[JMCIII]

1. I am saying they are overhyped...which they are! The Nighthawk have no midrange weight and are U shaped..that is not opinion it is fact.

 

 

2. Now if somebody prefers that sound then great! That is their opinion and fair play to that. When people say the HD650 doesn't beat the Nighthawk in any area, then I roll my ears. The HD650 has a more refined sound, much more weight and a more loquod smooth sound. It is grain free! Even the LCD-2 have more grain then the HD650.
 

 
1. Really? Fact? I've seen not "facts" presented to back up this claim. Opinion, yes. Fact, no. But everyone (you included) is entitled to their opinion. And I for one will respect that opinion (provided you return the favor).
 
2. To you, yes. To others, no. No right or wrong, just personal choice.

 

[knowhatimean]

2. Now if somebody prefers that sound then great! That is their opinion and fair play to that. When people say the HD650 doesn't beat the Nighthawk in any area, then I roll my ears. The HD650 has a more refined sound, much more weight and a more loquod smooth sound. It is grain free! Even the LCD-2 have more grain then the HD650.

 

1. Really? Fact? I've seen not "facts" presented to back up this claim. Opinion, yes. Fact, no. But everyone (you included) is entitled to their opinion. And I for one will respect that opinion (provided you return the favor).

2. To you, yes. To others, no. No right or wrong, just personal choice.

As usual, trying to explain to people that saying something is "better" rather than saying "they prefer" something
more(& then giving a specific example) is just a "personally subjective call" ends up being "Missionary's" work over here ! (I think I may have unsuccessfully attempted this a few times ; He,he,he.... Good Luck)

The thing everyone should remember is that the Senns.,Beyers, AKG, Grados...etc. all have a partiicular "House" sound that normally runs through most of their entire lines & people develop strong "preferences"
for a particular type of sound due to their "familiarity" with that sound. As a result they have hard time giving
a nod to something different as being even acceptable let alone better than what they chosen as their
reference for good sound. People look at "different" as something that might upset their comfort zone !

Being creatures of habit, there is little we dislike less than moving out of our comfort zone (even if change
has the potential to be more beneficial !

On a less philosophical note : The Nighthawks case looks like it will fit perfectly inside of the SKB (same as
Pelican) case I have . ( These phones seem like they could be very nice with the benefit of the marvelously low
noisefloor that my Equitech line conditioning affords my source material through my Metrum Hex DAC) (All I need to do now is to come up with a budget ; The days of my picking up my Hex DAC or Equitech 1.5Q without
blinking are loooong gone !)

 

[SearchOfSub]

I think it's only natural to compare with other headphones that you know of or own. There's nothing wrong with discussing the differences and even opinions on what is a better headphone, or a worse one.

What's wrong is when you have defenders of a certain headphone like we have here in this thread, who refuse to believe someone else may think another headphone sounds better, and then they get offended in hearing that opinion, as if we just insulted their family or something.

People need to recognize and respect that not everyone hears the same and not everyone will think the Nighthawks are all that good. They may be absolutely perfect for you, and dead wrong for someone else. That doesn't make them wrong nor you right, since there is no wrong or right when it comes to audio. 

I agree. It's more productive for me as a potential buyer to read someone who owns multiple headphones and have heard them all make direct comparisons and choose one over the other - or call them out. It might suck for the company that manufactures them but who else to blame but themselves. They should just make better products - As sad as it sounds, that's just the reality of consumer based market and nature of buissness in general.

 

[Zombie_X]

I've not heard the Nighthawk, but have heard it is incredibly muddy and ill defined. I've also heard it was very warm with smooth treble and tight bass... oh the confusion! Though a lot of people on reddit and another site say it's not even worth $200.
 
I shot Audioquest a e-mail asking about getting a demo unit so we'll see

 

[mrscotchguy]

I've not heard the Nighthawk, but have heard it is incredibly muddy and ill defined. I've also heard it was very warm with smooth treble and tight bass... oh the confusion! Though a lot of people on reddit and another site say it's not even worth $200.

I shot Audioquest a e-mail asking about getting a demo unit so we'll see

Demo'd a pair from a local retailer. I would describe them as smooth, crisp, and clean. Accurate and articulate bass, but not nearly the slam of planars. I consider the NHwk as 100% non-offensive.

That said, I'm shocked anyone could describe them as muddy, dark, or grainy. End-game, they are not. But one hellofa headphone.

 

[rfan8312]

I tried them for 1 minute and took them off in order to move onto other headphones I wanted to try.

I wasn't impressed with the sound. I was very impressed with the fit and comfort. I do admit I didn't give their sound a fair chance but I have noticed that with some headphones I find their sound appealing immediately and then will listen further.

The Nighthawks didn't give me that yet they were amped well.

