AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon or NightHawk Carbon?
May 18, 2018 at 2:35 AM Post #16 of 52
I recently bought both the Nighthawk (original) and Nightowl.
I’ve now had for a few days.
The Hawk was a demo unit, so I assume it’s fully burned in.
The NO has about 50h burn in time so far and changed a lot during that time.
New out of the box the NO was much more "into your face" than the (burned in) NH, and the soundstage was much more compressed.
It is far smoother and more liquid than in the beginning, very close to the Hawks now. Also the soundstage has opened up a lot and is much closer to the one of the Hawks now.

I find that it really depends on the music which ones I prefer. The Hawk has this super relaxed feeling, and at times feels a little more natural.
The Owl still feels a bit more foreward, more “in your face” but it is also faster, more rythmic, and more balanced. Bass it drier and punchier and has more power in the lower registers.
Mids and highs are clearer, it feels like all the frequencies have more energy. The treble can even be a little sharp at times.

Regarding speed and rythm, when I listened to “I love being here” from Diana Krall “Live in Paris”and the owl made me tap my feet, while the hawks made me lean back and relax.

I find that I clearly prefer the owls for Pop and Rock, kind of studio or “engineered music” that doesn't have a natural soundstage, and is more about speed, rythm and energy. The NHs relaxed presentation is no advantage in that case, and the slightly wider soundstage doesn't really come out with that kind of music.
For orchester music the hawks create a slightly wider and more floaty soundstage, present the music more relaxed. Somehow it sounds more natural, while the owls sound more “technically correct”but slightly less emotional.

The burn in effect has however greatly reduced that difference and the owls are much smoother now, and since AQ recommends 150 hours I am curious if and how much they will still change.

I also played with the pads, but the differences are very subtle, no real conclusions for me yet.

I will keep the NO for sure, since they are the best HP I have had so far (and the first in that price class).
I am not sure about the NH, if I will sell them, keep them or give them to someone in my family.

Cheers!

PS: I tested them with Chord Mojo, using the Cayin N3 as source.
 
May 18, 2018 at 9:40 AM Post #17 of 52
I recently bought both the Nighthawk (original) and Nightowl.
I’ve now had for a few days.
The Hawk was a demo unit, so I assume it’s fully burned in.
The NO has about 50h burn in time so far and changed a lot during that time.
New out of the box the NO was much more "into your face" than the (burned in) NH, and the soundstage was much more compressed.
It is far smoother and more liquid than in the beginning, very close to the Hawks now. Also the soundstage has opened up a lot and is much closer to the one of the Hawks now.

I find that it really depends on the music which ones I prefer. The Hawk has this super relaxed feeling, and at times feels a little more natural.
The Owl still feels a bit more foreward, more “in your face” but it is also faster, more rythmic, and more balanced. Bass it drier and punchier and has more power in the lower registers.
Mids and highs are clearer, it feels like all the frequencies have more energy. The treble can even be a little sharp at times.

Regarding speed and rythm, when I listened to “I love being here” from Diana Krall “Live in Paris”and the owl made me tap my feet, while the hawks made me lean back and relax.

I find that I clearly prefer the owls for Pop and Rock, kind of studio or “engineered music” that doesn't have a natural soundstage, and is more about speed, rythm and energy. The NHs relaxed presentation is no advantage in that case, and the slightly wider soundstage doesn't really come out with that kind of music.
For orchester music the hawks create a slightly wider and more floaty soundstage, present the music more relaxed. Somehow it sounds more natural, while the owls sound more “technically correct”but slightly less emotional.

The burn in effect has however greatly reduced that difference and the owls are much smoother now, and since AQ recommends 150 hours I am curious if and how much they will still change.

I also played with the pads, but the differences are very subtle, no real conclusions for me yet.

I will keep the NO for sure, since they are the best HP I have had so far (and the first in that price class).
I am not sure about the NH, if I will sell them, keep them or give them to someone in my family.

Cheers!

PS: I tested them with Chord Mojo, using the Cayin N3 as source.
Not sure you can assume that the NH was burned in...just my two cents. (Mine certainly changed during the initial stage).

