[Vitor Roma]

 
I have never actually tried one.  I don't have anybody that stocks them near me.  I am in a rural part of Northern California.   I am  just going by a lot of comments.  That is all I can do.  I don't have any audiophile grade product dealers near me.  I pretty much have to rely on reviews and comments.  From what I have read these are not for me.  Comfort is nice, but if I don't think I would like the sound so there is no point.  Especially with my tiny amount of income compared to a lot of Head-Fiers.
 
Cheers
 
Riley

I'm on the same boat, since I'm from Brazil. Thanks to this forum, I will have the chance to try them on a trip to NYC. In the case that I don't like them, I will take a look at the Meze 99, Audeze EL-8 or the Monoprice getting raving reviews.

 

[knowhatimean]

 

We need more Nightowl impressions people! These cans are amazing! Get the word out!

 


I have both the NH and NO headphones. Compare...picture a sound-stage not necessarily wider but one that is deeper and richer in all its dimensions...a more controlled bass, a slightly more detailed mids and the upper registers sharp without edginess, no smearing on cymbals, vibraphones and similar instruments like the flute, piccolo and strings playing altissimo. Is there much difference...I almost never use the NH anymore as I prefer the overall sound and insulation from outside noises ofthe NO's. I prefer both over my Shure 1840's whose bass leaves much to be desired relative to the NH and NO.
Once again I lack the audiophile lingo so the above is as succinct and clear as I can make it. Pleasurable beyond measure when listening to the NO's. I recommend them without hesitation with one exception...the cable is too damn short. I use the skinny cable from my NH and find it just excellent.

I think you've "nailed it" as far as your sonic description of the NO vs the NH. I also find there's a jump in being able to hear more of the inner SoundStage detail.(or maybe we can call this the "Micro" rather than just the "Macro" detail). As far as the same amount of SS width using the NO it's bound to appear different for the fact that your "ear" is being slightly drawn away from just the left to right information simply for the fact it's being presented with a lot more available inner detail .
 
Being an Orchestral music listener I'll take being able to hear more of how the Composer Orchestrated the instumental choirs & their relationships to each other over just how much width perspective any day of the week. It's like having a better seat in the Concert Hall, rather than a seat in the back of the Hall (Or a balcony seat.) I'm not really sure if I'm into the whole "Audiophile" lingo thing myself even though I've spent this kind of money on equipment & use a lot of the "Audiospeak" terms.
 
I almost changed my NO order to a NH Carbon order, but I'm perfectly happy that I didn't . I much prefer the Listening Perspective changes that I'm getting with the NO. I think I hear some Rachmaninov : Symphonic Dances calling me !
 
Yes that cable length is just a PITA (Luckily I'm using a 15' DHC headphone extension cable with it (Which I'll be converting into a headphone cable once I've received my 2.5 mm mono headphone plugs that I've ordered; ) One more thing I greatly prefer using a set of Audeze Microsuede LCD replacement earpads with my NO rather than the supplied NO microsuede earpads.

 

[bugeyed]

snip One more thing I greatly prefer using a set of Audeze Microsuede LCD replacement earpads with my NO rather than the supplied NO microsuede earpads.

 


Well please continue & tell us why you like the Audeze microsuede pads. Are they thicker?

kev

 

[knowhatimean]

 

  snip One more thing I greatly prefer using a set of Audeze Microsuede LCD replacement earpads with my NO rather than the supplied NO microsuede earpads.

 


Well please continue & tell us why you like the Audeze microsuede pads. Are they thicker?

kev

Yes, they're roughly twice the thickness !
 
