[JMCIII]

My first post in this thread. 

I had some time with this and two other headphones (X2 and NAD HP50) in a shop today. Nighthawk sounded very "closed" and had a very muddy character. It was almost too warm and the treble was cut-off. I was quite disappointed. When I first heard this headphone some time ago I thought it sounded good. But today, compared to X2 I thougt Nighthawk was very dark and kind of unresolving. And X2 is already a warm and dark headphone. Maybe something was wrong with the demo pair. 

When I reviewed the Nighthawks I found them VERY amp dependent. The Nighthawks are extremely revealing as to what they are attached to as well as the source and software. Also, ask the retailer how much burn-in time is on the headphones and cable. Less than 150 to 200 hours and the sound will be off. Again, that's my impressions from spending considerable time with my pair before reviewing them.

 

[leomitch]

   
DAC's don't 'drive' amps.

These are both DAC/Headphone Amps!
Leo

 

[Venere 2]

  Thanks! Maybe the amp (NAD integrated) wasn't a good match for this hp. Is Nighthawk a hard to drive headphone? Judging by the very flat impedance curve I wouldn't say so. 

My Nighthawk sounds nothing like you describe! The Nighthawk is very easy to drive. They are a little easier than my former Grado RS2.
 
Don't judge anything being powered by NAD. NAD is crap! 

 

[mks100]

I can certainly understand how polarizing these Headphones can be.  I was underwhelmed when I first demoed them at Gramophone aside from the aesthetics and comfort.  I have roughly 250+ Hours on these since I purchased them on the 1st of August (approximately 200+ "Burn-In" Hours with my XLO Reference Recordings Burn-In Track, the rest listening to Music).  There is certainly a learning curve with these.  I have owned/listened to almost everything aside from Audeze and HIFIMAN Headphones.  I have listened to more Music in the past 30 days then I have listened to in the past 2 years since purchasing these Headphones.  In my opinion once you have listened to the NightHawk for any extended period of time you are ruined for all other Headphones. 

 

[bracko]

When I reviewed the Nighthawks I found them VERY amp dependent. The Nighthawks are extremely revealing as to what they are attached to as well as the source and software. Also, ask the retailer how much burn-in time is on the headphones and cable. Less than 150 to 200 hours and the sound will be off. Again, that's my impressions from spending considerable time with my pair before reviewing them.

According to the retailer the headphones I demoed were used for about 20 hours. Burn-in for cable? 

 

[bracko]

  My Nighthawk sounds nothing like you describe! The Nighthawk is very easy to drive. They are a little easier than my former Grado RS2.
 
Don't judge anything being powered by NAD. NAD is crap! 

A little polarizing opinions regarding how easy to drive these are. I guess I will take the demo pair home and test it in my own setup.

 

[JMCIII]

  According to the retailer the headphones I demoed were used for about 20 hours. Burn-in for cable? 

 
Then you have not heard the NighHawks at their best. Both the headphones and the cables need at least 150 to 200 hours burn-in time on them before they will show you what they are capable of. And yes, the cable needs to be burned in too. Why wouldn't it?
 
Also, try and make sure you have plenty of time when you give the properly burned-in NightHawks a listen. I would say at least a full albums worth of music you are already familiar with.

 

[Solrighal]

   
Then you have not heard the NighHawks at their best. Both the headphones and the cables need at least 150 to 200 hours burn-in time on them before they will show you what they are capable of. And yes, the cable needs to be burned in too. Why wouldn't it?
 
Also, try and make sure you have plenty of time when you give the properly burned-in NightHawks a listen. I would say at least a full albums worth of music you are already familiar with.

 
Speaking personally I can understand why headphones need a bit of time to burn-in and in fact have experienced it myself with my HD 650's. Cables though? I just don't believe that, sorry.

 

[Luckbad]

   
Speaking personally I can understand why headphones need a bit of time to burn-in and in fact have experienced it myself with my HD 650's. Cables though? I just don't believe that, sorry.

 
I'd never really heard of cable burn-in either, but AudioQuest believes that it's a real thing. There's an explanation somewhere about it, but they do recommend it.

 

[Solrighal]

   
I'd never really heard of cable burn-in either, but AudioQuest believes that it's a real thing. There's an explanation somewhere about it, but they do recommend it.

 
I bet they do.

 

[SearchOfSub]

Anyone compare this to HE-500? I have many of Audioquest gear. Had rocket 88 speaker cable, hdmi cable, power cable, ICs, usb cable and just got the Jitterbug yesterday. None of AQ gear really dissappointment me. From their track record personally speaking, they all had good value sonic wise. I can't imagine this being a bad headphone, maybe gear setup wasn't right.

 

[mrscotchguy]

Just throwin' it out there, the "portable" cable that AudioQuest provides is rubbish.  It definitely changes the sound... like there's a resistor or something in there.  Maybe due to such thin cables, not sure.
 
Anyways, most people who listened to the ultra-thin cable said there was some sound difference.  Make sure you listen to it with a familiar device.  The Nighthawk sounded gorgeous with my Note 3.
 
On another note, the Oppo PM1/2 balanced cable does in fact work with the AQNHwk for those curious.  My AudioGD drives the pants off them, but is beyond overkill.  

 

[greggf]

Anybody interested in the Nighthawks should read John Crossett's review of them.  I think he nailed their unique character.  I don't have a link for the review handy, but maybe John can post it here if he sees this.  The Nighthawks are very musical headphones that go about things in a very different way from most cans.  It may very well be a love or hate thing.  I also think you'd need to stick with them for awhile in order to "learn" them.

 

[Mediahound]

   
I'd never really heard of cable burn-in either, but AudioQuest believes that it's a real thing. There's an explanation somewhere about it, but they do recommend it.

Yep, they even sell interconnects that require a battery which keeps a signal running through the wires at all times so the cable is always burned in...

 

[mrscotchguy]

Okay... so I have never ready so many varying impressions/reviews on one headphone before.  Especially none that I would use to describe the pair I have listened to.  Could it be that there's a good deal of variation between each NightHawk or is its sound just that rig-dependent?!