[frogmeat69]

I'm sure this has been addressed previously in this thread, but could anyone recommend a good, affordable desktop amp/dac (preferably combo) to pair with the Nighthawks (I have the original woods)? I have been using the portable Xduoo XD-05 and it is a very nice match but was looking to upgrade. Thanks for any suggestions.

I found the silver iFi Micro iDSD was a great match, don't see how the Black Label would be much different. Lately I have been using my iCan Pro with an iOne DAC since I sold the iDSD.

 

[squeakez]

I suggest the Schiit Jotunheim, with internal dac, with a balanced cable (4pin xlr) and that bird will sing.

Thank for this suggestion. I have heard good things about the Jotunheim and will look into this.

 

[squeakez]

I found the silver iFi Micro iDSD was a great match, don't see how the Black Label would be much different. Lately I have been using my iCan Pro with an iOne DAC since I sold the iDSD.

I had the iDSD Black Label for a while and sold it, but not when I had the Nighthawks. I probably wouldn't buy it again though. It didn't pair well with any of my headphones. Thanks for the suggestion though - I appreciate it.

 

[BigDave]

So, I would really like a good portable solution for my nighthawks and I went into my 'local' store yesterday and tried out an Ultrasone Naos, a Dragonfly red, an Ifi idsd nano black label (what a mouthful!) and a fiio Q1 MkII. I was just using my Nokia 8 as a source, which works well with my cheap fiio e7 amp/dac (but I am searching for better). I was using Usb audio player pro on my phone.

The ifi sounded too warm and not resolving enough, and it made random clicks every now and then. Weird. I was expecting to walk out with it to be honest.

The Naos gave great clarity and sounded very good except that I lost the bass presence. I love the bass weight on the hawks and it lost the heart of that. I also had issues with the connection, it randomly went to shrieking volume in the left driver. Weird again!

The dragonfly did not want to work well with my phone, I could not get the volume to go high enough. I tried a number of different settings in the app but eventually gave up. I cannot really comment with that one due to the issue. I would like to give it another go, though.

I also had connection issues with the fiio Q1 MkII. Possibly the cord. My phone kept disconnecting the amp. When I did get it going it sounded pretty good actually. Low gain had to be pushed to the limit, but high gain was pretty good. However, connection issues ruined the experience!

Walked out of the store with.....nothing. Was a bit dejected, actually. I would have stayed longer but had time constraints. I really like the clarity of the Naos but that lack of bass presence....damn. Also, it is so small! And not cheap! Anyone having better luck with portable amp/dacs?

 

[Devodonaldson]

So, I would really like a good portable solution for my nighthawks and I went into my 'local' store yesterday and tried out an Ultrasone Naos, a Dragonfly red, an Ifi idsd nano black label (what a mouthful!) and a fiio Q1 MkII. I was just using my Nokia 8 as a source, which works well with my cheap fiio e7 amp/dac (but I am searching for better). I was using Usb audio player pro on my phone.

The ifi sounded too warm and not resolving enough, and it made random clicks every now and then. Weird. I was expecting to walk out with it to be honest.

The Naos gave great clarity and sounded very good except that I lost the bass presence. I love the bass weight on the hawks and it lost the heart of that. I also had issues with the connection, it randomly went to shrieking volume in the left driver. Weird again!

The dragonfly did not want to work well with my phone, I could not get the volume to go high enough. I tried a number of different settings in the app but eventually gave up. I cannot really comment with that one due to the issue. I would like to give it another go, though.

I also had connection issues with the fiio Q1 MkII. Possibly the cord. My phone kept disconnecting the amp. When I did get it going it sounded pretty good actually. Low gain had to be pushed to the limit, but high gain was pretty good. However, connection issues ruined the experience!

Walked out of the store with.....nothing. Was a bit dejected, actually. I would have stayed longer but had time constraints. I really like the clarity of the Naos but that lack of bass presence....damn. Also, it is so small! And not cheap! Anyone having better luck with portable amp/dacs?

