comfortPlox
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2015
- Posts
- 222
- Likes
- 17
I picked up the RHA t10i yesterday.
Here are some impressions. Firstly, I'm not an audiophile so take this review with a grain of salt. Although, I previously owned Sennheiser Momentum Over Ear and Shure se215 so I still know what quality sound is like. I also owned Beats before then so I also know what bad quality sounds like.
Let's start with fit, comfort, and build quality.
The build quality is stainless steel as you can tell from the photos. They seem extremely durable. No detachable cables, but it doesn't seem like an issue. I haven't used the microphone so I can't give any impressions on that. The cables are long and thick, but well balanced. By that I mean, the Shure se215 had long heavy cables, but the in ear housing was plastic so it would pull on the back of my ear and cause a little discomfort. This doesn't happen with the t10i as the stainless steel housing is heavier.
The fit and comfort is amazing to me. Surprisingly more comfortable than Shure IEMS. This is where I loved the t10i. Comfort matters so much to me (as you can tell by my name). They sit nicely in the ear, and the spring cable (covered with plastic) that goes over ear the ear is way more comfortable than how it looks in photos. I think most people will be happy with the comfort and fit. The IEMS are a little heavy though so that may be an issue for some, but it was fine for me!
Moving on to the sound quality.
This is where the RHA t10i falls in to the love it or hate it category. I started with the reference filter as it was already on the earphones straight out the box. At first, I noticed it has some nice Bass. Not bass like Beats earphones which is bloated and uncontrolled, it has tight and clear bass. Very enjoyable if you are a bass head. i enjoyed the Bass quality more than the Sennheiser Momentum Over Ear. The flaw with Rha t10i is probably Bass quantity. In my opinion it has too much bass. It's hard to explain, but it makes vocals sound a bit cloudy. I think I read someone saying it was like clarity through a veil. That probably describes it well. I didn't enjoy vocals as much. It sounds too artificial instead of natural, almost deeper. Imagine everyone's voice being slightly deeper. I thought both my Momentums and se215 both did a much better job here. The treble can sometimes be overshadowed by the strong bass, but it's there. You can hear a little more with the treble filter. I enjoy the treble on t10i. It's nice, but again overshadowed even with the treble filter...
On to filters.
I could tell a slight difference in sound with the filters, but not very much. Every filter will give basically the same signature.
Reference - Nice bass, a lot of bass, deep vocals (It's hard to describe how the vocals sound, but that's the best way to put it).
Treble - Less of everything with the Reference filter. It's still has a nice bass, it's still very bassy, the vocals don't sound as deep but still deeper than usual.
Bass - I didn't enjoy these at all. It has more of everything described in the Reference filter. Bass is louder, a little bit more bass, the vocals sound even more cloudy.
I wish the reference filters were truely reference, and I wish the filters made more more of a difference. I actually consider myself a bass head, but I enjoyed the treble filter here the most.
Conclusion
Like I said the t10i are a like it or hate it IEM. I'm somewhere in between. I would be closer to the like it side if the price was lower. Here's what it comes down to. If you like Bass, don't care much for vocals, want a premium feeling headphone that is very comfortable, then definitely get this IEM. You will like it every much. Another way I could recommend it is if you can find a good deal on it. For me, I wouldn't pay more than $130. If I can find it for that much brand new in the future, I will pick it up, otherwise I'm going to get a different pair of IEMS. The $200 price point doesn't justify it for me. So if you fall in to this category "If you like Bass, don't care much for vocals, want a premium feeling headphone that is very comfortable, then definitely get this IEM." go for it. If you are on the fence, then just try to get a good deal. Even $150 might not be too bad.
I hope this was helpful. As always, please remember sound is subjective, so the best bet is to try before you buy. Apple and Amazon have a good return policy. I most probably won't hang on to mine, but I will pick it up if I can get it for $130. No one needs to pay full price though. If you look around, you can probably get it brand new for $180 (this is still too much for me). I got it from Apple for a convenient return, and it may have paid off.
EDIT: I thought it may be useful to list what type of music I like. I listen to EDM, Indie, some rap, and some pop. One thing I wanted to note is that I would probably pay $135 for these after giving it some more thought. It's not much of a difference over the $130 price, but I want to keep my impressions as honest as possible.
