[Kukua]

Yeah I may have been the first person to review them in the world. Seriously, haha.
They were very good headphones and were mostly tuned flat but had some warmth to them. The bass was only elevated a little but it was more in the mid bass than sub and for some reason, that sound signature always bothers me. Since I listen to mostly acoustic, folk, classic rock type music, I want to hear all the instrumentation clearly. Mid bass just gets in the way if it's too north of neutral.
But the biggest problem I had with them is that the planar drivers were just too power hungry. Even with the built in amp on, I would be listening at 85-95% volume through my iPhone. So that defeated the purpose of having a built in amp. Plus I've recently discovered that I'm a soundstage snob! I simply won't convert to a headphone that has a smaller soundstage than my 1540's. I also will not switch to a headphone that is less revealing than them. I also feel like, for whatever reason, Planar headphones don't do well with soundstage. Both the Ella's and the Oppo PM3's had a fairly narrow soundstage and busy music sounded congested through them. So for $699, I had to let them go.

thank you for your objective but subjective analysis...i really appreciate it

 

[shurealltheway]

thank you for your objective but subjective analysis...i really appreciate it

You are welcome.

 

[Bighappy]

Nightowls First Impressions = These are Nucking Futs

Right out of the box they sound insane!!! (Sooooo much better than my Mr. Speakers Ether C's did.) Sooooo much better...At the time I thought they were amazing...Until I heard my Nighthawks...With ZERO burn-in, they're fabulous..They're just gonna keep getting better & better too...

Compared to my Nighthawks...Equally as magical!!! Just so much more fun to listen to music with Nighthawks/Nightowls. My Wife likes the Nightowls better...Wonder why. Haha

Easily the most UNDERRATED headphones in the game IMO...If you're on the fence...DON'T HESITATE!

More details later...Gnight

 

[shurealltheway]

Any recommendations for an alternative cable without an inline mic and controls?

 

[knowhatimean]

Any recommendations for an alternative cable without an inline mic and controls?

Well first I have to nominate Bighappy for a "Nucking" award for penning a new phrase (I wish I could have been first to use). I do feel obligated to mention that there's really nothing insane about Headphone Design "R&D' that leads to this kind of results. (I will be looking for the opportunity to use your expletive soon & often ..... Nice one !!)
 
Back to your request for alternate cable (without the "whipped cream & cherries). Sometime back in the NH thread someone mentioned that the Oppo cable was working pretty well for him. I'm thinking of picking up the 3 meter (or was it 4 meter) 1/4" plug (I'm pretty sure the 3.5 mm plug is an option) cable myself. These cables use the same 2.5mm headphone end plugs as the
NH, NO, HD700,etc use.

 

[shurealltheway]

Well first I have to nominate Bighappy for a "Nucking" award for penning a new phrase (I wish I could have been first to use). I do feel obligated to mention that there's really nothing insane about Headphone Design "R&D' that leads to this kind of results. (I will be looking for the opportunity to use your expletive soon & often ..... Nice one !!)

Back to your request for alternate cable (without the "whipped cream & cherries). Sometime back in the NH thread someone mentioned that the Oppo cable was working pretty well for him. I'm thinking of picking up the 3 meter (or was it 4 meter) 1/4" plug (I'm pretty sure the 3.5 mm plug is an option) cable myself. These cables use the same 2.5mm headphone end plugs as the
NH, NO, HD700,etc use.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Oppo's use a single 3.5 stereo plug. The Hawks/Owls use two 2.5 mono plugs to 3.5 male.

 

[knowhatimean]

 

Well first I have to nominate Bighappy for a "Nucking" award for penning a new phrase (I wish I could have been first to use). I do feel obligated to mention that there's really nothing insane about Headphone Design "R&D' that leads to this kind of results. (I will be looking for the opportunity to use your expletive soon & often ..... Nice one !!)

Back to your request for alternate cable (without the "whipped cream & cherries). Sometime back in the NH thread someone mentioned that the Oppo cable was working pretty well for him. I'm thinking of picking up the 3 meter (or was it 4 meter) 1/4" plug (I'm pretty sure the 3.5 mm plug is an option) cable myself. These cables use the same 2.5mm headphone end plugs as the
NH, NO, HD700,etc use.

So all the Oppo's use the same cable? Or is the just the PM3 cable you're speaking about? And thanks!

I'm guessing that all the PM phones are using the same cable . The only important part of any replacement cable you decide to get is the 2.5mm connectors that attach to the headphones.
 
Just go onto the Oppo website & bring up the replacement cables page & it should give you all the specs. for the connectors being used on the cables . When I was looking at it the PM3 wasn't out yet, just the PM1 &PM2. Unless the 3 is sized differently than 1 & 2 I doubt they would change the tooling to use a different sized cable connection. I would imagine they would still carry the replacement cables for PM1 & PM2 (which use ithe same size connectors 2.5 mm as the NO/NH)

 

[knowhatimean]

 

Well first I have to nominate Bighappy for a "Nucking" award for penning a new phrase (I wish I could have been first to use). I do feel obligated to mention that there's really nothing insane about Headphone Design "R&D' that leads to this kind of results. (I will be looking for the opportunity to use your expletive soon & often ..... Nice one !!)

