[340519]

I'd be curious to hear which headphones you do find dark, if not the NightOwl.

Honestly I can't really say. I haven't heard any that strike me as 'dark'. Maybe it's my benchmarks that make all of them sound rather clean. Dunno.

 

[Whazzzup]

But what? Do you have any suggestions??

sorry not at that price point. apologize for not being helpful but meze 99 are anything but dark. although i do wonder what dark is? recessed mids? go for th900. I got nothing at this price point for you.

 

[Mhog55]

sorry not at that price point. apologize for not being helpful but meze 99 are anything but dark. although i do wonder what dark is? recessed mids? go for th900. I got nothing at this price point for you.

Oh yeah, I completely agree, the 99s are far from dark. When I think dark - dark, the Nighthawk is what immediately comes to mind. Dark and fun only really go together with something like thrash metal plus.

 

[Darksoul]

Nightowls are pretty dark. I haven't heard many dark headphones, but I really like the Nightowls. They have decent details, nice treble and bass extension, the mids don't sound recessed at all. After burn in; it's actually a thing, their timbre sounds less metallic and more natural. The Nightowls are probably quite polarizing because of Audioquest. I'm a cable agnostic my self, but they did many things right with the Nightowls.

I'll put it like this, I let my T1 go and kept the Nightowls. Were the Nightowl superior to the T1? They certainly had the bass I wish the T1 had. I got my T1 used, and honestly I was kind of bummed out by their build, I had the DT-1990 before and the T1 build felt lackluster, it looked way too similar to the DT-880. When it comes to detail retrieval and sound stage the T1 did have the upper hand, but it wasn't by an overwhelming amount. In fact, in some frequencies the Nightowls seemed to give more detail than the T1, it was mostly the low frequencies. The T1 were certainly brighter, no sibilance on my setup nor tiring, with a really nice timbre, it did the cymbals so well. The Nightowls after a while delivered a similar enough sound, that it didn't warrant to keep the T1 since I was using the Nightowl way more often because of their closed back nature.

Another decent dark headphone is the Sony Z7M2, I want to test it out in the local Sony store next to my Nightowl, but that will have to wait untill I get a balanced 4.4mm cable for them.

 

[340519]

Nightowls are pretty dark. I haven't heard many dark headphones, but I really like the Nightowls. They have decent details, nice treble and bass extension, the mids don't sound recessed at all. After burn in; it's actually a thing, their timbre sounds less metallic and more natural. The Nightowls are probably quite polarizing because of Audioquest. I'm a cable agnostic my self, but they did many things right with the Nightowls.

I'll put it like this, I let my T1 go and kept the Nightowls. Were the Nightowl superior to the T1? They certainly had the bass I wish the T1 had. I got my T1 used, and honestly I was kind of bummed out by their build, I had the DT-1990 before and the T1 build felt lackluster, it looked way too similar to the DT-880. When it comes to detail retrieval and sound stage the T1 did have the upper hand, but it wasn't by an overwhelming amount. In fact, in some frequencies the Nightowls seemed to give more detail than the T1, it was mostly the low frequencies. The T1 were certainly brighter, no sibilance on my setup nor tiring, with a really nice timbre, it did the cymbals so well. The Nightowls after a while delivered a similar enough sound, that it didn't warrant to keep the T1 since I was using the Nightowl way more often because of their closed back nature.

Another decent dark headphone is the Sony Z7M2, I want to test it out in the local Sony store next to my Nightowl, but that will have to wait untill I get a balanced 4.4mm cable for them.

I have both audioquest headphones and I'd go with the hawks over the owls for all of the sq you speak of above.
More open soundstage with the hawks.
.

 

[Mhog55]

Nightowls are pretty dark. I haven't heard many dark headphones, but I really like the Nightowls. They have decent details, nice treble and bass extension, the mids don't sound recessed at all. After burn in; it's actually a thing, their timbre sounds less metallic and more natural. The Nightowls are probably quite polarizing because of Audioquest. I'm a cable agnostic my self, but they did many things right with the Nightowls.

