[Hi-Fi EDU]

  I got the DT 1990 in by the way. I will be comparing them in the future, they do sound different, so quite different sound signature and will likely be good complimentary headphones. The Nighthawks are more laid-back and softer sounding. The DT 1990's have a more tactile, dynamic, euphoric, and aggressive sound. Neither are fatiguing to me, just different sound signatures, not to mention the second pair of pads on the Beyers make them into a different headphone, very different sound. I'm hoping the new pads coming out on the Nighthawks make them into different headphones like it does on the DT 1990.
 

 
@kman1211 Very photogenic combo! Thanks for the prelim impressions. I look forward to the final comparison after you've put some hours behind the 1990s.
 
On another note, I just received my cable replacement from AQ. I unplugged the thinner cable that's been tiding me over, hooked up the thick replacement and had an "ahhh" moment of satisfaction. Smoother yet clearer sounding. Only confirmed to me that it's undoubtedly the better of the two NH cables, and a really good cable overall. Finger-crossed my faulty one was just from a bad batch. It took about 5 days after they received it, for me to get the replacement. The entire RMA process took about 12 days total. Quite painless.
 
I was also told over the phone by an AQ rep that the "updated" stock cable will be available next year at the earliest. Guess we'll see about that...and the pads.

 

[SearchOfSub]

I want to put on NH stock pads on my LCD 2.2.


Edit: stock cables.

 

[pataouetes]

Hi everybody. Did someone try the NH with the plenue p1?

 

[shootthemoon18]

So, some of you might have read about my findings that Mojo is not driving Nighthawk well. The center image seems fuzzy and lacking in accuracy. Some of  you suggested that it's the sound signature of NH and some suggested that a desktop amp with more power is the answer. Today i went ot my local headphone store to experiment whether there is any improvements with desktop amps. I first tried Marantz HD- DAC1 with Mojo as DAC and it clips badly. I suspect Mojo lineout is too powerful. Then i tried Schiit Asgard and Burson Conductor V2 with Mojo as DAC. I feel dynamics and soundstage imaging improve slightly with the Asgard but everything else was significantly worse. Transparency and clarity took a big hit. Asgard almost sounds like a tube amp, warm and noisy. Definitely not recommended to pair with Mojo. The conductor was much better. There's still a significant drop in transparency and clarity which i think is the natural degradation of passing through more components however, dynamics and soundstage imaging seems to improve. Particularly soundstage seems to have more air and center image is clearer. It's a good pairing for those who wish a bit more dynamics and air (not treble).
 
It's true that Mojo does drive the Nighthawk quite well however NH improves significantly when fed by better amp.

 

[inthere]

120 hous of burn in and counting on new AKG K872

GS-X mk2 making both sound great!

 

[adpo]

I've been running the Nighthawks with the new Jotunheim for a few weeks now and it's been a fantastic pairing. Only thing I find lacking in any sense with the pairing is that, compared to what I recall of the V281, it lacks the violectric's stunning sense of holographic imaging. Besides that, it's a wonderfully transparent amplifier with a great sense for dynamics and detail, playing quite nicely with my Pro-Ject RM10.1.

 

[x RELIC x]

So, some of you might have read about my findings that Mojo is not driving Nighthawk well. The center image seems fuzzy and lacking in accuracy. Some of  you suggested that it's the sound signature of NH and some suggested that a desktop amp with more power is the answer. Today i went ot my local headphone store to experiment whether there is any improvements with desktop amps. I first tried Marantz HD- DAC1 with Mojo as DAC and it clips badly. I suspect Mojo lineout is too powerful. Then i tried Schiit Asgard and Burson Conductor V2 with Mojo as DAC. I feel dynamics and soundstage imaging improve slightly with the Asgard but everything else was significantly worse. Transparency and clarity took a big hit. Asgard almost sounds like a tube amp, warm and noisy. Definitely not recommended to pair with Mojo. The conductor was much better. There's still a significant drop in transparency and clarity which i think is the natural degradation of passing through more components however, dynamics and soundstage imaging seems to improve. Particularly soundstage seems to have more air and center image is clearer. It's a good pairing for those who wish a bit more dynamics and air (not treble).