Thx for the comparison. I certainly agree with your assessment of the NH being relaxing.

Bern
 
May 18, 2018 at 11:58 AM Post #18 of 52
I have had both NO Carbon and NH Carbon (both brand new) with me for a week and I would agree with some of your observations, NO Carbon more bass/punchy sound, NH Carbon more relaxed, better soundstage, but at the end for me and to my ears NH Carbon was the vastly superior headphone, more natural sound better presentation, and soundstage, overall a more neutral presentation. Whichever one you end up with, at $399 brand new these headphones are a steal!

Roon + MacBook Pro + iFi nano iDSD black label.
 
May 18, 2018 at 5:52 PM Post #19 of 52
I have had both NO Carbon and NH Carbon (both brand new) with me for a week and I would agree with some of your observations, NO Carbon more bass/punchy sound, NH Carbon more relaxed, better soundstage, but at the end for me and to my ears NH Carbon was the vastly superior headphone, more natural sound better presentation, and soundstage, overall a more neutral presentation. Whichever one you end up with, at $399 brand new these headphones are a steal!

Roon + MacBook Pro + iFi nano iDSD black label.
Thanks for the feedback, very interesting!
How much burn in time did each of them get before you came to this conclusion, and which pads did you use?
It‘s the most expensive headphone I‘ve ever owned and I don‘t have experience with any other HPs in that price range or above, so I just have to trust my ears and my reactions to hearing them. So any experience from seasoned HP pros is valuable :-D
 
May 18, 2018 at 7:34 PM Post #20 of 52
I'm no expert but I have had a few high end headphones (Focal Elear and the Mrs Speakers Aeon Open) after spending some time with each of them, the NH Carbon is the first headphone that doesn't make me feel the need to upgrade, that Audioquest signature sound just fit my audio taste perfectly I guess.
 
May 18, 2018 at 8:23 PM Post #21 of 52
I had both and I liked the Nightowl Carbon more. Also get the Moon Audio Silver dragon v2 and I was done with headphones with this pairing. Used Audioquest Dragonfly RED and MOJO and both sounded good.
 
May 19, 2018 at 2:24 AM Post #23 of 52
I'm no expert but I have had a few high end headphones (Focal Elear and the Mrs Speakers Aeon Open) after spending some time with each of them, the NH Carbon is the first headphone that doesn't make me feel the need to upgrade, that Audioquest signature sound just fit my audio taste perfectly I guess.

You had the Aeons? Also very interesting! After hearing that the Aeon closed are Rob Watts choise for travel, I was highly interested but the high Price of the Aeons and the current disconts on the Audioquest HP made it an easy choice.

Good to know you preferred the NH to the Aeons.

But again, how much burn in time did the NH and NO get during the week you had them?
I am asking because when I got mine, the NH was a demo unit and the NO brand new, and I greatly preferred the open, rich sound of the NH over the NO, which sounded forward, veiled with a much smaller spundstage. Punchy, more in your face, and much less relaxing.

But after some 30 hours of burn in that started to change, the NO soundstage opened up, the veil vanished and they now sound very balanced, more dynamic and a little drier than the NH, but still very „musical“.
Now it seems mere preference, Hawks are more relaxing, Owls a bit more focused, presenting the music parts a little more „up close“ for more detailed inspection.
With the Hawks I feel more like sitting in the back of an old, roman church, with a feeling of a large space and sounds decaying slowly, the Owls feel more like a concert hall, and sitting closer to the orchestra.

I like both, but the Owls seem to work for a wider range of music, at least for me.
 
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May 19, 2018 at 12:45 PM Post #24 of 52
I had both and I liked the Nightowl Carbon more. Also get the Moon Audio Silver dragon v2 and I was done with headphones with this pairing. Used Audioquest Dragonfly RED and MOJO and both sounded good.

I would upgrade the cable but the Silver Dragon is too expensive ($300+) maybe the cheaper Blue or Black Dragon?
Is there other aftermarket cable of quality around $150/$200?
 
May 19, 2018 at 12:57 PM Post #25 of 52
You had the Aeons? Also very interesting! After hearing that the Aeon closed are Rob Watts choise for travel, I was highly interested but the high Price of the Aeons and the current disconts on the Audioquest HP made it an easy choice.

