Glad to hear you are enjoying them! The hawks continue to hold a special place in my collection to this day. Nothing else Iāve had does chill fun the way the Nighthawks do. And like you, I listen to a lot of rock and electronic music and the Hawks win there for me as well. They are also a headphone that is fun to turn up and rock out because they donāt punish your ears in the highs or upper mids like some others. (Proceed with caution.)
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Do you know of any solid EQ settings?
Been google searching and it seems because oratory1990 doesnt have them measured thereās none really.
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youāve probably already seen this reddit post, if youāve Googled about NHC EQ settingsā¦but this post says InnerFidelity and another guy named Dale Thorn have released EQ recommendations for them.
hope this helps!
Yeah I saw the reference but doesnāt seem to be any sources.
Nah I donāt know of any either because Iām not much of an EQ user in general.
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same. if you donāt like how they sound, move on and do so until you find what pleases you.
donāt shoehorn something to sound different. that makes no senseā¦
Doesnāt hurt to try stuff, lol.
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trueā¦but you take Amir at ASR and if a headphone doesnāt have a particular frequency response profile or cannot be forced to replicate his preference, he says theyāre no good.
headphones are like ice cream, theyāre about the bazillion different flavors available. dont try to make mango taste like licorice if licorice is what you want. 
but of course, have fun. but in that case, play with the settings yourself, donāt use someoneā elseās Harmon response 
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Honestly yeah, I find myself agreeing more and more with that.
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Try out eq, the hawks take eq very well so the sky is the limit.
Just plugged in new Hart Audio Cables for my Nighthawk Carbons.
Canāt recommend these cables enough. Incredible feel and the modular style is awesome.
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I got the Carbons a few days ago and I love them! But I have the stupidest issue which make me think Iām gonna return them.
So, I know theyāre a darker headphone, but all the instruments seem to have this upper sparkle which is beautiful, but so painful. Iāve tried EQing but I had to take the whole upper range down by 10+ dB for it to smooth out, Iāve tried toilet paper (fun method 
), Iāve tried just listening on low volume (which kinda works, but isnāt a long-term solution for me). Is there ANYTHING I could try before I return them? Iād love to keep them if I can. 
But, alternatively, is there a headphone with some of the same qualities, money no object?
Which pads are you using? Also what source gear are you using?
Fair question. For the Nighthawk, just my PC at the moment. I do have a RNHP and Bifrost 2 (because Iām dumb and jumped the gun too early, but itās cool cause theyāre great too). For the pads, I use the suede ones.
I would definitely put them on the RNHP and see what you think. And I also think you have the right pads on to smooth response out. So what Iāve found is if you have a bad source they definitely will tell you with the piercing treble. I used mine with a BT receiver going straight to a magni 3 and man the compression sound physically hurt my ears. Other than that you may have a bum pair.
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I have a bit of feedback about my own experiences with this headphone after reading your post. I may ramble for a bit but the TL;DR is that the Carbon is a strange headphone which suits a very specific need. Hopefully my thoughts help you in trying to help you decide what to do with your Carbon.
I got the Carbon some months ago barely used for a good price and took the time to explore them. I liked the pleather pads at first as the FR in the upper region was much smoother for the music I listen to (lots of metal and rock, so cymbals and high-hats were so sibilant due to the peaks when using suede pads). Frequency response aside, I really loved the super wide soundstage at first, but realised as I kept listening what a strange headphone this was. It was as if the soundstage was really artificial, like I had a fish bowl shaped region around my head where there would be no sound much of the time. Like the soundstage is artificially pushed out. Imaging also was kind of relaxed (I come from TYGRs so this was apparent to me). I liked it but couldnāt wrap my head around the sound as I found the timbre was really weird and sounded off in many instances.
After a while, I found that the pleather pads lacked bass punch (though extension was not bad). I did not like the suede pads at first (since the treble response was super uneven) and had given it a quite a few chances. I donāt know how much of this is attributed to the āburn-inā supposedly required for this headphone, but at one point I finally felt like the suedes sounded more smoother in the treble - not as peaky. Soon it became my preferred pads, but I realised I was listening at relatively low volume compared to all the previous attempts at the suedes, where I was listening relatively louder. Thatās what it all clicked for me.
