PJDubyaM
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Aah, I hadn't realised there could be a difference. Noted for future Night[Animal] purchases.
AudioQuest NightHawk Impressions and Discussion Thread
- Thread starter ghostchili
- Start date
Aah, I hadn't realised there could be a difference. Noted for future Night[Animal] purchases.
mbwilson111
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PJDubyaM
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Don't think I can justify them, much as I'd love them. Certainly intending to get a pair of any in-ears they do, though. NightWorms? NightMoles? NightTsetses?
Soundizer
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Nightbee?
Soundizer
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Can anyone recommend Headphone stand for the Nighthawks that are best to prolong the Nighthawks shape and fit.
BearlyPizza
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Greetings, i've been following these forums for a long time and after a journey through some headphones, I've currently landed here with an Audioquest Nighthawk on my head currently!
I started my headphone journey with a Hifiman He-4/ Project Ember 1/ Hifimediy Sabre dac, and that was a wonderful setup. But due to misuse of my ears at a concert, I ended up with sensitivity =(. Thus, my He-4 became rather painful to listen to with its treble. I sold all my equipment and thought I was done for good with headphones after buying a pair of Vanatoo t1 speakers.
A year later, I tried the RBH-HP-2's because I was intrigued by their addition of Beryllium in their drivers. I forgot what the sound signature was like, but I was surprised at the openness of the sound, despite being a closed back headphone. But the pads were awfully small, to where my ears would cramp up from touching the insides of the pad and driver. So I returned that one.
Fast forward a few years and I tried out the more budget oriented Philips SHP9500 that was seemingly quite the rage. Excellent headphone for the price and probably the most comfortable one i've worn, but the treble was still a little much. I then tried the AKG-k7XX, but the depth of the earpads, and the 2khz bump was fatiguing for me. It was an overall upgrade over the SHP9500, but lacked the refinement that I wanted, and it didn't quite fit my smaller head too well. The leather headband was hard enough to create a hotspot on my head over time, and the depth of the pads was too shallow.
Then I decided to go for a Hifiman HE-560/Project Polaris/ and a Schiit Modi Multibit.
The HE-560 had almost all of the things that I wanted "technically." Medium/large Soundstaging, Excellent Timbre, Natural, Neutralish signature without too much treble spiking, planar bass extension, enough resolution that it's barely microscopic, but not as intense as a hd800, and much more comfortable than the He-4 I used to have awhile ago! Turns out that the treble spike at 4khz bothered me too! And despite how balanced it is between neutral and natural sounding (imo), I felt that it wasn't too entertaining for me. As if it tried too hard to do a lot of things right, but had to sacrifice its musicality. Of course, that's my newbie opinion on it, so take it with a grain of salt ^_^.
And now, (and on topic) i've reached the point of putting my he-560's up for sale, while picking up these Nighthawks.
I was initially worried that the NH's would sound terrible out of the box and not improve over time. The first few hours took a little getting used to. I wasn't sure if it was my mind adapting or the drivers loosening. But i'm definitely finding this signature very very interesting and entertaining! I can't wait to hear what it's like after 150-200 hr burn in!
Comfort wise, I was worried that i'd have the same comfort problems that I had with the AKG. Fortunately, these were very comfortable for my small head! The band didn't create any hotspots as of yet, and the cups are just loose enough for me to not think about it. A very excellent thumbs up for comfort! I'd rate the Philips SHP-9500 very slightly higher in comfort just because it's easier to put on my head and somewhat lighter. By easier, I can use it to push back my medium length hair while putting it on. Minor thing, but it saves just that small ounce of time and effort.
In terms of sound so far.. Coming from two Planar Magnetics, I really wanted to keep a similar extension and quality of bass. The Nighthawk and its bio-cellulose driver had me very intrigued! (I'm a sucker for innovative and unusual technologies) Along with the distortion reducing things on the headphone and the non fatiguing signature, this sound is just so interesting! When I go back to the HE-560's more "neutral" signature, it sounds more thinner and rather dry. Technically, it's very excellent, but just not as entertaining as this Nighthawk. The treble in the NH does seem laid back to where it doesn't have that "sparkle" that can sound exciting and give notes that extra polish to show off. But at the same time, it's not lacking in detail and clarity (sorry if these two terms intermingle), which slightly confused me at first.
"These headphones can show that much detail and punch without sounding like a pair of slippers sloshing in mud?"
That was my first thought. And while I liked the extra treble polish on the other headphones, it did get fatiguing. And after listening to the NH, I daresay call them artificially boosted. I do like the amount of body that notes would have though. Having more meat on those bones really gives a more natural sense to things.
And lastly, these headphones really make me think... These may not be "Neutral" or "Natural" according to current standard measurements, But imo, I don't think that's a bad thing. In a way, these are kind of Natural in their own presentation. When you get into its shoes and see it, it just sounds right to you. It's all about perspective I think.
But anyways, I did run into a small tidbit of a problem, though it may or may not have kinked itself out. I did notice at one point that the sound would lose itself at some point in the vocals as if the signal was weakening. I was worried that the cable suffered channel imbalance or something, but after twisting the connector a little to make sure it's snug into the port fixed it. It's something i'll have to keep an eye on as i've read reports of the cable breaking or dying out after a few months for a certain batch.
Sorry for the long wall of text! I'd write more, but i'll wait until it's burned in more to confirm some details.
I started my headphone journey with a Hifiman He-4/ Project Ember 1/ Hifimediy Sabre dac, and that was a wonderful setup. But due to misuse of my ears at a concert, I ended up with sensitivity =(. Thus, my He-4 became rather painful to listen to with its treble. I sold all my equipment and thought I was done for good with headphones after buying a pair of Vanatoo t1 speakers.
