[petitpierre]

Put about an hour or so onto these now, previous buyer advised he’s put around 100 hours in. And ... I’m underwhelmed?

I’m far, far, far from an audiophile, I’ll say that straight away. I know people say these are really relaxing but I’m not sure if relaxing means they lack much energy at all?

Everything just sounds a bit flat, a bit veiled. I’m running it off my iPad Pro 10.5 and I’ve got a BTR5 hopefully arriving today so I’ll test that. But I expect the iPad should be able to drive it to a good level given Skylar Grey was saying he was using his iPhone.

Also using Tidal at hifi and master quality so the streaming source is good enough there.

Maybe it does take a while to break my ears in, but coming from the Meze 99 Classics, these definitely don’t feel like what were £700 headphones and I’m not sure if I prefer the 99’s at this point.

Early days I guess, we’ll see.

when i listened to the meze 99 and compared it to the NH i found the meze too harsh...for the game and films, the NH is great but for the music i use the verum one which is a killer and sends the NH to oblivion...

 

[DagsJT]

Put the 99’s on and they sound a LOT different actually! The 99’s treble sounded fine last week but today, after the NH’s, they almost sound painful. And very closed too. Interesting!

I still feel like I’m not quite getting the full NH experience, but I expect that’s going to come with time (especially as just this morning it feels like it’s actually becoming more clear the more I listen to them) or the amp will change it up a level.

 

[Brubaker]

Put about an hour or so onto these now, previous buyer advised he’s put around 100 hours in. And ... I’m underwhelmed?

I’m far, far, far from an audiophile, I’ll say that straight away. I know people say these are really relaxing but I’m not sure if relaxing means they lack much energy at all?

Everything just sounds a bit flat, a bit veiled. I’m running it off my iPad Pro 10.5 and I’ve got a BTR5 hopefully arriving today so I’ll test that. But I expect the iPad should be able to drive it to a good level given Skylar Grey was saying he was using his iPhone.

Also using Tidal at hifi and master quality so the streaming source is good enough there.

Maybe it does take a while to break my ears in, but coming from the Meze 99 Classics, these definitely don’t feel like what were £700 headphones and I’m not sure if I prefer the 99’s at this point.

Early days I guess, we’ll see.

I didn't like them at all out of an iPad. They sound better with higher end or more synergistic dacs and amps.

 

[HipHopScribe]

Put the 99’s on and they sound a LOT different actually! The 99’s treble sounded fine last week but today, after the NH’s, they almost sound painful. And very closed too. Interesting!

I still feel like I’m not quite getting the full NH experience, but I expect that’s going to come with time (especially as just this morning it feels like it’s actually becoming more clear the more I listen to them) or the amp will change it up a level.

When you're used to the sound signature of one headphone it takes time to adjust to another headphone, especially one with a uncommon tuning like the Nighthawks. The more you're adjusted, the more switching back to another headphone might sound odd. This is a psychological thing, not anything to do with burn-in or anything like that. The Nighthawks don't really scale with better amps to the level of an HD600 or high impedance Beyers in my experience, but of course you might notice some benefits.

I would say that I don't think the NHC were ever worth their original $700 price. They're a good value at about $300 in my opinion. The driver is very capable and the design and comfort are exceptional, but the tuning is very left-field and I'd have a hard time recommending the Nighthawks to anyone who just has one or two headphones, because they really don't present some music what I would consider correctly. That's partially why I prefer the Nightowls with their more conventional tuning. With that said the Nighthawks are very enjoyable to use from time-to-time for a nice relaxing listening session.

 

[jaco61]

The nighthawks offer lets say unique headphone pleasure.

I wouldn't use any headphone without eq anymore just loosing so much capabilities of each phone without it. Verum 1 as mentioned in a previous post delivers really a more even presentation as the hawks out of the box but wins a real lot too with eq presets.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

@DagsJT : EQ them to your liking. Latest Oratory preset sounds great if you like neutrality.

@HipHopScribe : for the premium look & feel (build, comfort, case...) plus the driver quality, they could even go up to $400 IMO (warm cans like the Denons are more expensive and not necessarily better). Now sound-wise it's a love-or-hate story, so it all depends on people having access to EQ or not. If EQ is on the table, then by all means, Nighthawks are a must-have for all the reasons already explained. If EQ is not on the table, then it's a risky move, but it can be rewarding for some people, especially at current prices.

Like said previously, I have many EQ presets for my two hawks, and it seems that I can't decide on a particular one. I alternate between default (no EQ) and latest Oratory, but some songs deserve a 3rd setting somewhere in between. My other cans make my life easier (I always EQ my Senn and my Sundara : Oratory sounds great on them and always improves the default sound, so it's a no-brainer), but I guess that's part of the fun with the hawks.

 

[xanlamin]

@DagsJT, Nighthawk is like Beyer Amiron. Both are tuned to be relaxing and this usually means veiled sounding but it may not be a bad thing. It will be a good complementary addition as they sound very different from the Meze 99.

 

[DagsJT]

@DagsJT : EQ them to your liking. Latest Oratory preset sounds great if you like neutrality.

