Audioquest Nighthawk – initial impressions
I picked up my pair of Audioquest Nighthawk headphones at the start of April from the Head-Fi “for sale” forums as what was intended to be my second pair of serious over-ear cans after briefly owning the Philips Fidelio L2. As a long time music fan but a late starter to the audiophile scene I am on a mission at the moment to listen to (and review) as many different types of headphones as I can, to work out what suits me best and what my own personal endgame audio will sound like. The intention, therefore, was to listen to the Nighthawks for a few weeks then trade them on for something different. Unfortunately for me, the good people of Audioquest have gone and ruined my cunning plan by making something so outrageously good that my journey may just have stopped before it has started. My opinions on this marvellous piece of audio tech follow below – I will try my best to avoid hyperbole, but feel it fair to warn anyone reading this that I think these are potentially the perfect sound signature for me, so the review will pretty much be outlining why in fairly glowing terms. To be clear, I have no affiliation to Audioquest and purchased these headphones myself, so the views expressed are 100% my own.
About me: newly minted audiophile, late 30s, long time music fan and aspiring to be a reasonably inept drummer. Listen to at least 2 hours of music a day on my commute to work – prefer IEMs for out and about, and a large pair of headphones when I have the house to myself and a glass in my hand. Recently started converting my library to FLAC and 320kbps MP3, and do most of my other listening through Spotify or Tidal HiFi. I am a fan of rock, acoustic (apart from folk) and sarcasm. Oh yeah, and a small amount of electronica. Not a basshead, but I do love a sound with some body to it. Please take all views expressed below with a pinch of salt – all my reviews are a work in progress based on my own perceptions and personal preferences, and your own ears may tell you a different story.
Tech specs (from the Audioquest website)
Impedance: 25ohms
Sensitivity: 100dBSPL/mW
Power handling: 1.5W
Driver: 50mm Dynamic / Biocellulose Diapraghm / 1.2T Split-Gap Motor
Unboxing
The Nighthawks ship in a rectangular black leather zipper case with the Nighthawk logo embossed on the front, with poly-foam padding inside and space to store the headphone cables and a pocket in the front of the “door” to hold things like the instruction manual and other audio necessities. The design brief from Audioquest to their team when making the Nighthawks was to build something sustainable, high quality, innovative and high performance while minimising waste. The case is a perfect example – apart from the cardboard wrapper that comes with the case outlining the specs of the headphones and the usual marketing shots, everything else is directly related to the headphone itself. The case offers somewhere to store the headphones when not in use, protection when transporting them due to the rigid design and heavy foam padding, and even offers a carry handle on the top. If these were IEMs, this would be the equivalent of the headphones coming in the ubiquitous pelican case all high end customs seem to ship with, with everything you need fitted neatly inside and no additional packaging whatsoever apart from a small manual which no one reads (genuinely, if you are willing to spend £499 on a pair of headphones, you are likely to either be richer than Kanye West wants to be so will have an employee to do that for you, or have done enough research to render a glossy manual utterly redundant – just my 2 cents).
Build quality and ergonomics
The Nighthawks are quite possibly one of the most striking headphone designs I have seen yet. From the embossed leather headband and single stranded arch over the crown of the head, through the glossy wood-effect cups and the styling of the earcup suspenders, these headphones ooze quality. They have been designed from the ground up, with each element considered in terms of function, form and fit to produce something that looks genuinely eye-catching while still serving a specific purpose. The earcups are made from a glossy dark brown “liquid wood”, which is a mix of resins, natural fibres and waxes which can be injection moulded into whatever shape is desirable. They look fantastic, and the injection moulding and some clever mathematics regarding the internal supporting structures have allowed Audioquest to tune the enclosures to dampen unwanted resonances quite dramatically as an added bonus. There are plenty of other clever touches in the design and modelling of these ‘phones, with the cups themselves suspended from a circular mount by four rubber ties, very reminiscent of a studio microphone. The ear shapes are also unusual, being modelled to follow the curve of the ear so the enclosure is asymmetric, and even the pad thickness varies from the front to the back of the cups. All this high-concept design wouldn’t amount to much if the headphones were a beast to wear, but unfortunately for the competition, these wear as impressively as they look. The headband system and light clamping force work in tandem with the suspension on the earcups to leave the Nighthawks feel and look like they are floating on your head rather than stuck to it like some form of Japanese torture device (Blue Mo-Fi, I’m looking at you here). They sit snugly, without any telltale pressure “hotspots”, and can be worn for hours on end without the slightest discomfort. If I had to be uber-picky, the support arch above the strap can make it look like the wearer has a carry-handle on the top of their head and the protein leather pads can get a little hot and sweaty after hours of use, but that really does feel like the princess finding the pea in terms of how little that matters compared to the sumptuous feeling of comfort and luxury that comes whenever you slip these on to your head. Simply outstanding.
