AudioQuest Nighthawk

Sennheiser is not that far from those companies in that regard.

 

These could be fixed just by using leaky pads...

 

I heard these just days ago from my go to system: moded Cavalli Ehha Rev A and moded Soekris Dam next to moded HD800 and HE400i and Oppo PM3, MSR7 and HD700 and bunch of others. I liked the silky, fluid presentation of the Nighthawk, while it is coloration to me, i enjoyed it with many songs. The wet coloration is slightly reminiscent of a wet tube sound, like Apex Pinnacle, but out of not wet amp. The overal tonality was weird/wonky to my ears, but not massively distracting. It had good technicalities, maybe nearly HD650 level. Hard to say if i'd take these in place of HE400i. Different strong points. PM3 loses to both, but it's closed so it plays defferent game anyways. The Nighthawk is interesting hp and i could see myself owning it for speshial moods and tracks.

 

I echo hands that the midrange on NH is the single most sucked out among all cans I've ever listened to. I also sensed some bass bleeding into midrange. The set up was surprisingly also AQ Dragonfly-WA7, so I guess that also came into play.

Well I guess the AQ rep who tried to convince me that cable is directional when I demo'ed the NH certainly added a lot of bad elements to my experience...

 

ok, ok ok.... Make that... Will never buy anything from a company that markets blah blah blah unless I really want to.

 

How well do these actually fit on the Nighthawk?

 

Hm5 velours fit great, almost like a stock:

Right now I'm fighting that bass bloat - I've got a pair for modding, or in worst case scenario, I'll use them as a driver donor, that biocellulose looks yummy

BTW, Hi everyone, first post here!

 

Welcome michauczok!

 

Welcome! And yep, the HM5 pads fit well and even take on a bit of an ear shape.

 

i don't mind some marketing fluff but audioquest is just over the top ridiculous.

Also, can anyone name a good audioquest product? (in terms of value/performance)

 

The Dragonfly is solid value at its price point.

 

terrible compared to every other stick dac

 

Looks like some modding potential exists in these. Wonder if the bass can be made less thick via backwave damping. Otherwise mostly respectable, but not quite up there in its price range. Thanks for these marv.

 

They are very "meh" from a Dragonfly, which is unfortunate as that is what reps seem to demo it with.

I never got to compare directly against an HD650 (though there was an HD800/HE-6/Abyss around at the time), but I don't think it quite competes. I feel the comparison is better up against the Fidelio X2. More similar in tonality, and impedance too which (may) affects the type of system you play it off of. I don't think the Nighthawk is a $600 headphone... maybe in the $300-400 range, but $600 feels too high.

The suspension system is neat, but I worry about breakage (the pair I tried was already missing one nubbly thing). Even if the bits are user replaceable, it's still annoying. The type of rubber used also seems very similar to other kinds I've handled which are prone to cracking over time (that's a huge generalization though; its hard to tell the difference in rubbers by feel... )

 

Nice! I'll have to pickup a pair for mine.

 

First post, so hello to everyone!

I own both, the Fidelio X1 and X2. From what I have read about the Nighthawks so far (have not heard them), they should be more comparable to the X1 than the X2. Especially with newer, "hot" recordings the bass of the X1 easily gets overblown, pushing the mids too far into the background. Sometimes I have the feeling I am in the same room with the drums and the bass guitar while the rest of the band is next door. This was fixed with the X2, the bass stays where it belongs and so the mids are much more present.

 

Would something like this work: LINK