Thankfully the NightOwl is easy to EQ if that’s something you don’t mind doing. That and its low distortion from the measurements mean there’s potential in equalizing it. Imaging is not bad but I feel it the tuning made it worse than it is by making it seemingly more congested and slow-sounding.ĭespite all of these, the NightOwl strikes me as a clean-sounding headphone with a pleasing timbre which I suspect is due to the Bio-cellulose driver. The soundstage is not particularly wide but it’s slightly more spacious than all of my sealed headphones here (Focal Classic, Audeze Sine, ATH-M50x). It can be thin-sounding in the treble and even artificial but the treble character to me perfectly complements the experience the NightOwl is trying to portray here. Cymbal hits have that nice tizzy timbre to it that’s not metallic-sounding at all. The treble is quite interesting in that it’s clearly lower in level compared to the rest but still has a sparkly and clean character to it. The headphone is not mid-forward but I find it’s certainly bringing attention to the vocals and instruments before the upper midrange area. The midrange is lush and has a nice resolve to it. Because of the tuning, I understand why people who hate the NightOwl use the word ‘muddy’ to describe its bass properties. It’s not loose but it’s on the softer side of things. While it’s quite far from being a sub-bass monster, I do find the NightOwl to have a decent bass extension with a very good texture. I feel if the music is bassy or has a dark tilt already, the NightOwl’s tuning makes it worse. Daft Punk’s Get Lucky almost gives me the vibe that the music is reproduced under a tunnel. On the other hand, progressive rocks, electronic house, and even pop music can sound pretty weird on the NightOwl. This must’ve been what people describe as enjoy listening to music while drinking whiskey or something, whatever that means. Tracks from Diana Krall’s Live in Paris and Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me albums are sweet-sounding in a positive way. If anything, I find the warm tilt a more pleasurable experience. But the magnitude of that varies depending on the type of music that you’re playing.įor jazz and classical music, the tonality isn’t bad. It’s so warm I prefer calling it veiled as if a very thin layer of fabric is placed on top of your music.
The NightOwl has a very broad shelf or emphasis from the mid-bass to the low/mid midrange which accounts for its warm character. Simple as that but I will of course expand on that. Some people don’t like overly warm headphones, some people dig it. And to me, the argument is a matter of preference. If I’m to simplify the sonic character in one sentence, it’s very warm with a dark tilt, nice midrange, smooth sparkly treble, and overall soft presentation.
I don’t have the NightHawk and it’s been a while since I reviewed it so I’m mostly going to be just talking about the NightOwl with almost no reference to the open back counterpart. You have people from one side loving the sound signature and you have the other side who thinks it absolutely terrible for its price. Both the NightHawk and NightOwl have sound signatures that are quite divisive.
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