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AudioQuest NightHawk Impressions and Discussion Thread

Jan 26, 2017 at 2:28 PM Post #6,031 of 10,236
ytsejamer said:
   
Did you have the chance to try the Sony Z1R Matt ?
 
I have heard the NightOwl yesterday and I think that they are every bit as good as the NH.
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Whew, that's huge relief. My fallback, if I don't love the Nightowl as much, was to just buy another NH. But would cost me with the recent price hike on the woodies. The original wood at $350 was one of the truly insane price/performance deals I've seen since I've been in the hobby...along with hd6xx. 
 
Some people just don't "get the NH signature." Which is fine, I didn't get it either at first listen. But once you'll settled in with them they can be some of the most enjoyable cans in the game...liquid smooth, delicately detailed and nuanced with incredibly low distortion. 
 
Also add to my price/performance list: ath-r70x. 
 
@Venture Guy thank you kind sir. 
 
Jan 26, 2017 at 2:39 PM Post #6,033 of 10,236
matttcg said:
   
Whew, that's huge relief. My fallback, if I don't love the Nightowl as much, was to just buy another NH. But would cost me with the recent price hike on the woodies. The original wood at $350 was one of the truly insane price/performance deals I've seen since I've been in the hobby...along with hd6xx. 
 
Some people just don't "get the NH signature." Which is fine, I didn't get it either at first listen. But once you'll settled in with them they can be some of the most enjoyable cans in the game...liquid smooth, delicately detailed and nuanced with incredibly low distortion. 
 
Also add to my price/performance list: ath-r70x. 
 
@Venture Guy thank you kind sir. 
Click to expand...

 
lol
 
Maybe you should keep your pair of woodies a couple of weeks to be 100% sure but honestly I was very impressed by the NightOwl.  
 
I have never heard the ath-r70x but now I'm curious 
wink.gif

 
Jan 26, 2017 at 2:39 PM Post #6,034 of 10,236
I can report that the difference between NH+US pad, all things considered, and my PMx2s is more or less zilch. The sub-bass+bass on the NHs is better. I might argue that the PMx2s have a tiny bit better upper end. Hmmm, now let me think. $300 (that's what I paid for my NHs on Cyber Monday) vs. $1.4K... insane!
 
Jan 26, 2017 at 2:47 PM Post #6,038 of 10,236
venture guy said:
  The Beatles were pushing the limits of production and in the day it was neat. But, now with ridiculously better reproduction, a lot of it sounds weird. I have the Beatles in mono, although I have never listened to them. I listen to the 24 bit stuff. Should I switch?
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Should you switch?  Well that depends. From 62 to about 68 all the Beatles recordings were final engineered to be Mono. They released them in stereo, but they lose some of the fine detail information.  I mean, if you record a vocal while playing a guitar on the same track, it's not going to sound 100% accurate when you split the guitar and vocal after the fact.  The Beatles attempted to use some trickery by using overdubbing to increase the number of "tracks" that were recorded.  So they went from 2-track to overdubbed 4-track and when 4-track came out, they over dubbed to 8-track.

EDIT:  I should mention that prior to the 2014 mono releases, the mono tracks were just stereo that had the left and right moved to center. So...yuck :(

Just my two cents, starting with Sgt Peppers on down to Let It Be...stick with 24 bit stereo. For the early stuff...stick with 16 bit mono. Although...there are handful of stereo tracks from those mono recordings that sound better than their mono counterparts.
 
Jan 26, 2017 at 5:04 PM Post #6,041 of 10,236
venture guy said:
Sooo, while I'm on a price/performance jag, I'll finish up. My system is: NH+Pono Player+Silver Litz Type 2 cable. Total cost= $800. An endgame SYSTEM that fits in my pocket for $800! 
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Why would some people say the Boost pads make for a much more expansive soundstage, while others say the US pads do? To my ears, the Nightowls lose a little of their magic with the US pads. The more I try them, the more I don't like them.
 
Jan 26, 2017 at 5:05 PM Post #6,042 of 10,236
Well...knowing not a whole lot about tubes..I have "rolled" the tubes in the Nobsound 08-SE headphone amp. I replaced them with JAN 6688s from Sept 1970.  With only a 10 minute warm up, the soundstage is even wider and sound even richer. Also, I had to cut the volume by half what I was listening to.  Apparently, 6688s provide more power than the stock tunes that come with it.  I know this appears off topic, but it would seem that the more power the better the sound out of the NHs, which if you go back to one of my earliest posts, that was something I was curious about (which led to me getting a headphone amp.).

Just curious if folks who are disappointed with the NH sound could test them on a system that more power than what you are usually running them on.  I really did feel like they were thirsty for more power. 

I wish I could post pictures.  These NOS tubes have a solid metal core in it vs the newer Chinese stock tubes that have a smaller metal core.
 
Jan 26, 2017 at 6:35 PM Post #6,043 of 10,236
shurealltheway said:
Why would some people say the Boost pads make for a much more expansive soundstage, while others say the US pads do? To my ears, the Nightowls lose a little of their magic with the US pads. The more I try them, the more I don't like them.
Click to expand...

we are in violent agreement...
 
Jan 26, 2017 at 6:58 PM Post #6,045 of 10,236
Just reicived my pair of nighthawks today, so haven't really listened to them much.
 
A few first thoughts
-they look much better IRL. Was worried that the liquid wood was going to look cheap, but it looks great.
-They're very comfortable. Was worried they would feel a bit heavier (my x2 that is approx same weight feels much heavier)
-They get warm! I've always prefered leatherpads, but those get quite warm! 
-They're sensitive. I had to lower the volume plentiful compared to my other headphones (x2, hd700)
 
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