Back to your request for alternate cable (without the "whipped cream & cherries). Sometime back in the NH thread someone mentioned that the Oppo cable was working pretty well for him. I'm thinking of picking up the 3 meter (or was it 4 meter) 1/4" plug (I'm pretty sure the 3.5 mm plug is an option) cable myself. These cables use the same 2.5mm headphone end plugs as the
NH, NO, HD700,etc use.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Oppo's use a single 3.5 stereo plug. The Hawks/Owls use two 2.5 mono plugs to 3.5 male.

We're talking about how the cable connects to the Headphone. The PM1 & PM2 use the same cable config as the NH/NO.
 
You've got me on the PM3 (I'll have to look at the PM3 in the Audio Advisor catalog) ( The PM3 is the "stepchild" of 1 & 2 so it may be straghtwired to the headphones)

 

[shurealltheway]

We're talking about how the cable connects to the Headphone. The PM1 & PM2 use the same cable config as the NH/NO.

You've got me on the PM3 (I'll have to look at the PM3 in the Audio Advisor catalog) ( The PM3 is the "stepchild" of 1 & 2 so it may be straghtwired to the headphones)

I'll look at the other PM's but I used to own the PM3's and they use a single sided cord not dual entry.

 

[Kukua]

We're talking about how the cable connects to the Headphone. The PM1 & PM2 use the same cable config as the NH/NO.

You've got me on the PM3 (I'll have to look at the PM3 in the Audio Advisor catalog) ( The PM3 is the "stepchild" of 1 & 2 so it may be straghtwired to the headphones)

thank you this very useful advise.....wish other forums on this platform are as proconsumer friendly.
Some give me the distinctive impression they're trying to sell headphones instead of advising people on pertinent audiophile clarifications!

 

[Bighappy]

Well first I have to nominate Bighappy for a "Nucking" award for penning a new phrase (I wish I could have been first to use). I do feel obligated to mention that there's really nothing insane about Headphone Design "R&D' that leads to this kind of results. (I will be looking for the opportunity to use your expletive soon & often ..... Nice one !!)

Back to your request for alternate cable (without the "whipped cream & cherries). Sometime back in the NH thread someone mentioned that the Oppo cable was working pretty well for him. I'm thinking of picking up the 3 meter (or was it 4 meter) 1/4" plug (I'm pretty sure the 3.5 mm plug is an option) cable myself. These cables use the same 2.5mm headphone end plugs as the
NH, NO, HD700,etc use.

 

[MattRG]

Nightowls First Impressions = These are Nucking Futs

Right out of the box they sound insane!!! (Sooooo much better than my Mr. Speakers Ether C's did.) Sooooo much better...At the time I thought they were amazing...Until I heard my Nighthawks...With ZERO burn-in, they're fabulous..They're just gonna keep getting better & better too...

Compared to my Nighthawks...Equally as magical!!! Just so much more fun to listen to music with Nighthawks/Nightowls. My Wife likes the Nightowls better...Wonder why. Haha

Easily the most UNDERRATED headphones in the game IMO...If you're on the fence...DON'T HESITATE!

More details later...Gnight

 
Yeah, I'm definitely going to need more details.  Looking forward to more when you have the time and thank you, sir!

 

[nmatheis]

I've got a pair of Nightowls in to play around with for awhile. When I heard them at RMAF, I wasn't quite sold on them to be honest. I'm glad I've got the chance to test them out in my own home for a bit. My mind has been changed. They're great. I need to play around with pad swapping a bit more, with a focus on comparing them to Nighthawks. Then I'll finalize my thoughts and commit them to the Web to live forever on. In the meantime, let me just say that I wholeheartedly recommend Nightowls for those who're in the market for a natural sounding closed headphone, one you listen to for extended periods workout fatigue but not feel like you're missing out on a high-fidelity experience.

 

[Bighappy]

So...Anybody having issues with the new "Mic" cable? My button function has completely quit working??? Tried resetting the phone, cleaning the ends, etc. no luck? Anybody else having any issues? Thanks!

PS - Using an iPhone 6S

 

[MattRG]

I've got a pair of Nightowls in to play around with for awhile. When I heard them at RMAF, I wasn't quite sold on them to be honest. I'm glad I've got the chance to test them out in my own home for a bit. My mind has been changed. They're great. I need to play around with pad swapping a bit more, with a focus on comparing them to Nighthawks. Then I'll finalize my thoughts and commit them to the Web to live forever on. In the meantime, let me just say that I wholeheartedly recommend Nightowls for those who're in the market for a natural sounding closed headphone, one you listen to for extended periods workout fatigue but not feel like you're missing out on a high-fidelity experience.

That's really great to hear.  Thank you for your impressions.  As you continue to listen I would ask that you pay attention to the soundstage as compared to the Nighthawk.  I've heard some folks say that the Nightowl soundstage is actually larger than the Nighthawk which is very interesting to me being that it is a closed headphone.