These are my absolute favorite headphones I have ever tried. They are very special to me.
comon sell it to me baby LOL
I recently asked for a price from creative on the e-mu teak’s (for no particular reason) and they’re $450 for fixed cable and $500 for removable cable… M0N mentioned them and they’re similar to the ebony’s… might be worth looking into
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I did find the 177x more comfortable out of the box. Regardless I pad swapped to larger pads. Even after different pads I find myself reaching for the 177x over the 99 simply because I prefer single connectors vs. dual. I do not regret either set though. The 99s are great to walk the dog with probably because of the larger head support band.
As to Blon B20, I have the SendyAudio Aiva’s. Aiva’s are my favorite. Just wish the Aiva’s would breath a bit as my ears get hot after a while even in cold PNW winters. I kind of want to pad swap these as well but have not been needing to this far.
I think they are super unique. Mainly the presentation of the music. They recreate spaces in a very unique way, as if you are in an auditorium or a club. There is a kind of reverb to them that is hard to describe. They are just hard to describe in general lol. The sub bass is very nice and tight, yet not lacking in quantity at all, the whole bass region is very pleasing. I think they have a sort of W shaped sound signature. I would definitely say they are my favorite headphones I have for bass too, it is very good.
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Heres the order form for the teaks. i’d recommend the ones with detachable cable:
https://www.emu.com/order.html
The Fostex is more a fun exciting headphone its comes in order of bassyness: ebony, teak and purple hearts versions. the Denon AH-D5200 is a more natural neutral headphone and is the least expensive of their 3 models. the EMU is in beween the Fostex and Denon. all can be found on ebay used.
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Ebay has a couple of TR Purple Hearts listed. If you want that Ebony sound you can always order the Ebony cups from EMU separately. $299 & $349 starting respectively.
My advice would be to look for remaining stock of the Denon D7200 if still available. There were some great offers at on point ( I got mine for £330). Beautifully made, very comfortable with a sound that is well balanced but with enough low end kick to give it some fun. I prefer it to the Fostex alternatives, although it was very expensive when released.
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The Audioquest Nighthawk is a wonderful headphone I would recommend but it is very different to the Fostex models.
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Unfortunately in the us they are pricey to get, so imo I think the x00 might be more attainable
I am not sure I would have paid the original SRP for the D7200 as they were expensive. Wonderful headphones though, of the models I own they are probably my favourite along with the Nighthawk.
@Soren_Peregrine@ Brad358 @M0N
Just got my NIGHTHAWK CARBON today !
this is sound like argonmk3 but without the treble spikes,more comfortable,more detail,better bass PUNCH,better resolution,i think this just have straight up better driver tech which any mods cant reach
overall i am very happy it will be a very long time before il chose another fun headphone thnx guys !
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Nice, glad you enjoy it, it’s pretty sweet
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Awesome, great to hear! Have you used them with the suede pads? Those give the best bass experience imo.
The Nighthawk gang grows. 
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ive used the protein first…then now this suede pads…holy sht…the sound stage and basss improve alot 
i dont understand theoretically protein should have better bass.
I think it is because the suede gives a little bit longer decay, and the suede is a little less restricting to the sound, so it is a little bit warmer and more booming. I don’t know why the suede makes the soundstage and imaging so much more fun though, it is a bit of a mystery to me. A beautiful mystery…
sensei how can you explain the sound signature of these.i cant explain it…i can listen to hip hop and edm on these while it is really good for country/rock too like WTF lol
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I would say a tad bit darker w shaped sound. It’s got great impact and slam with good subbass and midrange too, treble is good but not the highlight. The presentation is the real special sauce of the hawks imo, it’s got a more speaker like presentation by design that makes it a pretty interesting listen
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This is like looking back at myself from a few months ago in a time machine. Haha! My hawks are rocking a Periapt cable right now. I went searching shortly after I received the headphones because I loved the sound but didn’t want to deal with the cable. You might also take a look over at the Custom cable gallery thread. There are a couple other folks making cool stuff too. Hart Audio and CapistranoCables come to mind. They have cool options for swapping out interconnects for different sources so you don’t have to mess with adapters anymore. I’m thinking about transitioning over to this type of system as my collection of sources grows.
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UPDATE:Nighthawks Carbon
As a competitive gamer i can tell that the soundstage and imaging are VERY comparable to my former M1060 which is a full planar driver.the pinpoint accuracy of enemies blew my mind for a dynamic driver
Unlike the argon MK3 that has fake soundstage and imaging…when i use them on gaming the postiion of enemies are wrong
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