Audioquest Nighthawk Headphones commentary

[Axiom05]

I had the original 600 and 650, but not the new 650. Based on my experience with those Senns (and many newer 650 reviews) and now the Nighthawk, I'd guess the Nighthawk will have more lower mids and less treble.

 

http://dalethorn.com/Photos/Audioforge/Audioquest_Nighthawk.jpg

 

The above (green line only) is an EQ curve to make the Nighthawk sound more like a warmer version of the 600 - perhaps like a 650?

 

Hi Dale. Should we compare your EQ curve to the raw or compensated/averaged FR curves shown at InnerFidelity?

 

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudioQuestNightHawk2015.pdf

[dalethorn]

Hi Dale. Should we compare your EQ curve to the raw or compensated/averaged FR curves shown at InnerFidelity?

 

I think all comparisons are useful, but my curve is how the Nighthawk sounds compared to a dozen of the most neutral headphones I've owned. If you go back to the early impressions on headfi and a few other sites, you'll find impressions of credible users who were astonished at the sound. The curve you show is flat from the deep bass up through the lower mids to 500 hz or so. Mine has a large emphasis in the upper bass to lower mids. Your graph shows the lower treble about right.

 

To be honest, the Nighthawk "fixes up" in a unique and amazing way with some EQ (less of that the better the desktop system), but played flat, it's dull compared to any headphone I know of that's more-or-less hi-fi, such as Senn HD600/800, AKG K712, Grado SR325, MrSpeakers Mad Dog and Alpha Dog, Beyer DT770/880/T90/DT1770, etc. etc.

 

I'm still waiting for enough reviews from reliable sources, such as the contributors on Headfonia, so I can put together a picture as seen by critical audiophiles.

 

BTW, there are a number of reviewers, if that's what they are, who have described an enormous change in the sound with burn-in, yet I know people who judge sound very well who are extremely skeptical of burn-in changes, including the man who published the curve you show here.

 

EDIT: I'm a big fan of the Nighthawk, but I stand by my evaluation of the sound. Secondly, I consider its chameleon-like behavior as I've described as something of a mystery. And I'm OK with mysteries, but not so OK with "You have to learn to accept what your first impressions tell you is not right."

[dalethorn]

BTW #2 - looking again at IF's graph, the right channel is down 16 db from 400 hz to 2.5 khz, which is not good. Those graphs generally have some dip around 5 khz, plus or minus a khz, but 16 db down at 2.5 khz would make a very dull sound indeed.

[Axiom05]

BTW #2 - looking again at IF's graph, the right channel is down 16 db from 400 hz to 2.5 khz, which is not good. Those graphs generally have some dip around 5 khz, plus or minus a khz, but 16 db down at 2.5 khz would make a very dull sound indeed.

 

Thanks for your responses. The FR curves look pretty bad: no high frequencies, significant channel differences. Maybe the pair that was measured was not performing to spec. Nevertheless, I get the impression that without EQ, the NightHawks are not very natural sounding.

[dalethorn]

Thanks for your responses. The FR curves look pretty bad: no high frequencies, significant channel differences. Maybe the pair that was measured was not performing to spec. Nevertheless, I get the impression that without EQ, the NightHawks are not very natural sounding.

 

Well, it could be just another $600 failure, but I believe that the technology that went into the Nighthawk is pretty serious, and hopefully Audioquest will get together with the best audiophiles and reviewers they can find, and come up with a design that has a more neutral or natural sound out of the box. Many serious audiophiles believe that premium headphones don't generally benefit from EQ, but for me the spectacular improvement afforded by the Nighthawk is a strong clue to something.

[new_media]

The Nighthawk is on my list of possible headphones to use with the Pono Player in balanced mode. I just wanted to be sure that they are sensitive enough for the Pono to drive them without a headphone amp?

[dalethorn]

The Nighthawk is on my list of possible headphones to use with the Pono Player in balanced mode. I just wanted to be sure that they are sensitive enough for the Pono to drive them without a headphone amp?

 

They are pretty sensitive - enough for iPhone, and the Pono should be better.

[new_media]

Thanks.

 

I think I will take my Pono down to the shop and give them a try. Only problem is they don't come with balanced cables.

[new_media]

I took my Pono Player to Gig Harbor Audio this morning and tried out the Nighthawks. The Pono can drive them just fine. I spent about 45 minutes demoing an evaluation set that another customer had taken home and broken in for 50 hours or so. They sounded fantastic to me.

 

The salesman offered to give me the 10% discount they had been running after Christmas, so for $540, I snapped them up.

 

I just ordered some cables from Surf Cables to use with the Pono Player in balanced mode as well.

 

HD700/ Nighthawk/ HE-1000 Headphone Cables – Surf Cables LLC