Nice, glad you are enjoying it 
That is not the case either imo. The old schiit products are reminiscent of their name in how they sound to me. The new schiit like the magni heresy, asgard 3, and bifrost 2 are pretty awesome because it’s like they are figuring out how to make good things lol, but their other stuff is rather subpar imo (until it gets updated)
Yeah, and if you ever need more powah, the JDS Atom or the Heresy are both 100$ for 1 watt, which is enough power to cook most of the headphones on earth lol.
Liquid spark as well imo
@smoketreez if you wanted more oomph out of your Hawks in the future, they pair pretty well with a magni heresy or Asgard 3, definitely something to consider since now you have a nice dac
I do like the zen dac as a dac for sure, but sometimes you might want a bit more oomph out of the amp, but it depends
I mean, the graph of the nighthawk in one word is basically oomph anyway lol. Dat bass!
It depends on the pads you use (I prefer the suede for bass and more interesting sound). Also with more power they do open up for sure, they just improve in like every aspect tbh. But they are not hard to drive either, they don’t need too much, they can be run off of a phone with decent results
I guess so, they should “scale” well considering they were like 750$ msrp new? Lol.
They scale fairly well, but admittedly I don’t think it would be worth spending over something like an Asgard 3 for a desktop amp for them (although they do increase on higher end amps)
Just got the Nighthawks in the other day.
They sound awesome and perform perfectly for my aural needs!
However (in addition to the short ass cord which, if you have suggestions, I would like to replace),
I was wondering how the elastic adjustment strap worked for you (y’all). I am finding that, while it stays in place surprisingly well, if I move my head very much the elastic retracts and pulls the ear cups up. When it happens it also creates some unpleasant reverberation in the cable. Are these just the quirks of the headphone, or is it solved over time?
Thanks
For that you kinda have to position it a bit more forward or backwards on your head, it is an issue with some (but most all suspension straps have these issues with some
This is a nice cheap cable that’s a good length
Curious to see what you think of the hawks once you get some more time on them Also what pads are you using right now?
I’ve tested both but landed on the suede ones!
Nice! Yeah I love the suede, much more comfortable and better bass impact, and tones the treble down.
Would it be worth it to grab the balanced cable i see recommended [https://amzn.to/32CHG6b] for like $30 extra?
Do you have a balanced device or plan to get one soon?
Oh, are the nighthawks not balanced?
The hawks can be balanced, you just also have to have a balanced amp as well to actually use balanced. The cable will make the hawks balanced capable, but that would mean you would need a balanced amp unless you buy an adapter
the ifi zen dac has a balanced output 
Correct, then you would just need an adapter like this
Or find a cable with a 4.4 mm balanced connector on it
Oh, I see. The one I was looking at is 2.5mm.
But yeah, is balanced really worth it?
With the zen dac yes, the balanced out of the Zen preforms better than unbalanced