AudioQuest NightHawk Impressions and Discussion Thread

[mbwilson111]

I am not too excited about the earpads, but could use a better cable.
Just after a few weeks I had to send back the 'silver' cable for the Hawks for replacement. The plug is just ridiculously weak. I don't understand, how a cable manufacturer at their £499 headphone can let this happen.(I am not the first one with this problem.)
Otherwise I am in love with my Nighthawk.

I love mine too.  Fully burned in now (over 180 hours). I just kept them playing music non stop on  my desktop system and I listened whenever I felt like it... sometimes for a couple of hours at a time.  Very difficult to take them off
 
Did they replace your cable with the same type?  When I ordered these I was aware of possible upcoming changes including a color change.  When I found that great deal I just had to do it.  By then I had decided I wanted the original color anyway. I have  no regrets  I was and am still worried about the cable. Right now I have it well managed at my desk.  No strain anywhere.  I plan to be very very careful.  Did you have to pay a lot to send the cable back to the States?
 
I found this yesterday.  https://www.indulgenceshow.com/audioquest-introduce-the-nightowl-at-indulgence/
The links to the products generate an "Oops" at the moment but that shop does carry the original Nighthawk.

 

[betula]

I love mine too.  Fully burned in now (over 180 hours). I just kept them playing music non stop on  my desktop system and I listened whenever I felt like it... sometimes for a couple of hours at a time.  Very difficult to take them off

Did they replace your cable with the same type?  When I ordered these I was aware of possible upcoming changes including a color change.  When I found that great deal I just had to do it.  By then I had decided I wanted the original color anyway. I have  no regrets  I was and am still worried about the cable. Right now I have it well managed at my desk.  No strain anywhere.  I plan to be very very careful.  Did you have to pay a lot to send the cable back to the States?

I found this yesterday.  https://www.indulgenceshow.com/audioquest-introduce-the-nightowl-at-indulgence/
The links to the products generate an "Oops" at the moment but that shop does carry the original Nighthawk.

I am still waiting for the replacement cable, but I would think they will send me the same cable, not the revised one.
I will report back, if I receive a replacement cable different to the original one.

I didn't have to send it to the US, as I bought the NH in the UK. The retailer in the UK does the cable swap for me.

I also prefer the original colour of the Nighthawk, and the semi-open design. I would love to hear the NO, but couldn't justify buying it, since NH is my best personal headphone match so far. I am guessing, with the close design there must be a certain loss of spaciousness, but maybe a tad tighter bass. Just guessing of course.

 

[MASS HYSTERIA]

I can recommend the Atlas Zeno headphone cable (made in the UK) for the Nighthawks , . . i wasn't happy with the original Nighthawk cables either , so went for a cable upgrade , . . yes , quite expensive , but they are making the Nighthawks sound even better. They (Atlas) offer various cable end terminations to suit your amp / set up etc.  

 

[Mediahound]

Sounds like the Nighthawk Carbon is going to be a upgrade cable for the Nighthawk.

 

[YtseJamer]

   
ADORE my HD700s. 
 
Different, not better. I still say the Hawks are better but I was feeling the wanderlust and decided to do some trading around. I have no doubts the Hawks will return to my collection someday. 
 
I'd actually say they complement each other well. The Nighthawks are intimate, velvety smooth, natural and just wonderful. The HD700s are big, expansive, with lifted treble for those times when you want something more sparkly. The NH is certainly what I'd say is the more "honest" of the two in that it sounds like full sized instruments. 

 
Interesting, maybe I should give another chance to the HD700.
 
Cheers

 

[YtseJamer]

So we can presume that the new NightHawk Carbon will be a new version of the NightHawk with 2 sets of pads and the new cable.

 

[Mediahound]

  So we can presume that the new NightHawk Carbon will be a new version of the NightHawk with 2 sets of pads and the new cable.

I was thinking just a cable but could be mistaken. 

 

[betula]

So we can presume that the new NightHawk Carbon will be a new version of the NightHawk with 2 sets of pads and the new cable.

New cable, new earpads. But only one pair of pads, if I get it right.

 

[SearchOfSub]

When is it going to be released?


I hope AQ comes out with a $999.00 and a $1,499.00 headphones soon though!

 

[Vigrith]

 
Interesting, maybe I should give another chance to the HD700.
 