You have an Android phone. I guarantee that Red is on an older software. The default digital volume of the Red has been raised in the latest software as to work better with Android phones, otherwise you need either USB audio player pro to control the hardware volume or root to adjust the alsamixer volume steps (64 total)

 

[BigDave]

Sigh, thanks Devo. Makes it tricky to try these things out when you have issues like these. Do you use your hawks with portable amplification/dap and what do you use? I did use usb audio player pro but still had to muck around with settings and getting my phone to recognise the amp/dac properly.

 

[Terozzzz]

I have Dragonfly black and yesterday i bought AUNE x1s. The AUNE totally kills the dragonfly, Nighthawks doesn't even sound same headphones. The soundstage got hell a lot bigger and the imaging is also like from another planet, the resolution just amazes me. The soundstage is now everywhere, if the soundstage was bit 2D it is now full 3D. Dragonfly is now totally useless. I cannot recommend dragonfly to anyone, not anymore. AUNE x1s a just so much better than it.

 

[BigDave]

I have Dragonfly black and yesterday i bought AUNE x1s. The AUNE totally kills the dragonfly, Nighthawks doesn't even sound same headphones. The soundstage got hell a lot bigger and the imaging is also like from another planet, the resolution just amazes me. The soundstage is now everywhere, if the soundstage was bit 2D it is now full 3D. Dragonfly is now totally useless. I cannot recommend dragonfly to anyone, not anymore. AUNE x1s a just so much better than it.

Hmmm, I guess the only problem for me is that I was looking for a portable solution. Having to plug it in and lug it around all the time....I can do that with my Nuforce Icon HDP. However, glad to know that you do not use your dragonfly black and that it was easily beaten by the aune.

 

[Terozzzz]

Hmmm, I guess the only problem for me is that I was looking for a portable solution. Having to plug it in and lug it around all the time....I can do that with my Nuforce Icon HDP. However, glad to know that you do not use your dragonfly black and that it was easily beaten by the aune.

I am bit in shock how big the difference actually is. My nuforce udac5 arrives in 2 weeks from Massdrop and i will be testing it against Dragonfly. It is much smaller than AUNE I hope it can get even close to what AUNE can do. But that Dragonfly goes to dumpster...

 

[BigDave]

I am bit in shock how big the difference actually is. My nuforce udac5 arrives in 2 weeks from Massdrop and i will be testing it against Dragonfly. It is much smaller than AUNE I hope it can get even close to what AUNE can do. But that Dragonfly goes to dumpster...

See, that's what I want to hear. When I was listening to the portable amp/dacs in the store, it was only the ultrasone NAOS that grabbed me with its sound sig. with the hawks (clarity wise - the bass was lacking). I thought for sure it would be the Ifi nano BL. But I just had so many issues with ALL of them connecting properly to my phone - and yet my old, trusty fiio e7 does not skip a beat (just does not blow my hair back with its sound quality). A very frustrating game this. I think I need to go in again and have another go. Unfortunately it is the only store in the area that allows me to 'try gear out'.

 

[Devodonaldson]

Sigh, thanks Devo. Makes it tricky to try these things out when you have issues like these. Do you use your hawks with portable amplification/dap and what do you use? I did use usb audio player pro but still had to muck around with settings and getting my phone to recognise the amp/dac properly.

