[13DoW]

If you haven't seen the latest edition of Stereophile, Herb Reichert gives NO a very positive review and claims if he had to live with only one pair of headphones it would be NO.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-16-sony-audioquest-headphones-page-2

 

[PinkyPowers]

Pinky has finally published his review of these wonderful things.

Honeyed Songs in the Forest’s Shade – A Review of the AudioQuest NightOwl

 

[ScarletSentry]

Tried the boost pads for the first time in quite some time and finally realized why I didn't like them. Treble is irritatingly harsh for me. Touch of eq and the things are beautiful. Actually eqing across the full range but mostly 1db or less so quite mild

Now using switching between the two depending on what I feel like. Might have to invest in the hybrids at some point.

Have included my messy eq for those curious, @adeeb
Stellio ten band, no parametric eq. No idea what I'm doing but it works

 

[adeeb]

Tried the boost pads for the first time in quite some time and finally realized why I didn't like them. Treble is irritatingly harsh for me. Touch of eq and the things are beautiful. Actually eqing across the full range but mostly 1db or less so quite mild

Now using switching between the two depending on what I feel like. Might have to invest in the hybrids at some point.

Have included my messy eq for those curious, @adeeb
Stellio ten band, no parametric eq. No idea what I'm doing but it works

thanks for sharing!
so this is with the US pads, right?
just curios, did you adjust the EQ by listening to music or using a sine sweep?

have you seen any measurements of the NO? i've only seen them for the NH like this:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudioQuestNightHawk2015.pdf

i wonder how accurate this is for the NO... especially in terms of the peaks in the 6-9k. i see that you have applied a -2db adjustment at 5k...

 

[ScarletSentry]

thanks for sharing!
so this is with the US pads, right?
just curios, did you adjust the EQ by listening to music or using a sine sweep?

have you seen any measurements of the NO? i've only seen them for the NH like this:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudioQuestNightHawk2015.pdf

i wonder how accurate this is for the NO... especially in terms of the peaks in the 6-9k. i see that you have applied a -2db adjustment at 5k...

Pure listening. A few notes, stellio doesn't show decimals, none of these are even and most are smaller than shown. Also I just realised from comment I posted one out of date. Not much difference just swapped the 3k with 5k, still a heavy "1" on 5k and a light 2 on 3k, (probably 1.5 and 1.4 looking at them though)

Also I'm weird about treble and literally consider the hd600 and 800 amped well (auditioned through sennheiser hdva600, a few fiios and the oppo ha2 and dfr) to still be treble razors so wouldn't trust my input much. If you're listening it might be worth a shot but for measurements I'd say I'm worthless.

This is with the pleather pads that are stock on carbon. Not sure which US are.

 

[ctaxxxx]

Everyone, be sure to hold your NightOwls under-handed. The stiff wire above the headband ended up slipping through my fingers and I dropped them on the floor... Now a small chunk got chipped out, but luckily they work fine. Just can't believe my carelessness right now...

 

[canali]

review of sony z1r and AQ nightowl carbon in that order
stereophile
https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-16-sony-audioquest-headphones

I don't own these AQ cans
(instead have the senn 650 and sony z1r/just got z1r but haven't listened to them yet)
but I think it's totally wonderful that an ''affordable'' pair of cans
could be a stereophile reviewer's default pair....
Not a Pidgin: AudioQuest's latest cool headphones have become my all-day-long delivery vehicles of music and phone calls, life and art. I wear them everywhere, and feel that the young, handsome headphone master Skylar Gray has nailed it. The NightOwl Carbons combine high-quality, all-natural audiophile sound with spectacular looks, exceptional comfort, and durability. If I were now forced to live with just one set of headphones, they would be AudioQuest's NightOwl
Carbons.

just shows that in the oft times $$$$ out of control pricing there are still some sweetheart sleeper products out there...have read somewhere that Rob Watts of Chord uses these (and other cans, of course) when testing equipment...unsure if true or not.
anyway huge kudos to AQ for offering fab bang for the buck.

I do have the sony mdr 7520 closed cans (for portable usage)
...might replace them with the nightowls...has anyone heard both and can comment please
on the sound diffs?

 

[Tribble]

Everyone, be sure to hold your NightOwls under-handed. The stiff wire above the headband ended up slipping through my fingers and I dropped them on the floor... Now a small chunk got chipped out, but luckily they work fine. Just can't believe my carelessness right now...

Sorry to hear that ctaxxxx; thank you for the reminder to take care. I tend to hook-grip mine (like I'm carrying a bucket) due to paranoia about breaking the things.

My wife sat on my UE Superfi-5 Pros once, and somehow managed to break a chunk out of the plastic. I sealed it with epoxy and could not tell any difference in sound.

 

[x RELIC x]

have read somewhere that Rob Watts of Chord uses these (and other cans, of course) when testing equipment...unsure if true or not.

He uses the NightHawk due to their very good distortion profile and flat impedance curve. He also finds other headphones too exaggerated in the treble region. I'm not sure about the Night Owl.

 

[Silent Xaxal]

How's isolation on these things?

 

[Darryl Jenks]

How can I learn where the NightOwls are manufactured? I understand AudioQuest are based in Irvine, CA, but would like to buy a pair of phones made in the U.S. if possible.

Thanks for any information!

 

[THGM]

My NightOwls were purchased in the UK and state:
Designed and engineered in California. Assembled in China (Edit) with components from China, France, Germany, Japan and USA

 

[ScarletSentry]

My NightOwls were purchased in the UK and state:
Designed and engineered in California. Assembled in China with components from China.

Where does it say that? Quite possible I'm overlooking something but took a quick look in the books and didn't notice. Not worried about a fake just curious.

@adeeb Just a little FYI real the EQ. The suede pads I knock the 160-500 range a little bit but not much and keep the rest stock so the "treble problems" are exclusive to the pleather boost pads

And while the pleather is ok, I'm massively fonder of the suedes

 

[THGM]

My NightOwls were purchased in the UK and state:
Designed and engineered in California. Assembled in China with components from China.

Where does it say that?

On the bottom of the NightOwl cardboard sleeve that wraps around the case. Perhaps that has already been discarded and recycled??!!

 

[adeeb]

And while the pleather is ok, I'm massively fonder of the suedes

I really need to give the US pads another go -- I first thought they were great (more balanced, more controlled bass, less cup reverb with certain mid frequencies) then felt like I was losing too much energy in the bass as well as some detail in the highs. But I suspect that the US might be the better sound for me if I give it the chance long-term. Thanks for encouraging me to give it another try sooner rather than later.