[keanex]

 
Pros: Excellent build quality; great warranty; huge choice of tips; fit.
Cons: Recessed mids; sibilance; overly bassy for a general purpose IEM.
Tonal Balance: Bass heavy with recessed midrange, treble amount varies.
Style: Over-Ear IEM
Listening Set-Up: Clip Zlip (FLAC), Musicbee (FLAC) -> Matrix HPA-3U
Cost at Time of Review: $240
 

Reviewing Process

I’ve had the T20 for at least a month and during this process I’ve used them for light exercise as well as home listening. I have spent enough time with them to feel comfortable sharing my opinion, but my experiences may differ from yours. It’s always best to demo a headphone before purchasing, but if you’re unable to I recommend at least reading other views in conjunction with this review.
 
Thanks to RHA for the review sample.
 

Build & Fit

Build
The RHA are wonderfully crafted in-ear monitors from top to bottom, coloring me impressed from the moment that they left the beautiful packaging. The housings are made of stainless steel with a barely visible line that joins the two halves. The nozzle is removable and unscrews easily by hand and is reattached smoothly in the same fashion. Each cable leaving the housing is clearly designated either blue or red for left or right, respectively, at the base of the memory wire. The cable itself is a tad bulky, but inspires confidence in the durability of it. Stress relief is adequate at the end of the durable looking straight plug, relieved by a metal spring rather than a rubber sheath. All of this is backed by a 3 year warranty, not too shabby.
 
Fit
I find the T20 to be very easy to arrange around the ear as well as with inserting the nozzle into a secure position. The IEM sits at a moderate depth, but manages to block out a good amount of noise passively, more than enough to use in crowded college hallways. Comfort-wise these are a notch above every deep insertion IEM that I’ve used, as well as much less picky about positioning to obtain optimal sound. I have these inserted and positioned in my ears in a few seconds per ear, with comfort and stability that allows me to wear these with no issues for the 2 hours at a time that I tend to wear them. The large variety of tips should ensure a secure and comfortable fit for most users.
 

Sound Quality

Overall
Regardless of which filter was used sibilance is apparent, the midrange is recessed, and the bass is overly prominent. Sibilance varies with filter tips and despite the bass being prominent the low-end leans tight and controlled. The filters only affect the upper-midrange and treble, thus leaving the bass to have a heavy presence without EQ. The driver is relatively free of distortion and the bass carries quite a thump with an overall sound signature being decidedly V-shaped with the exception of the bass filter. Overall soundstage presentation lacks width and depth, but has good left/right panning and positional accuracy.
 
Reference Filters
I was excited to see the word “reference” as I have been looking for a neutral IEM to accompany my HD600. Unfortunately reference filters don’t equate to a reference sound. Outside of the common characteristics of the overall sound, the reference tips offer the largest amount of sibilance and a moderate upper-midrange boost that gives the reference filters a moderate v-shaped sound signature. The sibilance was so much that I found Glory Box from Portishead and I Can’t Feel My Face from The Weeknd to be completely unlistenable.
 
I don’t think that RHA intended reference to mean “reference quality sound,” rather reference in regards to the variety of filters.
 
Treble Filter
I had reservations after listening to the reference filters. I was scared that these would be even more sibilant. Somehow that’s not the case, despite the treble being raised. This filter adds further presence in the upper ranges, further increasing the v-shape to a rather heavy v-shape. Sibilance is still present though and there’s a bit of grain added compared to the reference tips. Nothing else has changed, only the uppermids/treble are affected with the filter change so it’s not a shock.
 
Bass Filter
The bass filter offers the most linear midrange to treble balance of all of the tips while providing a large amount of bass. There is a slight veil due to the prominence of the low-end, but the driver controlls the low-end rather well. Sibilance is reserved, there seems to be some brightness inherent in the drive but I don’t find myself wincing on snare hits as I did with the reference tips. I find this filter to be the most enjoyable of the three, especially with hip-hop, due to the relaxed upper frequencies and powerful bass. Despite me enjoying this filter the most, it’s nowhere near an all purpose tuning. This tuning reminds me a bit of the HyperX Cloud and DT770 Pro 80ohm.

Conclusion

Overall the T20 is a v-shaped IEM that DT770 owners would want to consider for portable use. They offer 3 filters that change the presence of the higher frequencies for those that want a tweak to the sound without using software EQ. Build quality, a massive amount of tips, and comfort are the strong points here, all backed by a 3 year warranty.