growth (% per annum) over the past three years and for the 2017/18 season the company became a sponsor for the Glasgow Warriors professional Rugby Union team.[6] In 2017, co-founder Andrew Reid won the EY 2017 Disruptor Entrepreneur Award for Scotland.[7]

Despite the company's relatively new presence in the market, it has become known as one of a small group of specialised British audio manufacturers producing high-quality audio products,[8] by 2015 was sold in 40 countries globally [9] and recently has become one of the key players in the global earbud market, alongside rivals such as Sony, Sennheiser and Bose.[10]

In 2016, RHA launched their first portable DAC headphone amp,[11] with their first wireless headphones, the MA650 and MA750, hitting the market the following year in 2017.[12]

By 2018, the company became the world's first to release in-ear planar magnetic headphones when they launched the product at the annual IFA show.[13] In 2019, the company became the first in Scotland to qualify for a public funding initiative,[14] using the funds to invest in further research & development of its products and in hiring new product designers and software engineers. 2019 was also the year that RHA launched their Wireless Flight Adapter, enabling bluetooth connectivity when using airline In-flight entertainment systems.[15]

In 2021, RHA changed its name to Origin North Ltd [16] and closed its Social Media accounts, and was then acquired by Sonos.[17] The website in the old company name remains live.[18]

Awards and recognition

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RHA has won industry awards for their products. In 2015, the RHA T10i earbuds won a Red Dot award for product design,[19] furthermore in 2019 their CL2 Planar wireless earbuds won a Red Dot award for its 'striking design' and 'technical equipment'.[20]

At the CES show in 2017, the CL1 Ceramic in-ear headphone was named as a Best of Innovation Honouree.[21] Furthermore, there have also been awards for RHA Audio's products at the Digit Zero1 Awards; in 2017 the MA750 wireless headphones won the wireless category award [22] and in 2019 the CL2 Planar won the award for best performing wireless IEM headphone.[23]

Products

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Wireless

  • TrueConnect Wireless earbuds with Bluetooth 5.
  • MA650 Wireless earphones with flexible neckband (discontinued)
  • MA750 Wireless high fidelity earphones with HiFi aptX streaming (discontinued)
  • T20 Wireless high fidelity earphones with DualCoil Technology (discontinued)

Wired

  • MA390 Universal earphones (discontinued)
  • MA650i earphones for Apple devices (discontinued)
  • MA750 high fidelity earphones (discontinued)
  • MA750i high fidelity earphones for Apple devices (discontinued)
  • T20 high fidelity earphones with DualCoil Technology (discontinued)
  • T20i high fidelity earphones with DualCoil Technology for Apple devices (discontinued)

Adaptors

  • Wireless Flight Adapter

Amplifiers

  • Dacamp L1 (discontinued)

References

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  1. ^ "Companies House Origin North Ltd", Companies House, retrieved 2021-03-08
  2. ^ "Hands on ... Reid and Heath Acoustics new range". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  3. ^ "RHA Launches Headphones in Apple Stores across North America", RHA Audio Blog, 2012-10-02
  4. ^ Barber, Tim (2018-11-03). "anOrdain: inside the Glasgow studio giving new life to a rare watchmaking tradition". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  5. ^ TWK. "Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  6. ^ Gates, Phillip (7 November 2017). "Glasgow independent audio firm RHA takes on the 'big boys' with latest hi-tech wireless technology". Insider.co.uk. Insider Publications Ltd. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Aberdeen businesswoman named EY Scotland Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017". Scottish Financial News. Dundee Press Agency Ltd. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  8. ^ Margolis, Jonathan (29 August 2019). "British companies are leading the way in developing superior audio". Financial Times. Financial Times. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  9. ^ McCall, Chris. "Boomtime for Scots audio firms catering for the hi-end". The Scotsman. jpi Media. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Bass Earbuds Market Global Share, Segment Analysis, Growth Drivers and Forecast to 2025". Monroe Scoop. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  11. ^ Langridge, Max (25 August 2016). "RHA to launch two pairs of in-ear headphones and its first headphone amp at IFA 2016". What Hi-Fi?. Future Plc. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  12. ^ Cerejo, Roydon. "RHA MA650 Wireless Review". NDTV Gadgets360. Red Pixels Ventures Limited. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  13. ^ Savov, Vlad (23 August 2018). "RHA announces in-ear planar magnetic earphones with wireless option". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Funding First For Glasgow Wireless Earphones Company RHA Technologies", Herald Scotland, 2019-04-01
  15. ^ Savov, Vlad (11 July 2019). "RHA's Wireless Flight Adapter makes any headphone jack wireless". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Companies House Origin North Ltd", Companies House, retrieved 2021-03-08
  17. ^ "Companies House Origin North Ltd", Companies House, retrieved 2021-10-29
  18. ^ "Earphones & Earbuds | RHA | RHA", RHA Audio Products, retrieved 2021-03-08
  19. ^ "RHA T10I IN-EAR HEADPHONE WINS PRESTIGIOUS RED DOT AWARD FOR PRODUCT DESIGN". HiFi Plus. HiFi+. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  20. ^ "Wireless Earbuds CL2 Planar". reddot.org. Red Dot. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  21. ^ "CL1 Ceramic in-ear headphone named CES 2017 Best of Innovation Honouree". RHA Audio Blog. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  22. ^ "2017 ZERO1 AWARDS WINNER: THE RHA MA750 WIRELESS". Digit. Group Pvt. Ltd. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  23. ^ Datta, Dhriti (9 December 2019). "Digit Zero1 Awards 2019 Winner wireless IEM". Digit. Group Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
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