Been comparing these since friday just for a bit of fun and thought I'd do a shoot out since I've not done one in a while. Nothing fancy just purely based on sound.
Price
LCD-2 £799
K7XX £170
Nighthawk £499
Treble
All three headphones are comparable in balance, the LCD-2 like the K612 doesn't really boost anything, the treble on my pair doesn't seem as weird as other fazor models and reminds of the older LCD-2 but a bit more higher in level. It's not the most sparkly, neither is it the most refined I've heard, even sppearing dull in some tracks. The KXX has a nice extended airy treble, it seems to go to the last octave without much issue. The Nighthawk also seems to go to the last octave in the treble with more air than the LCD-2 in the treble but slightly less than the K7XX. The LCD-2 has the smoothest treble while the Nighthawk is a close second. The K7XX is a little rough and jagged here, this is by no means a reflection on price but just the nature of AKG drivers in general.
The K7XX sounds smoother than just about any open dynamic driver that isn't the HD650 in the £500< price range.
Mids
The mids on the LCD-2 are similar to the mids on the Nighthawk in terms of it's balance but tonally close to the K7XX. The K7XX has nice mids, good body with a slight grit to vocals. The LCD-2 doesn't have this grit but it does sound like it's straining at times, there's a bit of grain to the voices. The Nighthawk is the most effortless here, sounding closer to the older LCD-2 in terms of how smooth and effortless voices sound.
The Nighthawk has a charm here, no it isn't as present as something like the HD650 but there's just something about them I can't quite put my finger on. There's almost a tube like sound without distortion..it's like they have the qualities of the HD650 but they take a step back in intimacy but gain a more effortless presentation - the Nighthawk is unique.
Bass
While technically the K7XX and Nighthawk share dynamic drivers, the Nighthawk uses Bio-cellulose and there's been measurements that show Bio drivers have a more linear response, able to hit lower without huge humps compared to Mylar drivers that the K7XX uses. The LCD-2 has a huge driver, big planars can hit lower than open dynamics but I found the Nighthawk to hit aqs low as the LCD-2. The difference is the LCD-2 has zero mid bass boost where the Nighthawk has a rise. There's arguments that the Nighthawk's bass is more correct because it doesn't hide bass bloat and I agree with that but because it's more closed than the LCD-2 it does give the impression of a mid bass boost but there's so many factors like recordings etc.
The Nighthawk has a slower decay, like the D7000 that has this eurphoric bloom that is yummy. It's the most juicy, yummiest bass I've heard I think. When you first hear a Nighthawk, it can sometimes sound like you are outside the headphone, but when you adjust it lets you in and you hear what it offers, weird right? it is but oh it's fantastic.
The LCD-2's bass is flatter, good extension but less impact. I thought the LCD-2 had more impact before not sure why. The detail in the bass is very good, because it has less bloom than the NH it can appear more detailed and textured in the bass, but the bass appears driver than the lush and impactful NH. The K7XX sadly isn't on that level in bass. It's excellent bass for a fully open dynamic but the distortion is clearly audible when compared to the others.
The bass on the K7XX compared to other open phones in the £500 and below range is clean, good impact and extension. Nice detail compared to the HD650 in the bass that is a little soft and wolly. It sounds like I dislike the bass but actually it's the opposite the bass is great, it's just the other two have the best extension you can find. The Nighthawk also has the lowest distortion I've ever seen.
Soundstage and Imaging
K7XX just outright wipes the floor in terms of soundstage. It has better width, better placement, every gust of wind, every branch crackle sounds more realistic and that I'm in an open space. The LCD-2 has a good soundstage but when you switch over you can really tell the difference. The NH has a more closed in, HD650 like soundstage so it doesn't compare to the other two.
The LCD-2 has good imaging, it just doesn't have that stage to play with like the K7XX. All three headphones have top class imaging it's just how it works with the staging that differs. For music they all do the job, I tend to prefer intimacy for music so the NH and LCD-2 is more ideal but the K7XX is also great and not too disjointed.
Which is best?
When you get to a certain price, welcome to the game of flavours and this is a great example of that. Every headphone has a trait that is better than another and worse than another. If we are talking drivers, the Nighthawk has the lowest distortion and better driver consistency and performance but there's traits the LCD-2 has that could make it a better choice. You may want a headphone that has a wide stage with good bass that doesn't break the bank so the K7XX will take the spot over the others without sacrificing too much performance.
The K7XX has an upgrade path, the HD800S which has similar traits with better driver performance. The LCD-2 doesn't really unless you want to switch signatures. The Nighthawk, how can you upgrade that? it's unique, has lower distortion than anything you can think of, doesn't sound like typical dynamics so it's kind of in a league of it's own.
In the end, the best headphone out of the three or any headphones, is the one that gets the juices flowing, my fav headphones are the HD650, D7000, NH, LCD-2PF, HE-500, MA900. Thet all have something in common, they are exciting!
