The NightOwl was originally mentioned in a TONEAudio ad in December 2015 but there hasn't been any new info about them until now.
The NightOwl has not been officially announced yet but AudioQuest is showing a prototype of them at the 2016 CanJam London.
Currently, the only info about them comes from this Head-Fi post by NigelJ.
I'll update this post a more info becomes available.
The NightOwl has not been officially announced yet but AudioQuest is showing a prototype of them at the 2016 CanJam London.
Currently, the only info about them comes from this Head-Fi post by NigelJ.
AQ asked for no pictures as they were a prototype and the cable was very much a prototype, being the correct cable but with the splitter being poorly fitted heat shrink. Externally the NightOwl is very similar to the NightHawk except that the cups are a dark carbon grey colour rather than fake wood grain, although made of the same material, and the grills are replaced by a slightly domed cover. The cups no longer have the left and right markings impressed on the outside, rather the dust cover within each ear pad is marked with L's and R's. The NightOwl will come with two sets of ear pads, one similar to the NH and the other set with a microfibres covering. It will come with a different more flexible cable, I believe not solid core, that has a plastic rather than textile covering. The NH will also be updated with the dark grey cups and new cable; supposedly whilst quite liked in the UK for its traditional look the fake wood was a big turn off to customers in other markets and the solid core cable resulted in lots of warranty claims.
With the NH type pads the NO had a slightly more traditional headphone sound, I felt that the microfibre pads were somewhere between the two but conditions were not ideal for detailed assessment and I was feeding them from an older iPod (my only portable source, but with familiar classical and jazz). Whilst the NO is a closed back design and more isolating than the NH I am of the opinion that the isolation is not as high as some other closed back headphones.
It was stated that the NightOwls would sell for £100 more than the NightHawk in the UK, so I guess $100 more in the US.
I'll update this post a more info becomes available.