[Sonic Defender]

Just trying to see from those who own the Nightowl, or who have had some decent time hearing them what they think of it. Reviews are generally quite positive, but I'm curious to hear from some head-fi members what they think.

 

[headpfizer]

I have a pair as well as a pair of Fostex TH-610 which I can compare against. The nightowls are very good headphones but sound awful out of the box. I've always been sceptical about burn in but the nightowls have really opened me up to it. Audioquest recommend 150 hours which seems like a lot. I'm currently at the 60 - 70 hour mark and have to say they have really started to improve in the last 10 or so hours. For sound signature I'd say they are bass emphasisied and dark ish but still with good trebble extention. They are a little low in presence but not mid-scooped. By contrast the TH-610 are far more netural in the bass, but not lacking at all, and more mid forward. They are a little brighter up top as well. For my ears I definetly prefer the 610 but I have had enjoyment out of the nightowls. Right now if I had to keep one I'd go for the 610 but the improvement on the nightowls during burn in has been impressive and they sound good enough at the moment to make me want to reach the full 150 hours before making a decision.

 

[gazzington]

I love the nightowls but burn in is really important.

 

[stalepie]

Do they sound better at night?

 

[endgame]

Overpriced and overrated. There are numerous headphones that are better and if you want a bassier sound signature that is much better balanced you'd be better off with any of the recent Denon's 7200, 7000, etc.

Comfort-wise though, they have no equal. Those things just float on your head.

 

[Hifisnubben]

I quite like my nightowls but i see why some might not.

What i like is the lack of fatigue when listening over a longer period of time. Also they seem to suit my personal taste in music ( mainly deathmetal ) well. But it manages more "audiophile" recording also without complaints from me atleast

The price is a bit steep. I got mine used bundled with a dragonfly red at a bargain price wich probably makes me somewhat bias.

 

[Jearly410]

Great secondary headphone. The sound sig is unique, bassy yet the mids and highs come out clear. I can see how some would call it 'veiled' but after spending some time with them I would not call them 'veiled.' I'd recommend only if you have listened to it before and like it, or have a neutral pair of headphones already.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Thanks, I have been listening for about 4 days to the NightOwl, as I type actually. I'm listening to some nice Deadmau5 via a Mojo, but with the velour pads. I did not like the Mojo with the pleather pads on the NO, too much mid bass and things got congested. I'm quite surprised how different the velour pads are by way of comparison. On my NAD rig the pleather pads are fine so only with the Mojo do I use velour. The NightOwls are very interesting and hard to make up my mind about. Sometimes they seem bloody brilliant and sometimes not so much. That is true for most headphones, but perhaps a little more for the NO. I haven't decided if I will keep them or not, but they have me pulling for them!

 

[EtRec]

Hello,
I've had the Nightowls for a few months now, and listen through a Schiit Jotunheim AMP-internal DAC and balanced cable. Love these headphones. When I compare them to Sennheiser 650, they do sound a bit V shaped due to the mid-focused sound of the 650. Where the Nightowls shine over the 650's is the beautiful controlled lows. Outside of the 650, I can compare the Nightowl to my Shure Se535 earbuds, totally prefer the Nightowls here, with a more open and balanced sound. Did I mention comfort and build quality? Nightowls shine here as well. My opinion all.

 

[007shark76]

I also have the Nightowls. I love the comfort, but I disagree with others on the bass. I find them bass light. I tried the suede earpads that come with them and they suck all of the energy out of the music only leaving the mids. The standard earpads are much better, but can give a congested presentation in complex music passages. But give these headphones the right music and they shine with some of the best resolution I have heard in a closed-back. I plan to experiment with different earpads because I believe that will be the solution to get the sound just right for me.

Edit: Of course I talk in extremes, when actually they are more subtleties. I believe the suede earpads are geared toward a certain genre of music. I listen to a lot of modern rock and electronica. With the suede earpads, it takes away from the upper bass where the kick drums reside and puts the vocals more forward. They do take away the congested sound that you can get with the standard pleather earpads.

 

[EtRec]

I also have the Nightowls. I love the comfort, but I disagree with others on the bass. I find them bass light. I tried the suede earpads that come with them and they suck all of the energy out of the music only leaving the mids. The standard earpads are much better, but can give a congested presentation in complex music passages. But give these headphones the right music and they shine with some of the best resolution I have heard in a closed-back. I plan to experiment with different earpads because I believe that will be the solution to get the sound just right for me.