 
It's true that Mojo does drive the Nighthawk quite well however NH improves significantly when fed by better amp.

Regarding the clipping with external amps, all you need to do is turn down the volume 4 clicks from the line-level setting of 3V. This will output approximately 1.9V which is much closer to the 2V CD standard line level output. Don't worry, you aren't engaging any internal 'amp' vs 'line-out' by doing this (there is no separate built in headphone amp in the Mojo). The Mojo's output, like all Chord DACs, is basically full time variable line-out straight from the DAC, and the volume is controlled digitally (no worries about losing resolution either - it's very well done). For what it's worth the Mojo is just as powerful as the Hugo and almost as powerful as the Hugo TT so it has plenty of juice to drive almost any headphone. Of course personal preference and synergy is entirely different.

Also, for what it's worth, the designer of the Mojo uses the Nighthawks with the Mojo.

 

[shootthemoon18]

   it lacks the violectric's stunning sense of holographic imaging. 

This is exactly what i felt was missing in Mojo pairing. It was present with all my easier to drive headphones so it's not an issue with Mojo amp transparency.
 

Regarding the clipping with external amps, all you need to do is turn down the volume 4 clicks from the line-level setting of 3V. This will output approximately 1.9V which is much closer to the 2V CD standard line level output. Don't worry, you aren't engaging any internal 'amp' vs 'line-out' by doing this (there is no separate built in headphone amp in the Mojo). The Mojo's output, like all Chord DACs, is basically full time variable line-out straight from the DAC, and the volume is controlled digitally (no worries about losing resolution either - it's very well done). For what it's worth the Mojo is just as powerful as the Hugo and almost as powerful as the Hugo TT so it has plenty of juice to drive almost any headphone. Of course personal preference and synergy is entirely different.

Also, for what it's worth, the designer of the Mojo uses the Nighthawks with the Mojo.

Thanks for the useful tip! It's times like this that i wish i read the entire user manual.




I was just looking at the NH graphs on Innerfidelity and i was surprised to see how much power NH requires. Take a look at how much power NH requires as compared to some popular power hungry headphones:

*Note this is not how much power to make the headphone louder but it affects dynamics, control and soundstage quality.
 
Beyerdynamic T1:  0.28 mW
Sennheiser HD 800 S:  0.13 mW 
Mr Speakers Ether:  0.21 mW

AudioQuest NightHawk: 0.37 mW

I'm not the smartest in reading these information so please do correct me if i'm not right. It is very interesting for me to see that NH requires 2x the power of 300 ohm HD800 and even more than 600 ohm T1! In grand scheme of things, it's still way lower than planars. I guess this kinda explains to me why Mojo has trouble making NH absolutely sing.

 

[x RELIC x]

This is exactly what i felt was missing in Mojo pairing. It was present with all my easier to drive headphones so it's not an issue with Mojo amp transparency.

Thanks for the useful tip! It's times like this that i wish i read the entire user manual.

I was just looking at the NH graphs on Innerfidelity and i was surprised to see how much power NH requires. Take a look at how much power NH requires as compared to some popular power hungry headphones:

*Note this is not how much power to make the headphone louder but it affects dynamics, control and soundstage quality.

Beyerdynamic T1:  0.28 mW
Sennheiser HD 800 S:  0.13 mW 
Mr Speakers Ether:  0.21 mW

AudioQuest NightHawk: 0.37 mW


I'm not the smartest in reading these information so please do correct me if i'm not right. It is very interesting for me to see that NH requires 2x the power of 300 ohm HD800 and even more than 600 ohm T1! In grand scheme of things, it's still way lower than planars. I guess this kinda explains to me why Mojo has trouble making NH absolutely sing.