Good to know you preferred the NH to the Aeons.

But again, how much burn in time did the NH and NO get during the week you had them?
I am asking because when I got mine, the NH was a demo unit and the NO brand new, and I greatly preferred the open, rich sound of the NH over the NO, which sounded forward, veiled with a much smaller spundstage. Punchy, more in your face, and much less relaxing.

But after some 30 hours of burn in that started to change, the NO soundstage opened up, the veil vanished and they now sound very balanced, more dynamic and a little drier than the NH, but still very „musical“.
Now it seems mere preference, Hawks are more relaxing, Owls a bit more focused, presenting the music parts a little more „up close“ for more detailed inspection.
With the Hawks I feel more like sitting in the back of an old, roman church, with a feeling of a large space and sounds decaying slowly, the Owls feel more like a concert hall, and sitting closer to the orchestra.

I like both, but the Owls seem to work for a wider range of music, at least for me.


Both were brand new and maybe 20/30 hours each, but interestingly right out of the box the NightHawk was much better headphone (again to my ears), more details, more air, closer to the other open headphones I have bought before (Elear, AEON) but more exciting and coherent sound across the sound spectrum.
 
May 20, 2018 at 3:04 AM Post #26 of 52
I would upgrade the cable but the Silver Dragon is too expensive ($300+) maybe the cheaper Blue or Black Dragon?
Is there other aftermarket cable of quality around $150/$200?
I ordered some pure silver braided cable from Aliexpress and will build a cable myself. Got termination for balanced cable but with the Mojo
You had the Aeons? Also very interesting! After hearing that the Aeon closed are Rob Watts choise for travel, I was highly interested but the high Price of the Aeons and the current disconts on the Audioquest HP made it an easy choice.

Good to know you preferred the NH to the Aeons.

But again, how much burn in time did the NH and NO get during the week you had them?
I am asking because when I got mine, the NH was a demo unit and the NO brand new, and I greatly preferred the open, rich sound of the NH over the NO, which sounded forward, veiled with a much smaller spundstage. Punchy, more in your face, and much less relaxing.

But after some 30 hours of burn in that started to change, the NO soundstage opened up, the veil vanished and they now sound very balanced, more dynamic and a little drier than the NH, but still very „musical“.
Now it seems mere preference, Hawks are more relaxing, Owls a bit more focused, presenting the music parts a little more „up close“ for more detailed inspection.
With the Hawks I feel more like sitting in the back of an old, roman church, with a feeling of a large space and sounds decaying slowly, the Owls feel more like a concert hall with different, more accurate acoustics properties and sitting closer to the orchestra. Still sometimes the Hawks sound a touch more realistic, even though they are more colored.

I like both, but the Owls seem to work for a wider range of music, at least for me.
 
May 20, 2018 at 6:02 AM Post #27 of 52
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May 20, 2018 at 6:43 PM Post #28 of 52
I am quite pleased with the Blue Dragon. FYI, I use the 5-ft. version. Please see post #44 in the the following link below.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/thoughts-on-the-audioquest-nightowl.853781/page-3#post-14230567

Thanks, I was going to buy the Blue Dragon...until I found these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Sennheis...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pure-Sil...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

I bought from this guy before (a balanced adapter for my Ayre Codex) quality was good.
 
Jun 2, 2018 at 2:13 AM Post #30 of 52
The Nighthawk is promoted as semi-open. How much does it leak sound? Can I walk down a city sidewalk with a Beethoven symphony at high volume and be unnoticed?
I have the Nighthawk and Nightowl (“closed” but not 100%, there is still a small hole supposedly)
The Nighthawks leak considerably, but less than fully open HPs.
If you play something at high volume people around you will know what you are listening to.

The Nightowls still leak somewhat, definitely much more than the Sennheiser Momentum 2 I had.
Similarly both headphones will let sound in, NH more than NO, and at high volume I can’t hear any outside noise anymore.

But both are kind of outstanding visually with the relatively big ear cups and the wire arch above your head. I want them to be portable, but I have never considered wearing them on the road.
 
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