AudioQuest NightHawk Carbon Custom Headphone Cable

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’d know that AudioQuest is one of the most prolific audio cable manufacturers in the business. They also make some other nice stuff including the Dragonfly-series USB DACs and Niagara-series power conditioners. I personally really like their Jitterbug, an inexpensive little USB device that filters the power on your computer’s USB out.

Several years ago, Audioquest released their first foray into the burgeoning headphone market: The Nighthawk. The Nighthawk was priced competitively at $699 when it came out in 2015. It also made use of 3D printed "plastic-wood" cups, which was relatively cutting edge for the time. Since then, there’s been so much fierce competition in this price range that it would be hard to recommend it at its original price (these days I’d recommend the Audeze LCD-2 Classic or MrSpeakers/Dan Clark Audio AEON in this range). 

AudioQuest must have noticed the sea-change in the space, subsequently reducing the price to $599, then to $399, before discontinuing it at a price of $249. Somewhere during this 5-year stint the NightHawk Carbon came out with a revised driver and a closed-model, the NightOwl, came out. The interesting plastic-wood was also replaced with a less unique (and probably less polarizing) shimmering dark blue, not too far from the color-scheme of some Massdrop headphones like the Sennheiser HD-6XX (see 6XX mods here). 

Does the free-falling price-point insinuate that Audioquest's stint into headphones was poorly executed? Not at all, it's actually quite good for a company's first entry in the space. I personally find them a joy to listen to. Their signature is warm, slightly dark, very forgiving of poorly recorded music (think garage indie and alternative rock), and provide good bass quality and quantity. They’re well suited for movies and videogames in addition to music. They’re also very easy to drive with a 25-ohm impedance, and they’re light and comfortable. Some other niceties include a substantial travel case, two different pairs of earpads in the box (leather and velour), and a headphone cable with a microphone built in.

Oddly, the headphone cable is only four feet, which is a length typically reserved for headphones that are intended for mostly portable use. Given the NightHawk is semi-open and is not foldable, this is an odd choice, but fortunately solvable given the cable is user replaceable.

Given the Nighthawks are on the dark/warm side of things, a crisp-sounding cable will help bring the details out and give the headphone a more balanced sound. I chose the Xev, which is silver-clad copper in PTFE, rather than an all-copper or litz copper solution. Had the headphone been more detailed to start, a copper cable would work perfectly well.

The Xev is a hand-braided litz of four isolated 24 gauge silver-clad copper wires sleeved in soft black nylon multifilament from TechFlex. 

The NightHawk makes use of 2.5mm TS connectors, where the sleeve is ground/negative, and the tip is signal/positive. They need to be slim fit or you'll run into issues. Eidolic makes a nice connector that fits the requirements as of this writing, and you can find solutions on AliExpress as well.

Below is a photo of the completed Xev cable, flexible and lightweight with plenty of length for those of us that need more than 4 feet. 

The sound is notably more balanced with more prominent treble, making it a definite keeper. 

If you are interested in the NightHawk Carbon, I'd suggest picking one up soon, as they are discontinued and AudioQuest has released a letter to distributors indicating they don't plan to offer any subsequent headphones, at least not in the immediate future. For the current price, build quality and extras, I could see this being a great first step into audiophile headphones, although one should also check out the Sennheiser/Massdrop HD-6XX, it's a hard value to beat.

To order a custom cable for the NightHawk, NightHawk Carbon, NightOwl, or many other headphones, please visit Zynsonix.com today.

Cable and Mods for Sennheiser Massdrop HD6XX

Back in 2004 I purchased my first serious pair of headphones, a pair of Sennheiser HD600s. This was an introduction to a number of new concepts for me: headphones that are open, benefit from an amp, are sensitive to different cables, and are intended to be listened to at home (where you could be listening to speakers, sacrilege in some circles! haha).

In these formative days of headphone audiophilea I recall being at a meet in College Park, MD where there were a number of HD600s and HD650s. We were auditioning cables by Cardas, Stefan AudioArt and other DIY concoctions including pure silver cables. It was amazing what a difference the cable could make to the signature.