They also don't seem to be using the "Memory Foam" inside of the pads like the NO pads are using. The foam is softer & so compresses a bit more to the side of your head. I gave the NO suede pads a quick fit but I didn't bother giving them a listen as they didn't appear to give me the same amount of isolation from the room I was listening in (& it's a fairly quiet room to begin with)
 
All these additional comfort factors would be nulled if I didn't feel that I was hearing a better balanced sound response (somewhat in part by the slightly better room isolation allowing you to pick up on low level sound a bit quicker)
 
For myself these appear to be the ultimate Acoustic music listening earpad . I've never experienced another pad that has allowed me to hear the same amount of played Orchestral music information without favoring certain instrument sections over others. They are absolutely all about hearing a "Balanced' sound response If what you listen to actually benefits from having a more balanced response these are the pads to use I don't travel outside of my Acoustical music "wheelhouse" enough to care about how other types of music fare with these pads (I enjoy the music I  prefer to listen to way too much to take the time listening to music that I can't help  but think "So when does the music start ?" while listening !)
 
I was using a set of these on my NH, but ended up just recently getting another set (Black, this time) for my NO. ( I ordered them from B&H Photo)

 

[bugeyed]

Thanks for your detailed assessment. I have used the Brainwavz velour pads on MH & felt that they are an improvement over the hybrid pads. They are thicker & I think that is a big factor in the way they sound. I feel that the NH sound benefits from the larger "room" in several ways. The instruments have a bit more separation & the mid bass hump is less intrusive. The Brainwavz angled velour pads are not very good quality, so I may give the Audeze pads a shot. Are the Audeze pads easy to put on the NH rings?

kev

 

[Venture Guy]

 
All these additional comfort factors would be nulled if I didn't feel that I was hearing a better balanced sound response (somewhat in part by the slightly better room isolation allowing you to pick up on low level sound a bit quicker)
 

 
Great overview! How do you go about installing them? If I recall correctly, they have adhesive for attachment. Do you stick the NH rings onto the adhesive?

 

[knowhatimean]

Thanks for your detailed assessment. I have used the Brainwavz velour pads on MH & felt that they are an improvement over the hybrid pads. They are thicker & I think that is a big factor in the way they sound. I feel that the NH sound benefits from the larger "room" in several ways. The instruments have a bit more separation & the mid bass hump is less intrusive. The Brainwavz angled velour pads are not very good quality, so I may give the Audeze pads a shot. Are the Audeze pads easy to put on the NH rings?

kev

I ended up using the included (with the pads) double sided adhesive rings on top of the NH & NO rings.
 
The Audeze pads & the adhesive rings are not perfect fits to the NH/NO rings they're oversized in circumference. I ended up trimming the adhesive ring to fit the top of the top of the NH/NO rings then stuck them on. With the NH rings back in place on the Headphones I carefully "eyed" up placing each pad on top of each ring .
 
Think about where you want the orientation of where the ear openning in the pads in relation to the top & bottom of the earcups. Try to place the circumference of the pads so that there is a slight amount of overhang (but fairly close in the amount of difference) on the top & bottom of the each earcup & then split the much greater amount of pad overhang between the front & back of the earcups. Take your time & just consider the most important  placement parameter is where the ear opennings are going to be.
 
The easier way of course would be to poke holes in the overhang lip of the Audeze pads similar to what was done to the NH / NO pads (But I'm a bit nuts & used the method I've described: I can't remember why I didn't do it this way, but if I can think of it , I'll come back & mention it)
 
 
******************************************************************** Revision to this posting below (if you've made it this far, anyway ! *******************************************************************

 

[lugnut]

 
I have never actually tried one.  I don't have anybody that stocks them near me.  I am in a rural part of Northern California.   I am  just going by a lot of comments.  That is all I can do.  I don't have any audiophile grade product dealers near me.  I pretty much have to rely on reviews and comments.  From what I have read these are not for me.  Comfort is nice, but if I don't think I would like the sound so there is no point.  Especially with my tiny amount of income compared to a lot of Head-Fiers.
 
Cheers
 
Riley

I too live in a very rural area, so no meets or stores to try things are out. I have found the best way to try items is to buy from a online store with a very good return policy.
Reading comments on here is fine, however you cannot judge headphones by them. I know it sounds cliche, everyone's ears are different ! Then throw in different amps, dacs and other gear used, you just cannot go by what others hear and say, you have to try gear.