A year later, I tried the RBH-HP-2's because I was intrigued by their addition of Beryllium in their drivers. I forgot what the sound signature was like, but I was surprised at the openness of the sound, despite being a closed back headphone. But the pads were awfully small, to where my ears would cramp up from touching the insides of the pad and driver. So I returned that one.
Fast forward a few years and I tried out the more budget oriented Philips SHP9500 that was seemingly quite the rage. Excellent headphone for the price and probably the most comfortable one i've worn, but the treble was still a little much. I then tried the AKG-k7XX, but the depth of the earpads, and the 2khz bump was fatiguing for me. It was an overall upgrade over the SHP9500, but lacked the refinement that I wanted, and it didn't quite fit my smaller head too well. The leather headband was hard enough to create a hotspot on my head over time, and the depth of the pads was too shallow.
Then I decided to go for a Hifiman HE-560/Project Polaris/ and a Schiit Modi Multibit.
The HE-560 had almost all of the things that I wanted "technically." Medium/large Soundstaging, Excellent Timbre, Natural, Neutralish signature without too much treble spiking, planar bass extension, enough resolution that it's barely microscopic, but not as intense as a hd800, and much more comfortable than the He-4 I used to have awhile ago! Turns out that the treble spike at 4khz bothered me too! And despite how balanced it is between neutral and natural sounding (imo), I felt that it wasn't too entertaining for me. As if it tried too hard to do a lot of things right, but had to sacrifice its musicality. Of course, that's my newbie opinion on it, so take it with a grain of salt ^_^.
And now, (and on topic) i've reached the point of putting my he-560's up for sale, while picking up these Nighthawks.
I was initially worried that the NH's would sound terrible out of the box and not improve over time. The first few hours took a little getting used to. I wasn't sure if it was my mind adapting or the drivers loosening. But i'm definitely finding this signature very very interesting and entertaining! I can't wait to hear what it's like after 150-200 hr burn in!
Comfort wise, I was worried that i'd have the same comfort problems that I had with the AKG. Fortunately, these were very comfortable for my small head! The band didn't create any hotspots as of yet, and the cups are just loose enough for me to not think about it. A very excellent thumbs up for comfort! I'd rate the Philips SHP-9500 very slightly higher in comfort just because it's easier to put on my head and somewhat lighter. By easier, I can use it to push back my medium length hair while putting it on. Minor thing, but it saves just that small ounce of time and effort.
In terms of sound so far.. Coming from two Planar Magnetics, I really wanted to keep a similar extension and quality of bass. The Nighthawk and its bio-cellulose driver had me very intrigued! (I'm a sucker for innovative and unusual technologies) Along with the distortion reducing things on the headphone and the non fatiguing signature, this sound is just so interesting! When I go back to the HE-560's more "neutral" signature, it sounds more thinner and rather dry. Technically, it's very excellent, but just not as entertaining as this Nighthawk. The treble in the NH does seem laid back to where it doesn't have that "sparkle" that can sound exciting and give notes that extra polish to show off. But at the same time, it's not lacking in detail and clarity (sorry if these two terms intermingle), which slightly confused me at first.
"These headphones can show that much detail and punch without sounding like a pair of slippers sloshing in mud?"
That was my first thought. And while I liked the extra treble polish on the other headphones, it did get fatiguing. And after listening to the NH, I daresay call them artificially boosted. I do like the amount of body that notes would have though. Having more meat on those bones really gives a more natural sense to things.
And lastly, these headphones really make me think... These may not be "Neutral" or "Natural" according to current standard measurements, But imo, I don't think that's a bad thing. In a way, these are kind of Natural in their own presentation. When you get into its shoes and see it, it just sounds right to you. It's all about perspective I think.
But anyways, I did run into a small tidbit of a problem, though it may or may not have kinked itself out. I did notice at one point that the sound would lose itself at some point in the vocals as if the signal was weakening. I was worried that the cable suffered channel imbalance or something, but after twisting the connector a little to make sure it's snug into the port fixed it. It's something i'll have to keep an eye on as i've read reports of the cable breaking or dying out after a few months for a certain batch.
Sorry for the long wall of text! I'd write more, but i'll wait until it's burned in more to confirm some details.
MattTCG
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I recently picked up a balanced AQ desktop cable for the NH and find it to be quite good. I'm getting a little more dynamics and driver control from my Jot amp which BTW makes a near perfect match for the NH,
Soundizer
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Audioquest are making a Headphone Stand for the Nighthawks.
Badas
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Soundizer
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I think it will be a stand where the ear cups fall down and are not stressed-stretched apart. That is what they mentioned to me. No date given for release.
Vigrith
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Oh that's cool, I'm a huge nerd when it comes to cool stands and stuff like that so I'm definitely interested - been waiting for Focal to release their Utopia/Elear stand so I can buy one but it's taken them a while.
Have one of those Oppo stands too Badas, think we talked about it previously either here or on the Woo Audio thread, usually not a big fan of acrylic (more of a wood kinda guy) but that one is beautiful and the cable management is super handy!
Have one of those Oppo stands too Badas, think we talked about it previously either here or on the Woo Audio thread, usually not a big fan of acrylic (more of a wood kinda guy) but that one is beautiful and the cable management is super handy!
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Can confirm. If you're thinking of getting a headphone stand, you might want to wait a few months until ours is released. The design solves the major problems with other stands on the market. And I'm extremely proud of the design of this piece.
Can't wait! I'm sorta a headphone stand geek: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=phototristan+headphone+stands
First 5 vids there are mine. Yes, I did say I'm a geek.
Vigrith
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Definitely looking forward to that Skylar, I'll 100% be buying one. Glad to see you and the team are working on all sorts of cool stuff, I'm still enjoying the NightHawks as much as I was when we spoke a few months ago!
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