I'll put it like this, I let my T1 go and kept the Nightowls. Were the Nightowl superior to the T1? They certainly had the bass I wish the T1 had. I got my T1 used, and honestly I was kind of bummed out by their build, I had the DT-1990 before and the T1 build felt lackluster, it looked way too similar to the DT-880. When it comes to detail retrieval and sound stage the T1 did have the upper hand, but it wasn't by an overwhelming amount. In fact, in some frequencies the Nightowls seemed to give more detail than the T1, it was mostly the low frequencies. The T1 were certainly brighter, no sibilance on my setup nor tiring, with a really nice timbre, it did the cymbals so well. The Nightowls after a while delivered a similar enough sound, that it didn't warrant to keep the T1 since I was using the Nightowl way more often because of their closed back nature.

Another decent dark headphone is the Sony Z7M2, I want to test it out in the local Sony store next to my Nightowl, but that will have to wait untill I get a balanced 4.4mm cable for them.

Sonys are a great recommendation.

 

[moriez]

TH-X00:

TR-X00’s

It might not change your choice preference so far DeafOwl, but take note they're two headphones :]

I own them both and I would never say they are dark, brut they do sound great. The 99s have killer bass btw.

Valuable example of how lightly one needs to take suggestions. He's saying left while I'm saying right. Amps, DACs, perspective and preferences as a result of hearing capabilities all play a part.

 

[DeafOwl]

It might not change your choice preference so far DeafOwl, but take note they're two headphones :]



Valuable example of how lightly one needs to take suggestions. He's saying left while I'm saying right. Amps, DACs, perspective and preferences as a result of hearing capabilities all play a part.

I didn't notice the different models indeed, thanks!

You are absolutely correct that the ways that we perceive sound can be completely different and is affected by too many factors,I always have that in mind. On the other hand since you cannot listen to all of the combinations of equipment+cans it's nice to listen to what the other people have to say.

Thank you for the recommendation of the Sonys Darksoul! There is a chance that I will be able to listen to them locally maybe somewhere, I will have to check.

From your conversation though there is a chance that my conclusion about the "dark" nature of the 99's is wrong. That's interesting and I need to try and train my ears a bit more to have a better description.

 

[zzzmonster]

I have the ZMF Atticus and Nighthawk. Nighthawk is way darker with the stock cable. But if you use a silver cable, they become much brighter. Meze 99 is definitely less dark. There is dark and there is Nighthawk dark.

Atticus is about as dark as Meze 99, but definitely an upgrade over the Meze 99

 

[moriez]

I didn't notice the different models indeed, thanks!

You are absolutely correct that the ways that we perceive sound can be completely different and is affected by too many factors,I always have that in mind. On the other hand since you cannot listen to all of the combinations of equipment+cans it's nice to listen to what the other people have to say..

Welcome. Good to see you're already aware of these things.

 

[340519]

It might not change your choice preference so far DeafOwl, but take note they're two headphones :]



Valuable example of how lightly one needs to take suggestions. He's saying left while I'm saying right. Amps, DACs, perspective and preferences as a result of hearing capabilities all play a part.

Very true.

 

[DeafOwl]

I have the ZMF Atticus and Nighthawk. Nighthawk is way darker with the stock cable. But if you use a silver cable, they become much brighter. Meze 99 is definitely less dark. There is dark and there is Nighthawk dark.

Atticus is about as dark as Meze 99, but definitely an upgrade over the Meze 99

The funny thing is that the (short) silver cable for Atticus costs a bit more than the 99 Noir I remember that I liked the ZMF even more but it's way out of my budget. For now I think that I will stick with the 99's and I will try to listen to the NightHaws/NightOwls to see if I like so much darkness. Thanks for sharing

 

[zzzmonster]

The funny thing is that the (short) silver cable for Atticus costs a bit more than the 99 Noir I remember that I liked the ZMF even more but it's way out of my budget. For now I think that I will stick with the 99's and I will try to listen to the NightHaws/NightOwls to see if I like so much darkness. Thanks for sharing

If you don't need closed back, you can try the iBasso SR-1 - about as dark as Atticus and 99. Imho it has better resolution than the 99 and (Atticus when paired with a non optimal amp), not sure if it is still available

 

[340519]

The funny thing is that the (short) silver cable for Atticus costs a bit more than the 99 Noir I remember that I liked the ZMF even more but it's way out of my budget. For now I think that I will stick with the 99's and I will try to listen to the NightHaws/NightOwls to see if I like so much darkness. Thanks for sharing

I have expensive headphones and regardless the 99s are incredible

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Sony MDRz7m2
Audeze LCD2 Classic (new ver.)
Fostex Th909 or Th900mk2