Could be the source. I'm using the Schiit Jotunheim witn internal DAC and a balanced 4pin cable. Many find the Jotunheim sounds bright on the high end but gives the lows a warmness. I'm not a bass head and find the Nightowl low end to be clear and complex. It rumbles when the music calls for it, but stays tame. Mostly I listen to Jazz and Classical, which might make a difference. Voices shine, even harder to image female voices. I'm using the protein leather earpads (standard) and have gone way over the 150 hours of recommended burn in. My friend, said before burn in, that they sounded v shaped (lacking much mids). I don't agree, but I can see where he's coming from a mostly Sennheiser HD650 (good Mids), he would hear it that way. Personally I love the Nightowls. If anything the high's sometimes seem a bit bright, but not unpleasant. The Bass is just beautiful and detailed to my ears.

 

[EtRec]

I also have the Nightowls. I love the comfort, but I disagree with others on the bass. I find them bass light. I tried the suede earpads that come with them and they suck all of the energy out of the music only leaving the mids. The standard earpads are much better, but can give a congested presentation in complex music passages. But give these headphones the right music and they shine with some of the best resolution I have heard in a closed-back. I plan to experiment with different earpads because I believe that will be the solution to get the sound just right for me.

Edit: Of course I talk in extremes, when actually they are more subtleties. I believe the suede earpads are geared toward a certain genre of music. I listen to a lot of modern rock and electronica. With the suede earpads, it takes away from the upper bass where the kick drums reside and puts the vocals more forward. They do take away the congested sound that you can get with the standard pleather earpads.

I'm curious if you've had a chance to compare the Nightowl to the Sennheiser HD650, as I'm thinking of ordering Massdrop's SennXXX and it's more mid-centered sound, to complement the Nightowls. I also find the Nightowls more suited to Jazz and Classical.

 

[007shark76]

@EtRec Unfortunately, no. I do have the 6XX's on order from Massdrop, though, because I have become a mid-tier headphone addict, lol.

Also, I recently got the ifi micro ican se. It pairs very nicely with the Nightowls and using the XBass 1 setting has me really enjoying these headphones now.

 

[EtRec]

@EtRec Unfortunately, no. I do have the 6XX's on order from Massdrop, though, because I have become a mid-tier headphone addict, lol.

Also, I recently got the ifi micro ican se. It pairs very nicely with the Nightowls and using the XBass 1 setting has me really enjoying these headphones now.

I have the Audioquest DragonFly Red arriving Monday for portable use with my Android phone. Got only rave reviews and am looking forward to hear how they sound with the Nightowls as they are from the same company (tuned too each other, hopefully). The price of the "ifi" is within my range, but seems to need a DAC , which is internal in my Schiit Jotunheim Amp.. May I ask what headphone amp you were using for the Nightowls before the "ifi". Thanks for your quick reply

 

[koover]

Such varying opinions. First off, my audiophile lingo is just not there so in layman terms......

Out of the box I absolutely loved them because they were so different. Then I started headphone swapping one right after the other (Cardinal sin) and I REALLY disliked them immensely.
I decided to just put them on the stand and let them burn well over the recommended 150 hours without listening to them again. Wholly crap, what I night and day difference. It's critical that these are fully burned in before making a decision if you like them or not.
Actually last week I put them up for trade for a tube amp on this site but have decided no way, I'm keeping them. I now absolutely love these HP's.
I believe I have some very nice mid-fi gear (of course IMO ) and have recently compared against all my other cans. They hold their own against every other set of cans. They all have their pro's and cons with different sound signature, but man I'm loving these and they're keepers.

I'm truly not hearing the "veiled" sound where I've read close to a hundred times in all the reviews I've checked out. I believe the treble is bright versus subdued. I don't hear any sibilance at all...it's just right. I now love the sound of the crash, high hat, etc. Sounds natural. If anything, I believe they're on the bright side. Not THX-00 PH bright but bright versus the HD 650's and even the M1060's. The bass hits hard when called for and is tight and fast...no bloat at all. Love the sound of the kick. These can go deep in sub bass if the track calls for it. The mids are spot on except for a bit too much mid-bass. Nothing Equalify can't handle. I also don't like the suede pads and prefer the leather stock pads as they keep the bass right where it should be. They also bring the treble up a bit where I don't believe it's needed.

The amp and DAC plays a huge part in my opinion. My Jot has a brighter signature and paired with the Mimby, I'm in musical bliss. Perfect combo for these cans. I usually run low gain at 12 O'clock high and it rocks. They're so easy to drive. I'll go balanced one of these days. I mostly listen to progressive metal ( Dream Theater, Symphony X, Threshold, Haken) and progressive metal instrumental (Animal's as Leaders, Blotted Science, etc.) with a spattering of progressive jazz...think Jazz Pistols, Chimp Spanner, etc.

One last thing I noticed, I never had a good seal over my ears. They where just sounding thin to me. All I did was start moving the cups in different positions and that made all the difference in the world. Just make sure there's a good seal and the cups are positioned correctly for your ears. The bass impact really made the biggest difference once I got these on my head correctly. I believe the way they're positioned now, my ears are closer to the driver. Huge difference.

I love these HP's guys.