[inthere]

That could be it, but I've always like the Nighthawk sound it's just the last month when I got around a lot of other people at an industry convention that I started to notice there may have been an improvement.

Before when I compared the Nighthawk with high end headphones, they didn't do well. In October at the ADE convention I got a chance to compare them against other high end headphones and not only me but at least 10 others all picked the Nighthawk as the best.

Now granted there was a lot of substance abuse going on but there multiple substances abused so you can't chalk it up to one particular drug, lol.

 

[nmatheis]

Ahh... Thanks for the additional context. If there were tuning changes, then I'm glad I heard them now!

 

[SkylarGray]

...If there were tuning changes...

As the authority on this subject, there have been no changes to NightHawk's tuning. That applies to NightHawk Carbon as well.

 

[nmatheis]

As the authority on this subject, there have been no changes to NightHawk's tuning. That applies to NightHawk Carbon as well.

So it must've been the multiple substance inthere was abusing, lol. Either that or his brain grew more accustomed to the sound.


Two asides..

First, regarding intoxicants... I was surprised that a couple manufacturer reps were vaping cannabis behind tables in the dark recesses of the tent at RMAF. I know cannabis is legal in CO, but I'm pretty sure it's not legal in a public, enclosed venue like that. It was pretty weird, and I'm coming from Portland, OR where I can easily walk to several cannabis spots in my neighborhood. And no, it wasn't any of the people from the AudioQuest booth. They were all very personable and professional.


Second, regarding mental frameshifts... There was a great RadioLab about this in the context of music awhile back (LINK). It was about audience reaction to Stravinsky's Right of Spring, which was quite an unconventional, cacophonous piece of music for the time period. The initial reaction was quite negative and caused a riot to break out. When it was played again a year later, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. It took time for the brain to process something so different, but once the processing was complete the audience realized the piece's beauty.

I've experienced this personally but in a different context. I'm a big fan of Belgian beer, particularly sour beer and am always looking to convert people. So I had a friend try a relatively tame sour red beer (Duchess de Bourgonne). He didn't like it, asking me what was wrong with the beer. About a year later, he came to work and told me about this great beer he'd had at a jazz club over the weekend. What was it? Yup, you guessed it. It was the Duchess

So I'm a firm believer not only in "mental burnin" but also in mental frameshifts in general!

And speaking of sour beer, Crooked Stave in Denver and Urban Family in Seattle flat out ROCK!!!

SkylarGray: If you make it up to Portland, let me know and I'll buy you a beer!

Hope that didn't take us to far off topic...

 

[SkylarGray]

@nmatheis love RadioLab...love sours & gose...love Portland. You got yourself a deal.

 

[nmatheis]

@nmatheis
 love RadioLab...love sours & gose...love Portland. You got yourself a deal.

Cool beans, Skylar. Saw RadioLab live a couple years ago. Cool show!

Unfortunately, Denver and Seattle are making better sours than we are these days. I used to love Cascade in Portland, but they're seriously outclassed by Crooked Stave. If you haven't tried that yet, be sure to seek it out. Best homegrown sours I've tried yet, and I've tried a lot!

And Portland had Trek in the Park for awhile. Look that up. It was awesome, abd I'm hoping they resurrect it!

 

[SkylarGray]

  As the authority on this subject, there have been no changes to NightHawk's tuning. That applies to NightHawk Carbon as well.

I should clarify on the new NightHawk Carbon that even though the acoustics have not been re-tuned, we do include new pads. As we all know, by swapping the pads, one can alter the sound. Something to keep in mind. The new "Carbon" headphones give the ability to tweak the sound a bit via pads.

 

[bavinck]

  I should clarify on the new NightHawk Carbon that even though the acoustics have not been re-tuned, we do include new pads. As we all know, by swapping the pads, one can alter the sound. Something to keep in mind. The new "Carbon" headphones give the ability to tweak the sound a bit via pads.

Did you specifically tune the Nightowl differently than the Hawk?

 

[MattTCG]

  I should clarify on the new NightHawk Carbon that even though the acoustics have not been re-tuned, we do include new pads. As we all know, by swapping the pads, one can alter the sound. Something to keep in mind. The new "Carbon" headphones give the ability to tweak the sound a bit via pads.

 
And how would you say that the new pads alter the sound? 

 

[SkylarGray]

  Did you specifically tune the Nightowl differently than the Hawk?

The goal here was to tune NightOwl as closely to NightHawk as possible. Obviously, when transitioning from a semi-open or open design to a closed design, a lot of the design parameters change. For instance, there's excess pressure that I have to deal with, air leaks (even small ones) can really wreck the response in odd ways, and damping has to be completely re-designed.
 
So if you take a NightHawk and just seal it up, it sounds like crap. The tuning process for 'Owl was to try to replicate the 'Hawk sound while keeping distortion minimized, resolution unaffected, and bandwidth extended. In other words, retain all the 'Hawk qualities.
 
These two headphones are close. They are unmistakably in the same family, but savvy listeners will be able to hear a difference. We have found that some people prefer one to the other. We'll wait and see if there's a clear preference once these are on the market.

 

[abheer123]

I was about to purchase the original Nighthawk before I came across this. Any idea when the new NH Carbons will be available with the Indian Distributor?

 

[SkylarGray]

   
And how would you say that the new pads alter the sound? 

Best thing to do is try them out. Think about the protein leather pads as the baseline. Swapping those with the ultrasuede pads will result in about 1dB reduced bass from 20Hz to about 1kHz. In effect, that gives the impression of increased treble clarity even though nothing in the treble actually changed.
 
Again, best course of action is to experience it yourself. You may agree with me, you may disagree. The above is a simplification. I don't want to shape listeners' opinions on pads too much.

 

[MattTCG]

  Best thing to do is try them out. Think about the protein leather pads as the baseline. Swapping those with the ultrasuede pads will result in about 1dB reduced bass from 20Hz to about 1kHz. In effect, that gives the impression of increased treble clarity even though nothing in the treble actually changed.
 
Again, best course of action is to experience it yourself. You may agree with me, you may disagree. The above is a simplification. I don't want to shape listeners' opinions on pads too much.

 
Well, I'm waiting on you to get these pads out for purchase. 

  Also, I'm a believer in EQ reduction not addition, so the ultrasuede will probably be right up my alley. Need a little more treble, just reduce the bass. 

 

[SkylarGray]

I was about to purchase the original Nighthawk before I came across this. Any idea when the new NH Carbons will be available with the Indian Distributor?

I'll let you guys in on some inside info. We have finished building a bunch of NightHawk Carbons and NightOwl Carbons. Now we are waiting for these units to make their way to all our distribution hubs around the world. The main ones being in California, Netherlands, and Hong Kong. Once all our warehouses have them, we will coordinate a global launch so that everyone can get them at around the same time. So availability is coming very soon.
 
As for India, it is up to our Indian distributor to place an order. You can contact them and ask for the product.
http://www.audio-one.in/
If they haven't already placed their opening order, I'm sure your request would motivate them. I am not privy to what goes on with our distributors, so I don't really have a good answer for you right now on availability in India. But I can do some asking and find out. Another thing to do is send your question to info@audioquest.com that way the discussion can continue offline.

 

[bavinck]

@SkylarGray, good work on the nighthawk. Really, I think they are the best I have ever heard jazz and fusion. Just wonderful!