My go-to portable is the ifi xDSD. I love that thing. I decided to pull out the dragonfly red and try with the Nighthawks. It is honeatlh awesome. IMO the Red is certainly a little bright. The hawk being on the darker side, the pairing is awesome. I've tried the red wirh my Nightowl,and though good, the treble is just a little too much. Other DACs are warmer with more punch, selaratsep. However, though I rwallr love my xDSD, I can certainly appreciate the Red fo the detailed, but laid back presence on the Nighthawk

 

[Terozzzz]

Here we go again

One of my friend told me that the HiFiMan He 4XXX could destroy Nighthawks (in hes mind, although he never heard NH) so i went and bought a pair of them. Well, the nighthawks totally killed the HE 4XXXs.
HE 4XXX feels like cheap market headphones compared to NH, the imaging is far better on NH. Cant even compare together on that. Sound stage is also far bigger on NH.
Where you can pinpoint instrument on that big stage on NH you cant do that even close the that with HE 4XXX.
HE 4 XXX are brighter than NH but sounds more unnatural. The highs are distorted compared to NH. NH are not without highs, they are there but they highs are so clean on them.
Instrument sounds very "digital" from HE 4XXX, they are bright but at same time there is distortions on highs and they lag the feel of space and echos are just not there. It is like you are in studio, not at the stage where you are supposed to be. NH give instruments more natural sound to, brass, horns, guitar, singing etc. Like you are actually there where musician plays them, when HE 4XXX sounds like you listen them trough mic setup.
One thing is sure, it will be almost surely impossible to find better headphones than these under 500€/£/$ class. Id say even most of the 1000€ headphones are in trouble.

I read good things on HE 4XXX and was expecting much from them but no, the race wasn't even close one. NH cost now 399€, there is no competition to them at that price range, period.

Next step for me on the "End game hunt" is either older STAX set (SR-L500/700) or Audeze LCD-X or LCD-2c.
Aune X1s will get and boost from AUNE x7s A-class amp.

 

[frankrondaniel]

In case anyone is interested, I listed my Nighthawks ("Liquid Wood" model) for sale. Despite the comfort I never grew to enjoy their sound signature.

 

[BigDave]

So I recently tried out a number of portable amp/dacs, and had issues with each of them (different issues, surprisingly) but ended up with the ifi nano idsd BL. It has quite a ballsy sound! All the ones I tried had various issues connecting to my Nokia 8, but this one had the least. The dragonfly red and Ultrasone Naos were very good, but I really liked the idea of a volume pot, and especially the different inputs for low and high resistance cans.

 

[sageamagoo]

Headphones: Audioquest Nighthawk (Original 2015 Wood Edition)

DAC+AMP: Chord Mojo



I just now received my Audioquest Dragonfly Red.

Out of the box, it showcases much-improved imaging, soundstage depth (and I believe width) and greater perceived transients.

With price in consideration, It really destroys the Mojo in the soundstage department and It's not just about the size of it... it's how everything interacts within that space. The sense of separation, localization and ambiance is much greater through the Red.

I can also sense a bit more energy in the treble through the Red, with more TWANG and excitement. The Mojo has a greater sense of continuity, smoothness and effortlessness, owed to its FPGA custom chip. It's almost as if Chord ran out of money and couldn't afford to code a soundstage... It's very close and cramped. I'm not really ****ting on Chord. Mojo is amazing if you value detail over everything else. If you value soundstage and everything else I've talked about, either save for a Hugo or QUTEST or look elsewhere I guess.

Would you say the Dragonfly Red is better than the Dragonfly v1.2 at presenting soundstage on the Nighthawks? Weird question, I know, but I'm looking for a true upgrade from my original Dragonfly which I didn't really find in the CTH or m9xx. Specifically, do you find the additional clarity adds or detracts from the feeling you get from listening to the soundstage?

I'm having a hard time trusting other reviews since few seem to appreciate that deep, layered Nighthawk/Dragonfly sound (probably focusing too much on detail retrieval instead). I remember when I first bought my Audioquest Nighthawks and tried it with the Dragonfly, it was like listening in a higher framerate (if that makes sense). My brain paid attention to more of the music more of the time, and it was just so easy to float away and get taken by the sound, even if I didn't understand it all. Atmosphere is so important to me and I'm not really feeling it quite as much on other DAC/amps. Hoping the Red is everything and more.