AudioQuest NightHawk Impressions and Discussion Thread

[leaky74]

I got the Magni 2 Uber, it's a solid sounding amp with the Nighthawks. Plenty of power on tap, pretty much neutral sound sig on low gain with a little bit of extra brightness/forwardness added when switched to high gain. If you wanted a solid baseline for what a good amplifier should sound like, I'd handily recommend it.

Thanks for the insight; appreciated

 

[kman1211]

The X00 are quite similar to the Nighthawks. All Biocellulose headphones share a similar frequencie response, slightly V shaped and extended at both ends. I though the X00 sounded closer to the NH than any other headphone I've tried part from the D7000. While the Nighthawks have a rough treble it's more in line with being neutral than the Fostex. The X00's bass meets the lower mids more evenly the NH has a slight bleed.

The 650 is smoother than both and doesn't boost the treble has more even mids but less sub bass due to design. The Nighthawks and X00 have a few treble peaks that can get a little sharp if the recording has less bass.

I only found the Fostex drivers to be similar sounding to each other, the old Sony ones sound very different. 
 
My main issue with the HD 650 is I don't really like it's vocals(I have some trouble connecting to them so to speak regardless of system, though higher end systems and tubes definitely helped) and it fatigues me. The Nighthawks midrange while not as upfront as the HD 650s, I found to have more depth and honestly the vocals connected unlike the HD 650s. I found I had even more trouble connecting with the vocals(not sure how else to describe it) of the HD 700 and HD 800, especially when comparing to various other headphones.

I recently spent a lot of time listening to the HD 600 and HD 650 recently on very high-end gear and interestingly found I preferred the HD 600 for it's more organic sound and it's more natural vocals despite not being quite as resolving as the HD 650. The HD 600 reminds me more of the vintage Sennheiser sound which I prefer to the current sound as I always found vintage Senns to sound more organic with a slightly different house sound. What I found it's not always sharp treble that bothers me, I have found I can adjust to some headphones with sharp treble and they don't fatigue me at all, other headphones the treble irritates the crap out of me even if they are darker and smoother. 

 

[waynes world]

Ok, tried the Dragonfly Red with LCD-4, Ether C, HD650, and Audeze Sine and I'm keeping my Mojo because it's way more powerful. Actual sound quality though I like the Dragonfly, especially on easier to drive headphones like the Nighthawk, Sine, EL-8, and Oppo PM-1.

 
You've got me pretty intrigued with the DF Red. I recently got a ZuperDAC, and really like the NH's off of it when at my computer. The problem is that I also really like using the ZuperDAC off of my phone for mobile bliss with my other more portable headphones/iems, so I'm frequently swapping the ZuperDAC between my computer and phone which is silly. I was seriously considering getting another ZuperDAC, but now the DF Red is in my skull lol

 

[leaky74]

I got the Magni 2 Uber, it's a solid sounding amp with the Nighthawks. Plenty of power on tap, pretty much neutral sound sig on low gain with a little bit of extra brightness/forwardness added when switched to high gain. If you wanted a solid baseline for what a good amplifier should sound like, I'd handily recommend it.

I'm also assuming an Objective 2 would be similarly transparent?

 

[inthere]

I'm also assuming an Objective 2 would be similarly transparent?

 
 I have both the Objective 2 and the Magni 2 Uber and given the choice I'd pick the Magni 2 Uber because of overall better build quality and more power. Both are great though.

 

[leaky74]

   
 I have both the Objective 2 and the Magni 2 Uber and given the choice I'd pick the Magni 2 Uber because of overall better build quality and more power. Both are great though.

Thanks, I'll try & get hold of one or the other I think 

 

[leaky74]

Magni 2 Uber ordered....

 

[retwisted]

Hi, I got the Nighthawks, and find them great. Coming from the Hd600 and reading comments, I expected the nighthawks to sound alot more bassy and  bit more muffled, with a smoother treble. But doesn't seem te be the case at all. In my opinion, they sound a bit more clear than the hd600, and the bass is actually really good. I wasn't sure about the bass after reading so many polarizing opinions about it, but I expected it to sound alot more bassy than this. Bass punch is not great, as it does seems to favor the mid bass more. But overall quality of the bass is really good. The mids had a dip in the upper mids, which is one of the reasons I bought it. I've always thought that the supposedly neutral headphones could really sound shouty with some tracks I listen to. And as according to my expectation, the mids are just awesome, really smooth and no more shoutiness on some tracks. Just what I was looking for. But then comes the treble... I've heard most people say they are smooth, but I consider them a rough treble. They are definitely more pronounced than the mids for me. Sibilance in vocals are alot more pronounced than the hd600. I had to tone down the spike I heard at the 11k by alot to make it more pleasant for my ears. I find the soundstage and imaging really unique compared to the headphones I've listened to. Somehow they sound more cohesive? But all things considered, I really like these headphones and think they are technically really good. These are just some impressions from me with my weird ears that are quite picky on the treble, so take them with a grain of salt.