Here are some impressions. Firstly, I'm not an audiophile so take this review with a grain of salt. Although, I previously owned Sennheiser Momentum Over Ear and Shure se215 so I still know what quality sound is like. I also owned Beats before then so I also know what bad quality sounds like.
Let's start with fit, comfort, and build quality.
The build quality is stainless steel as you can tell from the photos. They seem extremely durable. No detachable cables, but it doesn't seem like an issue. I haven't used the microphone so I can't give any impressions on that. The cables are long and thick, but well balanced. By that I mean, the Shure se215 had long heavy cables, but the in ear housing was plastic so it would pull on the back of my ear and cause a little discomfort. This doesn't happen with the t10i as the stainless steel housing is heavier.
The fit and comfort is amazing to me. Surprisingly more comfortable than Shure IEMS. This is where I loved the t10i. Comfort matters so much to me (as you can tell by my name). They sit nicely in the ear, and the spring cable (covered with plastic) that goes over ear the ear is way more comfortable than how it looks in photos. I think most people will be happy with the comfort and fit. The IEMS are a little heavy though so that may be an issue for some, but it was fine for me!
Moving on to the sound quality.
This is where the RHA t10i falls in to the love it or hate it category. I started with the reference filter as it was already on the earphones straight out the box. At first, I noticed it has some nice Bass. Not bass like Beats earphones which is bloated and uncontrolled, it has tight and clear bass. Very enjoyable if you are a bass head. i enjoyed the Bass quality more than the Sennheiser Momentum Over Ear. The flaw with Rha t10i is probably Bass quantity. In my opinion it has too much bass. It's hard to explain, but it makes vocals sound a bit cloudy. I think I read someone saying it was like clarity through a veil. That probably describes it well. I didn't enjoy vocals as much. It sounds too artificial instead of natural, almost deeper. Imagine everyone's voice being slightly deeper. I thought both my Momentums and se215 both did a much better job here. The treble can sometimes be overshadowed by the strong bass, but it's there. You can hear a little more with the treble filter. I enjoy the treble on t10i. It's nice, but again overshadowed even with the treble filter...
On to filters.
I could tell a slight difference in sound with the filters, but not very much. Every filter will give basically the same signature.
Reference - Nice bass, a lot of bass, deep vocals (It's hard to describe how the vocals sound, but that's the best way to put it).
Treble - Less of everything with the Reference filter. It's still has a nice bass, it's still very bassy, the vocals don't sound as deep but still deeper than usual.
Bass - I didn't enjoy these at all. It has more of everything described in the Reference filter. Bass is louder, a little bit more bass, the vocals sound even more cloudy.
I wish the reference filters were truely reference, and I wish the filters made more more of a difference. I actually consider myself a bass head, but I enjoyed the treble filter here the most.
Conclusion
Like I said the t10i are a like it or hate it IEM. I'm somewhere in between. I would be closer to the like it side if the price was lower. Here's what it comes down to. If you like Bass, don't care much for vocals, want a premium feeling headphone that is very comfortable, then definitely get this IEM. You will like it every much. Another way I could recommend it is if you can find a good deal on it. For me, I wouldn't pay more than $130. If I can find it for that much brand new in the future, I will pick it up, otherwise I'm going to get a different pair of IEMS. The $200 price point doesn't justify it for me. So if you fall in to this category "If you like Bass, don't care much for vocals, want a premium feeling headphone that is very comfortable, then definitely get this IEM." go for it. If you are on the fence, then just try to get a good deal. Even $150 might not be too bad.
I hope this was helpful. As always, please remember sound is subjective, so the best bet is to try before you buy. Apple and Amazon have a good return policy. I most probably won't hang on to mine, but I will pick it up if I can get it for $130. No one needs to pay full price though. If you look around, you can probably get it brand new for $180 (this is still too much for me). I got it from Apple for a convenient return, and it may have paid off.
EDIT: I thought it may be useful to list what type of music I like. I listen to EDM, Indie, some rap, and some pop. One thing I wanted to note is that I would probably pay $135 for these after giving it some more thought. It's not much of a difference over the $130 price, but I want to keep my impressions as honest as possible.
