Disclaimer: The AudioQuest NightHawk was sent to me for the purpose of this review. It has to be returned to AudioQuest once I’ve finished playing with it and the other AQ units (JitterBug & DragonFly).
AudioQuest
AudioQuest is a US based company but the EU headquarters is located in the Netherlands. I had been following AudioQuest’s Instagram account for a while and I decided to contact them there after seeing the JitterBug in one of their posts. AudioQuest is mostly known for their cables since the 1980’s already but they have also released a very popular mini USB DAC/AMP called the DragonFly. The DragonFly has gotten a lot of praise all over the world and it will be reviewed soon on Headfonia as well. I can tell you already it pleasantly surprised me. AudioQuest “recently” also launched their first full sized headphone called the “NightHawk”, which is what we’ll be looking at today. I first received the NightHawk and the JitterBug while the DragonFly 1.2 arrived quite a while later as AQ can’t seem to keep up with production of the units. That’s usually agood thing.
NightHawk
When the NightHawk was launched it got a lot of press and quickly became FOTM (Flavor of the Month) on Head-fi and other sites. Opinions of the NightHawk however have been divergent to say the least but isn’t that always the case? One group of people will love something while the other will hate it or just don’t care.
Design and Comfort
Most people seem to like the NightHawk’s looks but design is and will always be a personal thing. I myself think it’s quite nice, I just can’t seem to get to like the look of the faux wood/liquid wood. I’m the kind of guy though that likes the wooden HE-1000 (next week!) and LCD designs. A part from the shiny fake wood I actually quite like the look of the NightHawk, it’s unique, and I can’t think of any other headphone that looks more or less like it. That being said, we all know looks aren’t the most important thing in a headphone. Comfort on the other hand is and I think AudioQuest got it just right.
The AudioQuest NightHawk simply is very comfortable. The patent-pending suspension system automatically places the earpads, and the whole headphone, ideally on your head. Even with smaller heads like mine. Clamping force is just right: you can feel it but it doesn’t bother you that much and it keeps the NightHawk on your head even when bending over. The soft protein leather earpads follow the contours of your ears and are a pleasure to feel on your skin. While it maybe isn’t as comfortable as the HD800, the 346gr NightHawk does disappear after a while. I experienced that when I was listening to the NightHawk in my office (connected to the JitterBug and DragonFly) and I rolled my chair a bit too far away from the desk. I simply forgot the NightHawk was on my head and that resulted in me snapping off the 3.5mm plug on the output of the DragonFly. Luckily nothing else was damaged but it did leave me with a destroyed cable. That’s where AudioQuest’s excellent customer service came in. They didn’t only send me a new cable but also included a balanced cable, all of that for free. Big thumbs up. The cable, knowing AudioQuest, of course is of really good quality. They feel good, look good and sound good. What’s not to like?
The NightHawk was designed by Skylar Gray and it took two years of development. Mr. Gray wanted it to be a headphone that would please everyone at any time. “The pursuit of unbridled pleasure and the pursuit of unprocessed truth” is how AQ calls it. A headphone designed for low distortion and maximum performance, for music, movies and gaming. One headphone to rule them all and to do that a lot of new technologies have been used. That’s right, this isn’t your typical dynamic driven headphone. Some examples:
The NightHawk uses bio-cellulose driver diaphragms compared to the classic drivers and they also have different voice coils. NightHawk’s driver baskets are also fully ventilated around the perimeter of the diaphragm area for reduced distortion where classic drivers mostly use blocked vent sections. NightHawk’s equitangential corners enable smooth airflow where classic designs mostly use sharp corners, impacting the sound in a different way. NightHawk uses bio-cellulose vs the classic Mylar drivers as well. The list is long and it shows a whole lot of work went into this piece of art. More complete information can be found on AudioQuest’s website here: http://personal.AudioQuest.com/NightHawk-measurements.
Besides all of AudioQuest’s technical achievements I do find it very important to mention that the NightHawk was developed to minimize waste and excess. The NightHawk is an environmentally friendly headphone made from a lot of 100% renewable materials. Even the packaging is as eco-friendly as possible. The NightHawk comes delivered with its two cables, a high quality headphone plug adapter, cleaning cloths and useful literature.
Specs
- The NightHawk is a semi open design headphone with angled drivers
- Impedance: 25 ohms
- Sensitivity: 100dBSPL/mW
- Power Handling: 1.5W
- Driver: 50mm Dynamic | Biocellulose Diaphragm | 1.2T Split-Gap Motor
- Frequency Response & Distortion Measurements
- Cable Specifications
- Length: 8’ (2.4m)
- Conductors: Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+)
- Geometry: Symmetric Star-Quad
- Dielectric: Foamed-Polyethylene
- NDS: Noise-Dissipation System
- Terminations: 3.5mm Stereo > Dual 2.5mm Mono | Direct-Silver Plated Copper
“Sound” can be found after the click!