I'd long since sold my HD600s and HD650s and moved on to other headphones like Audeze, when I saw Massdrop and Sennheiser teamed up to released the HD6XX. The HD6XX is quite literally a more affordably produced HD650 (based on Inner Fidelity's measurements). I figured for $200 it would be fun to have a listen to the Sennheiser house sound once again, and see how good it could sound with a balanced amp and some tweaks.

If you're not familiar with Massdrop, it's an interesting business model where the company has a number of people commit to buy a product at a discounted price. Generally there are a certain number of buyers required to make the "drop" happen, and once it does, it can take months before you have a product in your hand. The upside is you can get some incredibly good deals so long as you're patient. Massdrop also teams up with manufactures to produce one-off products at a sizable discount, such as the Focal Elex, AKG M220 Pro, HiFiMan HE-4XX and other headphones which are a little different from what's on store shelves. The Sennheiser HD6XX is such an animal.

Looking at the HD6XX versus the HD650, you'll note the HD6XX has a dark blue headband versus silver and the screen printed "Sennheiser" on the top of the band is more subtle. I personally think the HD650 color scheme is a little easier on the eyes, but given this relatively superficial difference shaves $150+ off of the street price of the HD650s and still sounds identical, the choice is a veritable no-brainer.

The stock HD6XX

Given you're saving big bucks on the HD6XX, those dollars should go toward making them even better, right? I'll be going over a few tweaks you can do for improvements in sound, comfort, and looks.

One thing I couldn't be happier about is the trend toward calfskin earpads in the past decade. Exposed foam and velour don't feel all that great against my skin. The Sennheiser HD580, 5XX, 600, 650 and 6XX all feature velour pads, but fortunately there are companies producing replacement pads. I've found the Dekoni fenestrated pads are quite comfortable while allowing breath-ability. The pads snap in place on the frame and are quick and easy to install and uninstall.

Even with the new pads, the HD6XXs look a little dull, easily glanced over when looking at newer headphone designs with chrome and carbon fiber. I decided to reach out to Larry at Headphile to see about getting some custom wood cups. 

Talking about Headphile with some of the old-heads at HeadFi will elicit smiles and good memories. Larry's been at it for quite some time, and for a little while there, the "Darth Beyers", which were Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones modified with wood cups, were one of the most popular cans on HeadFi. Every now and then you'll see a pair pop up for sale, and if you like bass, I'd recommend you give 'em a shot. In addition, if you have the scratch, Larry is still building them with a number of wood choices... although I don't know if he's still building the deep versions (which I most favored). 

I chose Padauk (pronounced Pah-duke) wood as it's reasonably priced and has a nice reddish hue, which will pop on the dark HD6XX. Larry offers the cups open with screens or closed. The open versions sound pretty much identical to the stock screens with perhaps a tiny bit more reverb, and the closed versions have notably more reverberations (or a chamber-like effect) depending on what sort of damping is applied inside. 

The installation process is quick and painless. The screens are pressure fit on the frame, and using a spoon or similar utensil (I used an avocado knife) you can slowly pull the screen away from the frame and remove it. 

The screens can be removed easily with a spoon (or avocado knife)

The difference in color and presentation is night and day from the new wood cups and the existing stock screens. 

Headphile wood cups versus stock screens

Installation is completed on each side using a set of 4 brass wood screws. 

You will need to adjust the tension of each screw to ensure it has adequately threaded into the wood, but is not impeding on the cavity for the cable plug insert, otherwise the cable will either not insert at all or will be super tight.  

The HD650 (and HD6XX) is a warm-sounding headphone, no doubt about it. It can be a little too warm and rolled-off in the highs for some. This is where a cable comes into play. I opted to build a Zynsonix Xev cable for the HD6XX. While the most affordable in the line, it features silver-clad conductors, low-strand count and a PTFE (Teflon) dielectric, giving it a forward and detailed sound signature. It's exactly what the HD6XX needs, pushing forward the treble, resolving the bass, and giving the headphones a far more dynamic presentation. 

I wasn't sure if I would keep the HD6XX, it was more of an entertaining experiment, however with these mods the enhanced comfort and sound really make it a winner and a definite keeper. Headphone enthusiasts these days are quite lucky, as it would be very hard to reach this level of sonic performance at this price years ago. 

If you'd like a Xev cable made to your specifications (whatever length, sleeving, and termination you'd like), please reach out to Zynsonix today and take your Sennheisers to the next level. 