Well, if the Mojo designer listens to the Nighthawks with the Mojo then you can be sure it drives the Nighthawks just fine. Trust me, he has a very discerning ear. The Nighthawks are easy to drive, they have an impedance of 25 Ohms and a sensitivity of 100mW. That's more efficient than the ETHER Flow or the Focal Utopia and I listen to them within the lower third of Mojo's volume at around 80-85 dB (and they sound great with the Mojo compared to my more powerful desktop gear). If you don't like the synergy that's fine, not everyone will like the Mojo, nothing wrong that at all, but strictly speaking the drivability is not the issue.

 

[betula]

Seeking for the perfect match I am coming from this (main) path: HD600 -> X2 -> (Nighthawk) -> TH-X00.

When I bought my X00s after a superficial relationship with my first Nighthawks, I was amazed by the tighter and deeper bass of the X00s. Brighter and (seemingly) cleaner treble, slighlty more detail, harder punch. Even though the treble caused me ear-fatigue, I sold the NH and kept the X00s, because after 2-3 weeks I did not really get serious fatigue anymore from the Fostex. I got used to the sound. This was months ago, and now I started to feel some fatigue again. It is most likely my treble sensitivity (which might have worsened).
 Anyway, even though I like how the X00s sound, due to my treble sensitive ears I decided to give a second chance to the NH, and this time for real. At least one month almost exclusively with the NH. In my opinion NH can not really be A/B tested with any other headphones. NH requires much longer adjustment from your brain, therefore A/B testing is pointless. IMO the only way to really compare headphones to NH is spending a substantial amount of time with each of the tested headphones (days, weeks) and then write an obviously subjective review.
 I admit, I did not give a full chance to NH. I probably wouldn't be bothered with giving a second chance, if the strident treble of the X00s did not hurt my treble sensitive ears.
But here we go, next week arrives my second pair of NHs.
I have been looking around, what other choices I have. I prefer musicality over analytical sound, I do not want a completely flat response, I want to have fun when listening to music. Bass is amongst the top three qualities for me with clarity and resolution. Closely followed by space.
I think, most of us could clearly describe what we could change on our most beloved pair of headphones to make it even more to our liking.
There will always be compromises. The case is the same with the mirage term: "end-game". We see it, but it will never really exist. Deep in our hearts we know this, but it is just joyful to follow the mirage. Not like we had any chance. A 'thirsty' man will follow the mirage. But hey, it is not the destination, it is the road, ain't?
 So, I did not really want to spend more than £400, however I was ready to spend more, if I find something exceptional.
 For my liking there are not many headphones in this price range. I am after a strong, well-extended, clear bass, overall clarity, resolution, as much space as possible, as much naturality as possible, smooth sound with rounded down, mellow treble, but not loosing details. All of this with a slightly more than acceptable mid-range, for not more than £4-600. 
 Mad Dogs, Nighthawks, LCD2, X00. In the price range there are not too many 'in-a-way-similar' headphones. LCD2-s are on the higher end of this budget, but I heard owners saying they prefer some other less expensive headphones over LCD2. The Nighthawks for example, for half the money.
 So I give NH a second chance, a nearly exclusive listening for a month.
I just thought, I tell y'all the good news.
 

 

[Soundizer]

This is exactly what i felt was missing in Mojo pairing. It was present with all my easier to drive headphones so it's not an issue with Mojo amp transparency.

Thanks for the useful tip! It's times like this that i wish i read the entire user manual.

I was just looking at the NH graphs on Innerfidelity and i was surprised to see how much power NH requires. Take a look at how much power NH requires as compared to some popular power hungry headphones:

*Note this is not how much power to make the headphone louder but it affects dynamics, control and soundstage quality.

Beyerdynamic T1:  0.28 mW
Sennheiser HD 800 S:  0.13 mW 
Mr Speakers Ether:  0.21 mW

AudioQuest NightHawk: 0.37 mW


I'm not the smartest in reading these information so please do correct me if i'm not right. It is very interesting for me to see that NH requires 2x the power of 300 ohm HD800 and even more than 600 ohm T1! In grand scheme of things, it's still way lower than planars. I guess this kinda explains to me why Mojo has trouble making NH absolutely sing.

