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AudioQuest NightHawk Impressions and Discussion Thread
Jun 7, 2020 at 2:24 PM Post #9,422 of 10,196
Have anyone this one in use with 4-Pol XLR balanced? Is there an increase in sound? Think about getting me one of these cables. Otherwise great headphones for this price. I could buy them 2 years ago in Holland for 300USD. Sensational, I love the sound signature.
 
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Jun 7, 2020 at 4:25 PM Post #9,423 of 10,196
Swisshead said:
Have anyone this one in use with 4-Pol XLR balanced? Is there an increase in sound? Think about getting me one of these cables. Otherwise great headphones for this price. I could buy them 2 years ago in Holland for 300USD. Sensational, I love the sound signature.
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There's no inherent advantage to running these balanced in my opinion. They're really easy to drive, they don't need the extra power.
 
Jun 7, 2020 at 7:13 PM Post #9,425 of 10,196
Unf0 said:
I don’t know how to feel about the nighthawk carbons.... their so different! Honestly they remind me of the sennheiser 600 series veil.
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The pleather pads are not my favorite on the Nighthawk. I prefer the suede out of the two stock pad options. I've found decent results by using a ZMF Suede pad, as I found it to be improve clarity, yet keep the sound signature.
 
Jun 8, 2020 at 1:26 PM Post #9,427 of 10,196
HipHopScribe said:
Your extension cable isn't playing nice with the 4-pole remote by the sound of it. Easiest fix is just getting a new cable. Just search for Sennheiser HD 700 cables on Amazon or wherever and there are plenty of options
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Right you are but I fought this off with another method! Just found two mini jack->jack and jack->mini jack adapters lying around and connected the cans to the extension cable through that and... it works like a charm now! No need for button pressing :D Thanks!
 
Jun 8, 2020 at 10:13 PM Post #9,428 of 10,196
How many cable adapters does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

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Owning a Sony PHA-3 drove me to purchase 2x3.5mm balanced headphone cables for some of my cans. Then, I added the Drop LCX, which meant XLR-4 (shared adapter, in some cases). Finally, the Sony Walkman WM1A and its 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced connector meant the XLR-4 -to- 4.4mm adapter from Woo Audio.

Decided to listen to some new ambient electronica and classical, with my OG NightHawks with the all-suede pads (I have all three NH pad types and the all-suede are really nice with classical).

I instantly recalled the upper bass / lower mid bloom with the 'Hawks, which was annoying with Steve Roach's new live release "The Sky Opens". But, with orchestral works, the Nighthawks are my best 'phones.
 
Jun 10, 2020 at 11:39 AM Post #9,429 of 10,196
Ohh, that sounds great! I didn't expect that. The blue Dragonfly harmonizes perfectly with the dark Nighthawk! So you can use it quite often, especially on the terrace or so! :beyersmile::thumbsup:

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Jun 10, 2020 at 3:00 PM Post #9,430 of 10,196
overhaze said:
I've been playing around with Equalizer APO and Peace, can there any recommended EQ settings for the Nighthawks out there?
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Here you go -
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/innerfidelity/innerfidelity_harman_over-ear_2018/AudioQuest NightHawk

Related discussion here -
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/92b08s/eq_settings_for_700_headphones/

Note: I have used this for Philips Fidelio X2 and enjoyed the results!

If you have not done this before, you basically just want to take the GraphicEQ.txt and copy it in to replace the default config.txt in your Equalizer APO folder
 
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Jun 30, 2020 at 8:03 AM Post #9,432 of 10,196
Quasimodosbelfry said:
I'm keen on getting another pair too. Where are you seeing them for cheap?
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At this point it's not unusual to find NightHawks 2nd hand on eBay for $250 or less. Sometimes even under $200.
 
Jun 30, 2020 at 3:19 PM Post #9,433 of 10,196
Jul 24, 2020 at 2:03 PM Post #9,434 of 10,196
Edit: I reverted them back. They are actually too bright this way...

Hi everyone, I performed a simple mod on the headphones that, I believe, transforms these headphones. The improvement is astonishing, particularly opening up the mids and treble, adding micro-detail, and adding definition to the bass.

What I did was carefully remove the grills that covers the drivers. It lifted off easily using the bottle-opener on my Swiss Army knife (it's secured with a ring of glue). The headphones gain a significant amount of clarity and lose the "mud". I believe this is the tonal profile that the driver was created for, but it was muddied by the need for a thick grill to protect them from mishaps. These go from being dark and bass centric to well-balanced.

There is soundstage and detail for days. Speech intelligibility goes way up! It's better than almost any other headphone I've ever heard and truly musical. Next mod will be adding some poly-fill behind the drivers to smooth the response a bit. There's some potential here.

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Jul 24, 2020 at 2:50 PM Post #9,435 of 10,196
Interesting, good for you, but I don't think I am going to do this mod myself. If I want less mud I pick my HD650s. That mud is what distinguishes the NightHawks and to my ears in a very pleasant way.
Speaking about the HD650s, I now fully understand why people are/were so very critical and negative about the NightHawks, apart from a less ideal soundstage the more affordable, similar in their easy-going nature and non-fatigue HD650s are better in every way. Tonal balance, resolution, texture, timbre, micro dynamics...and those impecable highs.
This may come as a surprise, but I think I still prefer the NightHawks for the biggest amount of music, because of their soundstage and fluid presentation. Richer, more layered and significant more depth, a well rounded sound space. This works wonders in both more complex, busy recordings as in more straighforward ones. But the HD650s beat them in naturalness of tone, timbre and texture. Their bigger resolution and micro-dynamics make instruments really pop.
 
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