Earbuds are popular because compared to traditional on-ear or over-ear headphones, they’re unobtrusive, easy to carry and don’t restrict movement. Those advantages are boosted when you move to Bluetooth earbuds, which remove wires from the equation altogether. However, earbuds come with downsides. Audio performance usually isn’t as good — especially bass. Bluetooth introduces its own challenges including audio compression and limited battery life.
RHA has a very interesting set of earbuds that sacrifice the convenience of Bluetooth, but have a nice payoff in terms of audio quality and comfort. In addition, the RHA T20i in-ear monitors have a unique approach to fine-tuning the sound (including boosting the low end if desired) by using removable hardware tuning filters instead of relying on software equalization.
Beautiful Design, Plenty of Extras
The RHA T20i earbuds arrive nicely packaged, in a box that’s chock full of accessories. There should be no worries about finding the perfect fit, with 10 different ear tip sets to choose from. This includes multiple styles of silicone tips, plus several memory foam tips. There is a clip for the cable, three sets of tuning filters (more on those laster) and a zippered pouch to carry everything in.
The design and finish of the T20i earbuds radiates quality. The housings are sleek, with a softly polished black finish on injection molded stainless steel and the RHA logo in white. The company uses a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process that it says creates a scratchproof coating. The cable splitter and 3.5mm connector are both housed in heavy duty metal sleeves and the headphone jack is also equipped with a spring to take some of the strain off the cable when pulling it out.
The net result of all this is a set of earbuds that look great, fit comfortably and appear to be very sturdily built. RHA backs these earbuds up with a 3-year warranty.
High Quality Audio
RHA uses its proprietary DualCoil drivers in the T20i earbuds. The company says the design features two independent voice coils for refined, high-resolution sound reproduction.
The results make for a very enjoyable listening experience. I found the audio was balanced and extremely detailed. The lows, mid-range and high end are all there, but without any emphasis — studio style playback. In an earbud form factor, that means the bass isn’t as pronounced as it would be with headphones, but there is still plenty of energy to music. Even when listening to Apple Music tracks through an iPhone (so not a Hi-Res audio source) the T20i earbuds are a reminder of what you are missing in terms of refined and crystal clear audio quality when you use Bluetooth earbuds.
And if you do want to hear a little more of the low end come through, RHA has a unique customization option in tuning filters.
RHA T20i In-Ear Monitors Key Specs
- DualCoil dynamic drivers with 16Hz – 40,000Hz frequency response
- Bass, treble and reference tuning filters
- 3-button inline remote with microphone and Siri/Google Assistant compatibility
- Injection moulded stainless steel housings with black PVD finish
- Moldable ear hooks
- 4-foot reinforced OFC cable with gold-plated 3.5mm connector
- Includes carry case, cord clip and 10 sets of premium silicone and memory foam ear tips
- 3-year manufacturer’s warranty
- MSRP $199.95
Tuning Filters
RHA includes three sets of tuning filters in the box: bass, reference and treble. These are tiny, screw-on caps that sit under the ear tips (you need to remove the ear tips to change them). The reference versions are pre-installed, but if you prefer your music to have a little more low end or high end, replacing the reference tuning filter with the bass or treble version makes a noticeable difference.
The hardware tuning filters seem to cut down on other frequencies slightly to make the chosen range stand out a bit more in the mix. So with the bass filter, the highs didn’t seem quite as sparkling but the upper end of the bass was more noticeable. It didn’t make for “booming” low end, and it didn’t dull the overall sound, but gave the bass a little more authority.
With software equalization and tuning, a frequency range is usually boosted in the mix. That’s why the bass in a pair of Beats headphone tends to be pronounced, even in songs where it may be much less prominent as recorded.
Which approach you prefer is a matter of personal taste, but with the RHA T20i in-ear monitors and their tuning filters, you get studio quality audio that can be slightly tweaked instead of tuning that’s permanently slanted toward boosted bass and high energy.
Recommendation
If you love listening to music while on the go — not just as a distraction or background noise but because you enjoy the experience — and you’re not stuck on the wireless convenience of Bluetooth earbuds, you owe it to yourself to try out RHA’s T20i in-ear monitors. The over ear hooks and wealth of ear tips RHA supplies mean a perfect and comfortable fit. The DualCoil driver design delivers high quality, high-resolution audio performance, while the unique tuning filters offer hardware-based sound customization. And it doesn’t hurt that the black finished stainless steel buds also look great as well.
Disclosure: RHA provided earbuds for evaluation but had no input into this review.
