AudioQuest Nighthawk Reference Headphone

Audioquest Nighthawk headphones will impress
audiophiles with top of the line sound and comfort. Immediately, you will
notice the amazing liquid wood earcups with protein leather padding.  Nighthawk headphones were designed to have
certain elements of a home theater speaker to give you a concert-like
experience every time you listen. The Nighthawk’s secret may be its specially
designed Audioquest headphone cable, a mini version of loudspeaker cable.
Experience your own personal concert with the Nighthawk.

Audioquest Nighthawk
Features:

• Earcups shaped to reduce pressure on ears




• Loudspeaker design for low distortion




• Liquid Wood Enclosure for superior
  acoustics



• 
  

  Angled Drivers for concert-like listening

  
  

  Headphone specifications:

  
  

• Impedance: 25 ohms




• Sensitivity: 100dBSPL/mW




• Power Handling: 1.5W



• 
  

  Driver: 50mm Dynamic/Biocellulose
  Diaphragm/1.2T Split-Gap Motor

  
  

   

  
  

  Cable specifications:

  
  

• Length: 8' (2.4m)




• Conductors: Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
  (PSC+)




• Geometry: Symmetric Star-Quad




• Dielectric: Foamed-Polyethylene




• NDS: Noise-Dissipation System



• 
  

  Terminations: 3.5mm Stereo > Dual 2.5mm
  Mono / Direct-Silver Plated Copper

  
  

   

  
  

  NightHawk
  Design Features:

  
  

• NightHawk’s bio-cellulose driver diaphragm
  is equipped with a compliant rubber surround, enabling pistonic motion and
  anechoic termination: As the voice-coil moves, the diaphragm moves—not
  adversely, but sympathetically—thus carefully controlling and preserving
  the coherence of timing information.




• NightHawk’s voice-coil is carefully wound
  on a small cylinder of kraft paper, selected for its combination of low
  weight and stiffness—perfect for retaining the voice-coil’s shape—enabling
  productive motion, while preventing adverse flexion. Moreover, the voice-coil
  is wound at a very specific location on the former, precisely positioned at its
  zero resting point within the magnetic gap, thus providing the ideal symmetry
  of motion for the accurate reproduction of high frequencies.




• Unlike most headphone driver baskets,
  NightHawk’s basket is intelligently designed for perfectly even distribution of
  its air vents, thus avoiding adverse rocking of the voice-coil. Free from the
  resultant distortion, low frequencies are better controlled and, therefore,
  sound cleaner and clearer, with more natural impact and extension.



• 
  

  All diaphragm materials have distinct
  coloration profiles, some more benign than others. Unlike the overwhelming
  majority of headphones that use driver diaphragms made of Mylar—an inexpensive,
  lightweight, and inherently flimsy plastic material with a distinctly audible
  distortion profile—NightHawk’s driver diaphragms are constructed from
  bio-cellulose: an exceptional driver material, largely impervious to the
  brittleness, harshness, and ringing that so often characterizes Mylar.

  
  

   

  
  

  NightHawk Frequencies

  
  

• 
  

  Unlike headphones that exhibit significant
  boosts (+5dB or more) at frequencies from about 2–8kHz, NightHawk’s frequency
  response is perceptually balanced based on research in the fields of room
  acoustics, head-related transfer functions, auditory physiology, and modern
  measurement techniques. In fact, NightHawk exhibits greater extension and
  better linearity at both low- and high-frequency extremes than most headphones
  at any price.

  
  

   

  
  

  Innovative Materials:
  Beautiful, Sustainable Liquid Wood

  
  

• 
  

  NightHawk's earcups are made from a
  revolutionary new material known as “Liquid Wood”—actual wood that has been
  combined with reclaimed plant fiber, heated, liquefied, and processed in such a
  way that it can be injection molded. Compared to ordinary plastic or wood,
  however, Liquid Wood has far superior acoustic properties and provides a
  seemingly endless array of geometric possibilities. In NightHawk, they use
  Liquid Wood to shape their earcups to more closely resemble the human ear,
  thereby providing a more complete and comfortable fit, reducing stress on the
  listener’s head and ears. And, unlike typical plastic, Liquid Wood is
  environmentally friendly—more than merely beautiful to behold, it is also sustainable.

  
  

   

  
  

  Ergonomics: Removing the
  Barriers between Listener and Music

  
  

• 
  

  Sensitive ergonomics in a headphone design
  remove unnecessary boundaries between the listener and his or her emotional
  involvement with the music. NightHawk's flexible headband efficiently
  distributes the headphone's weight, providing a feel that is both comfortable
  and comforting—you'll want to wear NightHawk. Its simple yet
  intelligent, patent-pending suspension system allows the earcups to articulate
  freely, accommodating heads of nearly any shape or size, while effectively
  decoupling the earcups to counteract intrusive resonances. NightHawk's earpads
  are made of soft, durable protein leather—again shaped to resemble the human
  ear—with greater thickness toward the rear of the pad, thus providing
  additional comfort while setting NightHawk's drivers at an angle optimized for
  precise, stable imaging. Listen for hours—in comfort, immersed in music, moved
  by NightHawk.

  
  

   

  
  

  Patented Split-Gap Motor:
  Sayonara, Distortion.