(picture taken from Audioquest website)
Sound quality
Test gear:
LG G Flex 2 (via Neutron Player)
Sony NWZ-A15
Sansa Clip+ (Rockboxed)
Microsoft Surface Pro 2 (straight from the output jack)
Brainwavz AP001
Cayin C5
Main test tracks (mainly 320kbps MP3 or FLAC/Tidal HiFi):
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – S.O.B. / Wasting Time
Blackberry Smoke – The Whipporwill (album)
Slash – Shadow Life / Bad Rain (my reference tracks for bass impact and attack, guitar “crunch”)
Slash & Beth Hart – Mother Maria (vocal tone)
Richie Kotzen – Come On Free (bass tone)
Otis Redding – various
Elvis – various
Leon Bridges – Coming Home (album)
Foy Vance – various
Blues Traveler
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (album)
Sigma - various
Rudimental – various
Rodrigo y Gabriela – various
Mavis Staples – Livin’ On A High Note
General impressions on the sound signature
Reading through the Nighthawk micro-site (which is thoroughly recommended if you have any interest in how headphones work in general, and how these in particular were designed), there is one common theme running through all the decisions they have made when building this headphone: distortion. Or more specifically, finding ways to eliminate it. The aim when building these was to make the sound as pure and true to the music that was actually recorded as physically possible, without adding any of the frequency distortion in the higher bands that Audioquest claim is responsible for the impression of “detail” that most higher-end cans give out. Not being an audio scientist, I can only take what they claim on face value, but one thing is clear – their intention to produce a clear, true sounding headphone has very much succeeded. The attention to detail, from modelling the airflow around the driver enclosures and chamfering the internal parts accordingly to mounting the driver on a rubber surround to reduce standing wave distortion and all the other tricks they have crammed into this piece of engineering brilliance all add together to produce something that is clear, deep, fantastically detailed without being “etched” and as soulful a sound as I have heard on my audio travels to date.
Highs
Given the stated intention of producing something with as little sonic distortion as physically possible, my initial expectations of this headphone were that it would be clear, sharp and packed with detail. In fact, the first thing that hits you when you slip the Nighthawks on is what your brain thinks is lacking: sharpness. Until your brain adjusts (brain burn-in, as it is sometimes referred to), the sound can almost seem veiled and blunt, with none of the laser-etched edge to the high notes your ears are waiting to hear. As it turns out, this is exactly what the Nighthawk team mean by eliminating distortion, as they claim that the signature “clarity” in the higher registers of most high-end headphones is actually caused by artificially emphasised peaks in the treble response, similar to turning the sharpness setting up on your TV screen. They contend that no more actual detail is added, but what is there is distorted and sharpened into little audio peaks that your brain latches on to. The Nighthawks, in contrast, present the higher frequencies of a recording in a gloriously smooth and almost rolled off fashion, with a clarity and depth of note that is quite difficult to describe but very easy to listen to. When you have become used to the sound, the veil evaporates and you realise that all the detail is still present in the audio, and start to appreciate exactly how good the neutral nature of the treble reproduction actually is. Listening to some acoustic guitar tracks from Rodrigo y Gabriela, you can hear the harmonics and sounds of fingers brushing against frets like you were in the room, with a smooth purity of sound and air of “naturalness” that becomes almost mesmerising. You also realise that the treble extends naturally, not losing any detail or clarity no matter how high the track heads. Fortunately, once your brain has snapped the sound signature into focus, it will immediately pick it back up whenever you put the headphones back on (much like those Magic Eye pictures that were all the rage years ago – once you have seen the pirate ship in the middle of the grey and white blur, you can never un-see it again). The sonic presentation is similar in many ways to the Flare Audio R2 series of in-ear monitors (the R2A, R2S and R2Pro) – as they are also designed to eliminate distortion by balancing the pressure on either side of the driver in a similar manner to some of the audio trickery that Audioquest use, the commonalities in sound are perhaps unsurprising. The best analogy I can think of to describe the overall sound of the highs is to compare the Nighthawks to a glass of ice cold water on a boiling hot day, and other famous high-end headphones to a cold glass of BrandedFizzyBeverage™. If all you are used to is fizz and artificial flavour, you will be quite happy reaching for a glass of the bubbly stuff to cool you down, but once you have tasted the purer option, that’s all that will really satisfy your thirst. Listening to some modern classical music by Escala, the violin plucks float delicately above the soundscape, with cymbals crashing in the background and disappearing again just like they would if you were stood in front of them. Fans of a hyper-etched sound may find the Nighthawks lacking that little bit of “fizz” in the higher registers, but for me, the smoothness and subtle detail is nigh-on perfect. The absence of “grain” in the presentation also lends these headphones to extended listening sessions without any danger of fatigue.
