Lol
10 character
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Well when I sold them the plan was to get them back eventually lol but things didnāt work out, was able to snag them recently from reddit
Thanks to @ericgi believe for posting that thread in the buy and sell section lol. Like a hawk I swooped in and sealed the deal within 2 minutes
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Put about an hour or so onto these now, previous buyer advised heās put around 100 hours in. And ā¦ Iām underwhelmed?
Iām far, far, far from an audiophile, Iāll say that straight away. I know people say these are really relaxing but Iām not sure if relaxing means they lack much energy at all?
Everything just sounds a bit flat, a bit veiled. Iām running it off my iPad Pro 10.5 and Iāve got a BTR5 hopefully arriving today so Iāll test that. But I expect the iPad should be able to drive it to a good level given Skylar Grey was saying he was using his iPhone.
Also using Tidal at hifi and master quality so the streaming source is good enough there.
Maybe it does take a while to break my ears in, but coming from the Meze 99 Classics, these definitely donāt feel like what were Ā£700 headphones and Iām not sure if I prefer the 99ās at this point.
Early days I guess, weāll see.
Edit: Put the 99ās on and they sound a LOT different actually! The 99ās treble sounded fine last week but today, after the NHās, they almost sound painful. And very closed too. Interesting!
Thereās ur answer lol
The hawks technically sound decent of normal devices but can definitely be a little lackluster. They miss the dynamics and slam and bass is a bit piss poor without a proper amp. I know you said you are expecting the btr5, make sure you get a balanced cable too otherwise it wonāt improve much, even then I would highly recommend you hold off and save up for an xduoo and I feel that really helps bring the hawks to life. (ps when I had hawks on my phone before I did not like them)
Also when it comes to what you said about veiled and about them and their energy, first of the veil. They are a bit dark sounding on first listen honestly that does take some people time to get used to so thatās fair! Give it time and maybe it wonāt sound veiled, when it comes to it lacking energy thatās wat happens when something is underpowered, lacks any sort of energy, impact etc. But I will say that due to their presentation they might be a more less engaging headphone ime (with the carbons, donāt want to confuse u but for some reason not with the OG hawks lol)
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Jose is right. all headphones will benefit from power. there are options that will work well off a phone or tablet, but you have to choose carefully as not everything is meant to work at the low power thresholds they can provide.
Any updates on the hawks? Still not feeling em or getting better?
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Definitely better than the first impression. Sometimes they still feel a little withdrawn but for the most part they sound pretty clear now. Some tracks Iāve felt like I was sitting in a small room with the artist playing on a stage in front of me, it was really cool.
I listened to them for around 4-5 hours, off and on, during the day yesterday while I worked and it was only the last hour where i felt a bit tired of them and switched to the Meze 99 Classics. I think it was a mix of needing something different on my ears, but more just wanting a bit more ā¦ openness to it.
I know I like a warmer sound as I can find some treble to really hurt my ears but I also really love bass. I might try switching to the leather pads which I believe increases the treble but you lose some bass?
The other thing is that Iām a little concerned about durability. I try to be careful taking them off and on, putting them down onto the desk etc. But every time I see those rubber pieces on the cups, I expect them to just snap for some reason.
Iām pretty pleased with them, they sound a lot better than the WH1000XM4ās I had previously. But I wonder if Iād like something a bit more ā¦ open? A bit more treble, more airiness to the sound. The 99ās kinda fill that but they lack I guess whatever makes the NHās different.
I MIGHT pick up a pair of 58Xās to give those a try.
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These headphones left a great impression on me, but maybe thatās because Iām driving it mainly off a bifrost 2 into an atom amp. I did hear that these headphones are okay portable, so I tried driving them off my phone or ps5 controller and both just completely lacked the dynamic bass slam and overall detail that I had gotten used to hearing when running it off my main setup. These definitely do like power, theyāre almost like a planar in that way haha. Anyways, they do take some getting used to as far as sound signature goes. I remember when I first tried these my ears were like what the crap is happening haha (coming from argons and modded thieaudio phantoms). But now that Iām more accustomed to the signature I find these quite enjoyable. Definitely a keeper headphone for me, they sound like nothing else and I love that about them. And Iām sure them being so unique probably means they donāt measure well (against harman or flatness), but this is yet another case where measurements donāt tell the whole story. Let your ears be the judge and enjoy some tunes.