@HipHopScribe : for the premium look & feel (build, comfort, case...) plus the driver quality, they could even go up to $400 IMO (warm cans like the Denons are more expensive and not necessarily better). Now sound-wise it's a love-or-hate story, so it all depends on people having access to EQ or not. If EQ is on the table, then by all means, Nighthawks are a must-have for all the reasons already explained. If EQ is not on the table, then it's a risky move, but it can be rewarding for some people, especially at current prices.

Like said previously, I have many EQ presets for my two hawks, and it seems that I can't decide on a particular one. I alternate between default (no EQ) and latest Oratory, but some songs deserve a 3rd setting somewhere in between. My other cans make my life easier (I always EQ my Senn and my Sundara : Oratory sounds great on them and always improves the default sound, so it's a no-brainer), but I guess that's part of the fun with the hawks.

Could you point me to the Oratory EQ settings please? I’ve had a Google, found the Oratory wiki with a ton of headphones but no mention of the Nighthawk there.

With that said, I’ve definitely gotten more used to the sound over the last couple of days. The veil seems to have lifted to my hearing, it sounds really clear now. Enough so that I put the Meze on last night and they sounded really harsh.

I’m intrigued to see what the EQ settings are like but I’m really enjoying the sound from these now.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Could you point me to the Oratory EQ settings please? I’ve had a Google, found the Oratory wiki with a ton of headphones but no mention of the Nighthawk there.

Yes, in this very topic, 8 pages ago (page 645), thanks to @jaco61 because he kindly lent his own Nighthawks to Oratory in Austria : https://www.head-fi.org/threads/aud...ns-and-discussion-thread.749762/post-16121040 . These are very recent presets, so they haven't been added to the long Oratory and AutoEQ preset lists yet.

These are presets for the Nighthawk Wood, not the Nighthawk Carbon, BUT as said in this thread, both headphones are identical with the exception of the pads.
Nighthawk Wood have hybrid pads (mostly pleather with inside fabric), and Nighthawk Carbon have two pads (all pleather and all fabric).
I currently use the first EQ preset (Stockpads to Harman) on both my Nighthawk Wood and my Nighthawk Carbon, and it sounds great.

 

[George Hincapie]

I bought the Night Bird One cable from AQ a few weeks ago and have been enjoying that. I got the 3m length so I can lay on my sofa and relax. I've also bought a new HPA with balanced out, so I've asked AQ to make another 3m length of Night Bird One, but with a Neutrik 4 pin XLR. Was quoted a week, but its been two already and the store are chasing AQ for an ETA.

 

[DagsJT]

I spent yesterday with a few hours on the Nighthawk in the morning, then switched to the Meze 99 Classics in the afternoon.

I don’t know if maybe I was just ready for a change of sound by the time the afternoon arrived but the 99’s felt … fresh. The brightness really helped after the relaxed listening of the Nighthawk’s, although the 99’s did feel a bit more one dimensional compared to the Nighthawk’s which really gave more of a room feeling as opposed to the music being right on top of you.

I think I’ll flip it around today and listen to the 99’s in the morning, then listen to the Nighthawk’s in the afternoon. I suspect I’ll flip with feeling there too, that after the 99’s I’ll appreciate the more relaxed Nighthawk’s in the afternoon.

At this point I think I’d like a mix between the two really. I like the feeling of expanse, the roominess, of the Nighthawk’s. I like the tighter bass of the Nighthawk’s, although the 99’s also have very good bass too.

With the 99’s I like the increased treble a bit more than what I get from the Nighthawk’s. I’m sensitive to sibilance and the 99’s haven’t bothered me with treble at any point.

A mix of the two would be great. Maybe an open-backed 99 would be perfect for me.

 

[gikigill]

Yes, i grabbed 4 of these. Yes im crazy like that. But when these are gone they gone, they just suit me alot. These, How can i let that pass me. Im planing too have these for many years too come, you dont this kind of sound out of many other products.

So yes guys if you can get them while you can....

Welcome to the 4 Nighthawk/Owl club.

 

[George Hincapie]

Can the Owls still be bought new?

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

I bought the Night Bird One cable from AQ a few weeks ago and have been enjoying that. I got the 3m length so I can lay on my sofa and relax. I've also bought a new HPA with balanced out, so I've asked AQ to make another 3m length of Night Bird One, but with a Neutrik 4 pin XLR. Was quoted a week, but its been two already and the store are chasing AQ for an ETA.

Hi George (I was a big fan of your’s back when you were cycling up mountains in France)
Be careful with running your Nighthawk balanced. It is a 25 ohm dynamic driver headphone and if you go by the golden rule aka the output impedance of your amp should at the very least be 1/8 of your headphone’s damping factor..then you’re looking at a 3 ohm output impedance as a max...and well most balanced designs tend to up the horsepower whilst upping the output impedance as well.
The Nighthawk is already a warm headphone. It surely doesn’t need an impedance hump in the bass to make it even more warm.
Anyhoo might be a good idea to check up on your amp’s output impedance

Btw just as an aside: if any of you Nighthawk fans are troubled by your fave coconut being discontinued...well not to worry. Beyerdynamic came through and literally made the Nighthawk 2...it’s just called the T1 3rd gen

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Can the Owls still be bought new?

Afraid not. I've been searching. I foolishly let go of my brand new second unit last year.