Zynsonix Audio, LLC does not have any relationship or financial interest in the companies mentioned in this post, including Headphile, Massdrop, Sennheiser, Inner Fidelity, Dekoni, etc. 

Massdrop x Fostex TH-X00 Recable - Removable Mod

I was quite excited to head about Massdrop and Fostex teaming up to offer the TH-X00, a headphone created by the same OEM company that produced headphones for Denon (the legendary D2000, D5000 and D7000). I still to this day feel that the D2000 was the best headphone in this price range, and the D7000 is still an amazing sounding headphone compared to the latest and greatest. With this Massdrop Fostex team up, audio enthusiasts would be able to get very solid drivers that are similar to the Denons with luxurious wood cups at a very attractive price point.

An interesting phenomenon with the Denon headphones was that they were extremely receptive to a new cable (despite the stock cable being fairly decent construction). In fact the sound changed more than any other headphone I've heard, aside from the HD600, which was close (try a solid silver in teflon cable and a Cardas copper cable side by side with that one). The TH-X00s seem to follow that trend from my brief impressions (had to get them back to a client quickly).

I found the Zynsonix Xev had nice synergy with the D2000, opening up the highs and adding coherence, so that's what was used with the TH-X00s. The Xev is a silver clad copper design which has a detailed signature. It's hand braided, which you can see below, from a four wire litz braid to two twisted pairs, then sleeved with a soft black non-microphonic sleeving.

Hand braided Xev cabling

This particular headphone would have a removable/replaceable cable cable option, so whenever there is an option, I prefer to use 4 pin mini XLRs. They have a great connection, lock in place, and are used for many Audeze headphones. Since few headphone manufactures use the same connectors, we can try and standardize to some degree, so this design would not only be able to use Audeze cables, but the cable could also be used with Audeze headphones. For that to happen, the pins need to be shorted on both sides (male and female), note the small piece of bus wire connecting two pins below. You can learn more about this in a previous post.

Shorted pins for Audeze compatibility

You guys have seen me build enough cables, so we're not going to cover that, but how the wire is attached internally in the Fostex TH-X00 headphones. The pads have four plastic connectors that fasten to the cups, twisting them to the left allows them to be removed quickly and easily.

Fostex TH-X00 with removed earpad

Four screws need to be removed to remove the wood cup from the frame, then another four screws are removed to separate the driver and wood cup. 

Removing the cup from the frame

The existing cables feed in through the frame, go about an 1/8th of a turn up the cup, then enter the driver chamber. At that entrance point the cable is tied in a knot and there is a bit of epoxy/rubber cement that holds the old cable in place as a strain relief system. It's important to recreate this with the new cable to prevent damage to the soldering tabs on the driver from an inopportune yank. I personally use a special adhesive gun that creates a plastic-like joint holding the cable firmly in place. The wire is soldered to the top two pins, the red marked one being positive, the other negative. These joints should be quickly formed to avoid harming the driver and/or the thin wires leading to the diaphragm. 

Interior driver view with strain relief

While everything is taken apart, it's a good opportunity to add a bit of mass damping to the inside of the wood cup. Dynamat Xtreme, or other automotive based damping materials work here. This helps tighten up the bass. Tweaking the amount can be to preference. Since the cup is nice solid wood, only a moderate amount is necessary. Were it flimsy plastic, it would likely need a lot more. 

Dynamat Xtreme mass damping

The headphones are reassembled the same way they were taken apart. The "pigtails", or little dangling mini XLRs may look like they'd get in the way, but with the headphones on your head they are very hard to notice. Flexible joints assist with that. Removable cables are great for people who like to experiment with different cable types, lengths (portable vs. home), use one cable for multiple headphones... or who have teething pups or curious felines. The Xev is actually pretty strong against cats :)

The finished / modded Massdrop x Fostex TH-X00

If you've taken the plunge on a sweet set of Massdrop x Fostex TH-X00s and are itching for a recable, please check out Zynsonix Audio. 

The Fine Print:

The above steps detailing the modification and re-cabling of a headphone are for entertainment purposes only are not intended to be instructional. The owner of this blog and all associated parties can not / will not be held responsible if you attempt the process posted and cause physical harm to yourself, your surroundings or your property.