Cheers

 
Never liked the HD700s much, they just feel like Sennheiser's first (arguably "failed") attempt at making the HD800 since the tuning is basically the exact same, they're just worse. I'm not a big fan of the 800s either even though I own them, pretty much just use them as a tool to observe/evaluate slight changes made to my audio chain, but I feel like the trade-offs with the 700s were never worth it. Eg. not ultra detailed enough to warrant the lacklustre bass, not expansive enough to warrant the horrendous treble, yada yada.
 
That said, I'm looking forward to seeing what the NH carbon ends up being, I have a multipurpose (through hypershort adapters) Norne cable I use for all of my headphones so the stock cable problems never affected me - the new pads and potentially new finish however I am very interested in however.

 

[shootthemoon18]

   
Never liked the HD700s much, they just feel like Sennheiser's first (arguably "failed") attempt at making the HD800 since the tuning is basically the exact same, they're just worse. I'm not a big fan of the 800s either even though I own them, pretty much just use them as a tool to observe/evaluate slight changes made to my audio chain, but I feel like the trade-offs with the 700s were never worth it. Eg. not ultra detailed enough to warrant the lacklustre bass, not expansive enough to warrant the horrendous treble, yada yada.
 
That said, I'm looking forward to seeing what the NH carbon ends up being, I have a multipurpose (through hypershort adapters) Norne cable I use for all of my headphones so the stock cable problems never affected me - the new pads and potentially new finish however I am very interested in however.

 
It's always interesting to hear people have different opinions on HD700. I'm one of those guys that love dark and warm sound and yet i still like HD700. It's actually my favorite Sennheiser Audiophile headphone. HD650 has the perfect sound signature from Mids to treble but it's lacking in detail in comparison to HD700. Hd700 sounds like a much more detailed HD650 with a bit more treble. Many people characterize HD700 as bright but i don't hear it that way. To me, they are dark with one severe treble peak. Bright headphones that i absolutely can't tolerate are the Beyers ,HD800, fostex ThXXX, etc...  If HD700 has bass like Nighthawk, i think i'll get them over Nighthawk. HD700 is one of the most comfortable headphones for me and has highest performance for the dollar. From where i am, they are almost 1/3 the price of HD800.

 

[Soundizer]

 
So we can presume that the new NightHawk Carbon will be a new version of the NightHawk with 2 sets of pads and the new cable.

I was thinking just a cable but could be mistaken. 

That is what I thought as the Carbon name would be inconsistent for a Audioquest Headphone. Since both Nighthawks/Nightowls are Birds. So why break this Sub Brand naming convention theme.

 

[Vigrith]

 
It's always interesting to hear people have different opinions on HD700. I'm one of those guys that love dark and warm sound and yet i still like HD700. It's actually my favorite Sennheiser Audiophile headphone. HD650 has the perfect sound signature from Mids to treble but it's lacking in detail in comparison to HD700. Hd700 sounds like a much more detailed HD650 with a bit more treble. Many people characterize HD700 as bright but i don't hear it that way. To me, they are dark with one severe treble peak. Bright headphones that i absolutely can't tolerate are the Beyers ,HD800, fostex ThXXX, etc...  If HD700 has bass like Nighthawk, i think i'll get them over Nighthawk. HD700 is one of the most comfortable headphones for me and has highest performance for the dollar. From where i am, they are almost 1/3 the price of HD800.

 
Yea I actually wouldn't say the HD700 are super bright either but the treble spike is what does my head in, I much prefer the HD650 and Nighthawks - the comfort on the 700s is great though yes, but then again so are the NHs, more so even potentially. Dark and warm sound is what I'm all about so only Sennheiser's is truly enjoy are the 650s, which is funny because I quite like the Beyerdynamic T90s which are about as spikey and bright as the HD800, guess it comes down to what sorta gear you're running your headphones through in the end.
 
I just feel the priceerformance is much higher with the 650s, at least in Europe, they sell for like $300 whilst the 700s cost $700~ almost which is pretty much the same as the NightHawks making the decision a no brainer for me there.

 

[Mediahound]

That is what I thought as the Carbon name would be inconsistent for a Audioquest Headphone. Since both Nighthawks/Nightowls are Birds. So why break this Sub Brand naming convention theme.

Yep. And Carbon is a line of cables they currently have. 

 

[Hi-Fi EDU]

When is it going to be released?


I hope AQ comes out with a $999.00 and a $1,499.00 headphones soon though!

What!? No thanks on higher-priced headphones. One of the main reasons I like what AQ and Skylar are doing with their line of headphones is that they aren't going bonkers with the pricing, while maintaining excellent SQ. Sweet and welcome price/performance.