RHA is known for its affordable earphones, but with the T10i, the company enters new pricing territory. At $199.95, this pair is more expensive than some of the leading in-canal options, like the $180 Editors' Choice Bowers & Wilkins C5 Series 2 ( at Amazon) . Luckily, the T10i is well made and ships with a plethora of accessories that help take the sting out of the price. The argument for whether you should consider the T10i boils down to one question: Do you enjoy huge, powerful exaggerated, bass?

Design

The T10i is one of the more thoughtfully designed, sophisticated pairs of earphones we've tested. The cable runs through a flexible, springy, semi-moldable metallic material above and around the ears, helping to secure the fit. The wide array of eartips also keeps things secure, with a total of 10 pairs in various sizes included in the box.

The metallic, moldable material gives way to a thick, rubberized audio cable with an inline remote control and microphone compartment that sits just below chin level. The two ears' cables merge into one, at a handsome metallic joint, and the similar-looking 3.5mm metallic connection point features more flexible, metallic material. 

The remote is of the three-button variety, with volume controls that work together with your phone's controls and a multi-function central button that controls playback, track navigation, and answering/ending calls.

While the fit of the T10i is certainly secure, the metallic elements and remote make the cable feel a bit heavier than typical. We're not talking about the kind of weight that makes it hard to hold your head up, but it does at times feel that the earphones have something pulling at them slightly. This makes the proper choice of eartips essential.

Beneath the eartips, there are removable tuning filters: tiny, nozzle-like end pieces that change the sound signature somewhat. The default pair of tuning filters is silver and is intended for flat (or "reference") listening, and the other pairs are copper (for enhanced treble response), and black (for enhanced bass). With so many interesting design elements, it's a bit of a bummer the cable itself isn't removable, but that is still somewhat of a rarity in this price range. A handsome, black zip-up protective pouch and a shirt clip are also included.

Performance

It's no surprise in this era of booming low-end response that the T10i's "reference" tuning filters actually sound quite bass heavy. The surprise is how muffled they also sound in the high-mids and highs. Swapping them out for the treble-focused filters provides a much stronger balance that still has plenty of low frequency push, while the bass-enhanced tuning filters are strictly for low-end lovers. Thus, my testing was conducted with the treble-focused filters in place.

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the T10i produces a thunderous low frequency response, distortion-free even at top, unsafe listening levels even with the treble-focused filters in. The bass here is intense, and without the treble filters in place, the high-mids and highs would be muffled and the track unbalanced. With them in, the track sounds powerful and sculpted in both the deep lows and the crisp highs. This is not a natural sound signature, but it's also far from anemic or boring.

Bill Callahan's "Drover" gives us a better idea of how the T10i sounds on tracks that lack intense bass response to begin with. Callahan's baritone vocals get far more low-mid presence than they need; they're deep enough as they are that boosting is not necessary. The high-mids try to rescue his vocals from sounding too bass-heavy here, but they fail to add the crispness necessary to keep his voice clear and edgy. Instead, it sounds like his vocals are coming through a subwoofer. The drumming on this track gets plenty of excessive bass boosting, and the result is a sound that resembles thunder when, on more balanced, accurate pairs, it would resemble something closer to tapping.

I found this a bit surprising, since I was listening through the treble-enhanced filters, so I experimented with the various included eartips.

With the foam tips in, Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild" delivered thumping low-end, with the powerful sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat ruling the mix. The attack of the kick drum loop felt a bit muffled, and the vocals seemed to sit a bit back in the mix, instead of being front and center, but this is all a result of the bass-forward sound signature. The flange tips also seemed to have an effect on the sound by dialing back the bass slightly, but the treble still sounded flat. Basically, you have a lot to experiement with in order to get the right fit and sound for you, but it will always involve a bass-forward sound signature.

The boosted low-end did have some pleasant effects on orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary. The vocals here remained clear and fairly crisp, as did the upper register strings and brass, but the lower register instrumentation is given a much deeper resonance and presence. It's unnatural, but sounds exciting. 

If it's accurate frequency response you seek, the RHA T10i is far too sculpted—consider the Westone W10 ($135.00 at Amazon) or the Editors' Choice Bowers & Wilkins C5 Series 2, both of which offer different approaches to a more balanced response without ignoring bass. If you like the idea of lots of low end, but the T10i is out of your budget, the Yamaha EPH-M200 ($59.00 at Amazon) and the Audio-Technica ATH-CKX7iS ($56.87 at Amazon) both offer bass-heavy responses for significantly less money. Basically, if you want deep, thunderous lows, the $200 RHA T10i, with its treasure trove of accessories and interesting deisgn, won't disappoint, but other compelling options can be found for less.

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