Recording - August 2015 - 39

Getting in Tune
The Tuning Filters are well worth some experimentation. They don't
cause a radical change in tone, but they do allow the user to tweak
the sonic response of the T10i to taste. They don't require tools; you
just take off the eartips, unscrew the Tuning Filters from the T10i, and
screw in a new set. The entire operation takes just a minute or so.
Considering that these in-ears are not and were never intended to be reference-monitor flat, the "Reference" Filters are merely the ones without any accentuation of lows or highs. I did most
of my listening with them, and found sound reproduction to be
clear, detailed, and very honest in the critical midrange. There's
no doubt that there's a significant rolloff in the highs, but it prevents the in-ears from becoming piercingly uncomfortable. I
have no doubt that the sound of the T10i could be "learned."
Switching to the Treble Filters raises the entire high end by a
couple of dB, from about 2 kHz on up. It's more of a gentle tilt
to the whole frequency spectrum, and it doesn't add any peaks
or resonances. Instruments with a lot of information in those
highs stand forward in the mix a bit more; woodwinds, high
brasses, trebly electric guitar, hi-hats, and cymbals come to
mind. Female vocals gain a touch of presence and sparkle, too.
The Bass Filters do not, as you might expect, give you an enormous amount of extra boom in the low end. Instead, there's a very
subtle uptilt in response from 200 Hz down, almost like a tiny touch
of audio from a subwoofer. Again, we're talking a couple of dB at
best, just enough to give the audio response a bit of extra heft.
Everyone will have different preferences with respect to these
Filters. Most won't even bother swapping them around and will
stick with the Reference Filters that come installed. That would be a
pity, as I found, after a lot of admittedly subjective listening to reference tracks, that the Treble Filters best suited my ears. They produced a more even frequency response at the high end and made
critical high/high mid information stand out with clarity, without

sacrificing any lows to speak of. The process took several days, but
I've been happy with my choice since then.
Over all, these are not your usual boom/sizzle earbuds. The
frequency response is respectful of both your ears and your
music; you won't get the visceral thud you may want when listening to dance music, but solo piano and acoustic guitar will
make you nod and smile.
Final thoughts
I had to shed some preconceptions before I could properly review
the T10i. To my initial way of thinking, by sacrificing the Aerophonic
chamber design, RHA has also sacrificed what makes the sound of
the MA in-ears unique. That's especially true of its very affordable
entry-level models like the MA350, a pair of which I still carry with me
everywhere and wouldn't want to do without.
Once I got past the "where's the Aerophonic?" stage and just listened to the T10i as in-ears, I was able to form more balanced conclusions. The T10i now competes against professional in-ear monitors from professional companies, and even without Aerophonic
design, it comes through sounding better than some and competitive
with others in its price range. It's no slouch when it comes to sound
isolation and listenable, believable sound, and the ability to subtly
adjust its frequency response will come as a boon to many users.
There's a distinct role to be filled by in-ear monitors in the toolbox
of the recording musician, as a portable listening platform that you're
never without (to say nothing of onstage use where appropriate).
With that in mind, the T10 and T10i bring the RHA flair to a design
style that's been the province of pro makers for a while now, and
deliver something new and worthwhile. Check them out.
Prices: T10, $189.95; T10i, $199.95
More from: Reid Heath Acoustics, www.rha-audio.com/us/

http://www.rha-audio.com/us/ http://www.ADKMIC.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2015