Mids
The mid-range on the Nighthawk shares a similar neutrality of emphasis to the treble, the balanced nature of the presentation (neither forward or recessed) leaving the listener to enjoy the smooth yet detailed sounds without being drawn to any particular part of the frequency range. Like the treble, there is an overwhelming sense of realism that drips through the sound, with vocals and guitar notes taking on a lifelike quality and slowly immersing you in the music. Male and female vocals both sound exceptional through these, with the pure presentation bringing out whatever the engineer mixed into the track without adding anything on the way. Breathing patterns, intonations and inflections all drift through the background noise while never overpowering or drawing attention away from the meat of the music. At this point, it is also worth mentioning the blackness of the background on these headphones. The sound hangs in the air around your ears like it was suspended on a black velvet drape, with the absence of sound between notes almost as absorbing as the music that plays in between the gaps. Listening to Mavis Staples’ glorious vocals swooping up and down the frequency ranges, you are struck by the emotion that is captured in the recordings and how effortlessly it sucks you in. The Nighthawks fare equally as well with driving rock music, “Figure It Out” by Royal Blood showcasing the ability of these cans to drive a down and dirty chugging riff just as well as the smoother sounds it excels in. Like the highs, the detail levels aren’t pushed too far into the spotlight, but can be picked out easily in the soundscape if you listen to them. The whole presentation feels effortless, with detail enough to do the music justice and emotion enough to do the
song justice. The balanced nature of the mids also highlight the chameleonic nature of the Nighthawks, as they are equally proficient with the spiky electronica and riffage of a band like Don Broco or the latin silkiness of Rodrigo y Gabriela, dousing everything in a liberal splash of soul but never colouring the music in the process. Transparent is a word I have seen used to describe these headphones, but it doesn’t really do justice to the presentation – it is not so much that you see through the headphones to the music behind, it feels more like the headphones aren’t even there, getting out of the way and just leaving the listener with the music. Skylar and his team do appear to have created the Cheshire Cat of the audio world, an over-ear can you can’t see in the presentation but who leaves a big grin hanging in the air whenever it is around.
Bass
Amongst some of the more learned audio buffs, the bass tuning on these headphones is one of the objections raised about the Nighthawks not sounding like a “true” audiophile can. The lower end is noticeably more present than other competing headphones in the same bracket, which make it appear on first listen that these are tuned with a bass tilt. It never veers into full basshead territory, but does add a warm tinge to the presentation whenever the music calls for it, so this can appear less “lean” than the typical audiophile tuning. The design team at Audioquest actually contend that the reason the bass appears more prominent on their headphones is the lack of artificial boost applied to the mid and high frequency bands - in essence, the bass is not being drowned out by the pumped up highs. Whatever the reason, it makes for a very enjoyable and organic sound, with the low-distortion design providing a clarity and snap to the bass that drives most tracks along very nicely while never feeling loose or overdone. The control of the bass is excellent, and notes decay naturally (or in other words, not as quickly as some other headphones I have heard), but never feel bloated or boomy unless that is the way they were actually recorded. The liquid basslines in “Hello, It’s Me” by Sister Hazel sound as smooth as poured chocolate as they ooze out of the earpieces, but never threaten to overwhelm the rest of the track in the process. Bubbling under the liquid, the rasp of the bass strings vibrating against the guitar provide excellent texture, without sounding forced or unnatural. The extension is excellent, and reminds me of two of my all time favourite in-ear headphones (the ASG 2.5 from Aurisonics and the R2A from Flare Audio) in terms of the reach of the bass, and the overall quality of the presentation. My go to tester track for low-end texture (“Bad Rain” by Slash) sounds absolutely glorious through these, with the bass snarling away down into depths that not even James Cameron would send a film crew, while giving the drum and guitar licks enough low-end crunch around the edges to open a cereal factory. Drums also sound excellent through the Nighthawks, with a very authentic and natural tone. To be clear (like the headphones) – fans of a lean, dry sound signature probably won’t appreciate the warmth and quantity of the bass on offer here. For everyone else, the excellent execution and control of the lower range adds a body to the music that most music fans would find it very hard not to like.
