Audioquest NightHawk Semi-open Reference Quality Wired without Mic  (Liquid Wood, On the Ear)

Reference-Setting AudioQuest NightHawk Headphones Tout Supreme Comfort & Involving Music Playback. If you like headphone listening, you are going to love NightHawk! AudioQuest NightHawk around-the-ear semi-open headphones represent a benchmark achievement in performance, quality, innovation, sustainability, & affordability. Featuring environmentally friendly "Liquid Wood" earcups, a 3D-printed biomimetic sound-diffusing grille, 50mm biocellulose pistonic drivers to reduce distortion, & a patent-pending ergonomic suspension system that produces an ideal fit to the listener's head, NightHawk soars. Taking advantage of AudioQuest's pioneering cables legacy, its headphone cable minimizes distortion & utilizes the company's acclaimed Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ conductors, Foamed-PE insulation, Carbon-Loaded Noise-Dissipation System. The end result is a reference-setting pair of headphones that dramatically increase our emotional response to music - & the details, images, tones, & dynamics every audiophile values. With the surprisingly lightweight NightHawk, you're experiencing headphones that don't feel or sound like conventional headphones. 100% Music Direct Guaranteed. CES Award-Winner Features Earcups Inspired By Loudspeaker Cabinets. Named 2015 CES Innovation Winner (Eco-Design & Sustainable Technology) and Honoree (Headphones), NightHawk is designed for high levels of sonic, ergonomic, & aesthetic performance. NightHawk is the result of over two years of development—a product that uses sustainable engineering, high-quality materials, & creative thinking to minimize waste & excess while maximizing performance & value. A product designed to build stronger emotional & intellectual connections with music, movies, & games. A product designed to successfully bridge the gap between two of hi-fi’s most enduring & seemingly disparate pursuits: the pursuit of unbridled pleasure & the pursuit of unprocessed truth. A product designed to inspire: music lovers & headphone enthusiasts, as well as thinkers, builders, engineers, & creators of all sorts. A product designed, like all AudioQuest products, to minimize distortion & to do no harm. NightHawk’s earcups are made from all-natural Liquid Wood, which itself is made from 100% renewable raw materials: lignin, natural fibers, resins, & waxes, combined & treated in such a way that the resulting material can be injection molded. The virtue & beauty of this revolutionary material shines through a durable UV coating, the careful processing of which almost completely eliminates emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) & hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Compared to traditional lacquers, varnishes, & poly finishes, Audioquest's coating is environmentally sustainable & poses no health hazards for the technicians who apply it. Unlike the overwhelming majority of headphones that use driver diaphragms made of Mylar—an inexpensive, lightweight, & inherently flimsy plastic material with a distinctly audible distortion profile—NightHawk’s driver diaphragms are constructed from bio-cellulose: a natural, superfine fiber derived from the Acetobacter Xylinum bacteria. Biodegradable, toxin-free, extraordinarily pure, & inherently rigid, bio-cellulose makes for an exceptional driver material, largely impervious to the brittleness, harshness, & ringing that so often characterizes Mylar. Whereas the production and disposal of plastic is known to present environmental hazards, the production of the aforementioned Liquid Wood and Bio-Cellulose has minimal impact on the ecosystem. The same holds true for Protein Leather—a bio-derived synthetic fabric that Audioquest have used to encase NightHawk’s soft, comfortable earpads. Developed by combining a specialty resin with protein powder derived from eggshells, Protein Leather is durable, pliable, and has a softness and surface asperity approximating that of human skin, making it particularly well suited to its application in NightHawk. NightHawk’s biomimetic grille was inspired by the underlying structure of butterfly wings—a fascinating diamond-cubic latticework that diffuses light to create iridescence. Built to a much larger scale in NightHawk, the grille’s intricate latticework diffuses sound and defeats the resonances that ultimately distort and damage music. Far too complex to machine or mold, this innovative grille can only be created through 3D printing, which not only ensures outstanding manufacturing precision, but also minimizes waste: Audioquest build and stock the parts they need and nothing more. In all aspects of NightHawk’s design—from its physical shape and component parts to its packaging and accompanying documents—Audioquest strove to minimize waste and excess, while maximizing performance and value. NightHawk’s simple, elegant package is its case: A bio-derived synthetic leather container has a one-piece wraparound band, featuring a few necessary specifications, detailed images, and front-panel artwork.