As a personal opinion I have to say no. With good recordings the HD800 is fantastic. Think about the albums Sign 'O' The Times (Prince) or Camomile Classics (Emi Fujita). The thing is, most albums in my collection don’t sound so good. The Nighthawks are forgiving, so even crappy recordings from the eighties are listenable. But don’t get me wrong, they are also awsome with good recordings. I can live without my HD800 but not without my hawks.Well from my understanding, a "reference headphone" is one that could be favorably compared to other headphones that are considered the best on the market. For example, for many, the Senn HD800s is a reference headphone....can the NH be considered a reference headphone under that definition? Or is that definition totally off?
Then again, what do I know ?