Soundstage/separation
The soundstage of the Nighthawks isn’t the most expansive I have ever heard – there is a bit of space to the edges of the sound, but there are certainly other headphones and in-ears who push the sound far further outside of your head. In part, I suspect this is a side-effect of the non-emphasised treble tuning, but never feels any the poorer for that particular choice. The clarity of the sound reproduction does give the Nighthawks an excellent sense of separation, with all the instruments standing out clearly in their own space, and easily identifiable against the jet-black audio background. No matter if it is large scale orchestral music or three-chord punk rock, the headphones imbue everything with a sense of accuracy and precision, allowing your brain to pick out parts of the song at will. The shape of the soundstage is reasonably 3D, with the vocals playing in the centre of your head, the drums rolling across the back of the room behind you and the other instruments feeling laid out in front of you like a live concert. More often than not, the headphone feels like it is placing you in the middle of the recording session, which helps with the immersive tone no end on more intimate recordings. Listening to “Ten Songs from Carnegie Hall” by Ryan Adams really puts you on stage with the performer, with the applause cues and audience noise rolling in from all sides like you are standing next to the singer.
Isolation
The Nighthawk is a semi-open design, with a 3D printed covering standing between the rear of the driver and the outside world. They call their grille design a Diamond Cubic Lattice, and it is designed to diffuse sound passing through it from the driver, to avoid any sonic reflections from the surface back towards the ear which could create distortion in the sound waves heading towards the listener. This clever trick of geometry and 3D printing was actually modelled on the structure of a butterfly’s wing, which diffuses light that hits it in much the same manner. One side effect of this diffusion is the level of isolation it offers from external sounds, which is very high for an ostensibly open backed headphone (aided in part by the excellent seal offered by the headband mechanism and pads). While these will not be isolating enough to block out the noise of a busy commuter train or jet engine, for home use they do block out a decent chunk of the outside world. Unfortunately, more sound leaks out than leaks in, so like most open designs, these aren’t suitable for libraries, churches or anywhere else you don’t want anyone in a 12-foot radius listening to your Justin Bieber medley.
Amping
These are very power-light in terms of amping requirements at a rated impedance of only 25 ohms, with plenty of volume being achievable from even the most puny of sources. They do tighten up a little with a little bit of juice flowing through their veins, but are enjoyable enough out of any jack you care to plug them into to suggest it isn’t mandatory. If you do have access to a decent amping solution, the transparent nature of these headphones will bring out the best of whatever you plug It into – using these with the Cayin C5 on low gain, the soundstage opens up marginally, and the music benefits from the extra power and refinement of the amp to really bring some more dynamic tracks to life. As the headphones are rated to handle up to 1.5W, they never feel overstretched when you crank up the power - I imagine the limiting factor is more likely to be the user’s hearing (and how much damage you want to do to it) rather than the limits of the driver when deciding exactly how close you get to full power on whatever you decide to use.
Cables
As Audioquest are primarily known for their high-end cables, this review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the two cables offered with this package. The thinner of the two is designed for “mobile” use (in as much as a large open-backed headphone can ever be mobile – perhaps they are for those times when you absolutely
have to get up and go into the kitchen to make a sandwich in the middle of a marathon listening session?!), with a durability rating of over 12,000 bends before it will run into trouble. This cable is reasonably light and quite thin, but the sound feels a little less open compared to the sound produced by the main cabling. I am not a massive believer in the power of cabling, but to my (possibly biased) ears, there is a small but clear sonic difference between the two cables, with the “main” cable providing a sweeter sonic hit than the portable effort. Kudos to Audioquest for providing a more robust and flexible everyday cable for those who need it – due to the open nature of the headphones, it seems an unusual choice but it is welcome nonetheless. The main cable provided is specially made for these headphones, and is based on the Castle Rock range of aftermarket cables. It is a thick fabric covered affair, with a much more rigid structure made from solid cores of the manufacturer’s Perfect Surface Copper in a Double Star-Quad formation. If you are a cable geek, you may be aware what that means – if not, please refer to the Nighthawk mini-site as they have a whole page explaining it. Suffice to say, the cable, while not the most cooperative piece of audio connection equipment I have ever used, does give an audible bump in quality to the sound and looks sturdy and able to stand up to a lot of heavy listening. The attention to detail evident in the rest of the package even extends to the cable connectors, with Audioquest eschewing the more traditional gold-plated 3.5mm connectors for a silver plated finish copper connector, which it claims improves the overall performance.