It just may not be the right sound for my ears. Or, maybe brain burn in needed to occur. Or maybe a different amp was needed. It was the WooAudio amp.



Sent from my LGLS660 using Tapatalk

 

[SearchOfSub]

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I've read through the thread a couple pages and why is it after every negative review of this headphone, there is always one poster after saying the opposite? strange...
From what I've read, it looks like 50/50 (since it seems like there is one guy who like the headphone after someone doesn't like it). I think I will most likely pass and just get myself a HE-500. From what I've read on product reviews from actual people who heard the product -, if the product is good or excellent, usually 95% will like it. There will always be one or two or three guys out of a hundred who won't like it, but this headphone already has too many negative reviews. I think it is just average headphone, or little above at best, but at the price I'm sure there are better option people actually rave about with a 95% and above percentile

Too bad this is not going good, I actually tried the dragonfly the other day and liked it. Good vocal - where magic was. It's a good dac for vocals.

 

[grizzlybeast]

^Thats a good way to look at it. The same thing happened with the z7.

 

[Zombie_X]

That's why I am concerned. A lot of people of r/headphones say it's incredibly muddy, recessed midrange, and rolled off treble, and none of that in a good way. That's why I want to demo them and find out for certain.
 
Also, I have concerns for the new driver structure. It's touted as biocellulose, but isn't that cardboard or paper? Also the talk of  a high excursion driver and rubber surround really make it sound like this is a small woofer. Since the material used is so rigid, there's no extra movement like what you get with a normal driver.
 
Quote:

Demo'd a pair from a local retailer. I would describe them as smooth, crisp, and clean. Accurate and articulate bass, but not nearly the slam of planars. I consider the NHwk as 100% non-offensive.

That said, I'm shocked anyone could describe them as muddy, dark, or grainy. End-game, they are not. But one hellofa headphone.

 

[kman1211]

 

They are definitely not muddy in any way. They put all my other headphones to shame in terms of clarity and refinement. Everything I own sound artificial compared to to these, I'm actually kind of disgusted with the sound of the K712, HD 650, and DT 150 now as their flaws are so obvious now.

 

[Zombie_X]

Now I'm more intrigued. Gotta demo them ASAP. 

 

[longbowbbs]

Part of what is interesting is that they are not voiced like any other headphone. They bring their own specific sonics to the game in a good way. 

 

[kman1211]

  Now I'm more intrigued. Gotta demo them ASAP. 

They do need some time to get used to, but not too much time. I'm just curious why there are such varying opinions of these. They do sound different than other phones, which may be the reason. Also all biocellulose drivers I know of are white, it's just how they look. The Nighthawk drivers look like Fostex bio-cellulose drivers(TH900, TH600 drivers). Here is a picture of the Nighthawk driver.
 

 

[guerillaw]

I am not running down opinions at all. I am saying they are overhyped...which they are! The Nighthawk have no midrange weight and are U shaped..that is not opinion it is fact

 
I appreciate your passion, but I think you overstate when you say "fact." A fact is an easily documented truth. What documentation exactly is there that they are as you say? That is your opinion, not fact. As far as documentation, there are measurements our there, including publicly posted by AQ themselves, disproving your opinion about a u shape. 
 
On a separate note, I am happy the HD650 and Crack work well for you, that is great. However, it puts you in the position where you are listening to--in the majority opinion--a headphone which emphasizes the mids vs. one shooting for neutrality. See, for example, myriad hd600 vs hd650 comparisons, so it is actually completely possible that you feel it has scooped mids compared to the HD650. Remember the HD650 has, relatively speaking, a more "fun" tuning vs the more neutral HD600.
 
 
Now, this does not mean the HD650 is unlistenable or bad, no. The point is you can prefer its sound signature without disparaging the sound signatures of other cans. I am a big AK700 series fan, a main weakness of which is sub-bass and bass in general. When comparing other phones, it is easy to see them as "bassy" in comparison, but this does not mean the other headphones are bass heavy trash, it just means they have more  bass relative to the bass light presentation I am accustomed to and enjoy. 

 

[cdsa35000]

They do need some time to get used to, but not too much time. I'm just curious why there are such varying opinions of these. They do sound different than other phones, which may be the reason. Also all biocellulose drivers I know of are white, it's just how they look. The Nighthawk drivers look like Fostex bio-cellulose drivers(TH900, TH600 drivers). Here is a picture of the Nighthawk driver.

I think those bio-cellulose drivers are weak implemention of the original Sony biocellulose and the improved full synthetic version:
Sony CD3000 biocellulose diaphragm:

Sony SA5000 improved full synthetic "biocellolose" diaphragm

The glued on rubber surrounds will weaken fast transients (its slow and dampening), it works good for powerfull bass loudspeaker but not for hp.