[Musiqlovr]

They better not, cuz the Nighthawk (and NightOwl) already have the 'dull-and-lifeless' sounding headphone market cornered.

A few things, I cannot and will not compare to competitors.

I am personal friends with the person behind the Audioquest HP's, Skylar is a great guy.

I CAN tell you they sound nothing like a night hawk, night owl etc.

We just got 4 BETA samples in Monday, we should have 30 more coming next week, believe it or not, there is a typhoon in Asia and our samples were delayed.

Once we have these BETA, vlad and I will be sending them to members of this forum and another HP forum.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

A few things, I cannot and will not compare to competitors.

Completely understand. How would you describe the sound of these on their own? I'm mainly curious about openness / soundstage, bass impact and treble smoothness. The Fostex drivers are sort of a known quantity in terms of quality but the vary so much in sound from from model to model.

 

[Musiqlovr]

Completely understand. How would you describe the sound of these on their own? I'm mainly curious about openness / soundstage, bass impact and treble smoothness. The Fostex drivers are sort of a known quantity in terms of quality but the vary so much in sound from from model to model.

Oh man, whatever I say here will be so picked apart that I'm cautious to say anything yet. BUT if you push me, I will say we were after openness and after something that sounds more like a speaker. Of course we made it semi open because we wanted some bass, and tight bass, much work was done here. I'd rather you wait for the BETA samples to get to the user base and hear those comments. And of course we will be at RMAF.

 

[XERO1]

I am personal friends with the person behind the Audioquest HP's, Skylar is a great guy.

I totally agree. I've met and spoken with Skyler multiple times.

But IMHO, he made a huge mistake in deciding to ignore the well-received and thoroughly researched HTRC (Harman Target Response Curve) and voice the Nighthawk to his own personal preferences, giving them a 10dB suck-out centered at 1kHz, right where the human ear is most sensitive.

While I really love the comfort and design of the Nighthawks, to my (and many others) ears, their SQ is huge disappointment.

 

[cskippy]

IMO, it all comes down to personal sound preference. There is a member here who is a respected sound engineer and has a standing order in his rider to have a Nighthawk for use for shows.

I'm excited to hear how these sound. I'll also be attending RMAF so I will post impressions.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

IMO, it all comes down to personal sound preference. There is a member here who is a respected sound engineer and has a standing order in his rider to have a Nighthawk for use for shows.

I'm excited to hear how these sound. I'll also be attending RMAF so I will post impressions.

Rob Watts at Chord? I know he's a fan.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

Oh man, whatever I say here will be so picked apart that I'm cautious to say anything yet. BUT if you push me, I will say we were after openness and after something that sounds more like a speaker. Of course we made it semi open because we wanted some bass, and tight bass, much work was done here. I'd rather you wait for the BETA samples to get to the user base and hear those comments. And of course we will be at RMAF.

Thanks Steve ... looking forward to hearing them.

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

I just hope this turns out great, it has serious potential to be a world beater.
Please, don't screw up the tonal balance with peaks/dips like the Fostex line or HD800, make it neutral/smooth/cohesive and it will be a hit.

 

[Daemon Ursus]

Wow, I really like that exploded view, it looks great. Personally, I would probably prefer the extra set of pads in the box over the stand. Glad we are getting updates again, I can't wait to hear these myself, they are looking amazing still.

 

[canthearyou]

Extra pads or balanced cable. Don't need another stand. Also, what is ETA for pre-sale/sale?

 

[remilio]

Extra pads or balanced cable. Don't need another stand. Also, what is ETA for pre-sale/sale?

Yes, balanced cable would be great.

I'm surprised there's not much hype about these HPs, they look very promising. Maybe finally someone can shake up the 1000$ market with headphones that both sound superb, feel and look superb and are reliable unlike many of the planars. I'm tired of this price race between manufacturers.

 

[Ynot1]

I always thought Klipsch made good stuff that lasts and sounded good with good value. I think for the asking price a planar would be interesting to headfi community as, for some reason, people around here seems to navigate towards the new thing or the new stuff. Also people these days like DIY type of things with changeable this and that. Cables, pads been there, done that. But what about drivers and adapter offset plates. I think it would be furthermore interesting to add a bluetooth amplifier and dac option as Kiipsch knows how do to those things as well. And last but not least people always comment on fit, weight, portability, and durability, and I think it goes without saying with Klipsch that the name prolly doesn't go on until quality workmanship has been achieved.

 

[Music Alchemist]

I had no idea Klipsch were coming out with a proper high-end headphone until stumbling upon this thread just now.

I wonder how it will sound compared to my Klipsch RP-250F floorstanding speakers.

This year I transitioned to speakers and got rid of most of my heapdhones (owned five figures worth) but I'm sure to get back into trying all the headphones out there soon enough.

@Musiqlovr Hit me up if you feel like it.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

Looking forward to hearing impressions from the reviewers.

Speaking of which, you should include the XLR 4 pin accessory cable in the reviewer package since many members here and the other forum use balanced amps. I'm sure they would like to hear the headphones through their best chain. I'm in the camp that does think that balanced makes a difference.

 

[Alcophone]

Saw this too late to provide input you can still respond to in a meaningful way, but it's great to see a company work so closely with their user base. Apart from anyone having heard them yet, of course, but that's obviously difficult to arrange.
Would be cool to have a map view of Head-Fiers eager to try new gear so that companies can easily determine where best to send their prototypes (and people).