 

[knowhatimean]

Here's the revision I was talking about (& please don't laugh too hard at my not doing things this way to begin with)
 
Forget what I said about fitting the Audeze pads to the NH / NO rings after you've placed them back on the Headphone ; This is the way an "ahem" smarter person would do things
 
Alright, you've fitted one side of the adhesive ring to the top of the NH / NO rings (I cut these circular rings & so that the pieces follow the shape  of the egg shaped rings your placing them on).
Now what you're going to do is place the Audeze pads with the front side of the pad on a flat surface & next to each other with the lower sides of both pads on the inside & the higher angled side of the pads on the outsides. You'll now be able to see flat side of both pad & where the ear opening that sit against the headphone are sitting.
 
The pads should be sitting next to each other lower side to lower side so that your not making 2 left or 2 right earpads when you're ready to place the finished pads back on the headphone. If you place the rings with the adhzve rings on top of the backs of the pads which are lying on the table in front of you ,you can "dry fit" them to where you want them to sit before you peel the backing off of the rings fitted to the NH rings (whose pins will be starring up at you)
 
It's really easy to see exactly where everything lines up best, just remember try to center the egg shaped opening over the ear opennings of the pads. stick things together. THEN place them on
the headphone (I'll bet your sorry you asked now aren't you: It's  really more simple to accomplish then I may have described it to be)

 

[Venture Guy]

  Here's the revision I was talking about (& please don't laugh too hard at my not doing things this way to begin with)
 
Forget what I said about fitting the Audeze pads to the NH / NO rings after you've placed them back on the Headphone ; This is the way an "ahem" smarter person would do things
 
Alright, you've fitted one side of the adhesive ring to the top of the NH / NO rings (I cut these circular rings & so that the pieces follow the shape  of the egg shaped rings your placing them on).
Now what you're going to do is place the Audeze pads with the front side of the pad on a flat surface & next to each other with the lower sides of both pads on the inside & the higher angled side of the pads on the outsides. You'll now be able to see flat side of both pad & where the ear opening that sit against the headphone are sitting.
 
The pads should be sitting next to each other lower side to lower side so that your not making 2 left or 2 right earpads when you're ready to place the finished pads back on the headphone. If you place the rings with the adhzve rings on top of the backs of the pads which are lying on the table in front of you ,you can "dry fit" them to where you want them to sit before you peel the backing off of the rings fitted to the NH rings (whose pins will be starring up at you)
 
It's really easy to see exactly where everything lines up best, just remember try to center the egg shaped opening over the ear opennings of the pads. stick things together. THEN place them on
the headphone (I'll bet your sorry you asked now aren't you: It's  really more simple to accomplish then I may have described it to be)

I decided to shoot an email to www.vesperaudio.com to see if they have made custom pads for the NH. They can do anything. I'm thinking velour with memory foam. What do you think?

 

[knowhatimean]

If you can get them to "Not" use memory foam you might be better off. I think that might be the slight problem with the NH / NO pads they don't seem to compress enough to the sides of your head

 

[Venture Guy]

  If you can get them to "Not" use memory foam you might be better off. I think that might be the slight problem with the NH / NO pads they don't seem to compress enough to the sides of your head

Thanks! Velour or Microsuede?

 

[knowhatimean]

I'm not so sure velour wears as well as ms seems to.

 

[Venture Guy]

  I'm not so sure velour wears as well as ms seems to.

OK. So I'll ask about MS with "fast foam" instead of memory foam. They are in Russia, so pricing might be competitive. Same size and angle as stock?

 

[knowhatimean]

Being a fan of the Audeze pads I would say the NH / NO pads could be a little thicker (which is why using the "fast foam" will be the better choice .
 
I think AQ went with the thinner pads & memory foam so as to be more attractive to the portable audio crowd ! (A lot of them seem to be a bit self conscious of how sporting more robust headphone proportions will appear; the NH / NO earpads strike me as being a bit conservatively sized ; & then it struck me why they decided to go that way) (& it had little to do with headphone performance)