[ssrock64]

First time posting in a long time. I've been away from the headphone community for a few years, just enjoying my existing setups and focusing on other hobbies. Today I finally picked up something new, a NightOwl from Saturday Audio Exchange in Chicago. My short demo in the store impressed me, and I've been looking for something closed-back to bring to the office.

Unfortunately, on the theme of this thread at the moment, the stock cable conspired to ruin my evening once I got home. When I unpacked the new NightOwl I bought, I found that the tip of the left-side cable into the headphones was missing. So now I have to wait for my warranty claim to the processed before I can get around to enjoying these. Hoping to report back positive impressions soon!

 

[incursore61]

hello i just bought a nightowl now it is running in then i will post my first impressions....

 

[RONJA MESCO]

Question... Who is still selling them? Right now, since Audioquest stopped producing em, I'm kinda weary that many of the used ones on sale here, ebay and elsewhere have prolly been through five sets of people before getting to me. I'm of the mind to give up on getting em due to the limited supply of new, open box and one owner sets left out in the wild .

 

[Darksoul]

Question... Who is still selling them? Right now, since Audioquest stop sell them, I'm kinda weary that ma y of the used ones on sale here, ebay and elsewhere have prolly been through five sets of people before getting to me. I'm of the mind to give up on getting em due to the limited supply of new, open box and one owner sets left out in the wild .

I got mine from Audiogon, specifically the Music Room. The one I have was brand new, everything was in their original plastic bags, none were open.

 

[RONJA MESCO]

I got mine from Audiogon, specifically the Music Room. The one I have was brand new, everything was in their original plastic bags, none were open.

Thanks for the quick response.. Hafta hit them up. I'm up in Seattle, and alot of the hifi joints here gave up on em because they didn't sell.

 

[ssrock64]

Question... Who is still selling them? Right now, since Audioquest stopped producing em, I'm kinda weary that many of the used ones on sale here, ebay and elsewhere have prolly been through five sets of people before getting to me. I'm of the mind to give up on getting em due to the limited supply of new, open box and one owner sets left out in the wild .

Saturday Audio Exchange in Chicago still has a few new and refurbished ones for sale, and they were going pretty cheap. Purchase price + shipping to somewhere in CONUS might be worth it, if somebody's having trouble finding one locally.

 

[FiGuY1017]

Bought a nightowl to go with my nh it’s really a great can but still prefer NH, it’s a either get it not can as the NO is a little more normal but still a great headphone I’ve been really enjoying both lately

 

[funkle II]

Bought a nightowl to go with my nh it’s really a great can but still prefer NH, it’s a either get it not can as the NO is a little more normal but still a great headphone I’ve been really enjoying both lately

I flip-flopped quite a bit since getting both. I preferred the NH at first, but with the Arctic OCC cable the NO is hands down my favorite of the two. The cable really brought them to life. The cable changes the NH as well, but not as much of a character change.

 

[alekc]

@FiGuY1017 congrats on your purchase. As NO lover I am sure you will enjoy those a lot.

I flip-flopped quite a bit since getting both. I preferred the NH at first, but with the Arctic OCC cable the NO is hands down my favorite of the two. The cable really brought them to life. The cable changes the NH as well, but not as much of a character change.

I had the same and I stayed with NO finally, however the reason in my case was Mojo - I think this is one of the best matches (if not the best) I've heard so far. So I am not saying that NH are not sounding great, I am just saying that both: NO and NH needs to be matched properly and there are setups where you may like ones more than the others. For example I still need to decide if I want NH more than NO or not for my ifi micro based rig when listening at home.

@funkle II could you tell us a bit more about Arctic OCC cable please?

 

[FiGuY1017]

Thanks! I like it more and more its alittle more normal than the hawk imo. As long as i dont compare them, they are a beautiful sounding headphone and give me a nice change up from my 7200. Im lucky in that i like alot of dif sound signatures lol i love my 800 and love my Hekv2 etc. I tend to be able to conclude only thst depending on what headphone im using as to which is my favorite. They all bring something special depending on my mood lol but theres just something calming to me about thst hawk ( like melatonin for the brain lol) ..that try as i may, can take alot of listening time away from my Hekv2 even ( which i love to bits)

 

[funkle II]

@FiGuY1017
@funkle II could you tell us a bit more about Arctic OCC cable please?

I posted more info earlier in this thread. But it blatantly improved upon all sonic areas, most obviously bass impact, mid presence & treble airiness. They are almost different headphones. Also an extremely supple, non-microphonic feel. They are the 4-wire OCC cable option. I should note that I am now using the LTA MZ2 which trounces all my solid state amps (except for with the Madhouse Argons, which need more power than the MZ can provide)

 

[phthora]

I posted more info earlier in this thread. But it blatantly improved upon all sonic areas, most obviously bass impact, mid presence & treble airiness. They are almost different headphones. Also an extremely supple, non-microphonic feel. They are the 4-wire OCC cable option. I should note that I am now using the LTA MZ2 which trounces all my solid state amps (except for with the Madhouse Argons, which need more power than the MZ can provide)

Normally, I am not one to put much faith in changing the sound of a headphone with a cable swap, but your experience very much matches my own. When I got my NightOwl, they sounded dark, muffled, hollow, and cuppy. I happened to have an alternate cable on hand, for my 400i and 560, so I swapped without thinking it would help. But it did and, as you put it, it improved upon all sonic areas. Never experienced anything quite like that. Faulty stock cable? Bad synergy? Who knows. But, I wonder how many bad impressions of the NO or the NH are a result of the stock cable.

 

[GregBe]

Just picked up a pair of Night Owls. Looking at either a Dragonfly Red or Dragonfly Cobalt to pair with these out of my phone. The form factor of the Dragonfly's are really important for me to be able to stick my phone in my pocket as I walk around the house, otherwise might have considered the Mojo or something similar. From what I understand, a little different sound signature on each. Anyone have any experience with either the Red or Cobalt with the NOs? Thanks!

 

[alekc]

Just picked up a pair of Night Owls. Looking at either a Dragonfly Red or Dragonfly Cobalt to pair with these out of my phone. The form factor of the Dragonfly's are really important for me to be able to stick my phone in my pocket as I walk around the house, otherwise might have considered the Mojo or something similar. From what I understand, a little different sound signature on each. Anyone have any experience with either the Red or Cobalt with the NOs? Thanks!

While I have very limited experience with both whole Audioquest Dragonfly line I can tell you one thing: Mojo is more versatile than Dragonfly since it has more input options while is a lot bigger and heavier than Dragonfly. Ignoring sound signature if you would like to use it only in way you've described I would go with Dragonfly, but if you would like to use in a different ways too, than I think choice is more complex. Last but not least you should listen to all 3 and make your decision including SQ and sound signature. NOs will work well with both Dragonflies and Mojo from my experience.

 

[Devodonaldson]

Just picked up a pair of Night Owls. Looking at either a Dragonfly Red or Dragonfly Cobalt to pair with these out of my phone. The form factor of the Dragonfly's are really important for me to be able to stick my phone in my pocket as I walk around the house, otherwise might have considered the Mojo or something similar. From what I understand, a little different sound signature on each. Anyone have any experience with either the Red or Cobalt with the NOs? Thanks!

Mojo is better overall DSC, However seems like dragonfly made for nightbirds. Extra sparkle from red gave that extra clarity to the nightbirds, that sounds refreshing. I like dark in general, so prefered, mojo, but the red sounded great with the nightbirds, to me.