szoze
Thanks Lieven for another great review. Your conclusions are very similar to mine. The problem with the Nighthawk is that it inspite of their good scaling capabilities they will never sound as good as HD650, HD600, T90 or HD500 no matter what amp is used. The NH are more similar to Fidelio X2 but even here I actually prefer X2. Another problem with the NH is the ridiculous pricing ($599 :-D) It means it costs more than twice X2 costs. The NH costs as much as T90 🙂 No way! Audioquest is using the old marketing trick. Put a high price on a product and make people believe it actually performs as good as it costs. Who believs in this? Not me, thanks. 🙂
dalethorn
The frequency response, or signature, is definitely like molasses on a cool day – thick, syrupy, dark …. but change the response even a little with EQ, and a marvelous hi-fi sound jumps out. Why EQ a Nighthawk when you can just buy a “better” headphone for less? Because the end result is better with the Nighthawk. Like the old Chinese proverb – look in the pot, there might be gold inside.
szoze
What Equalizer should I use if I use a CD-player or a turntable as a source? Recommendations? By EQing, you are not actually changing the characteristic of the headphone. You are making changes to the signal itself.
dalethorn
Yes. But modern electronics are miracles, and there are 100 ways you can do what you need to do. The theory doesn’t usually matter as much as the end result. In engineering (my specialty) we say “If the output isn’t right, adjust the input accordingly”. My contribution re: the Nighthawk, is to suggest the possibility of great sound. The NH is like a chameleon – it not only scales unusually well (given its not-so-good starting point), but it EQ’s much better than anything I know. It’s not for everyone, especially those who prefer to listen with the proverbial hand-tied-behind-their-back.
Ryan Rahman
Thing is, if a certain headphone has exaggerations in the FR it’s going to respond well to EQ. I own the Nighthawk along with the HD650. It’s fantastic for bass tracks but in the mids things do take a back step. I don’t think it’s as good as the HD650 but it does have a better bass response. The treble on the Nighthawk is also a bit rough sounding but the big bass bloom takes a lot of attention away from that. This headphone takes time to understand you have to train your ears to adjust to it’s sound. You will find it’s pros, i.e fun, low distortion, good treble air but also it’s cons, recessed mids, rough treble, lack of cohesiveness.
dalethorn
No way did I ever “adjust” to its sound. I simply flattened the awful response with this curve, then it was wonderful sounding. And BTW, very smooth – the opposite of rough. And the interesting thing about the Nighthawk to me is how much it improves with a modest EQ – much more for less EQ than any other headphone of the 150 I’ve owned.
http://dalethorn.com/Photos/Audioforge/Audioquest_Nighthawk.jpg
Ryan Rahman
Personally I’m not into EQ I wouldn’t want to spend £500 to have to EQ them. I enjoy the sound stock for bass tracks and also when listening to them for a while my brain filters out the bloom more.
What I hear in the mids is very good, not great though. The treble I like but it’s also rough and a bit jagged. I feel that when I played around with some EQ the faults came out more.
It seems the guy’s on headfi are eating up the snake oil low distortion quotes from Audioquest! While it does have low distortion the mid bass actually makes them less clean compared to say, a 650 or HE-500. I think it works best as a 2nd headphone rather than a standalone but some can deal with the sound on it’s own fine it seems.
dalethorn
I think it’s a fabulous headphone, but if you haven’t heard it the way I have, then you wouldn’t know. Sorry…
digitldlnkwnt
Most times i find myself tweaking the EQ for any headphone i use. Using an EQ has a nasty connotation, but really, why wouldn’t you want your music to sound it’s best?
dalethorn
If the headphone is fairly smooth to begin with, there’s a good chance of having an excellent result. But some headphones that aren’t so smooth can require a lot of work EQ’ing just to be OK enjoyable. And then there’s a few (i.e. Flare R1) that I wouldn’t EQ except as a test exercise. On average though, it’s a good way to increase the value of your investment, if you get both the response and soundstage working good.
Andreas Yankopolus
Replacing the stock earpads with the Brainwavz velour memory-foam ones also gives a much more pleasing response curve.
dalethorn
I got the Brainwavz pads on Jan 2, 2016 – a slight improvement, but not that good.
Andreas Yankopolus
Interesting. I’m running my Nighthawks from a Dragonfly v1.2 and was on the verge of returning them due to their dark, congested sound until I tried the Brainwavz pads. I didn’t see that level of improvement coming!
dalethorn
The Dragonfly helps a lot. Good that you found the right combination.
Headfonia_L.
Glad you like the review!
Juan Luis Quiroz Guevara
How compared with hifiman he400i?
Headfonia_L.
Hifiman is cleaner, it’s an ortho, has tighter bass, more precision
Josh
These might just be my endgame headphone under $1000. The sound so smooth and warm with the most natural vocals I’ve heard, and the bass sounds great when listening to edm. Audioquest really did hit a home run with this headphone as the build quality, fit and SQ are all top notch imo.