  
  

• 
  

  NightHawk’s patented split-gap motor design
  dramatically reduces intermodulation distortion to provide a clean,
  well-defined broadband response and a large, naturally detailed representation
  of space with truly remarkable resolution in the time domain. These things, albeit
  admirable and impressive, are merely attributes of the sound. In terms of music,
  tonal colors should be more distinct, the interplay between voices and
  instruments easier to follow, the silences between notes deeper and more
  charged, so that the music itself becomes more intelligible, meaningful, and
  purposeful—easier to understand, appreciate, and enjoy. In short, you might
  hear deeper into recordings than you’re used to. Beware: Those aforementioned
  silences can be particularly staggering. 

  
  

   

  
  

  The NightHawk Cable

  
  

• 
  

  NightHawk benefits from AudioQuest’s 30+
  years of experience in the high-performance cable business, including a
  headphone cable purposefully designed to minimize distortion, promote intense
  user satisfaction, and provide a deep emotional connection to the music. It
  uses many of the same ingredients found in their speaker cables and
  interconnects, including high-purity Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ conductors,
  Foamed-Polyethylene insulation, and silver-plated terminations. The cable’s
  exceptionally soft nylon braid minimizes mechanical noise and complements
  NightHawk’s quiet, confident beauty, while its 3.5mm plug has a 45° scooped
  shape designed to provide a satisfying feel as you make and unmake connections.
  In addition, they include a custom 3.5mm-to-1/4” headphone adaptor that, like
  their finest cable connectors, features thick Direct-Silver plating over
  the highest quality base metal, resulting in a part that isn’t merely
  functional, but also meets the standards set by NightHawk itself. Every bit of
  NightHawk was designed to exude quality, performance, innovation, and beauty.

  
  

   

  
  

  Biocellulose Diaphragm

  
  

• 
  

  Most of today’s headphones use diaphragms
  made from Mylar—an inexpensive, lightweight, and technologically mature plastic
  material. Unfortunately, Mylar is inherently flimsy and brittle, typically
  distorting as the audio signal reaches high frequencies of 6-10kHz and
  invariably causing listener fatigue. NightHawk takes a radically different
  approach. Inspired by the advanced drive-units used in today’s high-performance
  loudspeakers, NightHawk’s 50mm high-excursion drivers have biocellulose
  pistonic diaphragms and compliant rubber surrounds. The
  biocellulose material is rigid and self-damping, making it far more
  accurate and musically pleasing than Mylar.

  
  

   

  
  

  Split-Gap Motor

  
  

• 
  

  NightHawk’s patented split-gap motor design
  dramatically reduces intermodulation distortion to provide a clean,
  well-defined broadband response and a large, naturally detailed
  representation of space with truly remarkable resolution in the time domain.

  
  

   

  
  

  Balanced Equitangential
  Airflow

  
  

• 
  

  Air turbulence is one of the major
  contributors to non-linear, distortion-inducing behavior in headphone drivers.
  NightHawk uses symmetrically distributed, equation-driven curvatures to
  intelligently guide airflow through its internal driver structure, thus
  reducing the harmful, unpredictable effects of turbulent air pockets and voice
  coil rocking. Your music sounds clean, clear, large, and alive.

  
  

   

  
  

  Diamond Cubic Diffusion
  & 3D-Printing Technology

  
  

• 
  

  NightHawk is a semi-open headphone
  with a biomimetic grille inspired by the underlying structure of butterfly
  wings—a fascinating diamond cubic latticework that diffuses light to create
  iridescence. Visually beautiful, technologically complex, and built to a
  much larger scale in NightHawk, the grille’s intricate latticework
  diffuses sound and defeats the resonances that ultimately distort
  and damage our music. Far too complex to mold or machine, NightHawk’s
  grille can only be created through 3D printing via an advanced form of
  additive manufacturing known as “Selective Laser Sintering.” NightHawk,
  the first completely original production headphone to use a 3D-printed part,
  represents beauty, intelligence, and responsible innovation.

  
  

   

  
  

  A Loudspeaker-Inspired Headphone
  Experience

  
  

• 
  

  Many of NightHawk's design elements are
  successfully implemented in today’s most innovative loudspeakers, but have
  rarely been used in headphones. Much like the internal bracing of a beautiful
  loudspeaker cabinet, NightHawk’s sophisticated earcup enclosure incorporates
  support beams that enhance structural integrity and minimize unwanted
  resonances and vibrations. An elastomeric coating is carefully applied to the
  enclosure’s internal surfaces to further reduce harmful vibrations, while a
  damping material comprising a purposeful blend of wool and polyester enables an
  extraordinarily smooth, natural frequency response for a deeply immersive and
  emotionally compelling listening experience. With NightHawk, vibration-induced
  distortion is intelligently minimized, allowing music to breathe freely.

  
  

   

  
  

  Soft, Durable Earpads

  
  

• 
  

  NightHawk’s earpads are made of soft,
  durable Protein Leather, and, like the earcups they adorn, are shaped to more
  easily and reliably conform to the shape of the human ear. Protein Leather was
  specifically developed to be pleasing to the touch, with a softness and texture
  approximating that of human skin, which means that no matter how long you enjoy
  listening to NightHawk, you’ll remain cool and comfortable. Further, the
  earpads themselves gradually become thicker toward the rear of the pad, thus
  providing additional comfort where you need it the most—at the pinnae—while
  simultaneously optimizing the angle at which NightHawk’s drivers aim into your
  ears. 

  
  

   

  
  

NOTE:  FREE SHIPPING ONLY to the 48 contiguous states / AK & HI are extra cost.