 

[leaky74]

   
 I have both the Objective 2 and the Magni 2 Uber and given the choice I'd pick the Magni 2 Uber because of overall better build quality and more power. Both are great though.

 
M2U arrived this morning so am now running Dragonfly Red>M2U>Nighthawks - very happy!! 
 
I'm assuming running at lower gain is 'better' with the Nighthawks being relatively easy to drive (lower is 1.5 (3db) or 6 (15.6db) on the M2U)? I know when I enquired with JDS Labs, they suggested (with the output of the DF Red being 2.1VRMS), that optimal gain settings would be 1.0/3.3

 

[jmsaxon69]

DF Red and NH have an amazing synergy! I can't stop listening to this combo! My first batch came in yesterday and I am super impressed, I haven't really used other headphones with it yet, I'll try out the SINE today

 

[wondroushippo]

  Hi, I got the Nighthawks, and find them great. Coming from the Hd600 and reading comments, I expected the nighthawks to sound alot more bassy and  bit more muffled, with a smoother treble. But doesn't seem te be the case at all. In my opinion, they sound a bit more clear than the hd600, and the bass is actually really good. I wasn't sure about the bass after reading so many polarizing opinions about it, but I expected it to sound alot more bassy than this. Bass punch is not great, as it does seems to favor the mid bass more. But overall quality of the bass is really good. The mids had a dip in the upper mids, which is one of the reasons I bought it. I've always thought that the supposedly neutral headphones could really sound shouty with some tracks I listen to. And as according to my expectation, the mids are just awesome, really smooth and no more shoutiness on some tracks. Just what I was looking for. But then comes the treble... I've heard most people say they are smooth, but I consider them a rough treble. They are definitely more pronounced than the mids for me. Sibilance in vocals are alot more pronounced than the hd600. I had to tone down the spike I heard at the 11k by alot to make it more pleasant for my ears. I find the soundstage and imaging really unique compared to the headphones I've listened to. Somehow they sound more cohesive? But all things considered, I really like these headphones and think they are technically really good. These are just some impressions from me with my weird ears that are quite picky on the treble, so take them with a grain of salt.

 
I hear you on the sibilance in vocals thing – I don't know if I'd use my Nighthawks much for non-music stuff, because I don't think they do great with speech? Maybe it was just the things I was watching. Like, I had the Nighthawks on running from my Sound Blaster E5, and while I think there were sound issues, the low frequencies were really bothering me. And the John Mulaney standup special on Netflix, The Comeback Kid, the Nighthawks made his voice tough to listen to because of that sibilance, to me.

   
M2U arrived this morning so am now running Dragonfly Red>M2U>Nighthawks - very happy!! 
 
I'm assuming running at lower gain is 'better' with the Nighthawks being relatively easy to drive (lower is 1.5 (3db) or 6 (15.6db) on the M2U)? I know when I enquired with JDS Labs, they suggested (with the output of the DF Red being 2.1VRMS), that optimal gain settings would be 1.0/3.3

 
Yes, I run my Nighthawk at low gain in a similar DF Red->O2 (1.0/3.3) configuration.

 

[greggf]

There is no treble roughness on the Nighthawks.  None.

 

[greggf]

Ah.  There you go.  Volume level differences.
 
Geez, how loud do you guys listen?
 
The longer I'm on Head-Fi, the more I realize that differences of opinion are often caused by playback volume.  That's especially true when STAX amps are the subject of discussion.

 

[JMCIII]

Why don't I notice this roughness? The treble seems anything but rough to me.

 
 
+1 here. Can't say they sound anything but even to my ears too

 

[retwisted]

I always listen on high volume. I really like to have the vocals on a good volume, and tend to level my volume based on that. For the nighthawks, this means cranking it up even more compared to the hd600, because the mids are a more subdued back compared to the bass and treble. And because of this, the rough treble is really apparent to me.