[Jose Hidalgo]

Tastes are different.. I had the Sundara for some time and the verum 1. Sundara was impressive at first listenings, but too demanding for longer time. Very uncomfortable with not swiveling cups.

You probably had the first version of the Sundara, without the revised earpads. The revised earpads with a thinner front part have improved comfort dramatically, to compensate for the lack of swiveling cups.

Oratory has been quite critical of the Nighthawk

When ? I haven't seen any comments from him on the Nighthawk, and I thought he did never get to have his hands on one until now.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

[deleted]

 

[jaco61]

I had the first version of the sundaras.

Last revision came with much better pads comparable if not the same now as the very good ones with he400i 2020. The fq graph looks much better too.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Yes, that's why the latest version of the Sundaras (or the HE400i) should interest @petitpierre .

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

"The design incorporates many nice features, such as the voice-coil with a former, effort on reducing turbulence in the driver, dual-component diaphragm with stiff dome and soft surround to reduce modal break-up etc.
All of which point towards a headphone designed with quality in mind and not sales pitches.

BUT then there's the topic on the tuning, the designer of these headphones (Skylar Gray) has some very ... unique views on how a headphone should sound.
From my point of view some of his conclusions on the problematics of measurements are just plain wrong, leading to a target "tuning" of his headphones that is, well, wrong.
The result of his thoughts on the matter is a tuning that sounds very warm, with a clear lack of treble (to my ears), and unnatural midrange response.
This is intentional, and not a fault of the drivers per se - the design of the drivers and acoustics themselves is high-quality engineering, but the goal they set for the tuning is, well, wrong to my ears.

I like the design, I like the engineering, I like the innovation, but I strongly dislike how they sound"

One of his comments on the Nighthawk

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

xRaptorxPunisher's favorite past time is trashing the Audioquest headphones. He generally likes to say something quite bad about it, then add something slightly positive to make it sound like a fair assessment. I am not kidding, there are countless posts from him with this nifty little approach. It's really entertaining.

Cool, show me one? You can list a headphones weakness and strengths you know. Not everything has to be a bum licking fest. You need to get out of the mind set that you can't be critical and like something. I've listed many times I do like a lot about the Nighthawk so really you're just trying to stir and talk crap for the sake of it. Personally people like yourself ad nothing to the community because you offer no constructive impressions, you want all positivity, just how I see it.

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

Somebody else has also been quite very critical of it up above.

Right?

Yet you chose me. Being realistic I've probably put more information about how the NH actually sounds than yourself rather than just saying all is good blah blah. If you don't like hearing faults, throw me on ignore; simple.

 

[Mink]

I rank the NightHawks as my favorite pair of headphones, but even I can admit that there is something wrong and unnatural in their tuning.
The contrast between the sound my ears register in my surrounding (and I mean every sound, not music per se) without wearing headphones and the sound of music or videos while wearing the NightHawks is really really big. My ears have to adjust for a while.
This contrast I mentioned is very small with the AKG K550s, HD650s and Avantone Planars.
For me this the most practical way in determining whether headphones sound 'neutralish' or sound colored. Not live music or some reference recordings, but just the sound of my environment: TV, refrigerator, people outside, room acoustic etc.. The NightHawks are definitely the most 'colored' pair of headphones I own.
But needless to say I like them anyway.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

[deleted]

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

^^^ This man gets it. I'm in the same boat where I like them but at the same time i know they don't sound right. I'm a big fan of ergonomics and I think these along with the Aeon Flow have the best ergonomics out of all the headphones I've tried. I'm in love with the looks too.

I don't think I've heard a headphone that I've liked that sounded perfect although the HE-5XX gets so close to what I'd consider a perfect tuning. I would like to have a slightly smoother treble and a bit more bass in the mid area then I would say they'd be a one and only.

Neutral is such a hard term because here's too many variables. I would say neutral is more of a personal aspect. I tend to use how instrument timbre sounds to me. I play Guitar and have used many different types and I aim for headphones that get the timbre of many different guitars to how I see it. Same with live music, if a headphone can get close to displaying the natural timbre of voices, voice depth, presence and voice distinction. Voice distinction is an area Nighthawk really suffers, it tends to have an echo to voices regardless of recording. When it comes to bass it's also very personal, I like a bass hump because a lot of planars for example flat that region and you lose reverb and natural warmth, the hE-5XX is no different, a downside to me. Treble is always so hard to get right I find many headphones fail here, the HD650 gets the closest to having a smooth upper treble but it also rolls off so you lose out on the top end air. If a headphone can display what I look for and have close to bass and treble requirements I look for then to me it sounds closer to natural, I won't say neutral as I still believe that relevant to each person.

