Let me first start by explaining what my review title means. My current system consists of the Audeze CRBN’s with Woo Audio’s 3ES amp (other gear/ancillaries listed in my profile). I was deeply smitten with the CRBN’s pretty much straight out of the box, however after several weeks of listening got under my belt, a certain ‘short coming’ started to rear it’s ugly audio head. The pristine high frequencies which I was used to (and spoiled by) with my Abyss AB1266i TC’s were somewhat missing and or reticent with the CRBN’s. Everything else about the CRBN’s was spot-on and amazing, but the high frequencies again tended to take a back seat to the rest of the reproduction spectrum.
One caveat - I’m an ‘old school’ audiophile, and other than in my 1972 Chevelle back in 1979, NEVER owned or used an “EQ.” in any of my home hifi rigs. So I was a bit hesitant to dip my ears into the frequency-altered waters of anything between me and the source. If any of you have seen a response curve of the CRBN’s however, you will clearly see a dip starting around 6k, and dropping down from there. So…, the Loki Max seemed like it might be the just the ticket - especially since I’m not as young as I used to be, and undoubtedly suffer upper frequency loss that is endemic with older age…
The Loki Max is one heckuva impressive piece of gear. Not only did it COMPLETELY ameliorate and correct the high frequency dip, but it does so in a COMPLETELY neutral and COMPLETELY transparent manner. Absolutely nothing added, other than the boost (or cut) of the frequencies you desire. The noise floor of my HoloAudio Serene KTE and matching MAY KTE DAC are left completely intact, and the deep black background is left unaffected.
The presets, which can be controlled from the remote, as well as all he other minor adjustments you can make ‘on the fly’ (again, with the remote) is nothing short of amazing. Once you’ve become accustomed to the L. Max and how each adjustment affects your setup, you can then choose 3 presets, have them selected with the remote, and go from there. I find the three presets easily accommodates all the different genres in my 600+ CD music library.
In my particular case and with my current setup, I only use the L.Max in the last two or ‘upper’ frequencies (6k and 16k). All of the other bands are left flat as I feel no need to tinker with what are already quite incredible sounding headphones. (There’s also a ‘bypass’ button which can be activated from the remote or from the front panel, which essentially removes the eq. from the reproduction chain).
All in all, I can’t say enough good things about the Loki Max. Like all of Schiit’s other products, it is built with impeccable parts and attention to detail - at an amazing price.
Can’t say that all systems and headphones even need eq.? and again, I never thought I would ever be caught dead using one, but damned if this thing didn’t save my system (and keep me from changing YET AGAIN my set up!)
The Loki Max now sits proudly as an integral and essential part of my headphone based rig.