Get what is fun not what has better headfi driver humping recommendations because our taste are unique!
Price
LCD-2 £799
K7XX £170
Nighthawk £499
Treble
All three headphones are comparable in balance, the LCD-2 like the K612 doesn't really boost anything, the treble on my pair doesn't seem as weird as other fazor models and reminds of the older LCD-2 but a bit more higher in level. It's not the most sparkly, neither is it the most refined I've heard, even sppearing dull in some tracks. The KXX has a nice extended airy treble, it seems to go to the last octave without much issue. The Nighthawk also seems to go to the last octave in the treble with more air than the LCD-2 in the treble but slightly less than the K7XX. The LCD-2 has the smoothest treble while the Nighthawk is a close second. The K7XX is a little rough and jagged here, this is by no means a reflection on price but just the nature of AKG drivers in general.
The K7XX sounds smoother than just about any open dynamic driver that isn't the HD650 in the £500< price range.
Mids
The mids on the LCD-2 are similar to the mids on the Nighthawk in terms of it's balance but tonally close to the K7XX. The K7XX has nice mids, good body with a slight grit to vocals. The LCD-2 doesn't have this grit but it does sound like it's straining at times, there's a bit of grain to the voices. The Nighthawk is the most effortless here, sounding closer to the older LCD-2 in terms of how smooth and effortless voices sound.
The Nighthawk has a charm here, no it isn't as present as something like the HD650 but there's just something about them I can't quite put my finger on. There's almost a tube like sound without distortion..it's like they have the qualities of the HD650 but they take a step back in intimacy but gain a more effortless presentation - the Nighthawk is unique.
Bass
While technically the K7XX and Nighthawk share dynamic drivers, the Nighthawk uses Bio-cellulose and there's been measurements that show Bio drivers have a more linear response, able to hit lower without huge humps compared to Mylar drivers that the K7XX uses. The LCD-2 has a huge driver, big planars can hit lower than open dynamics but I found the Nighthawk to hit aqs low as the LCD-2. The difference is the LCD-2 has zero mid bass boost where the Nighthawk has a rise. There's arguments that the Nighthawk's bass is more correct because it doesn't hide bass bloat and I agree with that but because it's more closed than the LCD-2 it does give the impression of a mid bass boost but there's so many factors like recordings etc.
The Nighthawk has a slower decay, like the D7000 that has this eurphoric bloom that is yummy. It's the most juicy, yummiest bass I've heard I think. When you first hear a Nighthawk, it can sometimes sound like you are outside the headphone, but when you adjust it lets you in and you hear what it offers, weird right? it is but oh it's fantastic.
The LCD-2's bass is flatter, good extension but less impact. I thought the LCD-2 had more impact before not sure why. The detail in the bass is very good, because it has less bloom than the NH it can appear more detailed and textured in the bass, but the bass appears driver than the lush and impactful NH. The K7XX sadly isn't on that level in bass. It's excellent bass for a fully open dynamic but the distortion is clearly audible when compared to the others.
The bass on the K7XX compared to other open phones in the £500 and below range is clean, good impact and extension. Nice detail compared to the HD650 in the bass that is a little soft and wolly. It sounds like I dislike the bass but actually it's the opposite the bass is great, it's just the other two have the best extension you can find. The Nighthawk also has the lowest distortion I've ever seen.
Soundstage and Imaging
K7XX just outright wipes the floor in terms of soundstage. It has better width, better placement, every gust of wind, every branch crackle sounds more realistic and that I'm in an open space. The LCD-2 has a good soundstage but when you switch over you can really tell the difference. The NH has a more closed in, HD650 like soundstage so it doesn't compare to the other two.
The LCD-2 has good imaging, it just doesn't have that stage to play with like the K7XX. All three headphones have top class imaging it's just how it works with the staging that differs. For music they all do the job, I tend to prefer intimacy for music so the NH and LCD-2 is more ideal but the K7XX is also great and not too disjointed.
Which is best?
When you get to a certain price, welcome to the game of flavours and this is a great example of that. Every headphone has a trait that is better than another and worse than another. If we are talking drivers, the Nighthawk has the lowest distortion and better driver consistency and performance but there's traits the LCD-2 has that could make it a better choice. You may want a headphone that has a wide stage with good bass that doesn't break the bank so the K7XX will take the spot over the others without sacrificing too much performance.
The K7XX has an upgrade path, the HD800S which has similar traits with better driver performance. The LCD-2 doesn't really unless you want to switch signatures. The Nighthawk, how can you upgrade that? it's unique, has lower distortion than anything you can think of, doesn't sound like typical dynamics so it's kind of in a league of it's own.
In the end, the best headphone out of the three or any headphones, is the one that gets the juices flowing, my fav headphones are the HD650, D7000, NH, LCD-2PF, HE-500, MA900. Thet all have something in common, they are exciting!
Get what is fun not what has better headfi driver humping recommendations because our taste are unique!