The wide, spacey sound signatureā¦ The relaxed imaging, the strange timbreā¦ Being inoffensive at low volumesā¦ All of these were what gave it an ethereal feel. And I felt that I finally understood this headphone. I came to the conclusion this headphone was designed to be a āchill with music playing softly in the backgroundā headphone, for when you read a book or sit back after a long day while surfing the internet. I found I enjoyed this headphone best when I was NOT critically listening.
Sure, at some points I would listen to clean electric guitars and go āThat sounds lovelyā but I found myself enjoying this headphones most when I was reading a book and did not want my music to distract me too much. Basically, this was the perfect headphone for when I did not want to be engaged or excited by music. Other headphones like my TYGR are good for excitement and engagement, but the Nighthawk Carbon is not that headphone for me.
Of the few headphones I have tried, the Nighthawk Carbon may be the most interesting and strangest one. For that reason alone, I donāt know if I will ever sell it. For you, @gris, I do not know what conclusions you will come to about these headphones. It may very well be different from mine, but you will likely need to spend some time with it to figure it out.
Would be interested to hear what conclusions other owners have come to, or if you agree with me.
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@Etroze86 Thank you so much for your reply! I did try it on the RNHP and unfortunately it exacerbated the problem since the RNHP really brings out the upper range - which is why I played it from just my PC.
Iām giving it until the end of the week, but Iām somewhat coming to terms with the possibility that I might return them.
@jharismaiden What a gorgeous write-up. I could read that all day. What you say very much mirrors my own experience the past few days. This doesnāt make it any easier to form an opinion at this moment, unfortunately. Since we have the same thoughts on the Nighthawk, I would be really interested in what other headphones youāve tried and liked. Would you say the TYGR is less sibilant?
Thanks for the kind words!
I donāt consider myself that experienced with a variety of gear, and the only two other headphones I use often are the TYGR and DT880 250 ohm (black). The DT880 may be bright for your liking - as it is for mine. I use it only sometimes with some EQ for when I want to listen to music critically and crave that āclear and snappyā sound. Hoping to try Sundara for at some point as Iāve heard itās got similar presentation/characteristics, but have put headphones on hold as Iām going all-in with speakers at the moment.
I was recommended the Nighthawk Carbon as a step up from the TYGR by experienced people on this forum since TYGR can be seen as a bassy headphone with almost relaxed treble. It is not generally sibilant to me but I am sensitive to treble peaks so I find it is just barely sibilant on certain recordings. TYGR is generally seen as quite neutral in the treble except for that usual Beyer peak (though nowhere near as peaky as most other Beyers - do look up frequency response curves to see what I mean).
What I like about the TYGR is the wide natural soundstage and insane imaging. Carbon beats it for soundstage (although TYGRās seems more natural) but not for imaging. Overall its sound signature can be described as āfun and engagingā. Itās really catches your attention with its imaging and bass punch without overdoing it, yet has this slightly laid back feel since itās recessed in the mids and highs (relative to the bass). I donāt like how vocals take a back seat. If you want to hear louder vocals, you may need to fix this with EQ. Though, what I love about the Beyers I have heard is the ability to recreate the ābeadyā texture effect in vocals, and TYGR does this amazingly.
I feel like the only areas where the Carbon kicks the TYGRās arse is in bass quality and overall detail retrieval (despite being a dark headphone!). Carbon is the first headphone Iāve tried where I feel like I really hear texture in the bass notes, and it presents details in recordings in a resolving way without using treble. Everything else is a matter of what you prefer in your headphones so it becomes harder to compare. I also do find the TYGR slightly grainier in the treble, if I am being nitpicky.
A note about EQ for the TYGR - I have had decent experience adding in mids but have heard they do not respond well if you mess with the bass frequencies. I personally find the bass more than adequate, though.
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No problem and I forgot about the burn in on these!!! You will want to give it at least 150hrs as the sound changes a ton.
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BF2 + Valhalla 2 + Vintage RCA Tubes + OG Nighthawk = Pretty Darn Good
I really do like these headphones.
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