for me it was and still is the meze 109 pro
it is just perfect sounding in every aspect for me. and the treble is no issue for mye anymore. it is a fun, easy driven headphone.
for me it was and still is the meze 109 pro
it is just perfect sounding in every aspect for me. and the treble is no issue for mye anymore. it is a fun, easy driven headphone.
Audioquest Nighthawk. I wanted them for a long time. I like warm, fun, a bit of bass but not too much. Heard they were a little odd sounding. Found a gently used paid in box with extra cables. They were a bit odd sounding at first, not regretfully, just something I just couldn’t put a finger on. But after a week or so, I’d go back to my other headphones and they all sounded so blah, recessed mids, unnatural, and lacking detail, or too bassy. These did it for me. Going on a few years now I guess.
They’re discontinued and I couldn’t find oem pads, but recently replaced with angled sheepskin. The oem pleather were more buttery soft and comfortable but these replacements don’t seem to alter the sound. Something I really like about these is that they’re semi open back. It seals well and noticeably cuts down on some external noise better than full open back. Some years back I was really into closed back cans but the natural sound and sound stage you get with open (or in this case semi) is real tough to get with closed.
From here, I was going to go with another dynamic. But I just don’t know what an upgrade would look like. Meze 109 is probably a sidegrade. Focal Clear perhaps. I don’t own a planar, so that’s interesting too. But to my knowledge, and listening to mostly art rock, jazz and classical, but sometimes electronic, I don’t know that planar out plays dynamic drivers. The Monoprice 1570 looked good to me.
I got aging Hawks too and the pads are starting to fall apart. Which specific replacement pads are you using? Also, since I prefer the Suede pads I’m up for a trade if you have a pair of those (my pleathers are barely used).
Went with the Dekoni angled sheepskin (off Dekoni directly on Amazon). Unlike some others I’d seen online, there was enough leather wrap around to punch holes corresponding to the posts on the NH ear cups. (I bought a steel leather punch to do it accurately) A pretty snug fit but looking fine. And they’re a bit thicker than the OEM, though they seal well around my ears. Being a bit deeper, though they depress some thru what I think is a bit better memory foam (than OEM) once ON (but a bit stiffer, being thick leather) probably add a touch more bass than it already has. I swapped the old vs new pads back and forth and didn’t notice a significant change however, but I anticipated some. I would guess that fenestrated or suede pads would counter or tame any excess bass, if thata what you were going for. Ans I’m aware that AQ had a few different pads to choose from. Last I inquired of AQ about pads (couple years back now) they did still have some pleather, but wanted upwards of $70 which was already pretty long after the model was discontinued. No way pleather pads should cost that much. Oh the one thing I didn’t like about the Dekoni is they’re both left, or both right, pads. Minor detail. So when you put the pads on, the seems don’t align, one’s flipped.
Im happy with them as they are. I would prefer to have parts available, ie to replace the headband at some point too, which is also pleather and beginning to flake around the edges. Where it attaches to a T shaped plastic pivot comes undone sometimes, it’s worn and flimsy (a pleather wrapped fabric material), and I’ve rigged it with both glue to strengthen it, and tiny black rubber bands to hold it in place. I thought to buy a second pair of NKs for parts, or a replacement set, but they’re very often more worn than mine.
You could probably find a buyer on ebay for the AQ oem pads. I want to say I bought the Dekoni angled sheepskin pads on sale for 30US. Something like that. As well I noticed some sellers on ebay who were apparently into pad rolling would have 3 different sets of pads in a lot to buy all at once. I considered that, but had my heart set on leather, not suede or velour.
I want to say they’re 110mm? at their widest, but of course the NH OEM pads are both angled and sortof oval shaped. All the other brands make their angled pads a bit thicker than AQ tho too. Dekoni also makes some that are not angled but completely round called XL model. That, according to users, fits, but you’re having to stretch it some to be oval. ZMF also makes angled pads. I would have liked to try them, but they’re 2-3x as much as Dekoni pads. I would love a pair of ZMF HPs.
I also made a custom black hair-on sheepskin wrap (with velcro) for my NH headband. I have tinkered with the idea of high end sheepskin headband wraps a while and finally crafted two for my own use. Nothing else like it in the market. Im still curious if it would be a good selling product on Amazon and eBay. It’s very comfortable and never warm, but with the 2in of hair, although I can get sheepskin it in virtually any color, looks kinda funny (like a sideways mohawk). lol