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The hawks are definitely a bit more niche in my expirience and due to their presentation they can be slightly less engaging than most headphones so I can understand why ou might get slightly tired if them or bored of them after an hour. Also personally they are not aggressive so I mostly find myself using them for chill music etc. And about the treble and sounding open thatās totally fair! Thatās the reason I had bought a sundara, I needed more treble brigthness etc because I didnāt feel my music sounded best like that.
Might be more up ur alley altho itās Def not got much air in the treble region either.
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Iāve been enjoying the nighthawks a fair bit. Honestly donāt know why i ever sold them lol. I have bought plenty of gear and sold plenty of it, but usually specially recently as i have been finding my style of things i sell gear only because itās hard to justify price etc compared to my usage or itās place in my gear. The hawks however i had fallen out of love with after a while and didnāt enjoy them, i preferred by 18 dollar bluetooth sony buds (which is still love btw lol). But after buying them again recently for purely sentimental reasons WOW i honestly canāt figure out why i fell out of love. I did start with the Carbon Nighthawks and currently have the OG ones but still, i have been enjoying these like crazy. Decent detail, great timbre, great imaging. Pretty sweet depth. I remember why a gang was created from these hawks now . Iāve used super great gear including LCD 2 prefzor, Focal alpha 80s, Tia Trios etc, these have no right to sound as enjoyable as they do!
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Starting to think I need to pull out my ole hawks, dust them off and give them a whirl again. I havenāt listened to them in quite some time and Iāve upgraded my gear and added a bunch of stuff to my chain since then. I think I originally was listening to them off of my jotunheim and the last thing I really heard them on was my rnhp+enog. Imma give them a whirl here in a bit.
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See, thatās the thing Iām starting to feel with my nighthawks as well. Iām starting to feel as itās getting boring, but ever since I got a new amp and a pad swap, my interest in em is now back. Iāll put out an update once I do a bit more listening.
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I spent yesterday with a few hours on the Nighthawk in the morning, then switched to the Meze 99 Classics in the afternoon.
I donāt know if maybe I was just ready for a change of sound by the time the afternoon arrived but the 99ās felt ā¦ fresh. The brightness really helped after the relaxed listening of the Nighthawkās, although the 99ās did feel a bit more one dimensional compared to the Nighthawkās which really gave more of a room feeling as opposed to the music being right on top of you.
I think Iāll flip it around today and listen to the 99ās in the morning, then listen to the Nighthawkās in the afternoon. I suspect Iāll flip with feeling there too, that after the 99ās Iāll appreciate the more relaxed Nighthawkās in the afternoon.
At this point I think Iād like a mix between the two really. I like the feeling of expanse, the roominess, of the Nighthawkās. I like the tighter bass of the Nighthawkās, although the 99ās also have very good bass too.
With the 99ās I like the increased treble a bit more than what I get from the Nighthawkās. Iām sensitive to sibilance and the 99ās havenāt bothered me with treble at any point.
A mix of the two would be great. Maybe an open-backed 99 would be perfect for me.
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The Nighthawk is one of those headphones that benefit from a cable swapping. I STRONGLY recommend a good silver cable with it. Silver lowers bass and highlights high frequencies which is exactly what the Nighthawk needs. It increases sense of transparency, increases sense of stage and makes it easier to enjoy what makes the Nighthawk special imo which is the solidity and shaping of the imaging.
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I have been experimenting with the pads and have been using the Brainwavz velours for over a week now and I am just loving the sound.
They donāt sound as ādarkā as the stock leathers and although the bass is not as powerful, it is certainly there and more āwarmā. Treble is notably better as well, it is brighter but not in a bad way.
The stock suedes are too neutral for me so at the moment I am swapping between the leathers and velours and loving the latter. I think the imaging is even better albeit with a tad less impact and āslamā in the lower bass region than the leathers.
I second the comment about the cable - I managed to get a custom made balanced cable and it definitely opens up the sound of the NHs!
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What cable did you get?
It was custom made for me by a seller on eBay in the UK - I just checked and it doesnāt look like he is currently selling anything 
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It looks the cable is available to purchase again on eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Balanced-Upgrade-Headphone-Cable-for-Audioquest-Nighthawk-Nightowl-2-x-2-5mm-/193775624121?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
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Fucking hell man! I seriously have no idea how I ever fell out of love with the hawks. Itās like dang dude. These things are so good they could be endgame. And to an extent they are. They just hit all the right spots and bring SOUL to music at a great price range
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Itās when you put on another pair of headphones and they are ābrightā and you think the Hawks are veiled. You come back later and react like that. Been there, done that
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