I think it does tighten up a tad bit, overall the sound seems to get more defined and a little less wonky, imaging becomes a little more defined as to where sounds are coming from too.
I am not sure about 150hrs, but I do know I could tell a difference by week 2 of using them especially.
Awesome! I am loving these and was curiousā¦ I do not always use headphones as unfortunately I guess I live alone and can use my nearfield monitors 24hrs a day. Of course work all week but weekends anyways. I am quite intrigued by their signature though. Thanks for the insight of a Hawk vet!
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No problem! I love them. Sometimes I actually feel like the presentation almost sounds like speakers in a closed room. Which may explain Audioquest saying they were going for a āloudspeaker inspired presentationā.
Does anyone knows how these compare to Fidelio X2? Would they be considered an upgrade?
I would personally say they are a good upgrade, they have more controlled low end that is more detailed, quicker, more impactful and also more accurate timbre imo. I think the midrange performance is large upgrade as itās not bloated, good timbre and very good detail with a really nice natural sound, and no real bass bleed. For treble itās a bit more recessed than the x2 but imo a higher quality more refined treble response. For soundstage the x2 is wider, but imo the hawks recreate a space inside the cups thatās really interesting, more impressive imo.
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Oh wow, perfect upgrade for me then. It seems that they improve on exactly what annoys me in my X2 - lacks of mids and piercing highs sometimes. Might consider getting these!
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Best of luck finding a good deal!
Been a few months, but I finally unplugged my Nighthawks (after constant use for like ~3 months) to try my HD600 out again and man the difference is so much different than I remembered lol. Still loving the warmth of the Nighthawks but changing it up every now and then is nice for a breath of fresh air.
Read up from however many days Iāve been away but glad to see some new people enjoying these! Itās crazy how popular these cans are around here, but Iām glad for it cause they are sick. Also, yeah the stock cable is garbage and I am also thinking about replacing it because it gets on my nerves at my new desk, my arm rubs against it all the time and itās way too stiff.
Also now that the 789 went from $500 to $300 I am probably going to pull the trigger on it, and likewise will be looking to upgrade my DAC sometime in the near futureā¦ anyone have any suggestions for me? Headphones and current set-up are in my bio, thanks!
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So personally I really wouldnāt suggest the 789 with the hawks or the 600, I would really suggest actually going with a asgard 3, it would be a very substantial upgrade to your magni 3. The asgard 3 was pretty much remade and a huge improvement over the asgard 2
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Hmm I have seen you saying you like the Asgard 3 much more than 2. I am somewhat interested in balanced though as my next headphone will probably be a pair of Argonsā¦ I also want a tube amp, but not sure if I can make too many purchases in such a short time lol.
So many choices in the audio world and making decisions is always so tough ahhhh
So really imo single ended and balanced can be similar in sound, and I donāt really think balanced is worth it at this price range, I think you wonāt be missing out on anything by not going balanced. The asgard 3 is a really good match with both the hawks and the argon mk3, itās got a great amount of power and control. The 600 on a tube is awesome, def something I think is worth considering. I do think you could swing both a asgard 3 and a tube amp, if you go with a little dot mk2 or find a darkvoice in the 160 usd range.
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Thank you for the advice as always!
Iāll probably look into the Asgard 3 tomorrow and Iāll try to be on the lookout for a tube, because generally I like a warmer touch and I feel like the 600s tubed would be quite awesomeā¦ Is the little dot mk3 worth the upgrade over a mk2? I see it is on drop right now for $200 which is probably around the max I would want to spend for a tube at the moment.
Hmmm, I think it would be, drop also has the darkvoice for 160? at times too. Just make sure to get the mk3 and not the mk3 se as the se is a hybrid
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Alright ended up pulling the trigger on the mk3 a few hours before the Drop sale ended. Iām curious, do the nighthawks sound good on tubes as well?
Also excited to try tubes for the first time, thanks again for the recommendations.
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Kind of, itās meh on an otl but I much prefer it on a solid state amp like the asgard 3
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Do higher impedance headphones work better with an otl? Isnāt that why ZMF headphones are 300ohms.
Generally yes. OTL amps have limited ability to output a lot of current. But there are more expensive OTL amps that can work well with relatively low impedance headphones.
I doubt the ZMF headphones were 300 ohms in order to work well on OTL amps, it was probably more about the driver design. The fact they have higher impedance makes them a good match.
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Somebody on r/AVExchange just listed a pair of hawks for sale and it looks like they are in the UK.
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So got a question to all nighthawk owners who own higher tier or similiar performing headphones. @Nick_Mimi i know you for example have some really higher end stuff. I got the Sundaraās recently, and i was always wondering if i would be able to like something as much as the hawks without the very speaker-like presentation. After having the sundara for a few hours, i honestly canāt say that i see a big difference in presentation atm. Iām assuming itās because of the very strong center channel? like i know this sounds crazy, but the hawks sound only a bit more focused in the middle. the sundaras sound very similiar to that tho. everyone with higher tier stuff, do you find the center presence to be strong enough to still be as cohesive as the hawk center channel? i feel like i am losing my mind lol. @FBizzle iām curious about your opinion too since i know for a fact you have some really high tier gear
btw before the hawks i had the 58x and 4xx, which sounded more dispersed
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@Jose_G this is a great example where individual ability to perceive sound and put into words what we perceive gets weird. When I listen to the hawks the presentation to me is of being in a large open room with sound emanating not only from a wide soundstage but having that great sense of depth and peculiar sense of separation that happens in a large venue. They sound different to me because none of my other HPās reproduce the music in this fashion. When you compare the hawks to speakers I understand that but when you mentioned the focus of midrange I lost you.
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