Comparisons
Aurisonics ASG-2.5 – these are my current “at home” listening pair, and while they are IEMs rather than over-ear headphones, they have some similarities in the general sound signature which makes this a worthy comparison. In terms of bass, the 2.5s on a ¼ opening of the bass port have the slight edge in bass quantity, with a more powerful slam than the more liquid Nighthawks. The midrange on the 2.5s are more forward than the Nighthawks but are more coloured and vocal-centric, with the Nighthawks giving a more natural and balanced tone and greater sense of realism. In terms of the highs, the 2.5s have a similar presentation, with a bit more “etching” and feel of airiness from the dual-BA setup on the 2.5 compared to the smoothness and purity of the NH. It terms of soundstage, the 2.5s shade this, but lose out on overall detail retrieval and timbre to the Nighthawks, with the Audioquest cans sounding cleaner across the spectrum.
Philips Fidelio L2 – another semi-open back design, but the presentation on these two over-ears couldn’t be more different, with the L2s having a bright, clear bias which imparts an impression of clarity to the sound that runs against the tuning ethos of the Nighthawks. The bass on the L2 is lacking compared to the Nighthawks in both quantity and quality (except in the sub-bass, with the L2 holds its own on). Mids are better on the Nighthawk, with the natural tone and clarity of note having a little more weight than the thinner and brighter presentation of the L2. In terms of treble, the L2 have great extension and a sense of openness and sharpness which the Nighthawks lack, so if you are a fan of treble-centric headphones, then the L2 will have a more familiar signature in that respect. In terms of detail levels, they feel similar, but due to the tuning, the L2 push the details more to the forefront of the listening experience whereas the Nighthawk actually conveys the same or more detail in the track but in a much less pronounced manner. In terms of soundstage, the L2 feels more open than the Nighthawks to my ears.
Blue Microphones Mo-Fi – this is a closed back dynamic over-ear, so the soundstage is smaller on the Mo-Fi by a fairly decent margin. Separation is similar, with the Mo-Fi holding its own on congested tracks and keeping enough space for the instrumentation. To my ears, the Mo-Fi has a more mid-forward tuning, so pushes more emphasis to the midrange compared to the Nighthawks. Bass is won by the Nighthawks, with better control and quantity/quality, although the Mo-Fi do have a trick up their sleeve with the bass-boost on the active amplifier built in to the headphones. With boost on, the bass is similar to the Nighthawks, but feels less controlled and warms the mid-range considerably. Highs are a draw depending on your preference, with the Mo-Fi having slightly more emphasis on the higher treble frequencies, but the Nighthawks producing a clearer tone. Overall, the Nighthawk wins in terms of overall quality and resolution, with a better soundstage. The Mo-Fi wins on isolation and driveability (with its built in amp), but loses again on comfort as it is a far heavier headphone for extended periods of wear with a very peculiar hinged fitment system that would look right at home in a 1990s Manga comic.
Oppo PM-3 – I haven’t had much ear time with the PM-3 at the time of writing this, but the overall tonality and tuning does share some similarities with the Nighthawk. The impression it leaves me with is of a more clinical and less musical take on what the Nighthawk is trying to achieve – I will try and update this as I get some ore serious listening in with these.
Overall conclusion
As I mentioned at the start, the Nighthawks are close to being the perfect sound signature for my preferences, so it is hard to write an impartial conclusion. The mix of design, audio engineering and very definitive tuning decisions come together to create something that is just a little bit special. Not content with producing another carbon copy of what everyone else considers audiophile headphones should sound like, the team have gone away and reinvented what they think high end sound
should be, which is something clear, distortion free and true to the original recording. These are headphones that let you lose yourself in the moment, and have already provided me with hours of listening pleasure, with many hundreds more to come. For fans of a pure, transparent signature with bags of texture and detail, a warm and bassy lower end and a living, breathing “soul”, this is the perfect tuning for you. Give yourself a chance to unlearn whatever you expect to hear from something in this price bracket and embrace these and you may just grow to love the sound like nothing else. People looking for super-emphasised highs may never appreciate what this headphone can do, but for everyone else, this is a truly supreme piece of engineering that will bring a smile to your face and bliss to your ears. To paraphrase the end of one of my earlier paragraphs: simply outstanding.