The Nighthawk is very much a flavour headphone to me, a guilty pleasure with is massive bass hump and I throw them on with hip hop tracks etc as they have such a weird bassy style it can sound pleasing for that genre but vocals is the biggest problem for them. Some people say the treble of the NH is lacking but I actually hear the Nighthawk having a good extended treble with top end air capabilities but the bass is so boosted in the wrong areas it gives it a mud type of sound which affects the top end air perception so many call them dark.

I have always wondered if the Fostex driver they use is form the TH900 or the D2000 variants which is found in the Teak, THX00 etc.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

xRaptorxPunisher's favorite past time is trashing the Audioquest headphones. He generally likes to say something quite bad about it, then add something slightly positive to make it sound like a fair assessment. I am not kidding, there are countless posts from him with this nifty little approach. It's really entertaining.

Thank you for the tip. That way I'll be adding him to my Ignore list (edit : DONE ), so I don't have to read his meaningless rants. I mean for God's sake, if he doesn't like the Nighthawk it's perfectly fine... but then why doesn't he just get the F out of this topic and go bother the rest of the Earth ?

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

Lol

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

No, I never said these headphones are perfect. I only listen to the Hawks with EQ. But I don't show up on this thread just to be negative.

In the two minutes I took to find a post (as you requested) in which you are basically trolling, I found you engaging in two fights with members on this thread. Here is what you requested. This is you above. Do you find this constructive? Do you not think the tone is insulting?

"I think those who enjoy the NH enjoy the marketing more than the product. If Skylar didn't post all that stuff about accuracy people would say it's a mess. I think the NH is an absolute mess, mids drowned out, too much mid bass, treble is so uneven, huge peaks, dips trying to be smoothed over by the mid bass and cup reverb. That said it didnt stop me listening to it and owning it for 6 months. It was easy to drive, the driver itself was good, fostex drivers are great. They were so comfortable, I loved the look, build of it.


The whole speaker presentation doesn't work in headphones, especially one that was basically closed, with a little bit of controlled air flow. The only headphone I've heard that sound closer to speakers is the Verum One, which funny enough was made by a speaker builder. If Audioquest gave Sylar soke more time, I reckon he couldve came up with something better.

Technically nighthawk was a failed project but I don't really see it like that, it was interesting, the design had innovation, it looked good, smelled good(IMO) it just didn't have the right housing for the driver."

No, I never said these headphones are perfect. I only listen to the Hawks with EQ. But I don't show up on this thread just to be negative.

In the two minutes I took to find a post (as you requested) in which you are basically trolling, I found you engaging in two fights with members on this thread. Here is what you requested. This is you above. Do you find this constructive? Do you not think the tone is insulting?

"I think those who enjoy the NH enjoy the marketing more than the product. If Skylar didn't post all that stuff about accuracy people would say it's a mess. I think the NH is an absolute mess, mids drowned out, too much mid bass, treble is so uneven, huge peaks, dips trying to be smoothed over by the mid bass and cup reverb. That said it didnt stop me listening to it and owning it for 6 months. It was easy to drive, the driver itself was good, fostex drivers are great. They were so comfortable, I loved the look, build of it.


The whole speaker presentation doesn't work in headphones, especially one that was basically closed, with a little bit of controlled air flow. The only headphone I've heard that sound closer to speakers is the Verum One, which funny enough was made by a speaker builder. If Audioquest gave Sylar soke more time, I reckon he couldve came up with something better.

Technically nighthawk was a failed project but I don't really see it like that, it was interesting, the design had innovation, it looked good, smelled good(IMO) it just didn't have the right housing for the driver."

Oh look a constructive comment. You're just trying to stir crap to be honest. Your complaints make you sound juvenile, oh boohoo he didn't say they were amazing. If you learn to actually read and take in information you'd see I gave them a lot of probs and said they were a guilty pleasure but you obviously don't seem to let that piece of information stick.

I stand by what I say show me some hate post? if you don't like reading pros and cons, go wrap yourself up in cotton wool because the earth is too scary for you. Do you start shaking in real life when somebody calls you out? because you didn't get praise? that's how you come across right now. You're what I'm assuming, a grown man, you're on here literally crying because I didn't give them all out praise. Why am I here? I own this headphone, I both like it and see a lot of faults so I will post whatever fits the discussion.

 

[HipHopScribe]

This is a discussion thread, not a "praise the Nighthawks to high heaven or get out" thread. I don't see anything to indicate that xRaptorxPunisher is trolling so I don't see any problem. It's perfectly fine to have criticism for the Nighthawks and approach what you appreciate and don't appreciate about them realistically.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

[deleted]