Well, if the Mojo designer listens to the Nighthawks with the Mojo then you can be sure it drives the Nighthawks just fine. Trust me, he has a very discerning ear. The Nighthawks are easy to drive, they have an impedance of 25 Ohms and a sensitivity of 100mW. That's more efficient than the ETHER Flow or the Focal Utopia and I listen to them within the lower third of Mojo's volume at around 80-85 dB (and they sound great with the Mojo compared to my more powerful desktop gear). If you don't like the synergy that's fine, not everyone will like the Mojo, nothing wrong that at all, but strictly speaking the drivability is not the issue.

I use the Mojo with the Nighthawks and it is an amazing partnership. Totally recommend it. I listened to much more expensive Dac/Amps with the Nighthawks (300hours burn in) at a Dealer and the Mojo is the best. Other amps were upto £2000.

 

[Soundizer]

Nighthawks and Mojo pairing - excellent combination.

Check this article which realises the Nighthawks to be the best pairing for the Mojo against many other headphones. Although this article is a Mojo review here are the relevant highlights -quotes:

"3) On headphone pairings that play counterbalance to the Mojo’s caffeinated pep, the HiFiMAN HE-1000 come off better than the Sennheiser HD800. Similarly, the Master & Dynamic MH40 are preferred to the OPPO PM-3 and the Sennheiser HD650 over Beyerdynamic’s (1st Gen) T1. My cost no object preference returned an unexpected result: the Mojo sounded most balanced of all with a pair of AudioQuest NightHawk in tow.

4) The NightHawk nicely offset the the Mojo’s only real weakness: a slightly undernourished tonal body; it’s not the meatiest player in town, but only properly noticeable when stood off against the warmer, thicker, more congealed Multibit Bifrost from Schiit. And even more so when contrasted by the comparative cornflour of the Aqua La Voce S2. Mojo lays recordings bare, deformities and all. The Schiit and Aqua are more forgiving (veiled?), particularly the latter. Then again, no D/A converter other than the Mojo packs a headphone output."




Article link:
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/02/chord-electronics-mojo-lost-found/

 

[NigelJ]

...I was just looking at the NH graphs on Innerfidelity and i was surprised to see how much power NH requires. Take a look at how much power NH requires as compared to some popular power hungry headphones:


*Note this is not how much power to make the headphone louder but it affects dynamics, control and soundstage quality.

Beyerdynamic T1:  0.28 mW
Sennheiser HD 800 S:  0.13 mW 
Mr Speakers Ether:  0.21 mW


AudioQuest NightHawk: 0.37 mW


I'm not the smartest in reading these information so please do correct me if i'm not right. It is very interesting for me to see that NH requires 2x the power of 300 ohm HD800 and even more than 600 ohm T1! In grand scheme of things, it's still way lower than planars. I guess this kinda explains to me why Mojo has trouble making NH absolutely sing.

Don't worry voltage is much more of an issue than power for headphones. The following was recently blogged by Tyll Hertsens of InnerFidelity.

Sensitivity - Another of my pet peeves. It's expressed in a rather more complex way in the paper, but the main gist is this: IEC spec cause sensitivity/efficiency measurements to use measures of power, i.e., dB/mWatt. It's simply much more reasonable to measure headphone efficiency in dB/Volt—given how easy it is to drive headphones and the lack of need to worry about power limitations of driving amplifiers.

Look, the knob on your headphone amp is changing the voltage at the output. What you want from a manufacturer is a number that's going to let you know how high you're going to have to turn up that knob. Or, you want to know that if the dB/Volt is too low, you're not going to be able to drive it with your iPhone. A dB/Volt spec is just way more useful.

Read more at http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/aes-headphone-technology-conference-stuff-possibly-useful-headphone-enthusiasts#lDIjjDTvyHchOQLp.99

 

[FastAndClean]

stock pads and with HM5 velours pads.
 

 

[nirudhap]

That extreme but narrow dip is caused by the pads?

Mind you I found the brainwaves velour pads to be too bright for me. Must try the hybrids or even their pleather. Any chance of seeing those measured?