Brandon McKinney
I am planning on getting these now that the price has dropped, but I am having trouble cutting through the cloud of jargon. Every review seems to pit these phones up to the same cans from Sennheiser and other “audiophile” brands and the same results are reported. I am currently using BOSE Quiet comfort 25s. I used to sell high-end speakers, so I am well aware of BOSE’s less-than-par reputation, but these phones reproduce sound with clarity and with a wide expansive soundstage. I use them with Neutron Player running FLAC files on a AudioQuest DragonflyRed DAC. However, I believe I have hit the sound ceiling on these phones and am hoping the Nighthawks will break through that ceiling. Sadly, no one wants to or can’t compare the sound.
Any help?
Lieven
I will recommend the NightOwl over the NightHawk anytime, unless you prefer a warmer, darker kind of presentation. the Owl’s clarity is extremely good and it to me is the best of both headphones
Dale Thorn
I’ve had several Bose’s including the QC25 and 35, and the NightHawk. The Bose achieves its generally neutral response with decent clarity and soundstage, because it equalizes the sound at the same time it applies noise cancelling. That’s the advantage that Bose gets in the market, due to their excellent DSP. But the downside is a slightly rough sound, and noise cancelling artifacts.
The NightHawk is much cleaner, but not equalized, it has a bit too much lower-mids emphasis and mid-treble recess. How much varies according to the playback gear – I got best results with a laptop Mac and a DragonFly v1.2, in other words a DAC/amp that’s somewhat lean and maybe a bit bright.
The NightHawk designer pretty well insisted that user perception of its sound would be skewed because of the special technology used, much like the same had been said about the new Focals, or the Flare Audio R1 of a couple years ago, by their respective designers. I will give him credit for producing an unusual and potentially great headphone, but in the end I think if you want a good hi-fi response that’s close to neutral, you’ll need to EQ it a little.
Brandon McKinney
Thanks for that description of the BOSE. It makes sense with what they are calling their “Active EQ.”
Thankfully the Neutron Music Player has an EQ that is extraordinarily robust. I have heard folks adjusting the 500hz range. Howdver, when looking at graph data, the roll off seems tof occur at 1000 to 3000 hz.
I have actually received the Nighthawks and I was horrified by how terrible the sound was right out of the box. It was like the bass was being played out of a megaphone, the Mids played out of a bull horn and the highs litterally sounded like it was being played through a cardboard cone. After 2 hours of burn in, they started to really open up. Richer sound, detailing, etc. I have witnessed minimal increases in burn in before….but dang, never this drastic!
I am going to wait until it has burned in enough before I experiment with EQ settings. 🙂
Dale Thorn
I tried using the Reply button but this software kept defeating me, so my answer appears separately.
Dale Thorn
In this graph, you can see where I boosted 1, 3, and 8 khz by nearly 6 db. Then I reduced 160 hz by about 6 db, tapering off to -3 db at 600 hz. And that’s way after break-in. But that’s using an iPhone 6 and Oppo DAC. The EQ for desktop use was less dramatic, but still about +/- 4 db. In this graph, the vertical divisions are 6 db, and the vertical lines missing are 300 and 3000 hz.
http://dalethorn.com/Photos/Audioforge/Audioquest_Nighthawk.jpg
Ben
Can you play back FLAC / HD Music sources via the Audioforge EQ app?
dale thorn
As far as I know, the Audioforge app plays from the Apple music library only, which allows lossless WAV and Apple formats only, 44 to 48 khz. My experience with FLAC indicates that for lossless 44 khz, there’s a 33 percent reduction in file size – not such a big deal, but if you had a different player (without the parametric EQ) that allowed 88/96 khz and 24 bit FLAC files, those files would be huge, and you’d probably need a 256 gb iPhone or iPad to host them.
So for my use, I keep the bulk of my high-res files on my Macbook, and use the primitive equalizer in the Vox player, and on the iPhone7, I keep only about 50 lossless files and the remainder in 320k MP3, for portable use. I’m still looking for a better desktop/laptop player, but for the iPhone etc. devices, I’m OK with the 44/48 khz limit, since the noise floor is too high in portable use to justify using a high-res player that requires its own library.
Maybe someone here has an idea how to get a parametric equalizer onto an Apple phone or iPad, with high-res capability. Or Android, if that’s possible.
Russ Myers
These headphones are amazing with no EQ from my Lotoo Paw Gold Diana!
Michael Feehily
Lucky for me I’ve got both the dragonfly red & chord mojo ,so I’ve been able to switch the nighthawk carbon between both . I’ve only had the headphones for a week so this is not an in-depth A/B comparison. The dragonfly , I think brings the recessed mid/ treble more to the fore giving a more instant engaging sound . For me though Iove the mojo/nighthawk combo simply because of the huge bass it allows to come through & I feel it’s more faithful to the nighthawk sound signature.
I’ve come from using the Grado RS1e which for me were just too bright ( Grating at times) to the deep mellow nighthawk. So for me personally I don’t want to change the sound signature. I like them just the way they are ( big bass & all)
Leon
I have both the Nighthawk and the HD650. The latter is clearer sounding but not as musical. I found myself always go back to the Nighthawk even though HD650 is as impressive as it is. I tried many different amplifications, including the all-tube Schiit Valhalla 2, which is supposed to match the HD650 really well.